By Rob
My school is in the third round of No Child Left Behind sanctions. Among other procedures these sanctions call for ‘corrective action’ to be taken.
Arriving at this point wasn’t a surprise. It’s taken many years to get here. Our school has been labeled ‘failing’ for a while but only after seeing last year’s test results do I feel like we’ve failed. No teacher at our school wanted to enter the third round of NCLB sanctions. Round 2, Schools of Choice, was embarrassing enough.
There was pressure to improve our school’s test results. I sensed a change in the tone of my evaluations. Many new teachers were not hired for year two. A veteran teacher was removed. It seemed to me that the pressure was high and morale was low.
Perhaps other teachers felt this pressure more acutely than I. Last year many of them have transferred elsewhere. Of 23 classroom teachers 11 are novice (in their first or second year). In my tenth year teaching I’m the second most experienced teacher at our school.
I’ve wondered how we’ve arrived at this unfortunate point. Each fall we receive our state’s standardized test scores. Teachers, energized and committed, face the challenge. We’ve created systems for tracking student progress, providing extra support, engaging families, growing professionally, and improving instruction. I believe some of these systems have been of great benefit to students.
While I thought these systems were beneficial our data never really showed it. Here’s what it shows: (click the picture for a clearer view)
In 2011 our scores dropped 30% to under 40% of students passing the 4th grade reading MSP. The year before 71.4% of students passed the 3rd grade reading MSP. The test didn’t get harder. The state average pass rate remained flat. This isn’t isolated to one grade. Our 3rd grade reading pass rate fell 13.1% from the previous year. Our 5th grade reading pass rate fell 32.8% from the previous year.
This drop in performance is startling. So what happened? Who knows? I wish I had more answers and fewer questions.
Did the students consistently miss a particular type of reading comprehension question? That could be addressed with an adjustment to the curriculum.
With a 37% mobility rate could the students who left be the ones who passed in 2010. Might they have been replaced with students who didn't pass? How about the families who left because of school choice (a NCLB sanction for schools in step 2 of improvement)? Did the student population change significantly? Are we comparing the same students from year to year?
Did students who narrowly passed the MSP in 2010 narrowly miss passing in 2011? Did a slight drop in performance signify a drastic drop in the percent of students meeting standard?
Did significant numbers of non passing students come from specific classrooms?
Could school community, teacher morale, and the shame & blame policies of NCLB account, at least in part, for a dramatic drop in student performance?
Answers to these questions are important as a school undergoes “corrective action.” I don’t know if anybody is asking these questions. I don’t know if answers are available. But I’d like to know exactly what problem I’m correcting and we all deserve a clearer answer than ‘you didn’t meet adequate yearly progress again.’
Thanks Mary. Soul crushing is a pretty accurate descriptor.
Tom, maybe somebody has drilled into the data. And maybe they’ve also found the perfect solution- our plan for corrective action. Maybe.
Is the question “How can we rewrite the federal education bill so that it actually helps student learn?” Or “How will they rewrite the federal education bill…” I have a pessimistic sense that educators don’t really have a seat at the policy setting table. I’m hopeful somebody proves me wrong.
The illogic of the implementation of these policies is baffling. When they give families “choice” to leave, who do they think is going to stay?
My question is: how can we scrap the whole mess. Now.
Sadly, though, I anticipate my own building will find itself in your same position soon.
It seems like most of your questions should have been answered by drilling into the data, and I’m surprised someone at the district level hasn’t already done so.
The over-arching question, of course, is “How can we rewrite the federal education bill so that it actually helps student learn?”
Hello Rob,
I liked your blog very much. As a psychologist with a research background, I find the questions you ask at the end of your blog to be of absolutely key importance. It is unacceptable, in my opinion, that the feedback you and your school get is ‘you didn’t meet adequate yearly progress again.’
The programs you have implemented could absolutely be having a positive impact, and the scores could still drop, just with the high rate of mobility alone. The process and punishment of “No Child Left Behind” truly is soul-crushing, demeaning, and a hope-robbing one, and that has a huge impact too on subsequent scores. Also, because of its lack of specificity, in terms of what is going wrong and right, the feedback you are getting cannot help you to address the problems you are facing! I am amazed at how much NCLBs practices ignore basic principles of scientific research, such as ensuring samples (ie classes, from one year to the next) are comparable in order to meaningfully compare them!
I hope you will find some kind of peace and positive resolution in the end. We are lucky to have teachers like you.