N. Idaho schools fall short of goals

Several North Idaho schools face sanctions following the release of the latest Adequate Yearly Progress report that shows 86 schools statewide failing to meet goals for improvement.

One of those schools, Lakes Middle School, already has parents asking to transfer their children to another school, now that Lakes has been labeled as “Needs Improvement.”

The Coeur d’Alene middle school scored higher than state averages on last spring’s Idaho Standards Achievement Test, but special education students fell short of statewide goals on the reading portion. Now parents have the option of moving their child to another school at the district’s expense.

The State Department of Education on Friday released reports showing more than half of Idaho’s school districts and 22 percent of schools failed to meet goals or make “Adequate Yearly Progress.” Only a handful of local school districts met AYP, mostly districts with populations too small to be counted under the law.

For schools to meet AYP, a certain percentage of students must score “proficient” in reading and math. The results are broken down into subgroups of students who also must meet those goals.

If any one of 10 subgroups of students – such as special ed students, Hispanics or economically disadvantaged – miss the mark in one subject, the entire school or district fails to meet AYP. After two years of not making AYP in a single subject – even if it’s a different subgroup from the one that fell short of the previous year’s goals – schools and districts face sanctions.

The state sanctions are the same as those established under No Child Left Behind, President Bush’s education reform initiative. “Needs Improvement” districts must complete a two-year improvement plan within three months.

“Needs Improvement” schools must offer parents the option to transfer their children to another district school and provide supplemental services such as tutoring in subjects where they fall short.

Statewide, schools struggled most to meet goals for some of the same groups of students: poor students, students with disabilities, students who speak limited English and Hispanic students.

In the Plummer-Worley District, where a majority of students are Native American, the entire district and each of its three schools face sanctions. The schools fell short of state goals for American Indian students, students with disabilities, limited English-speaking students and the economically disadvantaged.

For schools with unique populations like Plummer-Worley, Superintendent Wayne Trottier said blanket standards might not be realistic.

Even though the district has made progress with its test scores, Trottier said it’s not enough by the state’s standards. With goals set to increase every year – until 2014 when 100 percent of all students will be expected to achieve a proficient score on the ISATs – Trottier doesn’t know if Plummer-Worley will ever catch up.

“The politicians, the political thinkers really need to take a harder look at this law,” Trottier said. “These standards may not be attainable by people with disabilities.”

Idaho’s Department of Education developed the ISAT as a way to measure student proficiency and hold schools accountable as required by No Child Left Behind. Though Trottier believes the law was created with good intentions, he is concerned about how the law is interpreted and applied – with all students held to the same standard.

“In education, I learned after 25 years, the cookie-cutter approach doesn’t work when you have unique populations,” Trottier said.

Not a single school in the Lakeland School District failed to meet AYP, but the district as a whole is listed as Needs Improvement because students with disabilities didn’t meet proficiency in reading. Lakeland, as a whole, had higher than average test scores. The district includes schools in Athol, Rathdrum and Spirit Lake.

As school budgets become more strained and sanctions loom, educators are dealing with a myriad of challenges, such as balancing the needs of a district’s most struggling students with the needs of high achievers.

“A lot of energy is going into bringing students that are basic or below basic up to the proficient level,” said Ron Schmidt, Lakeland’s assistant superintendent. “At the same time, we can’t lose sight of gifted and talented students.”

Districts also are trying to communicate to parents and the community that just because a school makes the Needs Improvement list, it isn’t failing.

A letter Lakes Middle School students received last week notifying them of the school’s Needs Improvement status started with a comparison of test results for students at each of the district’s middle schools.

Lakes’ test scores were comparable with each of the other schools – neither of which faces sanctions this year, Superintendent Harry Amend said. The district also explained to parents that special education students at all three middle schools didn’t make AYP.

Because Lakes missed the mark two years in a row, it was the only one to be labeled Needs Improvement. The other two schools are on “alert” status.

No Child Left Behind has been criticized by educators and parents alike. Even Amend describes some of the expectations under the law as a “tall order.” But he said he believes there are a lot of positive things about the law.

“I think the wrinkles in No Child Left Behind – for example how to handle subgroups and should an entire school district not meet AYP because of one subgroup not meeting AYP – will be ironed out,” Amend said.