10:02 p.m.: Teachers: AYP needs work

By Jason M. White

March 26, 2008 10:01 pm

— ANDERSON — A school’s adequate yearly progress report could become a moot point if a Democrat is elected president this year.
Democratic candidates Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama have both said they would do away with No Child Left Behind if elected president.
This would remove the need for the federal annual progress reports, which use test scores to determine if students are improving enough from year to year. The final goal of AYP is to have 100 percent of students across the country passing their standardized tests, such as ISTEP, by 2014.
Some local superintendents would welcome the elimination or modification of No Child Left Behind and AYP.
“My feeling is we need some accountability, but AYP is flawed,” said Ned Speicher, superintendent of Frankton-Lapel Community Schools.
For example, special education students are expected to perform at the same level as other students, he said. Special education students have disabilities, and the government needs to take that into account when setting its expectations, Speicher said.
Shenandoah School Corp. Superintendent Ron Green said that schools need to have standards, but the current system could use some improvement.
“You can’t judge the success of a school just by AYP and ISTEP,” Green said. “There are lots of schools that are doing well that may not make AYP because of certain circumstances.”
For instance, some schools in the South Madison Community Schools district did not make English and language arts standards for special education students.
Special education students have difficulty passing standardized tests because they do not perform at the same level as other students, said Bill Bolander, South Madison’s assistant superintendent.
This is one reason AYP’s goal of a 100 percent pass rate by 2014 is unrealistic, said Mikella Lowe, superintendent of Anderson Community Schools.
Many school districts in the nation would fail to meet this goal, she said. Having every special education student pass the ISTEP in the country is not possible, she said.
And with the current AYP system, schools would receive no benefits from having 100 percent of their students pass.
No Child Left Behind does not reward schools that do well. Instead, it punishes schools that do not meet federal standards. Speicher said he would like to see this change.
“Some recognition would be nice,” Speicher said. “And they could put some extra money into that.”
Local educators do agree with the philosophy behind No Child Left Behind even though they question its practice. Schools should make sure that every student is learning and improving, Lowe said.
“We want to ensure that all kids have a good education,” she said. “That theory makes sense.”