Posted on 08/27/2003 11:48:30 AM PDT by Vindiciae Contra TyrannoSCOTUS
No flames from Mrs Tiggywinkle! I know teachers who truly have a heart for their students. They're terrific teachers!
I get a bit testy when people use opinion rather than fact in their allegations. This is about the most ignorant statement I've read in quite a while. How many homeschooled children do you know...of the 2 million in the United States? What do you base your opinion on? jeez.
One of the annointed? Get over yourself.
Check out www.debrabell.com
Debra Bell is in Pennsylvania and her site offers *great* information on homeschooling in that state, as well as on-line classes and curriculum.
"I really get tired of and should (Honest, hubby says "quite these threads. Who needs the abuse?"?)stop replting to these threads since I am not one of the anointed."
"Anointed," eh?
You might want to take a good look at your own shoulder.
Wednesday, August 27, 2003 - Page updated at 10:43 A.M.
By Linda Shaw
Seattle Times staff reporter
Issaquah School District posts some of the highest test scores in King County and the state. Yet when this year's scores come out, Issaquah expects to find its name on a federal needs-improvement list.
It will have lots of company.
Close to 400 schools and most large school districts in Washington are expected to fall short of reading and math goals outlined by the No Child Left Behind Act, which Congress passed two years ago to hold schools more accountable.
Many of its new requirements are yet to come: more tests, more federal scrutiny over everything from teacher qualifications to school safety.
But tomorrow, the centerpiece of the law goes into effect here. The Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction is scheduled to report which schools and districts don't meet some of the reading and math goals for some groups of students.
The schools and districts will be judged by scores on the homegrown Washington Assessment of Student Learning (WASL), now given in grades four, seven and 10. Other states use their own tests. The passing rate is what each state deems "proficient" in each subject, and in each grade.
Schools must reach the goal not only for all students, but in eight subgroups: five ethnic groups (white, black, Hispanic, Native American and Asian American), and students who are learning English, in special-education programs, or who live in poverty.
Washington schools, districts or the state won't pass federal muster if any one of those nine groups falls short in one of two ways: if they don't hit the target scores for each grade and subject, or if their failure rate doesn't go down 10 percent over the previous year.
In Issaquah, for example, the scores of special-education students aren't expected to be as high as required in seventh-grade reading and math, and in 10th-grade math.
Schools also must test 95 percent of students and, starting next year, fulfill either an attendance goal for elementary schools, or a graduation goal for middle and high schools.
For about half the state's schools, the not-enough-progress label will be nothing more than a label. The schools that eventually could face consequences are the other half, the ones that receive federal dollars under the Title I program, which provides money to support students from low-income families. Nearly all school districts receive some Title I dollars.
For Title I schools, one year on the deficient list will be just a mark on their name, one that will be removed if they improve next year. But if they fall short for two years in a row in the same subject, they must offer students the chance to transfer to other, higher-performing schools.
After three years, they must offer tutoring and similar services to Title I-eligible students. And after four years, the district must take action from a list of alternatives, including replacing some school staff, using a new curriculum or extending the school day or year.
(Under the previous version of the law, 31 Washington schools had to offer students the chance to transfer last year, and 21 provided tutoring or other services.)
There are similar sanctions for districts and the state.
States don't have to follow the federal law — but then would forgo federal support. In this state, that equals roughly $600 million a year, about 8 percent of school spending. But Washington Deputy Superintendent Mary Alice Heuschel says her understanding is that the federal government won't pull support if states do what's required, even if they don't meet the annual goals.
Nearly everyone applauds the goals of No Child Left Behind: all students "proficient" within 12 years; more help given to students, especially those from some ethnic backgrounds, who traditionally have scored lower than white and Asian-American students; and no longer allowing schools to continue to fail some or all of their students without repercussions.
The Education Trust, a nonprofit group that's a big supporter of the law, points out that the law just requires states to take their own standards seriously.
But many object to the law's one-size-fits-all nature, and what they see as an ambitious timetable with an emphasis on punishment.
There's not enough federal money to provide the kind of support schools need to help reach all students — nothing close to what Washington state now provides about 65 schools in a voluntary, pilot school-improvement effort, said Karen Davis of the Washington Education Association, the state's largest teachers union.
And many worry that schools that fall just short of the goals, or are making steady progress, will be unfairly viewed as failures.
Some critics derisively call the law "No School Left Unpunished."
There's no doubt the goals are ambitious.
After the law passed, a couple of states lowered their learning standards so that more students would reach them. So far, Washington has chosen to keep its standards the same. But it did work to find ways to reduce the number of schools that end up on the needs-improvement list.
The Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction succeeded in getting the U.S. Department of Education to agree that a school would pass muster as long as its scores were within the "standard error of proportion," similar to a standard margin of error. That means that schools can come close — and still make it.
Schools also don't have to count the scores of students who haven't attended for a full year. And a subgroup's scores aren't counted if it has fewer than 30 students, because the state argued that any less wouldn't be statistically reliable.
That means many small schools, and some very small districts, will be exempt from the law's requirements.
The state superintendent's office continues to lobby to change the law, especially the requirements that students in special-education and English-as-a-second-language (ESL) programs must meet the same goals as other students.
"Our effort is not to whine; we do support the goal," said Heuschel. "But I think it's fair to object to certain ways of measuring things."
How does one show progress with ESL students, for example, when the students who are proficient in the language leave the program, and get replaced by those who are new to this country and are starting at the beginning?
Davis said she fears that the concern over how many schools fail to meet the requirements for special education and ESL students will obscure the real issue, which is the gap in achievement among ethnic groups.
When the scores come out, Heuschel intends to visit a number of schools that don't pass federal muster. She's convinced she'll find many stories of success, not failure.
Heuschel is on one of the "brain trust" committees that advise U.S. Secretary of Education Rod Paige on the law. She says he's labeled her "positively aggressive."
It's a title she intends to keep.
Linda Shaw: 206-464-2359
Copyright © 2003 The Seattle Times Company
Too often money, status and living beyond their means is the priority of "caring" parents.
What you ought to be asking yourself is why homsechoolers have you so defensive.
I agree. Further, I am NOT a teacher. I would do my kids a disservice by homeschooling. I also do not perform surgery on them.
The lack of food would also be an issue.
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