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A true measuring stick?
by Outspoken on Wed Sep 10, 2008 3:56 am
A true measuring stick?
BY COLIN HICKEY
Staff Writer Morning Sentinel
School Superintendents James C. Morse Sr. and William P. Braun each have schools in their district that failed to make what the No Child Left Behind law calls adequate yearly progress.
But neither Morse, who heads School Administrative District 47, nor Braun, of SAD 48, sees the schools as failing.
Instead, each sees those schools as victims of a flawed assessment tool.
"I don't think it says anything about SAD 47," Morse said. "I think it says something about how adequate yearly progress is measured."
Both educators argued that the methodology employed makes it inevitable that an increasing number of schools will be classified as failures each year.
The list of failing schools released by the Maine Department of Education on Monday bears them out on this point.
In reading, the number of Maine schools on the list increased from 121 to 139 from the 2006-07 to the 2007-08 school year. Performance in the math portion of the test was even worse: Schools failing to meet the standard jumped from 74 to 117.
University of Maine at Farmington associate professor Becky Berger is not surprised by the increase.
Berger, who specializes in elementary education, said the test sets higher targets over time.
This year, for example, the percentage of high school students expected to meet the standard in reading increased from 50 to 57 percent -- in the math the percentage rose from 20 to 31 percent.
By the 2013-14 school year, the law requires that all students meet the standard.
"As that number increases," Berger said of the target, "you are going to see more and more schools fail to meet that mark. That is just all there is to it."
In SAD 47, the schools on the list are Belgrade Central School, Messalonskee High School, of Oakland, and the James H. Bean School, of Sidney.
In each case, the schools met the standard in regard to the entire testing population but fell short when it came to the students-with-disabilities subgroup.
http://morningsentinel.mainetoday.com/news/local/5394723.html
Staff photos by Thomas Michael Corcoran
BY COLIN HICKEY
Staff Writer Morning Sentinel
School Superintendents James C. Morse Sr. and William P. Braun each have schools in their district that failed to make what the No Child Left Behind law calls adequate yearly progress.
But neither Morse, who heads School Administrative District 47, nor Braun, of SAD 48, sees the schools as failing.
Instead, each sees those schools as victims of a flawed assessment tool.
"I don't think it says anything about SAD 47," Morse said. "I think it says something about how adequate yearly progress is measured."
Both educators argued that the methodology employed makes it inevitable that an increasing number of schools will be classified as failures each year.
The list of failing schools released by the Maine Department of Education on Monday bears them out on this point.
In reading, the number of Maine schools on the list increased from 121 to 139 from the 2006-07 to the 2007-08 school year. Performance in the math portion of the test was even worse: Schools failing to meet the standard jumped from 74 to 117.
University of Maine at Farmington associate professor Becky Berger is not surprised by the increase.
Berger, who specializes in elementary education, said the test sets higher targets over time.
This year, for example, the percentage of high school students expected to meet the standard in reading increased from 50 to 57 percent -- in the math the percentage rose from 20 to 31 percent.
By the 2013-14 school year, the law requires that all students meet the standard.
"As that number increases," Berger said of the target, "you are going to see more and more schools fail to meet that mark. That is just all there is to it."
In SAD 47, the schools on the list are Belgrade Central School, Messalonskee High School, of Oakland, and the James H. Bean School, of Sidney.
In each case, the schools met the standard in regard to the entire testing population but fell short when it came to the students-with-disabilities subgroup.
http://morningsentinel.mainetoday.com/news/local/5394723.html
Staff photos by Thomas Michael Corcoran
"Music is a moral law. It gives soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination, and charm and gaiety to life and to everything."
Plato (427-347 BC)
Plato (427-347 BC)
