Wednesday, September 3, 2003
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Wednesday, September 3, 2003 |
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Oops! Hood Ave. Elem. left off list of schools on probation By J. FRANK LYNCH In its haste to release status reports last month, the Georgia Department of Education failed to include Hood Avenue Elementary School in Fayetteville on the list of "Title I" schools that did not meet the state's Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) report. Results were released from the confusing and now controversial measure of school progress, required by the national No Child Left Behind act, in two parts in August. Progress made by schools receiving Title 1 federal funds, considered most at risk to failure, was reported the week of Aug. 11. Hood Avenue should have been on that list, confirmed Superintendent John DeCotis and Pam Riddle, assistant superintendent for curriculum. Fayette County school officials did not realize the oversight, DeCotis said, until the state released a second list of non-Title 1 schools that also were in noncompliance with AYP, and Hood Avenue was on that list. Last school year was the first for the Fayetteville school to be designated Title 1. Nick Smith, spokesman for the DOE, said Fayette County correctly listed Hood as a first-time Title 1 school for the 2002-03 year in the paperwork it is required to file with the state. He confirmed state officials mistakenly put Hood on the non-Title I list rather than the Title I list when the report was first released. "Hood was listed as a non-Title I school not making AYP," Smith said. "The district did not do anything wrong, and they do not determine who is listed or not." "It was simply an oversight on our part in a rush to get the list out," he said. Administrators reported the error immediately, and also dispute the state's claim that Hood students failed to show measured improvement over the course of last year. Complicating the matter, DeCotis and Riddle said, is the fact that Hood serves students in grade pre-K through second. Under AYP, the state uses standardized test scores from grades three, five and eight to determine if a school is improving year to year. For schools like Hood that don't administer standardized tests, the state came up with a determination based on tracking of the students enrolled in the Early Intervention Program, said Riddle. At least 10 percent of students had to be removed from the program from one year to the next to show progress, she said. "We are contesting and appealing their findings," said Riddle. Her office is also appealing the state's claim that six other Fayette schools failed to meet AYP provisions. None of those receive Title 1 funds and aren't under the same microscope as Hood Avenue, but instead are tagged for not proving that an adequate number of students in various demographic breakdowns were tested, Riddle said. Those schools are J.C. Booth Middle, Fayette Middle, Flat Rock Middle, Rising Starr Middle, Sandy Creek High and Fayette County High. A form letter sent home to the parents of students at the six schools said the data showed not enough black students or disabled students were tested. At a town hall meeting held Aug. 23 in Peachtree City, many black parents said the letter made it sound like their children were being blamed for the schools' "failure." The state doesn't use the term "failure" to describe the performance of the students, just proof of progress, Riddle explained. DeCotis was to write a second letter to parents last week that better explained the AYP guidelines and what they mean. "All other provisions were met or exceeded," said Melinda Berry-Dreisbach, public information officer for the school board, of the six schools on the state list. Indeed, 2003 SAT scores released last week show large leaps at both Fayette and Sandy Creek high schools. Under the national "No Child Left Behind" law, each school, school system and the state of Georgia must meet annual performance goals for reading and math on state assessments for each student group, as categorized by race, ethnicity, disability, English proficiency, and socioeconomic status, in order to make AYP, or Adequate Yearly Progress. These performance goals increase each year until the 2013-2014 school year, when every child in Georgia must achieve at grade level. State Superintendent of Schools Kathy Cox, a Peachtree City resident, has expressed frustration that participation alone caused so many schools to fail on the first AYP report. According to Berry-Dreisbach, none of Fayette's schools are required to provide supplemental services or transfers to other schools yet. Because 2003 is the first year of making AYP determinations for non-Title I schools, none of the six will be in school improvement status this year. Next year, however, any of the schools that again fail to meet requirements ofAYP years will face consequences. If Hood Avenue were to lose its appeal and fail to meet AYP again next year, it would be required to launch new programs and allow students the option to transfer to a better school, with the district providing the transportation. But Riddle said the whole method of measuring improvement next year will change, as performance will be measured using the statewide curriculum assessment exams administered to every age group. Meantime, DeCotis said the district will focus on the requirements as spelled out in the NCLB law. "Our district-wide and school improvement plan addresses our school improvement needs, including those identified under NCLB," said DeCotis, acknowledging that while Fayette ranks among the top school systems in the nation, the NCLB requirements provide a solid set of standards to judge improvements by. Riddle, who was appointed assistant superintendent for instruction on July 1, pointed out that Hood was the only one ofFayette County's seven Title 1 schools to not make AYP. The districtprefers using the more positive terminology, "Targeted Assistance Program," to identify the schools that receive additional funds to aid potentially "at-risk" students,Riddle said. The main thrust of No Child Left Behind is holding schools accountable for those funds, more than $11 billion nationwide in 2003.In some cases, said Riddle, entire school districts are earmarked for Title 1 because of poverty rates in the community. Determining poverty rates isn't an exact science, but Georgia like most states uses the federal free lunch program as a guide. Systemwide, just 8.7 percent of Fayette students qualify for the free and reduced lunch program, a reflection of the county's overall affluence. Riddle said an individual school's free lunch rate in the 20 percent range or higher is a good indicator that it may need extra financial aid, but that Fayette doesn't necessarily apply that stringent a rule. In addition to Hood, the other schools receiving funds are North Fayette, Oak Grove, Burch, Tyrone, East Fayette and Fayette Intermediate, which was just added this year. The free and reduced lunch rates at those schools range from a system-high 27.23 percent at North Fayette, to 16.04 at East Fayette. Title 1 funds pay for pre-K programs at five schools, while state funds generated by the Georgia Lottery cover the pre-K programs at two more. North Fayette gets funding from both sources for its pre-K instruction, Riddle said. "With all of these schools we have a parent involvement program and we invitethem to participate, be in advisory groups, to be as involved as possible," said Riddle, echoing a popular theme. "The federal government says we've been looking at averages across the board, and it's time we meet the needs of all children,so we're not leaving any child behind," she added. "So the intent is very good." Riddle said the results of the appeals would be known sometime this month.
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