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Several local schools must produce improvement plans

Friday, August 29, 2008 11:38 PM PDT

By Carrie Pederson

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Twelve local schools did not meet Annual Yearly Progress under No Child Left Behind in 2008, according to information released from the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction Thursday.

R.A. Long High School and Kelso High School have not progressed under the federal standard. If they don’t meet the AYP targets next year they could be required to replace school staff, restructure their schools or adopt other improvements measures, according to OSPI information.

The two high schools are among 628 schools statewide that did not meet AYP this year, more than double last year’s number, according to an OSPI press release.

“There is no question that every single one of our schools has room for improvement,” state Superintendent of Public Instruction Terry Bergeson in the release. “However, this year the fatal flaws of No Child Left Behind have become abundantly clear. The law has gone too far.”

Local educators were not available Friday to discuss the AYP findings.

Cascade, Monticello, Huntington and Woodland middle schools are in “Step 1” for improvement, meaning they must make a school improvement plan and inform parents their children can transfer to another school in the district that has not been identified for improvement.

Castle Rock and St. Helens elementary schools, Kalama Junior/Senior High School and alternative schools in Kelso and Woodland also are in “Step 1.”

Mount Solo Middle School is in “Step 2” of improvement, which means it must take extra steps to help low-income, low-achieving students.

The Kelso School District is one of 57 districts in the state identified for “improvement status,” according to OSPI. This means they must make a district improvement plan and may accept technical assistance from the OSPI.

The Longview School District is one of 25 districts in the state in the “Step 2” improvement status, meaning it must make AYP two years in a row to improve its status.

A few factors contributed to more schools falling short this year, Longview officials explained earlier this week. For example, there were higher achievement targets this year, requiring students to get higher scores on the reading and math sections of the Washington Assessment of Student Learning.

No Child Left Behind is up for congressional renewal, and Bergeson is calling for the law to be more fair, realistic and supportive.

Improvement goes unrecognized under No Child Left Behind, she said in a press release.

Furthermore, “the law provides no incentives for reaching ambitious achievement goals, only sanctions and punishments for schools and educators who ‘underperform,’ even in only one of the 37 possible categories,” Bergeson said.

Related article:

628 Washington schools do not make adequate progress  (Aug. 28)

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Proud Mama wrote on Aug 30, 2008 9:01 AM:

" Now I am going to get back on my soapbox again. Special Education Law is not being followed by either District. With a budget of 70 million there really is no excuse. Private schools have far less money and put out far superior programs with excellent results and high achievers. I understand that NCLB can be seen as harsh at times, but really nothing else keeps a school district accountable. Federal Law is being violated all the time but nobody is watching and sanctioning these districts. So as imperfect as this law may be at least the powerhouse districts have to answer to somebody because it sure isn't the parents. "

Viewpoint wrote on Aug 30, 2008 9:52 AM:

" At least five years ago I listened to Bergesons Deputy Superintendent Heuschel explain why eventually it would become a mathematical impossiblity for schools to make AYP under the flawed logic of the NCLB school improvement model. Bergeson knew this yet continued to pour her political efforts and tax payer resources into her own unvalidated model of school improvement. "

Ella Mentry wrote on Aug 30, 2008 1:24 PM:

" Bergeson used to be a major supporter of NCLB...now that the test SHE created and implemented isn't making the grade, she's blaming NCLB (She's also directly blamed teachers, administration, parents, and earlier this week sunk to an all time low and blamed the students). While I believe NCLB should be tossed, it's interesting to see Bergeson blaming everyone and everything...except her test. No matter what she spouts, she implemented WASL long before NCLB. It's an election year and she's merely saying what she thinks we want to hear. We can blame the federal law, but we should also be examining the assessment used to fulfill the requirements. The average reader of these recent results will jump to the immediate conclusion that our teachers are doing a bad job of teaching our kids. The truth: they simply aren't doing a great job of teaching our kids how to pass ONE test. These results don't take into account our state's high SAT scores, individual improvement, increased AP and PSAT scores, the increase in students going on to college, or other areas of education we've excelled at. If our teachers sucked, we would NOT be seeing all these great improvements. Please don't place any merit in WASL scores. "

Ella Mentry wrote on Aug 30, 2008 1:28 PM:

