Federally mandated performance standards for Oregon schools rose this year, resulting in a huge spike in the number of schools rated as inadequate. Half of Oregon's 1,200 public schools now fall short of performance targets required under the No Child Left Behind law, primarily because too few students in certain groups, such as those in special education, read and do math at grade level, the state reported today.
A record 80 Oregon schools that serve a concentration of low-income students will have to offer students a priority transfer to another school or free after-school tutoring because they repeatedly missed performance targets.
Twenty-seven of them are in the three-county metro area, including Portland's Jefferson High and Hosford Middle School, Beaverton's Raleigh Hills School, Reedville Elementary in Aloha and Kelly Creek Elementary in Gresham. Thirteen schools statewide that had been hit with sanctions, including three Portland-area elementary schools, managed to hit every target for two years in a row. That means they no longer have to send parents a letter to inform them of an inadequate rating and offer to let their child switch schools.
This year, 120 schools were dinged as inadequate only because of low passing rates among special education students, 72 of them only because too few of those students passed in math.
Other states are seeing similar high failure rates. In Arizona this year, 42 percent of schools missed federal targets. In New Mexico, 87 percent did.
For most schools, a poor rating brings no consequence apart from bad publicity. But for schools that receive federal anti-poverty funds, missing targets two consecutive years brings an escalating series of sanctions, starting with the requirement that students be offered a free bus ride and priority transfer rights to another school in the district.
Oregon’s 2011 AYP Report:
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54% (645 of 1200) of Oregon schools met AYP standards, compared to 71% in 2009-10.[1]
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46% (555 of 1200) of Oregon schools did not meet AYP, compared to 29% in 2009-10.
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65% (468 of 724) of elementary schools met AYP, compared to 90% in 2009-10.
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21% (40 of 193) of middle schools met AYP, compared to 45% in 2009-10.
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48% (137 of 283) of high schools met AYP, compared to 46% in 2009-10.
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22 elementary, 2 middle, and 46 high schools still have a PENDING rating and are not included in the above calculations. Schools with a PENDING rating are small schools undergoing additional data review and will have designations assigned for the final AYP report.
Under Oregon’s AYP plan for 2010-11, 70% of all students in public schools must reach state benchmarks in English language arts and mathematics. To meet AYP, public schools must meet these annual performance targets for both the overall student population and for any demographic group within the school that includes 42 or more students. These demographic groups are socio-economic status, English proficiency, race/ethnicity, and special education. Schools must also meet a participation target and an attendance or graduation target to meet overall AYP.
Search for "No Child Left Behind" Oregon School Ratings
The Oregonian has created an inactive tool on their Web site that lets visitors search for NCLB school ratings by either district or school. They used colored symbols to indicate the status of each school. Click here to use the tool.
