Schools get poor progress reportsNo Child Left Behind standards toughened from previous year By Diette Courrégé (Contact)
The Post and Courier
Thursday, October 2, 2008
2008 State Report Card - No Child Left Behind - Adequate Yearly Progress Increasingly tougher federal standards meant that four out of five South Carolina elementary and middle schools fell short of goals under the No Child Left Behind law, according to state results released Wednesday. In the Lowcountry, the number of high-poverty schools facing the most serious sanctions quintupled this year to 15, but district leaders didn't plan to impose the most dramatic penalties, such as closing schools or firing teachers. Educators forecast the poor results last year because they knew the target would rise beyond most schools' reach. The requirement for elementary and middle schools to meet Adequate Yearly Progress jumped by more than 50 percent this year. For example, elementary and middle schools that had 38.2 percent of its students score proficient in English last year met AYP, but this year they wouldn't meet AYP unless 58.8 per-cent of its students scored proficient. State Education Superintendent Jim Rex said he feared that the results might be confusing to some parents who heard a few weeks ago that many schools' Palmetto Achievement Challenge Test scores were improving. Schools are making gains but not fast enough to keep up with the federal target, Rex said. He criticized the federal law for not giving schools credit for improvement. Schools either miss or make the goal, whether that happens by an inch or a mile. Most schools have between 17 and 21 areas that they have to meet, and a school that misses just one area will not meet the federal goal. "The law needs changing," Rex said. "It will be changed. I don't think there's any question about that." The Palmetto State's standards for AYP rise incrementally to meet the mandate that all students, regardless of their income, ability to speak English or learning disability, score proficient on math and English tests by 2014. Fewer elementary and middle schools statewide met their federal goals this year, with only 18 percent of the state's 875 elementary and middle schools meeting AYP, down from 39 percent last year. That same trend held true in the Lowcountry. High-poverty schools that fail to make the annual goals face consequences such as mandated opportunities for extra tutoring or transfers to higher performing schools. This year, 15 Lowcountry schools in Berkeley, Charleston and Dorchester 4 will be required to restructure, the most serious consequence under the law. These schools missed AYP for six years, and the law allows for changes ranging from instituting a new curriculum to state takeover. Schools created plans last year for what they would do in case they were required to restructure this year. The Berkeley County school district geared most of its restructuring efforts to literacy in early grades. The district hired reading intervention specialists, reduced the size of kindergarten classes and bought software that emphasized literacy among young students, said Sheldon Etheridge, the district's director of federal programs. That mostly satisfied the restructuring requirement for English, and schools made other changes if math was an area needing help, he said. In Charleston County, officials haven't decided yet what will happen in schools that must restructure, but changes would be made, said Michele English-Watson, director of the district's Title 1 office. Middle schools, for example, will lose decision-making autonomy, specifically as it relates to program implementation; it will be given to the associate superintendent, she said. At Brentwood, the restructuring plan involved extended learning time in reading, continued training for teachers and the creation of single gender classes, she said. The state did not release any high school, district or the state AYP results because of computation errors that couldn't be resolved by Wednesday. Officials expect those results to be released within the next week or so. AYP schools The following are tri-county elementary and middle schools that met the Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) standards. To make AYP, schools must have a certain percentage of students scoring at or above proficient in English and math. The number of targets or objectives for each school varies depending on its size and diversity of its students; larger schools with more diverse students will have more objectives. Elementary and middle schools also must have at least 95 percent of students tested in English and math and an attendance rate above 94 percent to make AYP. Berkeley: Cainhoy Elem/Middle, Howe Hall AIMS Elementary, Marrington School and St. Stephen Elementary. Charleston: Ashley River Creative Arts Elementary, Belle Hall Elementary, Buist Academy, Pinckney Elementary, Drayton Hall Elementary, East Cooper Montessori Charter, Harbor View Elementary, Jennie Moore Elementary, Laurel Hill Primary, Whitesides Elementary, Minnie Hughes Elementary, Mt. Pleasant Academy, Murray-Lasaine Elementary, Pepperhill Elementary, Springfield Elementary, St. Andrews School for Math & Science, Stiles Point Elementary, Stono Park Elementary and Sullivan's Island Elementary. Dorchester 2: Flowertown Elementary, Fort Dorchester Elementary and Rollings Middle. Reach Diette Courrégé at 937-5546 or dcourrege@postandcourier.com. |
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Comments
This article has 9 comment(s)
Posted by shoelaces on October 2, 2008 at 9:29 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Y'all have heard me enough over the summer to tell you the same things...it isn't the teachers, it isn't the principal, it isn't really the child....IT IS THE FAMILY, or lack of family.
Look at the list closely. Murray LaSaine is on it. This is a poor little school on James Island that everyone bashes. Explain how it made AYP. Maybe, just maybe, it was the staff????
Posted by june on October 2, 2008 at 9:43 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Failing schools,you are right on posted by early,until parents get involved in
their childrens' education and get involved in school life and know how school
activities are moving along,you must work with the teachers and offer all the
help you can give. Schools are use like a day care center while mom is out there
trying to make a dollar instead of being a mom and homemaker for her family,
i say family and kids come first to help them develop and shape their early life
toward a good citizen. Schooling does not end when the kid comes in from the
day of class,my kids had school at home after day school and we made sure
the homework was done and test ready for the next day.
