Eight of 11 elementry schools pass new federal rules; middle
schools, Live Oak fall short
Eight elementary schools in Morgan Hill have met federal government requirements under the new federal No Child Left Behind legislation.
The schools must meet targets for adequate yearly progress (AYP) in order to escape the “program improvement” designation.
Barrett, El Toro, Encinal, Los Paseos, Nordstrom, Paradise Valley and P.A. Walsh elementaries and the Charter School of Morgan Hill all met their AYP first phase targets. Burnett, Jackson and San Martin/Gwinn elementaries, along with the two middle schools and Live Oak High did not.
The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 championed by President George Bush was revised this year to require schools and districts to show progress toward having all public school students reach the “proficient” level on standardized tests by the 2013-14 school year.
“Eight of our schools met all of the new federal 2003 AYP targets for the first phase of reporting,“ Superintendent Carolyn McKennan said Friday as she announced results of the 2003 AYP Phase I reports. “The AYP targets required by the new federal requirements from 2003 through 2014 are extremely ambitious and set rigorous standards for every school and the district.
“With these new requirements will come new data that we can use to help monitor our schools’ progress toward ensuring that all students are learning the academic skills they need to be successful.
“These schools met AYP targets for student proficiency in English-language arts and mathematics and for the 95 percent participation rate on the 2003 California Standards Tests (CSTs), grades 2-8; the California Alternative Performance Assessment (CAPA), grades 2-8 and 10; and the California High School exit Examination (CAHSEE), grade 10.”
Patricia Blanar, director of curriculum and assessment for the district, said though the elementary schools are doing well, there is still work to be done
“This is only the first phase of the AYP,” she said. “We know that none of our schools have been designated yet as program improvement schools, but we know that at Burnett, Jackson and San Martin, there were a couple of subgroups that didn’t make proficiency in one area or another.”
Blanar said the next phase of the AYP will come in October, when the API (academic performance index) will be calculated and released. The AYP requires that schools and districts have an API of at least 560 or API growth of at least one point from the 2002 Base API.
“The API is the base,” she said. “To make our (California’s) API, you had to be performing very well. (Not meeting the AYP phase one requirements) doesn’t put you in program.”
Currently all schools in the Morgan Hill School District have APIs well above the 560 mark on the 2002 Base API.
Another requirement is that high schools or districts with high school students must have growth in their graduation rate of at least one point. Schools that receive federal Title 1 funds and have not met AYP targets for two consecutive years are considered “program improvement schools” and are subject to additional federal requirements.
The district has six schools that receive Title 1 funds are: Barrett, Burnett, El Toro, Jackson, San Martin and P.A. Walsh.
Schools are already taking steps to focus on the problem in the coming year.
“Our schools have received and studied API results and written their site plans to address the areas that are problematic,” said Blanar. “They know which students need additional help, and they have created plans that will focus on providing it. They’re right on target, they’re working on what they need to be working on.”
If a school is designated a “program improvement” school by the federal requirements, several things happen. In the first year, the district must offer school choice and pay for transporting students who chose not to attend the school. The school must also revise their school plan to address the situation and use 10 percent of its Title 1 funds for staff development.
The conditions continue up to year five if the school has not improved by then, with each year adding another stipulation.
Blanar said the second phase of the AYP in October could show other schools that won’t meet the requirement.
“The problem is that the state is just now deciding how to equate the CAT-6 and the SAT-9,” she said. “I’m really hopeful (about the results), but that’s the reason I’m not confident, because they’re doing this equating of the two tests. It gives us pause: we started out on one path, now we’re on another and the rules are only coming to us after the fact.”
The SAT-9 was the previous standardized test used to measure performance. This spring, the district administered the CAT-6, which, state education officials say, better measures student performance based on California standards. The problem, Blanar pointed out, is comparing the results over time.
Overall, she said, the district is in good shape.
“We’re in a better place than most districts around,” she said. “Some were already in a very nervous situation because they didn’t make their API last year.”
The Gilroy School District has seven of 12 schools that did not meet the AYP first phase requirements. Cupertino Union School District has one of five Title 1 schools that didn’t meet the requirements.
“The teachers, administrators, support staff, and parents at our schools are to be commended for the continuing efforts they make to move all students toward higher levels of proficiency in reading, writing, mathematics, and other important academic subjects,” McKennan said. “California’s increasingly diverse student population creates a major challenge for schools, one our educators work extremely hard to meet.”
