More than a third of N. Virginia schools fail No Child Left Behind requirements

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WASHINGTON (Map, News) - More than a third of Northern Virginia schools failed this year to meet standards set by the federal No Child Left Behind law, up from a failure rate of 20 percent in 2006, according to preliminary test results released Thursday by the Virginia Department of Education.

The results of the annual math and reading tests determine whether each school is meeting the annual benchmarks required by federal law. The targets gradually increase each year and by 2014, all students must pass the reading and math tests.

“If you raise expectations … you can show improvement and still not pass adequate yearly progress,” said Billy K. Cannaday Jr., Virginia’s superintendent of public instruction.

To meet the current standard, more than 70 percent of the students in the third through eighth grades must pass both tests. In addition, more than 70 percent of students who are black, Hispanic, white, disabled, have limited English proficiency and qualifying for free or reduced lunch have to pass the tests.

Attendance and high school graduation rates also factor into the determination, according to the Department of Education.

This year, half the Alexandria schools didn’t meet the criteria for adequate yearly progress. Neither did 14 of 31 schools in Arlington, 68 of the 190 Fairfax County schools, 13 of the 70 Loudoun County schools, and 37 of the 80 Prince William County schools. Overall, 36 percent of Northern Virginia schools failed at either the math or the reading criteria.

“I really thought we were heading in the right direction last year,” said Bill Campbell, parent teacher association president at Jefferson-Houston School for Arts and Academics in Alexandria. “[Jefferson-Houston] didn’t fail for lack of manpower or resources.”

The federal No Child Left Behind Act places sanctions on schools that fail the standard in the same test two or more consecutive years. However, the sanctions only apply to schools that receive specific federal funding, said Mark Macekura, an Arlington schools special projects coordinator.

If these schools don’t meet the standards two years in a row, parents can transfer their children to another public school in the district. After three years, the school district has to provide tutoring to low-income students who fail either test.

Once a school has failed to meet the federal standard in the same subject four straight years the school must take some form of corrective action, such as replacing staff, extending school hours or changing the curriculum.

Fourteen elementary schools in Northern Virginia are subject to at least one of these sanctions. Seven of these schools failed to make the required progress for three years in a row, and will require some kind of corrective action beyond allowing transfers and providing tutoring.

Read the complete report here.

mhegstad@dcexaminer.com

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