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OSPI announces schools, districts identified for "improvement"
Washington releases federally-mandated analysis of school, district performance
OLYMPIA – Aug. 31, 2006 – The Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) today released the names of schools and districts identified by federal criteria as "needing improvement" as well as those that are successfully exiting the "improvement" list. Today’s compliance announcement is required by the federal No Child Left Behind Act.
Twenty schools and four districts made two years of consecutive academic progress and are celebrating their exit from federal "improvement" status. However, a total of 248 schools and 28 districts are receiving news that their progress is not enough to keep them from the 2006 "improvement" status lists.
"I want parents to know that regardless of their school or district being on a list, there is far more to the quality of their child’s education than this federal measure," said Terry Bergeson, state superintendent of public instruction. "In many cases, these schools have faced the toughest challenges and made hard-won student learning improvements. Unfortunately, their gains are being eclipsed by the fact that they haven’t met the federal standards."
Every state that receives federal Title I education funds is required to create a school and district "improvement" list annually. Schools and districts identified today are required to notify parents of their "improvement" status at the start of the school year. If the school or district receives the Title I funds, they face an escalating series of consequences each year they do not make the federally-defined "adequate yearly progress."
A school or district must miss its adequate yearly progress goals for two years in a row in the same subject – reading or mathematics – to be put on the list. To come off the list, schools and districts must meet the uniformly-applied state academic goals for two years in a row. Those that make the goals for one year must remain on the "improvement" list until a second consecutive year of progress is charted.
Today’s listing should be considered preliminary because schools and districts will have an additional opportunity to appeal their status and review the data that was used in the adequate yearly progress calculation.
Calculating Improvement Status
Calculating adequate yearly progress involves the use of preliminary reading and mathematics scores from the Washington Assessment of Student Learning (WASL) and the breakout of results by nine student profiles: all students, the five major ethnic groups, low-income status and inclusion in special education or English Language Learner programs. Other factors, such as unexcused student absences for elementary and middle schools or high school graduation rates, are also considered.
Due to a rule change applied by the U.S. Department of Education in late July, this year’s adequate yearly progress calculation requires the averaging of WASL results from 2005 and 2006 at grades four, seven and 10. In 2007, the scores from the newly-implemented grades three, five, six and eight WASL will be added to the adequate yearly progress calculation.
In all, schools can be evaluated for adequate yearly progress in as many as 37 distinct categories and districts up to 111. Missing the goal in even one category means a school or district doesn’t make adequate yearly progress. If schools or districts miss the same goal for two years in a row, they are publicly identified as needing improvement.
School & District Improvement Results
Some schools are celebrating today’s announcement. A total of 21 school buildings made adequate yearly progress for their second consecutive year and are exiting the federal improvement list: Heritage High (Evergreen-Clark); Sacajawea Middle (Federal Way); Amistad Elementary (Kennewick); Monticello Middle (Longview); Northwood Middle (Mead); Monroe High (Monroe); Omak Alternative High (Omak); Ballou Junior ( Puyallup); Emerald Ridge High (Puyallup); Quincy High (Quincy); Roosevelt High (Seattle); Whitworth Elementary (Seattle); Cascade Middle (Sedro-Woolley); Centennial Middle (Snohomish); Sacajawea Middle (Spokane); Outlook Elementary (Sunnyside); Warden Elementary (Warden); White River High (White River); White River Middle (White River); and Nespelem Elementary (Nespelem).
Four districts are sharing in the good news as well: Lake Stevens; North Thurston; South Kitsap; and Stanwood-Camano.
Next Steps
There are five steps in the federal school improvement process. As schools enter the first two steps of school improvement, they must first offer school choice, then supplemental services such as tutoring, as well as continue their overall school improvement efforts. When a school reaches Steps 3 and 4, districts are required to implement and oversee whatever programs are necessary to correct the problems in their schools.
Schools in Step 5 are required to institute "school restructuring" as defined by their school district. Potential restructuring strategies include the replacement of school staff members or entering into a contract with another entity with a proven track record for academic improvement.
Districts only have two "improvement" status steps. In Step 1, a district must develop an improvement plan and can work on a voluntary basis with OSPI. While the districts in Step 2 have a requirement to work with the state, OSPI remains focused on a collaborative effort to provide districts with access to information about reading and math programs and instructional interventions that are effective.
OSPI will follow up on today’s information release with a complete analysis of all schools and districts’ adequate yearly progress results in mid fall.
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