LAE : ESEA/NCLB-Adequate Yearly Progress Absurdities

Under the reauthorized Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), also known as the "No Child Left Behind" Act, schools and school districts are required to demonstrate "Adequate Yearly Progress" (AYP) in raising student test scores in reading and math.

The National Education Association (NEA) agrees with the goals of the new federal education law and is continuing its fight for high standards and accountability. Yet, as states release information on the vast number of schools and school districts that did not make AYP this year, it has become clear to many teachers, parents, administrators and other educators that the one-size-fits-all AYP system has many serious flaws that prevent a fair and accurate assessment of student progress.

To promote a greater understanding of AYP's negative consequences for children and schools—and a roadmap for correcting its flaws—NEA offers this brief sampling of absurd but disturbing examples from the states that reflect general trends.

Attendance at Exams

AYP standards require that 95 percent of the class be present to take two standardized exams. In some cases, even if as few as one or two students are absent that day, the entire school can be labeled as failing to make AYP or, after two straight years, "in need of improvement."

Cromwell School District and Westport School District, Connecticut
The decision made by a group of Cromwell teachers and parents to have one special education student take an off-level math test instead of the regular Connecticut Academic Performance Test was enough to land the entire district on the state list of schools not meeting AYP. It meant that the school only had a 94 percent participation rate in math, despite exceeding state benchmarks in every other testing category. Meanwhile, in affluent Westport, although more than 90 percent of students scored at or above proficiency standards, the district also made the list because a couple of students failed to take the tests. (Hartford Courant, 12/3/03, 12/4/03)

Soldotna High School, Soldotna, Alaska
Soldotna High School didn't make AYP this year because three students within the economically disadvantaged subgroup were absent the day of the test, leaving their attendance rate at 94.4 percent—just 0.6 percent shy of the 95 percent needed under ESEA regulations. (Provided by NEA-Alaska)

Maxwell Elementary, Maxwell, California
At Maxwell Elementary School, the students achieved a substantial overall increase of 50 points on their standardized state scores. However, because several parents requested that their students not be tested—an option available in California—the school did not meet participation requirements within the English Language Learners subgroup, causing the entire school to be labeled as not meeting AYP. (Provided by a Maxwell Elementary teacher)

Bascomb Elementary School, Cherokee, Georgia
A computer error that counted tardy students as absences earned Bascomb Elementary a spot on the "in need of improvement" list for not meeting ESEA attendance requirements on exam day. Of the more than 800 schools in Georgia that didn't make AYP, more than 500 failed to meet AYP because fewer than 95 percent of students in one or more subgroups took the tests. (Atlanta Journal-Constitution, 11/13/03; Education Week, 9/3/03)

High School South, West Windsor-Plainsboro District, New Jersey
When 10 students with mild to moderate cognitive learning problems were permitted to take an alternate performance assessment test rather than the New Jersey High School Proficiency Assessment, the school was placed on the AYP list for not achieving the required participation rate. Well over half of middle and high schools in the state did not meet AYP this year. (Princeton Packet, 10/24/03)

Magnolia School District, Texas
One high school, two junior high schools and one elementary school in the district exceeded the required passing grades on the test, but were classified as "in need of improvement" because fewer than 95 percent of the students in each subgroup took the exam on the test date. (Houston Chronicle, 10/16/03)

Ridgewood High School, Ridgewood, New Jersey
Officials at Ridgewood High School in Bergen County, New Jersey, have had a difficult time explaining to parents why their school, which boasts average SAT scores of 1174—well above the national average of 1026 points—has been placed on the early-warning list for not meeting AYP standards. The school was placed on the list because three students in its special needs subgroup did not take a required test. According to the school superintendent, one of the students had actually left the school by the time the test was given, and the other two (financed by the district ) are in private schools that did not offer the tests. (New York Times, 10/2/03)

Ooltewah High School, Hamilton County, Tennessee
Ooltewah High students have one of the highest performance rates in the state, but their school is now labeled "in need of improvement" because only 94.1 percent of students took the Algebra 1 Gateway Test instead of the required 95 percent. Out of 1,700 total students, if three more had been present and taken the test that day, the school would not have been on the list. (Nashville News Channel 9, 9/5/03)

Roswell High School, Roswell, Georgia
Among the schools on the list was Roswell High School, which is a Georgia School of Excellence and a national Blue Ribbon School and was recently judged one of the top five high schools in the state by Newsweek magazine. (Northfulton.com, 8/26/03)

Northwest Elementary School, Tampa, Florida
Northwest Elementary did not meet AYP standards even though 94 percent of its African-American students in grades 3-5—or 31 out of a total of 33 students—took the state FCAT exam. When the school investigated, administrators found out that one of the students had been absent during the testing and later withdrew from the school, and no record could be found of a second child. For four years in a row prior to this year, Northwest had received an "A" from the state of Florida for its FCAT scores and improvement levels. All told, 87 percent of public schools in Florida did not pass AYP this year. (Tampa Tribune, 8/14/03)

More Leading Schools Don't Meet AYP

Many states have accountability systems that recognize and reward high performing and fast-improving schools that meet or exceed state standards for education.But some of these same schools have been listed as not making AYP.

