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Oregon No Child Left Behind
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No Child Left Behind Act of
2001
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The No Child Left Behind
Act of 2001 (NCLB), signed into law on January 8, 2002, is the reauthorization
of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA). ESEA was born
in the context of the Great Society legislation of the 1960s. It was originally
intended to address the plight of disadvantaged youth in the nation.
The ratings are intended to reveal how well schools teach
reading and math to all their students, including minority students, those
in special education and those learning English as a second language.
For the 55 percent of schools that don't receive federal
Title I money to help disadvantaged students, the ratings boost their public
image if they meet all federal targets, or spoil their reputation if they
don't.
For the 500 Oregon schools that receive Title I funding,
including two-thirds of the state's elementary schools, the ratings carry
high stakes. Schools that miss federal targets two years in a row must notify
parents, offer students a transfer to a higher-performing school and report
to state overseers what they're doing to improve. Schools also get money
− typically about $100,000 or more a year
− to help spur improvements. But among about
100 Oregon schools that have been hit with sanctions, fewer than 24 have
managed to make a complete turnaround and get off the federal list.
Specifically, NCLB requires
testing for 95% of all students using each states individual standards and
that the results be divided to show different performance for sub-groups
of students such as students with disabilities or groups reflecting ethnic
and cultural identities. The result of that testing must be made public.
When groups of these students,
who traditionally don’t achieve well in school don’t meet Oregon’s standards,
their schools are subject to an escalating schedule of consequences - starting
with offering students the opportunity to transfer to other schools and
leading up to the state imposing changes in how those schools are managed.
The key phrase is what is called the Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP).
Two Web sites for information
about NCLB:
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The US Department of Education's
Web site at
No Child
Left Behind. The site includes a "Parents Guide", newsletter
subscription, etc.
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Learning First,
an non-profit education organization, has published a
document that explains the law. This document is fairly easy
to read and understand.
Most Oregon High Schools and Middle Schools Exempt
Schools that don't receive federal money face no consequence
for failing to make what the feds call "adequate yearly progress." They
don't have to offer transfers or tutoring no matter how pervasive or long-standing
their performance problems are.
About 90 percent of Oregon high schools and 80 percent
of middle schools are in that category and therefore exempt from consequences
under No Child Left Behind. Rather, it is the 500 Oregon schools that get
federal funds, including two-thirds of the state's elementary schools, for
whom the federal ratings carry high stakes, such as transfers and tutoring.
No Child Left Behind Ratings
vs. Oregon State Report Cards
The annual Oregon school report
cards differ from the No Child Left Behind ratings. The state judges
schools on average student performances, while the federal rating scrutinize
individual groups such as limited English, minority, low-income, and special
education students. If one of those groups fails to make adequate
progress, the entire school is downgraded. For example in 2006, two students
(limited English skills) at the Twality Middle School in Tigard didn't pass
the reading and writing test, preventing the school from meeting the federal
standard.
The Oregon report card is strictly
informational. It measures schools on averages in reading, math, science,
and writing. Both the Oregon report card and the No Child Left Behind
federal ratings factor in attendance and the number of students taking the
test.
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2009 Adequate Yearly Progress
(AYP) Report
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In 2009,
71 Oregon schools were identified as inadequate
performers under the federal No Child Left Behind law
and will have to offer students transfers and free bus
rides to attend a different school if they wish.
Those schools, including elementary
schools in Hillsboro, Gresham and Fairview and schools
at every grade level in Portland, failed to get enough
of their students to pass state reading and math tests
or had chronically high dropout rates.
Although the list of schools hit with
federal sanctions doubled, there was good news about
Oregon schools as a whole.
Many more schools hit every federal
performance target this year −
more than 70 percent, compared with 63 percent in 2008.
Middle and high schools in particular posted better
test scores from students who had done poorly in the
past, including special education students.
Oregon’s 2009 Preliminary AYP Report:
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67.6% (853 of 1262 Oregon schools)
met AYP standards; last year, 63.0% met.*
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27.7% (350 of 1262 Oregon schools)
did not meet; last year, 37% did not meet.
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85.5% (636 of 744) of elementary
schools met AYP, compared to 82.7% in 2007-08.
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41.5% (83 of 200) of middle schools
met AYP, compared to 31.7% in 2007-08.
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42.1% (134 of 318) of high schools
met AYP compared to 35.5% in 2007-08.
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59 schools still have a PENDING
Rating (school report is not complete).
Search for "No Child Left Behind" Oregon
School Ratings
The Oregonian has created an
inactive tool on their Web site that lets visitors search
for NCLB 2008 school ratings by either district or county.
They used colored symbols to indicate the status of
each school. For example, the
+ and
- indicate specific categories in which the school
met or failed to meet federal targets.
Click
here to use the tool.
Oregon's NCLB Plan
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Schools must also meet an attendance
or graduation requirement in order to make the AYP
list.
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In addition, school districts
must inform parents and communities about school
progress.
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Schools that receive certain types
of federal funds and do not make adequate yearly
progress are required to provide supplemental services,
such as free tutoring or after-school assistance,
take corrective actions and, if still not making
adequate yearly progress after five years, must
make dramatic changes to the way the school is run.
In the fall of 2007, 33 Oregon schools will be hit
with federal sanctions.
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The Oregon Standards
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The federal law has power over
schools with a large percentage of low-income students because those schools
receive Title I federal money (Oregon receives about $150 million) aimed
at helping the disadvantaged. Under Oregon's application of the law,
schools that don't receive Title I aid face no sanctions or get extra help.
How does a School get on the Troubled
List?
Under Oregon's definition of
AYP, schools have to reach as many as 40 performance targets. Besides getting
40 percent of their students to pass reading and writing tests and 39 percent
to pass in math; schools must test 95 percent of their students; get 92
percent of students to come to school each day; and, for high schools, get
68 percent of students to graduate in four years.
Schools must achieve those
targets for all students, including disabled, low-income and minority students
and students who speak English as a second language.
Consequence of Failing
School districts that receive
Title I federal aid have to submit a plan to the Oregon Department of Education
by October, saying how it will address the performance problems that put
it on the list.
Missing Targets for Two
Years If a school missed achievement targets for two straight
years, they must offer transfers or tutor.
Missing Targets for 4-5
Years The district must take corrective action if the school remains
on the troubled list for four years. After five years on the list, a Title
I school must be restructured. They have to either replace the entire
staff, become a charter school, or divide in separate schools.
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How to Interpret the Results
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Schools failed for two reasons:
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Either student scores
were too low
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The school didn't test
enough students in specific groups - including minorities, those with
disabilities, and those who have limited English skills.
One Student Short And You Make the List
The majority of Oregon schools
that got their names on the needs-improvement list had acceptable overall
achievement and made the list because performance lagged among one or more
groups: Hispanics, low-income students or, most commonly, special education
students. In other words, it only takes one student not tested in a category
(e.g., low income students, minority students, etc.) to make the list.
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Where to Find Oregon's NCLB Results
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The State of Oregon Department
of Education has posted the AYP reports at their Web site. You can
select a school or district AYP Report at:
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National Study Gives Oregon Low Grades for Reading, Math
Test Standards
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Oregon obtained low grades (C, C-, D+) on reading and math
tests used to meet requirements of the NCLB act last year, a study released
in mid-March, 2008 showed.
Oregon's score was good enough for a 27th place in the
national study by Stanford University's Hoover Institution, a well-funded
conservative think tank. The report rated proficiency standards for
fourth- and eight-grade tests for what the federal government called the
Nation's Report Card, which compares achievement levels among states.
You can read the entire report by clicking
here.
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