Educators take aim at moving federal targets
By: BEN FRUMIN - Staff Writer , NCTIMES.com, September 25, 2004

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ENCINITAS ---- Every public school in the state will be required by 2014 to reach achievement standards outlined in the federal No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 that no school or district in California reached in annual progress reports released last month by the state Department of Education.

Encinitas educators said last week that they are implementing intervention programs to try to keep pace with the federal requirements, though some administrators said the requirements are unrealistic.

The federal law, passed in 2001, promises to punish schools and districts unless a certain percentage of students participate in, and score at or above "proficient" levels on, statewide math and English tests.

Students who score "proficient" have demonstrated that they have met the state's content standards for their grade.

The percentage of students required to be proficient, which ranged from 9.6 percent to 16 percent this year, will continue to rise until 2014, when 100 percent of students must test at or above proficient in both English and math for schools to be in compliance with federal law.

"That's an ambitious goal, but not a realistic one," said Suzanne O'Connell, San Dieguito Union High School District's director of curriculum and assessment.

No public school in the state had 100 percent of its students test at or above proficient in either subject this year, according to Bob Bernstein at the state Department of Education.

For a district such as San Dieguito, which enrolls nearly 12,000 students, one teen's failure to score at proficient levels in 2014 would cause the whole district to flunk its progress report.

Schools that fail could be forced to let parents transfer their children to other campuses, made to provide supplemental tutoring for students and training for teachers or lose federal funding.

While some educators think the federal law will be restructured before it requires 100 percent proficiency, local school districts are implementing intervention programs to help boost test scores of under-performing groups.

Targeting subgroups

Each of 10 subgroup populations ---- such as Latinos, English learners, students with disabilities, whites, Asians and socioeconomically disadvantaged students ---- are also required to meet federal achievement targets so that no one group is "left behind."

It is many of these subgroups, particularly English learners and special education students, that educators are targeting for improved test performance.

O'Connell said San Dieguito educators have added reading and language support and remediation programs to the school day instead of offering them after school, when participation can't be required.

Many students have a full-period support class in their schedule, while others are released from their normal classes to work in a computer lab or small group.

O'Connell emphasized that support programs are still standards-based, and that state-required content knowledge isn't sacrificed in order to provide students with extra help.

"We can't afford to have any instruction going on that is not directly related to the standards that need to be taught in the classroom," she said.

And though standards are the core of instruction, the district has worked to individualize teaching methods to the needs of each student, O'Connell said.

"All of our instruction doesn't have to look the same for it to be equal for all students," she said.

After-school help

Hundreds of elementary school students at all nine Encinitas Union School District campuses are expected to participate this year in after-school programs targeted at boosting No Child Left Behind test proficiency, said Nancy Cunningham, administrator of support services.

About 30 teachers and administrators met Tuesday in the multipurpose room of Pacific View School to learn about one intervention program, an after-school "reading club" that will use word games, test-taking practice and out-loud reading to improve the fluency, comprehension and vocabulary of underachieving students.

Cunningham said the reading club is one of several intervention programs the district is instituting to help proficiency rates keep pace with increasing federal standards.

The materials for the reading club cost about $23,000, while staffing and training costs will depend on how often the program is run at each school, said Abdollah Saadat, assistant superintendent of business services.

District teachers, retired educators and credentialed members of the community will be paid about $33 per hour to run the program, officials said.

Cunningham said the district uses after-school intervention programs ---- which she described as engaging, interactive and hands-on ---- so as not to take anything away from the normal school day.

"This is above and beyond," she said.

Cunningham said the district has utilized programs like the reading club for years to help improve content proficiency.

"Every year, we're getting better and better," she said.

Contact staff writer Ben Frumin at (760) 943-2313 or bfrumin@nctimes.com.