Published: March 25, 2008 11:05 pm            

Schools making ‘adequate progress’

Devaney, Franklin schools miss target for second year

TERRE HAUTE — Improved ISTEP scores last fall mean more Vigo County schools have made “adequate progress” under the federal No Child Left Behind law.

The school district as a whole also made Adequate Yearly Progress for 2007, said Karen Goeller, school corporation deputy superintendent.

Twenty-seven Vigo County schools are subject to AYP. This year, 16 of those schools made AYP, or 59 percent. Last year, 11 schools, or 41 percent, made AYP.

“We are very pleased to see this percentage increase from 41 to 59 percent,” Goeller said. The state released its AYP results Tuesday.

AYP is based on ISTEP scores as well as student attendance, graduation and test participation rates.

Statewide, only 54 percent of Indiana schools and 84 percent of school districts in 2007 met federal yearly progress goals.

Goeller praised the hard work and dedication of teachers, principals, students and parents to improve ISTEP scores in language arts and math.

In 2005 and 2006, the school district as a whole did not make AYP.

No Child Left Behind Act requires schools to show annual improvements in the academic achievement of the overall student population and student subgroups based on economic background, race and ethnicity, limited English proficiency and special education.

Schools that repeatedly fail to make progress can face sanctions, initially school choice and ultimately state takeover.

In Vigo County, the reason for the improvement in AYP is that 2007 ISTEP scores showed strong gains for both the general education and special education populations, Goeller said.

This year in Vigo County, all elementary schools except two made AYP; the three major high schools and six middle schools did not.

Having the district and most schools make adequate progress “is especially noteworthy in a large corporation, which requires a greater number of targets to be met than at a smaller corporation,” Goeller said.

A larger, more diverse student population means more student subgroups that also must meet ISTEP targets.

Vigo County high schools and middle schools have more subgroups “so it becomes more difficult for them to make targets then it does a school that may not have as many subgroups,” she said.

Devaney and Franklin elementary schools did not make AYP, which represents the second year in a row for both schools. That means they are in Year 1 Improvement.

As a result, both schools must offer students the option of transferring to another school (choice), and Title 1 funds must be set aside to provide transportation.

Only Title 1 schools face consequences under No Child Left Behind. Title I is a federal program that provides assistance to school corporations with significant numbers of students from low-income homes.

Although Deming and Terre Town elementary schools both made AYP, they must continue to offer school choice next fall and Deming also must offer supplemental services that can include tutoring. Supplemental services also must be funded through a district’s Title 1 funds.

It takes two years of failing AYP to get on the “improvement” list and two years of making AYP to get off that list.

Franklin missed its English ISTEP target for free lunch students by only 1.1 percent, which corresponds to two students, said Rex Ireland, school district ISTEP coordinator.

The challenge to achieve AYP is becoming greater, Goeller said. The federal law calls for the passing rate to be raised in increments toward the ultimate goal of having 100 percent of students in all groups passing the state test by 2013-14.

In Vigo County, none of the three main high schools or six middle schools made AYP, but only Chauncey Rose Middle School is a Title 1 school. At some point, Chauncey Rose will face sanctions if it does not make AYP, Goeller said.

Vigo County, which is a Title 1 school district, is still considered in Year One improvement. It needs to make AYP one more year to get off the “improvement” list.

It will continue to follow an improvement plan it developed last year that focused on math.

Statewide, more Indiana schools and districts met yearly federal benchmarks required under No Child Left Behind law, according to the state DOE.

The 2006 rates were 52 percent for schools and 79 percent for school corporations.

More than 225 schools and more than 50 school corporations are in some phase of trying to improve after failing to meet AYP for several years.

Educators have long complained that the No Child Left Behind act, passed in 2001, treats schools the same no matter how close they come to meeting benchmarks.

But a new federal pilot program will give 10 states the flexibility to assign different consequences to schools based on how far they are from goals. Indiana will apply, said Suellen Reed, state superintendent for public instruction.

The pilot program will allow states to focus money and resources on “chronic underperforming schools” that need the most help, said Ray Simon, deputy secretary of the U.S. Department of Education.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Sue Loughlin can be reached at (812) 231-4235 or sue.loughlin@tribstar.com.

        

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