Students making progress, but state says it's not good enough

Slow and steady may win the race -- but they don't get the prize.

Even though Yakima students are making gains on their Washington Assessment of Student Learning (WASL) scores, they aren't improving fast enough.

Lewis and Clark Middle School is a prime example of a school making steady progress, but one still anchored in the failing category.

The number of students there hitting the reading target increased 26 percentover the past five years. Math proficiency was up 14 percent and writing, 28 percent.

The school made very significant growth, said Cece Mahre, associate superintendent for the school district.

"We're improving, but not as fast as the standards would like," Lewis and Clark principal Lois Betzing said. "Still, we knocked the socks off the writing tests."

Mahre said that data analysis from the Center for Educational Effectiveness, an education-support agency based in Redmond, found that of the state's 408 middle schools, Lewis and Clark ranked seventh in forging progress in math and reading.

But the facts remain that schools like Lewis and Clark aren't making Adequate Yearly Progress as mandated by the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act of 2001.

"There's a disconnect between Adequate Yearly Progress and school improvement," said Greg Day, the district's academic assessment director. "As fast as we're catching up, that's not recognized at the national level."

The federal act declares that all students in the nation should be proficient in their grade level by 2014. Progress is measured in Washington largely by WASL scores, given yearly to third- through eighth-graders and 10th graders.

According to Day, a number of Yakima schools have shown remarkable improvement over the five-year period, but because they haven't reached certain targets, they're branded as failing.

"That's discouraging," he said.

Day said the district's focus is on growth, a measure it can control. "Did students come out of class more improved than when they came in? That's all anybody can ask us to do."

He added, "We can't label our buildings as failures."

The No Child Left Behind Act lists five steps for schools requiring improvement. If a school fails to meet Adequate Yearly Progress for two years in a row, it enters the step system; if it continues to miss targets, it moves through the remaining steps, with the final stop at Step 5.

Along the progression, outside tutors may be offered to students at school district expense. Students are given the option to transfer schools and curricula and school administrators may be overhauled. Facilitators are also hired to help guide changes.

According to the act, a school that stays in Step 5 for two years should undergo a massive restructure, requiring the state to step in to operate the school. However, Washington law has no provision for the state to take over a school.

At Lewis and Clark, several new measures seem to be making a difference.

Any child at the school who doesn't pass a unit test immediately gets extra help, Mahre said. Instead of going to an elective class, the student stays for added help. In addition, some students not working at grade level are given further coaching in how to study and how to organize their work in a program called AVID, Advancement Via Individual Determination.

In Yakima, three schools have been in Step 5 for at least two years: Adams and Barge-Lincoln elementaries and Lewis and Clark. This year, five more schools -- Martin Luther King Elementary; Franklin Middle, and Davis, Eisenhower and Stanton high schools -- joined the last step.

But it's not all bleak, Day maintains.

Many schools -- even those in the final step -- continue to show solid growth on WASL scores, he said.

"The hard work is paying off, but it's disheartening to be thought of as a failing school," Lewis and Clark's Betzing said.

For most district schools, math has been the bugaboo. Scores have stagnated or decreased at some schools.

"Our challenge definitely is math," Day confirmed.

He attributed the struggle to language obstacles; on the WASL, students perform equations and are then required to write out their reasoning process.

Some 63 percent of the district's 14,000-plus students are Hispanic, and while many are quite proficient in English, there are others who are not.

For students whose first language is Spanish, computing the answer is one thing, but explaining it in English is more of a trial, Day said.

Earlier this fall, when the WASL scores were reported, he began collating data on the results. He's said there are some bright spots, even though none of the 21 schools in the district made Adequate Yearly Progress in 2008.

One big reason, Day said, is that targets were elevated last spring, so scores that would have been considered passing in 2007 were not in 2008.

Day argues growth expectations were artificially lofty. Schools had to show between 11 and 20 percent improvement, depending on the grade level.

His sentiment that the bar is too high is being echoed nationally. Robert Linn, a University of Colorado professor and testing expert, told the New York Times that even exceptional schools rarely show more than a 3-4 percentage growth annually in the number of students demonstrating proficiency.

Nor is Yakima alone in failing to making the grade, as measured by the federal act.

Last year, 280 of Washington's 2,000 schools landed in Steps 1-5. This year that number more than doubled to 628.

Step 5 got crowded, too. In 2007, 11 schools in the state were in the final step, but by 2008, that number ballooned to 64.

In the rest of the Valley, six other schools fell into Step 5 this year -- Granger Middle; Artz Fox Elementary and Mabton High in Mabton; White Swan High; Sunnyside High and Wapato Middle.

Three other schools have been in Step 5 for at least two years: Mount Adams Middle in White Swan and Toppenish Middle and High schools.

A similar story has been playing out around the country. According to the New York Times, 40 percent of the nation's schools are falling short of No Child Left Behind targets.

In the early years of NCLB, schools not making Adequate Yearly Progress received extra help from the state, such as hiring retired principals to give periodic guidance.

But, said Day, with so many schools in the state falling into Step 5, the state is phasing out the additional help.

"The state doesn't have the resources to go into 11 schools, let alone 64," he said.

Last month's state-wide election may be the beginning of the death knell for the WASL as it is now administered. Newly-elected Superintendent of Public Instruction Randy Dorn has made no secret of his disdain for the test as it now stands.

Predicting that the test will indeed change, with Dorn's leadership, Day believes it will become a much better indicator of growth if it quantifies each student's strengths and weaknesses, rather than focusing on the comparison of schools.

Right now, with schools improving yet still identified as failing, it leaves everyone dispirited, Day said. "I know that students, staff and parents are giving 110 percent, and when they don't make a target, that can be demoralizing."

Day conceded, however, that the federal act has not been all bad. "It's caused us to focus, and we've improved. Having high standards for students is good, but the punitive format is not motivating."

Norma Benson, an English instructor at Eisenhower High School who has been teaching for 23 years, believes that passing the WASL reaps considerable benefits for students. Learning to summarize arguments, write in complete sentences, read accurately and answer questions concisely are important skills, she said.

"There probably needs to be some adjustments to it, but I don't see the WASL as a bad thing," Benson said.

But parent Tashina Nuñez isn't convinced. Daughter Isabel, a sixth-grader at Franklin, has taken the WASL three times, while son Diego, a fourth-grader at Roosevelt Elementary School, took his first last year.

"It puts a lot of stress on kids," said Nuñez. "Schools spend so much time getting ready for the WASL, I think it takes more away from education than it helps."

• Jobs
  www.yakjobs.com
• Homes
  www.yakhomes.com
• 
• 
  
• Autos
  www.yakwheels.com

• All Special Pubs Yakima Magazine Channels YakJobs.com YakWheels.com YakHomes.com Playdate Yakima Bride Yakima Wheels (Print) Home Buyer's Guide Baby Brag Book Graduates 2009 Summer in the Valley Prep Football 2009 Women in Business Holiday Gift Guide
• Advertisement