Posted on 06/07/2011 3:18:53 PM PDT by Diana in Wisconsin
A preliminary list of public schools that missed federally mandated academic goals for the 2010-’11 school year includes more than 90 schools in Milwaukee, a spike from last year as proficiency standards have risen.
Milwaukee Public Schools had 94 of the 228 schools in Wisconsin that missed the so-called adequate yearly progress, or AYP, requirement of the No Child Left Behind Act, according to information released Tuesday by the state Department of Public Instruction.
Last year, 78 schools in MPS missed the academic goals.
The federal standards for reading rose from 74% of students scoring proficient or above last year, to 80.5% proficiency required this year; the mathematics proficiency target rose from 58% to 68.5%.
Three charter schools authorized by the City of Milwaukee and two charter schools under contract with the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee also were on the list for missed goals, along with a handful of suburban schools.
Six school districts -- Milwaukee, Racine, Kenosha, Green Bay, Beaver Dam and Madison -- were on the missed goals list. Racine and Madison districts have failed to meet the federal requirements for two years, and are now also on another list that makes them subject to sanctions.
Schools that fail to meet the federal requirements for two or more years are identified for improvement and, in the case of schools that receive federal funds for low-income students, are subject to an escalating series of sanctions that include allowing students to transfer schools and receive extra tutoring.
Overall, MPS had 61 of the 89 schools statewide identified for improvement.
Once identified for improvement, a school needs to make AYP for two years in a row before it can no longer be identified for improvement.
Six of the 89 schools identified for improvement last year were able to lose the status this year.
Schools can miss the adequate yearly progress requirement in a variety of ways.
Among them are failing to meet proficiency goals on the Wisconsin Knowledge and Concepts Examinations’ reading and math tests at the individual grade levels tested — from third through eighth and 10th grades — and by having certain subgroups of students miss those proficiency goals.
Schools are held accountable for all students, including minority students, students with disabilities, English language learners and economically disadvantaged students.
Generally, for schools to meet the target for the 2010-’11 school year, they must have the required percentage of students scoring proficient in math and reading, have 95% of eligible students take the WKCE reading and math tests; and a high school graduation rate of at least 85% or an improvement in the graduation rate; or an attendance rate of 85% or growth over the previous year.
The proficiency goals are set to increase every year toward a 100% proficiency goal set by the federal law for the 2013-’14 school year.
Well it’s obviously because of insufficient funding.
That is what the lefties will claim I bet.
more money...and shorten the school year, too!
that’ll fix it.
All those teachers who called in sick with the fake excuses. Tsk Tsk.
The kids from those schools in the liberal Milwaukee area just missed the test, that’s all. They were on a field trip to see their Dem legislators at work and it took longer than their math teachers had calculated to get to IL and back.
Seriously though, I’d be interested in the data that would show whether there is a correlation between the schools that closed because of teacher strikes against Walker and those which are mentioned in the article as failing academically.
Not that teachers being gone those days would have that much direct impact. I would just guess that schools run by folk who thought closing them to protest was a good idea are probably schools where success is measured in contracts and perks rather than in test scores and education.
That’s because their teachers are out protesting and getting phony doctor’s excuses.
I agree.
I count my blessings that I no longer have kids in public school! I spent a DECADE deprogramming my boys over dinner and into homework hour every d@mn night. I spent a LOT of time in their school as a Room Mom, on field trips, as a Den Mother in Cub/Boy Scouts, etc. I did my best; they turned out ‘generally educated’ for the most part...the rest is up to them. :)
(Not my choice that they were there; family circumstance decided it at the time.)
LOL! Spot on.
Well, the guy certainly had his problems, but there's no way that the schools can overcome the black, inner-city culture that doesn't value education. It's just that -- except for here -- no one dares say it.
There's no easy answer to our education problems, but it probably starts with the college education that the teachers receive before they become teachers. It's much easier to expect accountability from universities dealing with young adults, there by choice, than the elementary and secondary schools where home life still dominates.
Perfectly stated. I agree completely.
Anything to do with all the teachers who were out “sick” patrolling in Madison?
It must be kind of hard to teach the children when you call in sick to protest in Madison.
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