Education Notebook

Article: What are my options as a parent of a school identified by "school choice"?

http://www.postbulletin.com/newsmanager/templates/localnews_story.asp?z=2&a=413922

Parents from two of Rochester's elementary schools this fall received a letter saying that because of recent state test scores, they could choose to send their students to different district schools.

But why? Here are some answers:

Why were Pinewood and Riverside Central elementary schools cited by the state?

Pinewood and Riverside Central students did not meet the Minnesota Department of Education's yearly progress goals, linked to the federal No Child Left Behind mandate.

The benchmarks, known as Adequate Yearly Progress, require certain percentages of a school's population to pass state tests in reading and math.

School populations are separated into eight groups, including racial and socio-economic categories. If one of the groups does not make AYP, the school is cited.

Pinewood Elementary was cited for reading proficiency among Hispanic, black and English-language learning students. Riverside Central Elementary was cited for reading proficiency among black, English-language learning and low-income students. Math proficiency also lagged among low-income students.

Were other schools in Rochester cited?

Yes. Thirteen of Rochester's schools were cited in all. Nearly half of Minnesota's schools statewide were cited.

If other schools were cited, why were these two schools penalized?

Pinewood and Riverside Central were penalized for two reasons:

First, any school that fails to meet AYP for two straight years in either math or reading -- in the same student subgroup -- is penalized. For example, if one subgroup of students miss AYP in reading two years in a row, that school would be penalized.

Second, the schools were penalized because they receive federal Title I dollars. If a school receives that money, they are subject to the penalties. Bamber Valley and Folwell elementary schools did not make AYP this year, but they do not receive Title I dollars, so they are not penalized.

The penalties escalate each year. At Riverside Central and Pinewood, the district must offer parents the choice of attending another district school.

What are my options as a parent?

Riverside Central parents can choose to send their children to Churchill-Hoover Elementary or Jefferson Elementary. Pinewood parents can switch schools to Franklin Elementary. Or, parents can choose for their students to remain at their current schools.

Either way, Susanne Griffin-Ziebart, Rochester's executive director of school improvement and accountability, said that parents should first talk with their child's teachers and building principal.

"First of all, you need to make a decision based on what's best for your individual child," she said.

Should I feel that I need to move my student?

Griffin-Ziebart said parents shouldn't panic.

"I think there are a couple of things to consider why you might want choice and why you might not want choice," she said. "Families have relationships at the school with staff members, principals, with others in the school communities. Those are great resources for kids to be successful."

For more information, parents can contact each school office directly.

[PB]

13 of Rochester's school buildings cited on No Child Left Behind list

The results are in -- almost half of the state's schools were cited for failing to meet No Child Left Behind progress benchmarks.

The state Minnesota Department of Education on Monday night released this year’s list of schools not making adequate yearly progress, one of the components of the oft-debated federal No Child Left Behind legislation. That law states that all children should be proficient by 2014 and the AYP list shows which schools are making sufficient progress toward that goal. Schools are rated by racial and demographic subgroups and failure by one of those groups to make the progress benchmarks can land the entire district on the list.

AYP uses MCA-II scores from reading and math. (MCA-IIs, or Minnesota Comprehensive Assessments-Series II, are state tests given to students each year.)

Last year, 931 schools made the list. (In traditional education-speak, they have dubbed this "adequate yearly progress.") This year, 1,048 were named. In Rochester, 13 regular school sites were named.  (Alternative Learning Programs and Burr Oak were excluded, since those buildings involve a small population and ALC's traditionally fail to meet AYP guidelines. Those students traditionally enroll at-risk students.)

Now, if your or your child's school is listed, it's probably not time to panic. (Alice Seagren actually says that in our article today.) The larger the school is and the more diverse the school population, the higher the chance the school lands on the AYP list. Of the top 20 school districts in the state, all were listed in some form on AYP.

(I have complied a list of our local schools that have always made AYP, which I hope to put together for a second-day article.)

Here are the local districts who were not cited on the list and made adequate yearly progress: Byron, Caledonia, Dover-Eyota, Fillmore Central, Hayfield, Kasson-Mantorville, Kingsland, Lanesboro, Lewiston-Altura, Mabel-Canton, Southland, Spring Grove, Wabasha-Kellogg, Zumbrota-Mazeppa.

While no one should be jumping out of windows, these tests do show that certain underserved populations are not meeting progress goals, for whatever reason. But for these tests to make any sort of difference, the discussions now need to turn from who isn't achieving, to why they aren't achieving.

Here is a .pdf file of the Rochester schools that have been cited this year.

Here is a .pdf file of all of the southeastern Minnesota schools that have been cited this year.

Here is a .xls file of all school data statewide, provided by Minnesota Department of Education. (Microsoft Exce file, works in OpenOffice, too.)

For some reason, the article still isn't online, so here it is (I'll remove this and put the link here once it goes live):

Some schools fall short of No Child Left Behind's moving target

By Elliot Mann / Post-Bulletin
Thirteen Rochester public schools — along with 46 percent of Minnesota’s schools statewide — have been named to this year’s list of schools not making yearly progress goals.

Two Rochester schools have landed on the list enough consecutive times that parents at the school can now choose to send them to another district site. Those schools are Pinewood and Riverside Central elementary schools. Parents will be presented with the choice of sending their children to other specific schools. However, Franklin Elementary School, which was cited last year, came off the list this year.
The state Minnesota Department of Education on Monday night released this year’s list of schools not making adequate yearly progress, one of the components of the oft-debated federal No Child Left Behind legislation. That law states that all children should be proficient by 2014 and the AYP list shows which schools are making sufficient progress toward that goal.

Education Commissioner Alice Seagren said that from 2006 to 2009, the state has seen constant gains, even if the numbers aren’t keeping pace with No Child Left Behind requirements.

“The bottom line for me is about half made AYP and about half did not,” Seagren said. “There’s not a need to panic though. ... We’re seeing steady progress. Is it fast enough in some subgroups? No, but we’re not seeing our state going backward.”

Schools are rated by racial and demographic subgroups and failure by one of those groups to make the progress benchmarks can land the entire district on the list. As a district, Rochester was cited in these populations this year: reading proficiency of English language learners, math proficiency of black students and low-income students, and both reading and math proficiency of special education students.

Superintendent of Rochester public schools Romain Dallemand said schools here are performing well in the big picture. Among all district sites, Rochester is rated by more than 300 different demographic categories.

“We’re looking at 316 categories and we’re only cited in 41,” Dallemand said. “That’s an 88 percent success rate. That’s very good.”