Posted by katrenavantassle on October 2, 2008 at 10:42 a.m. (Suggest removal)
We all have to realize that we are in a recession and both parents are having to work to put food on the table these days and their isnt' much time for mom to hang around jr's classroom like MRS.CLEAVER!!!!!!
The reason these elementary schools are failing are because of the unreasonable demands being made on them by the people in Columbia SC. The Pact Test fiasco was one example. I wouldn't become a teacher in SC for twice my current salary. These poor teachers are just human beings and they are so stressed out from trying to follow what I call PREPOSTEROUS demands and procedures that there are times they can't even take a bathroom break! Todays' Parents are NOT ABLE to be in the classroom like in the past due to the economy! Not because they don't want to be there!!! Gee Whiz!!
I can tell you of numerous good families with parents whom both have to work to pay their rent. They do homework each night until 9 pm leaving NO TIME for the kids to vent energy or relax before its bedtime. These parents are available by phone should the teacher have any reasons to call them...their child makes 100"s on all classwork but when it is time for TESTING the child fails. WHy? Because the teachers are so stressed out they cannot TEACH, and give them the answers to classwork just to "move along" with the stupid schedule that Columbia has imposed on them. Then they leave the current grade level and GET PUSHED to the next level because THEY CANNOT BE LEFT BEHIND, and start out the next year already behind and not understanding the classwork. By the time they get to Middle School, they are fed up feeling like a failure and develop low self-esteem because the ELEMENTARY SCHOOL FAILED THEM, that they get into trouble and end up doing drugs and getting expelled and by the time they turn 17 they quit school altogether. THIS IS HOW SC SCHOOLS ARE FOR ALOT OF CHILDREN. Now you know why the statistics show so many high school dropouts in SC!!!!! IT STARTS WITH THE EDUCATION THEY ARE NOT GETTING IN ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS BECAUSE OF COLUMBIA'S DEMANDS. GET THESE PEOPLE OUT OF COLUMBIA AND PUT IN SOMEONE WITH SOME BRAINS WHO WILL QUIT PUTTING ALL THIS STRESS ON TEACHERS FOR SOMETHING THAT IS NOT THEIR FAULT!!
Posted by katrenavantassle on October 2, 2008 at 11:14 a.m. (Suggest removal)
JUNE: ANSWER TO YOUR STATEMENT:
" Schools are use like a day care center while mom is out there trying to make a dollar instead of being a mom and homemaker for her family"
"Schooling does not end when the kid comes in from the
day of class,my kids had school at home after day school and we made sure the homework was done and test ready for the next day."
The problem with mothers who have to work instead of staying home with their kids is it leaves the kids helpless with homework BUT isn't the school supposed to be teaching the children? Homework used to be study papers on what was taught in that day's class, but I see FIRST HAND papers being brought home that my child says they have NEVER SEEN IN THE CLASSROOM, because the school system wants the parents to teach the basic's to our children for them!!! I AM NOT JOKING we spend up to 3 hrs some nights on homework and my child never was taught the procedures to perform the work. I CANT HELP BUT GET PO'D AT THIS.
In alot of situations...THE MOTHER HAS TO WORK OR THEY WILL HAVE A PLACE TO LIVE NEXT MONTH!!!
NOT everyone is as lucky as to have the perfect family that the dad works and makes good money and mom can stay in the kitchen all day and answer the door when the kids get home from school with a plate of cookies and a smile on her face!! LAST TIME I SAW THAT WAS IN THE 70'S!! IT'S 2008!!
Posted by katrenavantassle on October 2, 2008 at 11:19 a.m. (Suggest removal)
SORRY FOR THE TYPO;
MOTHERS HAVE TO WORK OR THEY WILL NOT HAVE A PLACE TO LIVE NEXT MONTH!!
SOME CHILDREN'S PARENTS MADE BAD CHOICES AND MAY BE IN PRISON OR JUST LEFT... LEAVING THE MOTHER HOLDING THE BAG. THE MOTHER AND CHILD IS NOT AT FAULT BUT ARE LEFT WITH HANDLING THE FALLOUT FROM THIS.
LIFE SUCKS FOR THE POOR. IF YOUR RICH, GIVE SOME TO THE POOR!! LITTLE THINGS MEAN ALOT!
Posted by scfirefly on October 2, 2008 at 2:44 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Take a look at Berkeley County. Three of the four schools are Arts Infused Magnet Schools. They are Berkeley County's ONLY Magnet Schools. Hopefully Floyd's replacement and a new board will create more magnets and choices.
Posted by BILLYBOB on October 2, 2008 at 4:11 p.m. (Suggest removal)
WELL DID YOU NOTICE THAT ALL JAMES ISLAND SCHOOLS PASSED!!!!!!!!!!!
Posted by Coffeetime on October 2, 2008 at 8:17 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Maybe James Island is showing the way. Teachers and principals are winning the battle in some tough schools, see:
www.education-consumers.org/tnproject/St...
This tells how Kennewick Washington makes it work.
Take heart.
Posted by shoelaces on October 3, 2008 at 10:20 a.m. (Suggest removal)
BILLYBOB:
All James Island schools did not pass. James Island Elementary School did not pass. Neither of the middle schools met AYP either....?????