Number of schools missing academic goals grows
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Eighty-nine Wisconsin schools along with the Milwaukee, Madison and Racine districts are on a list released Tuesday for repeatedly failing to meet the federal No Child Left Behind law.
The individual schools and the districts were identified by the state Department of Public Instruction as "schools identified for improvement" for failing to make adequate progress in the same category for two consecutive years.
Seventy-one of the schools receive federal anti-poverty funding, making them eligible for sanctions.
Those sanctions include letting parents transfer their children to better-performing schools in the same district, offering tutoring for students from low-income families and restructuring the way the schools operate.
Also, 228 schools and six districts were identified for missing at least one of the standards for the first time. That is up from 140 schools and four districts last year. The increase was attributed to tougher federal reading and math standards effective this year.
The six districts this year were Beaver Dam, Green Bay, Kenosha, Madison, Milwaukee and Racine.
The proficiency target increased from 74 percent to 80.5 percent for reading and 58 percent to 68.5 percent for math. All students are required to be proficient by 2014.
It is the seventh year in a row for the Milwaukee school district to be on the list for needing improvement. That is longer than any other district in the state. Of the 89 individual schools on the list, 61 were in Milwaukee.
Under No Child Left Behind, schools are evaluated on test results, graduation rates, test participation rates and attendance. Missing the mark in any category can put a school on the failing list. The district is judged on the collective tests scores.
School administrators and other critics of the law passed in 2002 have said that because of stringent requirements, every school will find itself on the list at one time or another.
Jun 10, 2011 at 6:25 a.m.
Suggest removal
Edit for link...
http://www2.dpi.state.wi.us/sifi/default...
Jun 10, 2011 at 6:21 a.m.
Suggest removal
Wisconsin Schools and Districts that MISSED
Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP)
for School Year 2010-11 - Preliminary
http://www2.dpi.state.wi.us/sifi/WAYP_ma......
Jun 8, 2011 at 6:06 a.m.
Suggest removal
Question: when my kids were in grade school, the kids that didn't do well in reading and math went to summer school to try and catch up. The little I have read lately about summer school is that kids can learn to fish, make ceramics and take field trips. Do they still have remedial reading and math? My daughter in first grade had a speech problem and was able to work on it during summer school. Our park district offered the fun stuff.
Jun 7, 2011 at 10:04 p.m.
Suggest removal
228 up from 140 last year. Teachers are stressed, parents are stressed and now our kids are stressed. Do you test well under duress? You don't think our kids know what is going on in Wisconsin? When I was a kid in school the only thing I worried about was getting home to watch the Brady Bunch!
Jun 7, 2011 at 10:01 p.m.
Suggest removal
wislady, do you have a compassionate bone in your body? Republican or not, you need to have a little bit of a heart. Would it really hurt your posts to be somewhat human? And yes, our teachers and students do need the internet. What is it you are posting on now....THE INTERNET!
Jun 7, 2011 at 8:07 p.m.
Suggest removal
This isn't about lack of student achievement, ALL schools will be on this list by 2014.
This is about a bad law that needs to be changed and the fact that standardized testing is a terrible way to measure achievement. When it comes to education, one size does not fit all. It's more like one size fits none.
Jun 7, 2011 at 7:41 p.m.
Suggest removal
Maybe a little more teaching and a little less protesting would help. How many grade school and high school students even have a clue what yesterday was? For that matter, I bet the college kids, or even the protesters don't even know. If a teacher wants to teach, they don't have to have internet. They think they need all the high tech things, but the students today fail miserably in reading and math.
Jun 7, 2011 at 7:11 p.m.
Suggest removal
Take away the kids' cell phones, ipods, mp3 players, etc., so that they might listen and learn. The use of these things is rampant in the high schools. I know, I know.... just tell them to put the darn things away. Yea, right!
Jun 7, 2011 at 7:06 p.m.
Suggest removal
wislady - then with the changes implemented by dropout Walker and the Chicago heritage Fitz Bros. this year we should see dramatic improvements in public schools, right? After all, you got what you wanted as the Republicans now control it all. Larger class sizes with no prep time and no aides should work wonders, don't you think?
Jun 7, 2011 at 6:49 p.m.
Suggest removal
Test the kids on collective bargaining, setting up tents or how evil Scott Walker is.
Jun 7, 2011 at 6:37 p.m.
Suggest removal
"schools identified for improvement" for failing to make adequate progress in the same category for two consecutive years.
Were the democrats and Doyle in charge?
Jun 7, 2011 at 5:09 p.m.
Suggest removal
What year do the police have to have eliminated 100% of crime? By what year must the firemen be responsible for there being no more fires? How many years do dentists have before they must have 100% of their patients have perfect teeth? When will every lawyer have to win every single lawsuit? (Technically impossible, yes I know...but I think you get my point) By what year must my financial advisor have all his customers, including myself, making a "proficient" percentage gain on their investments? What sanctions will be put on these people when they don't make their goal? Will I receive a voucher for a better financial advisor? Will they restructure the police department because someone vandalizes my garage? Will we take money away from the fire department because they don't prevent my neighbor's house from burning down? PLEASE enlighten me why these things make sense for education and no one else. What if my doctor does not successfully cure my cancer? Does he not get paid? Is he demoted? Does his name go into the media as a "failing Dr"? Sure I can change doctors or dentists, but with school choice, so can anyone send his child to a public school of his choosing. Ridiculous....
Jun 7, 2011 at 4:57 p.m.
Suggest removal
The goal of the law is that EVERY student in EVERY school will be proficient or advanced in EVERY academic area by 2014. That's EVERY student, regardless of G&T or Special ed programs. So as the target percentages approach 100%, more and more schools (even the good ones) will be on the "failing" list.
.
Another way to get on the bad list is to have too many kids absent on the testing days or to have too low of an attendance rate.
.
I really think that the people who voted this in in 2002 never thought it would go this far. I'm sure they thought that it would be reworked or repealed before 2014. This law was due for a rewrite/update in 2007 which never happened. The only thing to do now is rewrite it or lower the standards so that every student can be proclaimed "proficient". Then we'll have the best school system in the world with all these proficient and advanced kids all over the place. Oh and let's start putting "C" students on the honor roll so they don't have self esteem issues too.
Jun 7, 2011 at 4:53 p.m.
Suggest removal
Standardized testing, where children learn how to take tests. Must be the teacher's fault's, because, you know it can't possibly be the parents or custodians of these children. How can they be held responsible? If you don't hold the parent's accountable, you have nothing, which essentially what the "No Child Left Behind Act" was. Nothing.
Before you post a comment, consider this:
Note: GazetteXtra.com does not condone or review every comment. Read more in our User Policy AgreementPost Comment
Commenting requires registration.