State offers model for sorting schools’ deficits
Posted on Tuesday, May 6, 2008
URL: http://www.nwanews.com/adg/News/224908/
The Arkansas Department of Education has sent to the U. S. Department of Education a proposal for categorizing and assisting academically troubled schools, officials said Monday.
The proposed system distinguishes among schools in which relatively few students fail to meet achievement standards on state exams and schools in which more students or subgroups of students miss the standards.
If approved by the federal agency, the new system would apply to this year’s state test results.
U. S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings said in March that the federal agency would allow up to 10 states to design and pilot “differentiated accountability” models.
“We feel that we have submitted a proposal that... will allow us to more effectively and efficiently target resources [so ] they will have the greatest impact for students who are struggling to achieve academically,” Arkansas Education Commissioner Ken James said Monday in a prepared statement.
Under the federal No Child Left Behind Act of 2002, schools are labeled as “needing improvement” and penalized when high percentages of their students fail to meet state achievement standards in two or more consecutive years. The same label and penalties apply regardless of whether the entire student body misses the achievement goal or just one subgroup of students misses the mark.
A total of 325 of Arkansas’ approximately 1, 100 public schools were identified in 2007 as needing improvement. They had to permit students to transfer to higher-achieving schools in a district and, in some cases, they had to provide after-school tutoring to students, alter curriculum, replace staff or restructure the schools.
Julie Johnson Thompson, a spokesman for the Arkansas department, said Monday that there has been a “huge” call across the country for a new system of identifying troubled schools.
“We are excited that these different labels will give schools and their communities a clear understanding of what is happening in their schools,” Thompson said. “And with the differences in consequences, we will be able to allocate resources where they are needed most.”
To comply with the No Child Left Behind Act, Arkansas monitors on a yearly basis the achievement gains of the overall student body at a school and the progress of six subgroups: black, white, Hispanic, poor and disabled students, along with students who have limited English-speaking skills. A subgroup is made up of at least 40 students in the tested grades.
The Arkansas proposal calls for placing schools in one of five categories based on the achievement of the student body and the subgroups. The categories include:
Achieving schools — The school is not in any phase of school improvement.
Targeted improvement schools — At least 75 percent but less than 100 percent of the number of subgroups and the overall student body meet state achievement standards. Tutoring and school transfers will be offered to students not scoring at grade level or better. Intensive targeted improvement — Better than 75 percent of the student groups meet state standards, but those groups that do not meet the standards have missed the goals for four or more years. Whole school improvement — Fewer than 75 percent of the student groups meet state achievement standards and must put in place research-based programs to improve achievement. Intensive whole school improvement — Fewer than 75 percent of student groups met state achievement requirements for four or more years. The state agency will conduct a scholastic audit and will assign an outside organization to carry out improvement efforts.