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61 °F Forecast | Road Cams Sunday, September 12, 2004 Today's News | Classifieds | Autos | Homes | Jobs | Tempo | Health | Community | Home Delivery SECTIONS Home Page Local News Sports Business Obituaries Life Opinion - Politics Tempo AP News Weather Classified Archives Site Map SPECIAL SECTIONS Since We Asked Outdoor Journal Prime Times Wellness Connection Readers' Choice Real Estate Showcase Joy Magazine Homelife Magazine Wedding Guide Rogue Valley's Finest EXTRA Newspaper in Education Personals Movie Times TV Times E The People MARKETPLACE Find a Car Find a Home Find a Job Classifieds Place an ad eSouthernOregon Automotive Communities Entertainment Publications Recreation Calendar CUSTOMER SERVICE Frequent Questions Advertising Information Home Delivery Employment Contact Us Media Kit Network Affiliate Oregon Road Conditions & Cams Email Story to a Friend August 12, 2004 Neva Lenk, left, Ginger Rogers and Marlon Toops walk past the Ashland High School reader board announcing registration for the 2004-05 school year. Lenk will be a senior at AHS, the only high school to meet the federal progress requirements. Mail Tribune / Roy Musitelli Schools ‘left behind’ Despite gains in many areas, campuses around the Rogue Valley come up short in their attempt to meet federal education standards By ANITA BURKE Mail Tribune Only one high school in Jackson County met federal standards set out in the No Child Left Behind law, according to a preliminary state report issued for release today. Ashland High School was the lone high school to meet achievement standards known as "adequate yearly progress" (AYP). Superintendent Juli Di Chiro, while saying she is pleased with Ashland High’s recognition, said she is uncomfortbale with how the designation is reached. Di Chiro said when one group of students does not meet the standards set out in No Child Left Behind, it can mean an entire school misses the mark. "I’m concerned the system we’re using to measure accountability is not fair. I don’t think it’s a sound statistical model," she said at Monday’s school board meeting. The county’s other eight high schools failed to make adequate yearly progress. Middle schools in Medford, Talent and Rogue River also missed the mark. All the county’s elementary schools met the standard. A combined school for all grades in Prospect meets the federal standard. Advertisement Although this is the second year that most of the faltering schools haven’t met standards, none of them face formal sanctions. The law sets out repercussions for schools that get Title 1 federal funding (provided to schools serving low-income families) and fail to meet the same standard in consecutive years. "The only consequence for non-Title 1 schools is bad publicity," said Oregon Department of Education spokesman Gene Evans. "There are no resources to help them fix the problems. "The silver lining is that this is more data than we ever had before so we can see where a district needs work." Disabled students and those who are learning English as a second language struggle at Medford’s middle and high schools, district curriculum director Phil Long said. At North Medford High School, for example, although the student body as a whole bested federal and state targets, disabled students and Hispanic kids who aren’t native English speakers had trouble reaching math and reading standards. Medford had similar problems last year and officials mapped out a new curriculum for kids learning English that will go into effect this year, Long said. South Medford’s graduation rate fell short last year, but this year the school met that target. "It is good to segregate out (data on) subgroups so we can focus on what needs to be attended to," Long said. "We just have to endure being painted as not making it even as we do make strides." In the Phoenix-Talent School District, middle and high schools didn’t meet their AYP targets. Talent Middle School’s mark reflects poor scores in reading and math for Hispanic students who speak English as a second language, curriculum director Tim Mobley said. The school has added a half-time teacher and a full-time aide to work with those students this year, he said. Kids still learning English continued to falter in math and reading in the district’s high school, but Phoenix High also had trouble testing the required 95 percent of its students. Only 93 percent took the tests, Mobley said. "Participation is a matter of logistics," he said. "It’s a no-brainer to fix that first." A reading program started last year at the high school should boost scores in the long run and an increased focus on math already has boosted scores, he said. Crater High School got a "not met" AYP designation because students, particularly economically disadvantaged ones and those with disabilities, struggled in math, said Randy Gravon, Central Point district’s director of education and personnel. The district will continue to focus on serving those students. Scenic Middle School rallied from a failing mark last year thanks to learning centers focused on students with disabilities, he said. Rogue River High School didn’t make adequate progress because students fell short of math standards, Superintendent Charles Hellman said. This fall, the school will add a math class to its schedule to reduce class sizes, he said. Rogue River Middle School met academic standards, but got a black mark for attendance, Hellman said. A few students dragged the attendance rate just below the 92 percent target, he said. "The ratings don’t reflect the overall successes of the school," he said. Eagle Point Superintendent Bill Feusahrens said he was disappointed in scores for Eagle Point High School, where all students missed reading targets and poor and disabled students pulled down math performance. Progress at the district’s middle schools wasn’t measured because a new school prompted boundary changes. The district has hired five middle- and high-school reading teachers. All middle-school students now will take reading classes, and students who struggle will get extra instruction. A new high school reading program will focus on freshmen who had trouble on eighth-grade tests, he said. Butte Falls, the county’s only Title 1 high school, was listed as not making progress. Superintendent Steve Pine blamed test participation and said he planned to contact the state to double- check the numbers. Because the results are preliminary, all districts can question the results and adjustments can still be made. The school had struggled to meet graduation targets, but did meet that standard this year. Subgroup success determines adequate yearly progress gains Adequate yearly progress is a key measure of student and school achievement under the federal No Child Left Behind law passed in 2001. To achieve adequate yearly progress, a school must get 40 percent of students in various subgroups to meet state reading standards, and 39 percent of them must meet math standards. The school’s state scores were released last week. The subgroups include students who are Asian/Pacific Islander, African-American, Hispanic, American Indian, white, multi-racial, economically disadvantaged, disabled, and those who have limited English abilities. The percentage of students who must meet standards increases gradually until 100 percent of kids must reach the goals by 2014. At least 95 percent of students must take the tests. In addition, elementary and middle schools must reach an annual attendance rate of 92 percent and high schools must have a 68.1 percent graduation rate. Schools that get federal funds through a program called Title 1 face sanctions if they fail to make adequate yearly progress in the same category in successive years. They must notify parents that they haven’t met progress standards, let students transfer to higher performing schools in the district, and use federal funds to pay transportation for those students who transfer. They also qualify for other federal money and help. Schools that don’t get federal Title 1 funds don’t face formal consequences. "We have two accountability systems: one for Title 1 schools and one for all others," Oregon Education Department spokesman Gene Evans said. "We need to have one system that works for all." He said state Superintendent of Schools Susan Castillo is committed to creating a clear, consistent system and plans to start developing it this year. Reach reporter Anita Burke at 776-4485, or e-mail [email protected] Reporter Bill Choy contributed to this story. Mail Tribune Home Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life Opinion - Politics | AP News | Archives | Site Map E Southern Oregon | Classified Copyright © 1997-2004 Mail Tribune. 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