" Excellent point Viewpoint made. It makes me wonder what the motivation really is...The Business Roundtable? Money? A strong emotional attachment to an assessment labeled, "Bergeson's Baby?" Pride? It IS difficult to admit you made a mistake, I guess. What's scary is we're continuing on the same road. With more revisions, of course...but the same road. My heart goes out to teachers and students in this state. "

Ella Mentry wrote on Aug 30, 2008 1:34 PM:

" One more point, and I'll shut up. Does it really make sense to reward schools that do well, while punishing schools that don't improve? Bergeson reminds us this is the model of NCLB, but she neglected to mention that on the state level, funding is related to WASL scores. She has her own "reward" scale she uses. So if a school does poorly, we take money away, tell parents they can transfer (which eliminates more funding), fire teachers, restructure (so a kindergarten teacher suddenly becomes a 5th grade teacher)...when THOSE are the schools that need MORE HELP, not less. It's maddening. We keep hearing about how we need to fix the achievement gap, but the plan in place does nothing but increase it. And the experts sit around scratching their heads acting shocked each year new numbers are released. Oy. "

Rosey Glasses wrote on Aug 30, 2008 2:58 PM:

" And these school administrators deserved their raises how? I won't go into this farther for fear of being sensored (again). (still waiting for the posts to the VP story to be visable... wondering if that too was sensored for no reason). "

concerned citizen wrote on Aug 30, 2008 4:36 PM:

" OH GOOD GRIEF!!! What more incentive is needed than giving the best education possible to our children? give me a break! "

An observer wrote on Aug 30, 2008 5:19 PM:

" I am sorry, but the students and thier parents need to step up! Blame teachers, blame anyone you want but the true responsibility is found in the home. "

idk2008 wrote on Aug 30, 2008 6:05 PM:

" Perhaps TDN should write an article on the number of highly qualified teachers Kelso and Longview really employ. Bet you'd be surprised by the number of teacher who are not qualified, yet are currently teach outside their license. As a matter of fact, some special education teachers in these wonderful districts are qualified to teacher special education. At Mt. Solo the teachers are taking courses but not finished. Here's a story for the masses. Kelso is also seeking teachers who are only taking classes to be qualified. How many of you parents like having unqualified teachers educating your children. I suggest you go ask to see the licenses of these educators. I'm glad my children have graduated and left this mess behind them. "

kalamagrad wrote on Aug 30, 2008 8:13 PM:

" Maybe now Kalama residents will realize that the administrators there only care about football and not about academics. They need to be fired and replaced by people who have the courage to tell the community that academics come first, not sports! "

Viewpoint wrote on Aug 30, 2008 11:29 PM:

" idk- Check the OSPI school report card website. Last year in Kelso all classes were taught by teachers meeting the NCLB highly qualified definition and 99.9% of Longview classes were taught by highly qualified teachers. In both districts there were no teachers teaching with an emergency or conditional certificate. "

Riverview wrote on Aug 30, 2008 11:56 PM:

" Re:Kalamagrad--Hmmm...I was just thinking the same about Kelso residents. From what I've been reading it sounds like the Kalama administrators and school board care deeply about academics. Didn't they just make it so students on academic "probation" were unable to compete until they raised their grades. Not to mention that Kalama's academic standards were already higher than that required by the state or other local schools. Speaking of "only caring about football"--I'd be willing to bet that such standards don't exist in Kelso. "

idk2008 wrote on Sep 1, 2008 9:20 AM:

" Viewpoint: I know what "statistics" say amd I know the truth. I am completely aware they are Highly qualified. They are not teaching in those areas. Ted may be highly qualified in reading but he is teaching Math. Get real. Some Special Educatiom teachers are just working on their degrees. Go to Huntington and you'll find a math teacher with only a license to teach elementary students. They are Highly qualified, just not to teach the kids they have. Weird how administrators would "work" the system like that. "

Viewpoint wrote on Sep 2, 2008 11:35 AM:

" idk-Administrators can only do their best with the employees they have or the job applicants who apply. You seem to imply there are better options not being utilized. Perhaps you could specify. It is well known that special ed and math teachers are hard to find and keep. There are still likely to be a lot more highly qualified teachers now by whatever definition than when your kids graduated. "

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