Federal Law’s Benefit Found in the Details

By NICOLE MORGAN

By Nicole Morgan

The Virginian-Pilot

With all the things associated with student success, it’s hard to find anyone in Virginia singing the praises of No Child Left Behind, the federal law that went into effect five years ago this month.

The premise for the law is that “every child can learn,” and it sets a mandate of 2014 for all students to perform at or above grade level.

No Child Left Behind was designed to help the public school systems close the learning gaps between students, regardless of race, gender and social economics. It was supposed to make it easier for teachers to see the progress being made with every student, rather than lumping them all together.

Even though learning gaps persist, the law hasn’t led to an overhaul in testing and accountability in Virginia’s education system, state educators said, because the state already had more stringent standards than what the federal law required.

But No Child Left Behind has required teachers to more thoroughly analyze data from standardized tests and to test every grade between third and eighth, said Virginia Department of Education spokesman Charles Pyle. This computer-assisted troubleshooting, he said, has helped teachers get struggling groups of students the help they need more quickly and precisely.

Virginia has had more rigorous academic requirements than the federal government for almost a decade through its Standards of Learning examinations, Pyle sai d. The state tests in four subject areas: English, math, science and social studies.

The federal government requires students to test in only two subjects: math and English.

“The Standards of Learning are our measuring stick,” said Pat Fisher , assistant superintendant of curriculum and instruction for Portsmouth Public Schools.

Teachers frequently give benchmark tests to determine where students are and what areas need improvement to meet state standards, she said, and that approach seems to be working. The Portsmouth school system once had six schools that faced sanctions because they did no t meet federal standards. Now, she said, the division has one: Westhaven Elementary , which is forced to offer parents the option of sending their children to a better-performing school.

If benchmark tests are an accurate predictor, she said, Westhaven will meet federal standards and no longer face sanctions next year.

In Norfolk, Portsmouth, Suffolk, Virginia Beach and Chesapeake, 181 of 212 schools met federal standards, according to state data.

The original scores were released in the fall. Divisionwide, Norfolk and Suffolk did not meet the federal benchmarks.

Norfolk missed the federal standards, called Adequate Yearly Progress , because of low English test scores from students whose first language isn’t English. Suffolk missed the mark because low- income students performed poorly in English and students with learning disabilities had trouble in English and math.

The state reported last fall that 10 Suffolk schools did not meet federal standards. On appeal, that number decreased to nine.

“I think the misconception can be if a school didn’t meet accreditation or didn’t make AYP, that it’s not as good as another school, and that’s simply not true,” said Deran Whitney, assistant superintendent for elementary instructional services for Suffolk Public Schools.

“We’re talking about one test given on a particular day.”

Six schools in Norfolk failed to meet the mark last fall, but none is facing sanctions, said Gloria Hagans, senior director of compensatory education. Only schools that receive Title I money – given to schools in which poverty has hindered the academic success of many students – face sanctions if students and teachers do no t meet federal standards.

Overall, student achievement in Virginia has risen, with pass rates in English increasing from 79 percent in 2003-04 to 84 percent last school year on the state’s Standards of Learning exams.

In math, the pass rate was at 83 percent in 2003-04 and 84 percent in 2004-05. W ith last year’s tougher math requirements on the SOL exams, the scores fell to a statewide 76 percent pass rate.

No Child Left Behind also aims to close learning gaps among student subgroups.

Blacks, Hispanics, students with learning disabilities and those from low-income families have made academic gains over the years, but their pass rate is still far behind that of white students.

Last year, while 89 percent of white students passed the state’s requirements in English, only 64 to 76 percent of students in the subgroups met the requirements.

White students are becoming more proficient at the same time as the others, said the state Education Department’s Pyle. That’s progress, he said, but it also makes it difficult to close the gaps.

Cindy Sparks, director of assessment and accountability for Chesapeake Public Schools, said it would make more sense if the federal government switched the order of sanctions for schools that miss the mark.

Currently, when schools miss the standards two years in a row, the school system first offers families a chance to attend a new school. The second choice is additional tutoring.

Pyle said many educators want tutoring to come before school choice.

“Our board has had its differences with Washington and the implementation of No Child Left Behind,” he said. “Often, the students who are most likely to benefit from a transfer are not the students who are likely to request a transfer.”

S chool systems in Newport News and Alexandria, and in Stafford and Henry counties, are testing a pilot that allows schools under sanctions to offer tutoring first, Pyle said. The hope is that the entire state will soon be able to offer the services in that order, he said.

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Reach Nicole Morgan at (757) 446-2443 or nicole.morgan@pilot online.com.

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