Scott County Schools 'Should Be Celebrating'
By DEBORAH ROY -- Independent Herald Staff
The Scott County school system Òshould be celebrating,Ó Dr. Connie Smith told Director of Schools Mike Davis and his administrators in a conference call last week, after the first yearÕs results of the No Child Left Behind Act testing were released.
Smith said local school officials should be proud that the schools fell short in only a few areas and that they are simply a ÒtargetedÓ school system, and not on the Òhigh priorityÓ list.
And while Davis and his staff may not be described as elated, he said Monday that they are proud of the progress their schools have made and they will work to meet all the goals set forth in the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) legislation.
School system administrators across the state are baffled at how many schools that are classed as among the best in the state are Òin need of assistanceÓ to meet goals set by the new legislation enacted this year.
NCLB is a federal mandate to ensure that all students in all schools are academically proficient in math, reading and language arts by the year 2014, according to information on the state Department of EducationÕs website.
This yearÕs test results are simply a baseline, or starting point, to determine in which areas schools need to improve. Schools falling below the federal benchmark this year are termed Òtargeted schoolsÓ in need of assistance, and will be given five years to get their scores up to par. Schools that fail to meet the criteria by the sixth year may be taken over by the state for corrective action.
Students tested are divided into nine subgroups, and each subgroup must meet federal guidelines for the school to meet the goals. The subgroups include five based on race/ethnicity: white, Hispanic, Black, Native American, and Asian/Pacific Islander; as well as three other groups: economically disadvantaged, students with disabilities, and those with limited English proficiency.
(Economically disadvantaged is defined as the number of students qualifying for free and reduced price lunches, according to federal income guidelines.)
Each subgroup must have 45 or more students who meet that criteria for their scores to be included in the overall assessment.
The Scott County K-8 schools as a group met the federal benchmarks, with Winfield Elementary being the only school to fall short in its Òeconomically disadvantagedÓ subgroup.
Scott High School failed to meet the federal benchmark in the percent of students passing the Algebra Gateway test, and also in the percent tested as well as the percent passing the English Gateway test.
Davis said, however, that Òour numbers donÕt match the stateÕsÓ in these areas.
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