New
'No Child' list upgrades schools
Saturday, April 01, 2006 • BY
JOHN MOONEY • Star-Ledger Staff
Seven months after being marked as
low-performing, more than 60 schools have seen their
standing upgraded under the federal No Child Left Behind
Act, including a handful that had faced the law's toughest
sanctions.
The state yesterday released its final
list of how schools and districts fare under the complex
formulas for measuring student achievement required by the
controversial federal law.
A preliminary list put out last fall
tagged 851 of the state's 2,398 schools as missing the law's
student test score requirements. The new list brings that
number down to 822, or close to 35 percent of all the
schools. The national average is about 25 percent missing
the marks, according to federal data.
After reviewing appeals and adjusting its
calculations with revised test scores, the state yesterday
made dozens of changes in its ratings, mostly to the
schools' benefit.
For instance, Sussex Avenue School in
Newark was initially told it failed to reach achievement
requirements for the fifth straight year and would soon need
to "restructure," which could include replacing much of its
staff.
But the state's first list did not
include test scores for any of the schools' most severely
disabled students, who take a separate exam. Once those were
added, Sussex Avenue showed enough improvement in its
eighth-grade scores to qualify, officials said.
The school's third and fourth grade
scores still lag, and the restructuring requirement could
surface again soon. But for the time being, the school's
principal said, the reprieve was a morale boost.
"We know we can't rest on it and need to
be just as successful this year," said principal JoAnn
Gilmore. "But we don't feel we are behind the eight ball so
much."
Most of the other changes in ratings had
a less dramatic impact, as the affected schools faced less
severe consequences.
Forty of the schools were initially
marked as missing the test score requirements for the first
time, putting them on a so-called "early warning" list. The
new changes cleared their slates entirely.
In addition, the state made changes
yesterday to the list of entire districts deemed as "in need
of improvement" under the federal law, based on their
overall test scores.
After counting in the late
special-education scores and reviewing appeals, the state
removed seven districts from the list altogether, bringing
the total down to 55 districts and charter
schools.
After getting the good news this week,
Linden's school chief said he's still not sure how it
happened.
"But I'm not asking," said Superintendent
Joseph Martino. "We didn't think we belonged originally, so
this satisfies what we had thought."
Others said the damage had been
done.
"It's certainly good news for us," said
Geri Margin, the acting superintendent in North Brunswick,
which also came off the needs-improvement list. "But
unfortunately the label was already attached to us (in the
fall) and we've had to deal with that ever
since."
Other districts removed from the
sanctioned list altogether included Teaneck, Orange,
Hunterdon Central Regional, and Phillipsburg.
The full list of changes and the state's
announcement can be found at the state Department of
Education Web site (http://www.state.nj.us/njded/news/2006/0331ayp.htm).
John Mooney covers education. He may be reached at
jmooney@starledger.com, or (973) 392-1548.
© 2006 The Star-Ledger. Used by NJ.com with
permission.
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