Tuckahoe Middle School, Henrico County, Virginia
Tuckahoe Middle School in suburban Henrico County was labeled a failing school under the federal system even though its test scores are among the best in Virginia, with 99 percent achieving proficiency in math and 95 percent in English. Why? Because the law permits recent immigrants who do not know English well to be exempted from tests only in their first year, but these exemptions brought the overall participation rate down to 94 percent, just one percent shy of the participation rate required under ESEA. (New York Times, 11/30/03)

Chicago School District, Illinois
Of the 365 Chicago schools that landed on the AYP list, 72 percent of the elementary schools actually had improved their test scores from the previous years, although they were apparently still not high enough to meet this year's AYP benchmarks for the state. (Chicago Tribune, 10/24/03)

Seminole Middle School, Pinellas County, Florida
Seminole earned Blue Ribbon designation in 2000, but this year the school failed to meet AYP despite receiving a grade of "A" on last year's state FCAT exam. (St. Petersburg Times, 10/16/03)

Mt. Hope High School, Bristol, Rhode Island
While this high school showed the seventh-largest improvement in the state in math and the third-largest improvement in English, the school did not meet AYP. (Knoxville News-Sentinel, 10/15/03)

Sarah Moore Green Magnet Elementary School, Knoxville, Tennessee
Nearly 700 students at Sarah Moore Green took part in a celebration marking the fact that they'd made enough academic progress to be removed from the state's list of low-performing schools. Wearing ribbons that read "Now get this. We're off the list," the kids chanted and applauded their improvement—even though the school had recently been classified as not meeting AYP. (Providence Journal, 10/15/03)

Becker Middle School, Las Vegas, Nevada
Becker, which was recognized in 2002 as one of six exemplary middle schools in the United States by the National Association of Secondary School Principals, did not meet AYP. This was because three subgroups fell short of the mark in one or more subjects— Hispanic students in math, special education students in English and math and students eligible for free and reduced lunches in math and English. Overall, half of the schools in Nevada didn't make AYP this year. (Las Vegas Review-Journal, 10/10/03)

Forrestdale Middle School, Rumson, New Jersey
One year ago, Forrestdale Middle School was designated a Blue Ribbon School by the U.S. Department of Education (ED), but this year ED listed the school as not making AYP because some of its special needs students didn't meet state test standards. (Asbury Park Press, 10/09/03)

Oak Park High School, Oak Park, California
Oak Park High is one of the top schools in the nation, but the school was listed as not meeting federal AYP standards. That's because 17 sophomores were absent on the third day of the state's high school exit exam, which meant the school didn't meet the required 95 percent participation rate. The school, which was named one of the top 100 in the country by Newsweek magazine earlier this year, consistently posts the highest test scores in Ventura County and has average SAT scores that go well above the national average. (Ventura County Star, 9/30/03)

Midwood High School and Hillcrest High School, New York, New York
Brooklyn's Midwood High School is a great example of a successful urban school—it has one of the highest graduation rates in the city, an annual crop of Intel science award semifinalists, and a college night so packed with recruiters that booths fill both gyms and the cafeteria. The school was even listed as one of the New York City schools successful enough to be exempt from a new citywide curriculum. Yet this entire school was listed as not meeting AYP standards solely because a group of 33 students with disabilities did not show progress on math and English exams. And Hillcrest High School in Queens was listed "in need of improvement," even after being designated a New York State Blue Ribbon School of Excellence, because its general population did not meet the required benchmarks for English and math test scores. (New York Times, 9/12/03)

T.C. Berrien Elementary School, Fayetteville, North Carolina
At T.C. Berrien Elementary, 90 percent of students receive free lunch, the school runs year round and last year the students scored so poorly on state tests that this year they were kept in school over fall break to put extra time into math and reading. When test scores came out in June, their scores had jumped 11 points to 66 percent proficient in reading and math, leading the state to award teachers $1,500 bonuses and laud the school for improving. But a few weeks later the school was sanctioned for failing to meet AYP standards. Just days after holding a party to celebrate the state award, the school had to send out letters offering parents the right to transfer their children to "better performing" schools. And T.C. Berrien was not alone—despite the state's strong accountability system, more than half of its schools did not pass AYP this year. (New York Times, 9/3/03)

