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POSTED: Saturday, Aug. 15, 2009

Whatcom County middle schools fail to meet standards

For the third year in a row, every middle school in Whatcom County failed to meet federal and state standards as required by the No Child Left Behind Act.

The Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction released the preliminary list of schools failing to meet standards during the 2008-09 school year on Friday morning, Aug. 14. In Whatcom County, 34 schools and all seven school districts didn't meet standard.

Only one district in the entire state had all of its schools meet standard, according to Randy Dorn, the state Superintendent of Public Instruction.

According to the federal law, schools and districts must make "Adequate Yearly Progress" and show they are working to make sure all students are at standard by 2014. AYP tracks a school and district's progress in reaching that goal.

In Washington, AYP is determined by looking at a combination of Washington Assessment of Student Learning scores, graduation rates and attendance records. In all, schools and districts must meet standards in 37 categories.

If schools or districts fail to meet standard in the same category for two or more years in a row, they are considered "in improvement" and face possible sanctions. In Whatcom County, 26 schools and one school district are on the "in improvement" list this year.

Three schools in Whatcom County that failed to make AYP in the 2007-08 school year managed to make it this year. Nooksack Valley High School and Geneva and Harmony elementary schools all met standard during the 2008-09 school year.

Statewide, more schools are failing to meet the standards than ever before. A total of 1,285 schools, or about 60 percent of the schools in the state, failed to meet standard in the 2008-09 school year, and 1,073 are considered "in improvement." The year before, about 600 schools were on the "in improvement" list.

The fact that only one district in the state had every school make AYP shows that something is wrong with the law, Dorn said.

"The federal government is actually failing us in actual law of No Child Left Behind," he said during a press conference. "Our state testing scores are flat, yet the federal system shows an additional 500 schools are failing.

"I think No Child Left Behind actually undermines the confidence of public education," Dorn said. "We're beginning to doubt the improvements that we've made."

According to the law, schools face sanctions, including voluntary student transfers, supplemental education services and school reorganization, depending on how long they're on the "in improvement" list.

The only schools facing sanctions in Whatcom County are those on the "in improvement" list that also receive federal Title 1 funding for large low-income populations - Alderwood Elementary, Birchwood Elementary, Blaine Middle, Custer Elementary, Eagleridge Elementary, Lynden Middle, Kendall Elementary and Mount Baker Junior High.

Alderwood, Birchwood and Custer elementaries are all in "step one," which means it's their first year on the "in improvement" list. They are required to notify parents, allow voluntary student transfers to another school within the district not on the list, if available, and create a new school improvement plan.

The other schools on the "in improvement" list are in "step two" this year, which means it's their second year on the list. They are required to continue the work from "step one" and offer supplemental services to low-income students, usually in the form of tutoring.

The Bellingham School District is the only district in the county considered in "step one," even though all of the districts failed to make AYP at least two years in a row. For a district to be "in improvement," the same category of students in the same subject in all three school levels must fail to make AYP two years in a row. The Bellingham School District failed to make AYP on the math test in the low-income category in all three school levels for the last two years.

Dorn hopes that the federal government makes some changes to the No Child Left Behind law soon, creating a system that doesn't punish schools and students for trying.

"Statistically it's going to make all the schools in Washington fail because of the way it's set up," he said. "Statistically, it's an impossible goal to attain."

TEST SCORES

The following Whatcom County schools did not make "Adequate Yearly Progress," as outlined in the No Child Left Behind Act.

Bellingham: Alderwood, Birchwood, Carl Cozier, Northern Heights elementary schools; Fairhaven, Kulshan, Shuksan and Whatcom middle schools; and Bellingham, Options, Sehome and Squalicum high schools.

Blaine: Blaine Elementary, Blaine Middle and Blaine High schools.

Ferndale: Custer, Eagleridge, Mountain View and Skyline elementary schools, Horizon and Vista middle schools and Ferndale High School.

Lynden: Lynden Middle and Lynden High schools.

Meridian: Meridian Middle and Meridian High schools.

Mount Baker: Acme and Kendall elementary schools and Mount Baker Junior High.

Nooksack Valley: Everson Elementary and Nooksack Valley Middle School.

Lummi: Lummi Tribal and Lummi High schools.

MORE DETAILS TO COME

Whatcom County school districts were analyzing the data Friday and expected to do so into next week. A more in-depth look at Washington Assessment of Student Learning scores and Adequate Yearly Progress, including school-level comparison charts for both, will be in the Aug. 23 edition of The Bellingham Herald.

SEE THE RESULTS

If you would like to see detailed information on WASL and AYP results, go to http://reportcard.ospi.k12.wa.us.