Schools defend student achievement

Nebraska's list of schools needing to improve is up from 24 in the 2006-07 school year. In Southwest Nebraska, the list includes Chase County Elementary of Chase County Public Schools and the Palisade Attendance Center of the Wauneta-Palisade School District.

Marilyn Peterson, who administers federal programs for the Nebraska Department of Education, told the Omaha World-Herald newspaper that the number of schools on the "needs improvements" list is going to increase as standards and goals are raised. "No Child Left Behind" pushes for all students -- regardless of family income level, language barrier or special need -- to learn at grade level by 2013-14. Last year, Nebraska raised its reading and math goals.

State reports indicate that by and large schools are given low ratings because of the performance of specific groups of students, such as special education or English-learners. Under NCLB guidelines, there is no differentiation between test results for schools with broad academic programs and those with shortcomings in specific groups of students -- or, it seems, for those with low enrollment numbers.

Some schools, like Wauneta-Palisade and Chase County, appear to not fit easily within NCLB guidelines because of low enrollment figures that can mean that a very small number of students -- even one or two -- can skew testing results. Chase County's elementary school missed testing one child who fits into one specific category, and the school is now labeled as "needs to improve."

According to the World-Herald, Lincoln's Culler Middle School has been labeled as needing improvement for three years, the longest of any Nebraska school. Among its problems are low reading scores by special education students and by students learning English. Culler is responding by improving teaching strategies, spending more money and hiring more staff. Peterson said Culler is making progress, but, she said, improving scores does not happen overnight.

In Omaha, Ralston High School fell short in reading scores for all students, for Latino students and for poor students. Westside Middle School had low reading scores by special education students and low math scores for poor students, and didn't test enough students in three areas.

IMPERIAL -- Chase County Public Schools' superintendent said his school certainly doesn't like being on the federal government's list of schools needing to improve its students' academic performance, but they're not overly concerned either.

Superintendent Matt Fisher said Wednesday morning that the "Needs to Improve" rating for Chase County Elementary in Imperial is not an indication of problems with student achievement or performance. "We had one student in one specific category who didn't take one test," Fisher said, explaining that because of the school district's low enrollment figures, missing the testing of one or two students can indicate that the school is not meeting "Average Yearly Progress" (AYP) standards within the federal "No Child Left Behind" program.

Being placed on the federal government's list "is not because our test scores weren't good enough," Fisher said. He said the Chase County school system does not schedule specific test days during the school year but incorporates testing into the regular curriculum, which means that students, especially new transfers, may miss taking the tests. "We'll have to try and catch everyone and make sure they're taking the tests," Fisher said.

Fisher said the federal government requires that any school on its NCLB "needs to improve" list notify parents and offer them the opportunity to transfer their students to another school within the district. "We are the only school in the district," Fisher said, explaining that some aspects of the federal government's NCLB program do not apply to school districts the size of Chase County's.

"We're not overly concerned," Fisher said. "It's not because there's a problem with student performance."

Fisher said that Chase County was on the NCLB list three years ago also. "They gave us $60,000 them to improve ourselves," he said. "We don't like being on the list, but if they'll give us that kind of money again, we'll take it."

PALISADE -- Wauneta-Palisade Superintendent Nelson Dahl knows that test scores listed for his students "are exemplary," and that being on the federal government's list of schools that "need to improve" seems to be an indication of a technical issue within the "No Child Left Behind" testing process, not a systemic problem within his school.

Dahl said that test scores at the school district's Palisade Attendance Center fell into a "needs to improve" category when some students were unable to take the standardized tests that measure "Average Yearly Progress" (AYP) within the NCLB program. Dahl said that the federal government's AYP results for individual school districts then "may or may not be statistically accurate. It's a technical issue having to do with the number of students tested, not a systemic problem (with student achievement)."

"We have an excellent school," he said, explaining that state reports indicate that Wauneta-Palisade students' test scores are exemplary.

Dahl is concerned that some aspects of NCLB standards are hard to apply to small school districts with low enrollment. "NCLB is up for renewal. I'm interested to see what happens with this piece of legislation," Dahl said. "It may not be the same program after renewal."