Gulfport Elementary School, Pinellas County, Florida
Gov. Jeb Bush's Florida A+ Education Plan says that Gulfport Elementary School did so well academically last year it deserves a state bonus check of roughly $40,000. President George W. Bush's AYP standards say Gulfport Elementary School performed so poorly that its parents must be allowed to pull their children out and send them to a "better performing" school in the district. (St. Petersburg Times, 7/31/03)

A.I. duPont High School, Wilmington, Delaware
A.I. duPont High School was listed in Newsweek as a top school, but this year it failed to pass AYP. In fact, 57.6 percent of Delaware schools did not meet AYP, even though the state's test scores are consistently high on the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). (Education Daily, 7/11/03)

Underperforming Subgroups

Schools can be penalized if any one of a number of subgroups (based on race/ethnicity, special needs, English proficiency, low-income status) does not meet AYP standards.

Princeton High School and Montgomery Township High School, New Jersey
At Princeton High School, a handful of special education students failed to pass five out of almost 40 indicators for meeting AYP. As a result, the entire school was placed on the "early warning" list, despite high gains in all other areas. And when one student failed to pass part of the New Jersey High School Proficiency Test last year, the entire Montgomery Township High School was placed on the same list. (Princeton Packet, 10/24/03)

Green Valley High School and Gray Elementary School, Las Vegas, Nevada
Green Valley High School, which was named this year as one of Newsweek's top high schools in the U.S., did not meet AYP standards because special education students did not demonstrate adequate progress on math tests. Gray Elementary had never been deemed deficient in any area until now. Limited-English speaking students as a group failed to show adequate progress on English tests; of the 304 students tested last year at Gray, 36 were limited English speakers who had only been in the country for a relatively short time before the exams. (Las Vegas Review-Journal, 10/10/03)

Maryland Public Schools
Thirty of the 511 Maryland schools that were listed as not making AYP standards this year did not do so because they followed a conflicting federal law that requires them to provide special needs students with assistance during exams. Under federal ESEA regulations, the scores of students who have had portions of the exam read to them are invalidated and assigned the lowest score possible. This clashes with decades-old legislation that requires some children with limited English skills or learning disabilities be assisted with their exams. (Washington Post, 10/10/03)

Micro-Pine Level Elementary School, Pine Level, North Carolina
Micro-Pine Level was cited for making exceptional gains on state tests, earning every teacher a $1,500 state bonus, but the school was listed as not meeting AYP this year. The school has 45 special education students with handicaps varying from speech impediments to retardation. To make adequate progress under the federal formula for North Carolina, 75 percent of these students, or 34, needed to score as proficient in math. Of the 45, eight were immediately counted as failures because they were all borderline retarded children who took an alternative state assessment. While all eight showed progress, the federal law counted them as failures because they could not pass the regular state test for their grades. When an additional three students with disabilities didn't pass, the entire school was listed as failing. (New York Times, 10/08/03)

Shawnee Mission North High School, Overland Park, Kansas
Shawnee Mission didn't pass AYP this year solely because fewer than a dozen Hispanic and special needs students didn't meet standards. (Kansas City Star, 10/8/03)

Darley Road Elementary School, Claymont, Delaware
Darley Road is an elementary school with 350 students, 16 percent of whom possess limited English skills and where one of every 10 students qualifies for special education. Despite the odds, Darley Road's third graders surpassed state academic standards. But the school was placed on a list of Delaware schools "in need of improvement" because its African-American and economically disadvantaged students did not meet AYP standards. This led parents of 43 students—mostly strong academic performers from well-off white families—to transfer their children to other public schools in the Brandywine School District. (National Journal, 9/12/03)

Sheldon High School, Eugene, Oregon
Sheldon High was rated "in need of improvement," despite receiving an exceptional rating on state assessments. Why? The school has an alternative program that teaches life skills to developmentally disabled students and thus attracts many who don't perform well on traditional exams. Meanwhile, parents of students in area schools that did not made AYP contacted Charlemagne French Immersion School at Fox Hollow Elementary School asking to enroll their third and fourth graders because the school did meet AYP, even though their children do not speak a word of French and would invariably fall far behind students enrolled since kindergarten. (Eugene Register-Guard, 8/30/03)

Green Elementary School, Raleigh, North Carolina
With more than 90 percent of its test scores in reading and math above grade level, Green has ranked in the top category for school performance the past two years under the state's strong ABCs accountability program. But this year, even though Green met 20 of 21 target goals, it missed AYP simply because not enough low-income students passed reading tests. At least 68.9 percent among every group of students in all elementary and middle schools must pass, but at Green, only 56 percent of low-income students passed. (Raleigh News and Observer, 7/19/03)