80 Percent of Schools in State Meet No Child Left Behind Standards

cbroadwater@wvgazette.com

More than 80 percent of state schools met federal standards under the No Child Left Behind Act.

On Thursday, state Department of Education officials announced the 10 percent increase over last year. That means 594 of 715 schools made the grade.

Schools are graded by WESTEST scores, which students in grades 3- 8 take along with 10th graders. Special education students take an alternative state assessment.

Though happy with higher scores, educators are concerned about the 121 schools that didn’t make the required adequate yearly progress.

More than half of those schools – 86 – failed because of the low scores of special education students.

State Superintendent Steve Paine said that like other states, West Virginia needs more money to properly follow the barrage of federal guidelines. More flexibility is also needed when it comes to testing special education students.

"If we’re really serious about implementing No Child Left Behind, that every child attains mastery and proficiency, then fund it," Paine said. "We were promised the resources to do the job."

There isn’t any money coming from anywhere – from the state or the federal government – to hand off to counties so that schools, teachers and children in the classrooms can be supported, he said.

This year Paine and other officials were hoping for more flexibility from the government to better measure what special education students learn. But that didn’t come either.

"We hold special education students to the same expectations as other students," Paine said. "But because they’re special education, some of those children have cognitive disabilities, which in the long run prevent them from maintaining the same level of progress."

It’s frustrating to know that those children will need support they can’t get to be fully accountable, he said.

Of 71 schools in Kanawha County, 12 missed yearly progress standards. Half of those were flagged because of low special education test scores.

Those schools were Dunbar Intermediate, Andrew Jackson Middle, Dunbar Middle, DuPont Middle, East Bank Middle and Elkview Middle.

Three federally funded Title I schools – Dunbar Intermediate, Cedar Grove Community School and Chandler Elementary – didn’t meet standards for two or more years in a row.

Parents at those schools can send their children to another school at the school board’s expense.

Throughout the state, the number of these sanctioned schools dropped from 37 to 36, with Kanawha’s Weimer Elementary the lone school to leave the list.

And because of low scores from poor or minority students, Marmet Elementary, Sissonville Elementary, Herbert Hoover High and Capital High schools also did not meet federal standards.

In Putnam County, two schools missed because of special education test scores. They were Hurricane Middle and Poca Middle schools.

In other areas of the state, six of seven Berkeley County schools that didn’t meet federal standards were flagged because of low special education scores. The same went for five schools each in Harrison and Jefferson counties, while Cabell, Jackson, Monongalia and Raleigh counties each had four.

Information about individual schools and whether they meet No Child Left Behind Act standards is available at wvachieves.k12.wv.us.

To contact staff writer Chandra Broadwater, use e-mail or call 348-5194.