Is Your Kid’s School in Crosshairs of No Child Left Behind?

By Bill Roberts, The Idaho Statesman, Boise

Mar. 24–Tenth-graders who aren’t up to par on math and English at Canyon County’s Vallivue High School get extra doses of the classes throughout their school day.

The extra instruction began in January to keep the school from sliding into its sixth straight year of failing to meet statewide academic goals mandated by the federal No Child Left Behind Act.

If Vallivue students fall short on spring statewide achievement testing, which begins next month, the state could step in to oversee how the school improves instruction.

"I think there is a sense of urgency," said Principal Wyatt Tustin.

Vallivue High isn’t alone. Thirty-two Idaho schools — 11 in Southwest Idaho — are in the first crop of state schools that could be required to face the most severe consequences under No Child Left Behind.

And hundreds more schools could be in the same situation in the next few years.

Another two-thirds of Idaho’s 626 schools have missed at least one academic goal in reading, math, language or graduation rates in the last four years. If they continue missing benchmarks over the next six years, they also face a makeover under No Child Left Behind.

If all these schools miss the mark, that could imperil the state’s ability to provide detailed assistance and force the state to put many of its resources into the worst cases, said Rob Sauer, a state Department of Education deputy superintendent.

No Child Left Behind’s goal is that 100 percent of students in all schools are proficient by 2014. But critics say that is impossible and means all schools in the country will eventually fall short.

"What we are probably going to have to do when we get to higher numbers is look at the lowest five percent and really focus our efforts," Sauer said.

SEVERAL DISTRICTS ARE AFFECTED

Among the Treasure Valley districts with schools falling short are Boise, Meridian, Emmett and Nampa. Nampa School District has three schools on the verge of missing academic goals for six years, the highest number in Southwest Idaho. But Nampa School officials declined to comment on what changes they planned to turn their schools around.

Under No Child Left Behind, schools are measured each year on student achievement in 41 different categories that include how subpopulations such as low-income and African-American students perform on exams. If a school misses any one of the 41 categories, it doesn’t meet the state benchmarks.

School districts in the crosshairs of No Child Left Behind have mixed reactions about their situation. On one hand, some say they are eager for the state help to improve academics. On the other, they are frustrated with what they consider a flawed system that put them there.

‘COME HELP ME OUT’

Mountain Home School District, where both the high school and junior high consistently fall below state academic expectations, Superintendent Tim McMurtrey is working to reinvent the district under a state pilot program that brings in coaches to help everyone from teachers to principals.

But if McMurtrey can’t turn around five years of missing educational goals, he’s ready for the state to lend a hand.

"Come help me out," he said. "Let’s go. It’s not like were sitting back. We have worked our tails off."

At Emmett Junior High School, principal Wade Carter is frustrated that No Child Left Behind relies too heavily on the number of students who are proficient in subjects, but not enough on the growth that many students show.

In 2004, only 35 percent of Hispanics were proficient in math at Emmett Junior High. Last year, the number rose to 53 percent. The state requires 70 percent of students demonstrate math mastery.

"We are improving," Carter said. "We just can’t catch the state minimum proficiency rate."

But as Idaho lays groundwork for a more intensive state role in public schools, there is no certainty that getting the state involved will lead to any better outcome than the schools have been able to achieve themselves.

Schools across the country haven’t had enough experience with state intervention yet to determine whether it is effective, said Matthew Springer, research assistant professor of public policy and education at Vanderbilt University in Nashville.

EASING THE TOUGH TALK

Idaho schools don’t yet know exactly what state intervention even means. But it appears that the dire consequences of firing teachers and states taking over faltering schools that were part of the No Child Left Behind rhetoric in its early years is being replaced with plans aimed more at helping schools succeed, rather than punishing the ones that don’t.

Schools get a strong say in how they intend to restructure and none of them appear ready to dump teachers or hand schools over to the state, Sauer said.

"We want to be a resource to help our schools move forward," said Sauer.

If schools are restructured, state officials will likely look at a school’s curriculum and teaching methods, Sauer said. They could conduct an audit to see if schools are spending their money in ways that help shore up student learning problems and suggest changes.

Schools will be expected to produce restructuring plans by fall that would address their problems. Those that don’t — or don’t produce plans the state thinks will work — are in danger of losing their federal money, which can amount to millions of dollars in some districts. In some cases, the state may conduct its own review.

Schools that appear to be making progress may be left alone to continue on a path that is showing success, Sauer said.

"There are some schools that have started some major school improvement efforts in the past year or two. They need a chance to continue that," he said. "We don’t want them jumping from program to program."

And many schools aren’t waiting for test results from year six to start shaking up their academic programs.

Throughout the Treasure Valley, schools are forcing students into extra reading and math classes to shore up weaknesses. Educators are poring over test data, finding minute details of student performance and creating classes to seal those knowledge gaps.

Some schools, such as Vallivue High, have hired a truancy officer to improve attendance. Before the truancy officer came on board, the school’s average daily attendance was 89 percent of students. Now it is at 94 percent.

Caldwell School District is coming forward with a restructuring plan for its 10 schools a full three years before any of them could face restructuring under No Child left Behind.

Caldwell is launching a program similar to Mountain Home’s. Coaches and experts help teachers get a better handle on instruction. One idea: Engage kids continuously in their own learning.

Fourth-grade students at Sacajawea Elementary School, for example, are encouraged to talk about their lessons among themselves or raise their thumbs up or down in the air to show whether they agree with the teacher.

Teacher-led student involvement keeps kids engaged in their lessons, school leaders say.

"If they don’t know it, they learn it from their partners," said fourth-grade instructor Elizabeth Harvey. During one five-minute session Harvey got 17 responses from kids.

The responses are only a tiny part of Caldwell’s planned makeover, which includes new buildings and training for educators, including superintendent Roger Quarles.

Quarles expects to ask the state for permission to advance all the way to the seventh year of No Child Left Behind immediately so the district can concentrate on its restructuring.

Sauer supports Quarles’ plan. But the State Board of Education has the final say and it is awaiting word from the U.S. Department of Education on whether the plan passes muster under No Child Left Behind.

MATH WOES AT VALLIVUE

But drafting the plan is just the first step. The challenge is to turn the problem around.

Vallivue High School missed the mark in nine of the 41 benchmarks in 2007, including proficiency in math.

Tenth-grade math problems expose learning shortfalls throughout the system. Kids don’t know their multiplication tables. Fractions, decimals and percentages trip kids up. In many cases, students went through middle schools that lack the accountability of high school, which can keep students from graduating if they don’t learn their lessons, Krone said. So many kids hit high school without a solid math foundation.

Math coach Keith Krone saw 10th graders show up in extra math classes in January lacking basic math facts. They have only a few weeks before they will take the Idaho Standards Achievement Test that will decide the fate of their school and whether these students are eligible to graduate in two years.

The students are not "able to think," Krone said. "They are so focused on procedures."

Bill Roberts: 377-6408

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