School results mixed

By Emily Richmond (contact)

Friday, July 23, 2004 | 11:13 a.m.

Clark County Superintendent Carlos Garcia called it "the good, the bad and the ugly" Thursday.

For the 2003-04 academic year, 130 campuses -- 43 percent of the district's schools -- did not not show the "adequate yearly progress" demanded by the federal No Child Left Behind Act.

School district officials said there are 82 campuses this year identified as "needs improvement" -- based on two consecutive years of low test scores -- a sharp jump from 13 in 2003.

The percentage of campuses that did not show progress is down from 47 percent in 2002-03 -- but still close to half of the district's schools and still too high a number, Garcia said.

"We acknowledge that there is still room for improvement but we're also really proud of the accomplishments and the significant improvement we've made in such a short time," Garcia said.

School district officials also pointed to the good.

The number of schools put on the state's "watch" list for failing to show "adequate yearly progress" for the first year in 2004 was down. And about half of the campuses that were in their first year of not making AYP in 2003 managed to raise scores enough to get off the "watch list."

The district also had no schools in the third year of "needs improvement" status. After three years on the list, the Nevada Department of Education sends a review team to the campus and makes recommendations for changes. After four years on the list the state can demand that key personnel be replaced, beginning with the principal. The education reform act allows the federal education department to take over a state school that has been designated as "needs improvement" for five or more consecutive years.

Two district campuses, Advanced Technologies Academy and Lyons Middle School, have been identified as "exemplary" -- the highest rating given by the U.S. Department of Education. Another 13 schools were rated as "high achieving."

The district had 124 campuses on the watch list in 2003. Of those schools, 64 did not make adequate progress again this year and are now labeled as "needs improvement" schools. The number of "needs improvement" schools made a corresponding jump, up to 82 schools from just 18 campuses last year.

While the number of schools classified as needing improvement increased, the tally of schools on the watch list decreased by more than half, to 59 campuses.

The federal No Child Left Behind Act requires schools to show annual gains on standardized tests with 100 percent of all students demonstrating proficiency in reading, mathematics and writing by the 2013-14 academic year.

Each state was allowed to set its own yearly bench marks for student achievement provided the 100 percent mark is reached over the next decade.

Schools that fail to make adequate yearly progress, known as AYP, for one year are placed on a "watch list." Two consecutive years of falling short earns a school the label of "needs improvement." With each successive year on the list sanctions against schools increase, from the replacement of key staff to a takeover by the state and finally the federal government.

D.J. Stutz, president of the Nevada PTA, said even though there were more schools on the needs improvement list, overall the results are good news.

"For at least half of those schools, being put on the watch list last year was effective -- it motivated them to get their act together and turn things around, and that's why they're not 'needs improvement' this time around," Stutz said.

Every school must show progress, as must each identified subgroup, including those categorized by ethnicity or special-education status, as well as subgroups of non-native English speakers and students from low-income families.

At least 95 percent of all students -- and each subgroup -- must participate in the tests. The school's average daily attendance rate must be at least 90 percent.

The most recent AYP results for Clark County show strong gains in achievement by groups that are typically lower-performing -- including minorities, special education students, non-native English speakers and students from low-income families.

Among the findings:

Overall schools must demonstrate progress in 135 areas, and campuses that miss just one target are flagged as failing to make adequate progress.

Critics of the Bush administration's education programs say it isn't fair to say an entire school failed to show the required progress based on low performance by one subgroup. But supporters of President Bush's education reform say that is exactly the point of the law.

"It's by no means perfect, but the new rules forced us to shine a light in every little corner," Garcia said. "We did some real soul-searching about approaches to special education and LEP (Limited-English Proficiency) students and we've seen some improvements because of that. That kind of accountability has to be a good thing."

The district has had several aggressive initiatives in place to boost student achievement, including a literacy program aimed at the younger grades and another campaign to have more students complete algebra before leaving middle school. Those programs are starting to pay off, Garcia said.

The number of high school students who passed the math proficiency test on their first try as 10th graders last year increased by 8 percent, Garcia said.

Black and Hispanic students have the highest dropout rates in the district. School officials hope the improvement shown on the latest round of testing will have a ripple effect that carries through high school, Garcia said.

"We've been planting these seeds now for four years and it's kind of nice to see they're germinating now," Garcia said. "We're starting to show some results in the areas that traditionally are our weakest areas in the district."

Tony Sanchez, immediate past president of the Latin Chamber of Commerce, said the improvement in performance by the district's Hispanic students was "outstanding" news.

"We've been growing so fast that all we've been able to do is try to keep up with the new students and build enough schools to hold them," Sanchez said. "This (the latest AYP results) shows what dedicated administrators, parents and teachers are able to do when we have more resources to work with."

This year there were 13 schools that did not make adequate progress because of a shortfall in just one area. At White Middle School in Henderson, four out of 88 special education students were absent for the math and English language arts testing. That was enough to bring the participation rate down below the 95 percent requirement and land the school on the needs improvement list.

White managed to reduce its percentage of nonproficient students by between 12 percent and more than 50 percent in a number of subgroups but that wasn't enough to carry the campus.

"I'll admit it, this is a bitter pill," said Principal William "Pat" Skorkowski. "Our students and teachers all work so hard and we made some terrific progress overall. That's what we're going to focus on."

C.P. Squires Elementary School, an at-risk campus where nearly all students qualify for free and reduced-price meals, was initially thought to have missed making adequate progress solely because the participation rate was not met by one subgroup. But on closer examination district officials found the school had 94.998 percent participation and successfully petitioned the state education department on appeal.

"It was frustrating to think were were that close and might miss the cutoff, but the upside is that it me know how specific and accurate the data is that we're collecting," said Dale Maynard, assistant principal at Squires. "Every kid and every kid's test really does count."

Karlene McCormick-Lee, assistant superintendent of research and accountability for the district, said it's that kind of pinpointing that make up the best parts of the federal education reform.

"We can look at the data and say, 'Who are the kids we aren't reaching and what are their needs,' " McCormick-Lee said.

Mary Beth Scow, a member of the Clark County School Board, said she hopes the district's critics take the time to become familiar with the latest test results.

"We hear it all the time, that all our kids are failing and we know that's not true," Scow said. "It's nice to have some hard data to show people so we can talk about the specifics of what we need to work on and not general assumptions."

Title I schools, which receive extra federal funding because they serve a large number of students that qualify for free and reduced-price meals, face the most immediate penalties for failing to show adequate progress. Districts must provide students at Title I schools on the needs improvement list with transfers to more successful campuses.

This year the district will be sending out letters to parents of 38,000 students at 30 Title I schools that have been identified as needing improvement, including 12 campuses added because of low performance on the latest round of testing.