New method to calculate which schools meet education goals

School administrators say they are confused but cautiously optimistic about a new model for assessing progress under the No Child Left Behind law.

Students who miss proficiency targets but show growth will now count toward a school meeting federal standards. The U.S. Department of Education granted Missouri the option of using the so-called "growth model" last week.

The new, complex method will be used this summer to determine which schools made adequate yearly progress. Progress is based on student performance on tests given in the spring to third- to eighth-graders in math and communication arts.

Each year standards rise until 2014, when all students are expected by be "proficient" or "advanced." Schools that miss targets face a range of sanctions from being required to offer tutoring to being completely restructured.

In the past, Missouri has used a "status" model, in which the percentage of students who scored as proficient or advanced is compared to a target. Subgroups of students, such as minorities or those with special needs, are required to meet the targets as well.

The state will continue to use the status model to assess schools while adding the growth model.

"We don't expect it to have a major impact on the number of districts and buildings making AYP. We expect it will benefit some, but we just don't know yet," said Jim Morris, spokesman for the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education.

He said the new model will give "an extra degree of flexibility" to students who are "on track" to becoming proficient.

Critics have long asserted that No Child Left Behind is unfair because it requires students who enter school behind to make gains at a rate much faster than their better-prepared counterparts. "You have to look at a student who maybe didn't meet the standard but grew" multiple points versus a student who "met the standard this year and maybe grew a couple of points to meet the standard again," said Theresa Hinkebein, curriculum coordinator for the Cape Girardeau School District. She said she is pleased progress will be recognized.

But the new model does not eliminate the unequal growth issue. While the model takes growth into account, it still requires all students to meet the 2014 target. "Kids that are performing less well today will still have farther to go to get there," Morris said.

Students will be assigned a "growth trajectory," or number of scale points they have to increase each year in order to become proficient. Students will have four years or until grade eight to do so. Those "on track" will be counted toward a school's adequate yearly progress.

Districts will be required to notify parents about their child's expected growth.

The system already in place has a "safe harbor" provision, often considered a precursor to the growth model. It allows schools to make adequate yearly progress if the number of students who meet standards increases by 10 percent over the previous year.

Dr. Rita Fisher, Jackson School District's assistant superintendent, said she is unsure how the model will affect the district.

"I am anxious to get more information and see how it will affect the scores," she said.

lbavolek@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 123

Does this affect you?

Have a comment?

Log on to semissourian.com/today