February 17, 2006
NCLB forces local schools to improve
According to the VCSS Office "Focus on Education" (sorry Ann)...:
73% of high schools, 52% of middle schools and 62% of elementary schools in Ventura County met all Federal AYP (Adequate Yearly Progress) goals and exceeded overall state performance. Ventura County had a 5% gain in the number of schools that met all AYP targets, with High Schools leading the way with a 34% gain.
9 out of the 20 districts in the County did not meet their AYP goals. Fortunately, the NCLB act allows for additional funding, tutoring and resources to flow to these districts to help non-english learners and socio-economically disadvantaged students get a leg up and get ahead. More of these resources poured into these non-performing districts will help them towards meeting their obligation to students.
If any of you are in the following districts, I would ask your district leaders what they are doing to bring in grants, tutors and the additional resources required to help their students learn:
Fillmore
Hueneme
Ocean View
Ojai
Oxnard Elementary
Rio
Santa Paula
Somis
Ventura
I think when we consider the districts not meeting their targets, one is left to think that some of these kids are going to be left behind. As a side not, please read the following articles how the NAACP is helping the Federal Education Department in seeing NCLB be fully implemented in Connecticut:
From Education Sector
From the Washington Post
And finally, here is a blog on NCLB, sponsored by the American Federation of Teachers.
Congratulations to those districts performing well on API scores and under NCLB. Now, let's hope leaders work towards making sure these non-performing districts get the help they need to help their kids learn.
Tim Keaney
Comments
Cathy Carlson from TO here: Tim, I'll be sure to let my contact in Ventura see this. She is THE EXPERT on NCLB in the County, and has info on how the funds are being misused that should be going for tutoring. She has been researching this for 3 years. As she got closer and closer to the truth, the Ventura S.D. administrators got adversarial, called the police on her, had her arrested and called Child Protective Services. It is quite a story. You may have seen her being interviewed on TV by David Cruz.
For those who have been wondering "Just what is AYP", here's the scoop. Every state has a different Annual Yearly Progress target. Several years ago California was given a very low goal of 45% of our state testing, because the Feds knew that our academics scores were weak to begin with. That was reasonable and generous. So, that translated to 560 on the California scoring system using our unique API, the Academic Performance Index. (There are 800 points possible from 200 to 1000. Every 8 points equals 1%, and 75% is the Interum Minium Target at the 800 mark.)
The Federal AYP for California has stayed at 560 until this past year when it increase to a whopping 590, or just 49%. Still a very generous and easy target. I take exception to the critics of NCLB who often throw stones at the program, saying that the targets are too high for California students. Huh?? Can those critics even tell you what the target is?
Also, schools are given small mini targets, in the hopes that they will climb up and eventually meet the annual AYP after a couple of years. If they don't, THEN they are put on PI, or Program Improvement. That is when the emergency bell rings. So, yes, you can have schools under the annual target for a year, as has happened in the Conejo, without being put on the scary PI list. The Conejo has "dodged the bullet" every year for many years by bringing up the scores of those schools that failed to meet AYP immediately. That is good use of the NCLB funds.
Now, why can't other schools in the County do the same? That's what Tim is asking in this blog. It is a very good question. What the heck happened to the monies that those districts got from the feds that should have been used for student tutoring and other programs? For those of you who ask too closely, who demand to see receipts, you may have Child Protective Services come knocking at your doors, courtesy of a false report from your local principal.
All the indications point to big time fraud of Title I monies in Ventura County. The coverup at some districts appears absolutely byzantine. Tim, I doubt that you will get truthful answers to your inquiry at this point. But, eventually some heads will roll, and I predict that those who know where the money really went will turn in others to protect themselves.
If there are shy potential whistleblowers reading this, please report federal fraud of NCLB and Title I monies to the Federal Fraud Dept in the Dept of Ed under Secretary Margaret Spellings office. They are very easy to reach by phone and they will ask you to send an email with the details. You can try to do this anonymously as well by sending an unsigned letter to them. They already have a heads up about this County.
OK, Arleigh, if you want to have a dialog, what are the top 5 issues, which affect the local schools, that you would change, and how would these changes improve student scores?
Cathy Carlson from TO here: Tim, I'll be sure to let my contact in Ventura see this. She is THE EXPERT on NCLB in the County, and has info on how the funds are being misused that should be going for tutoring. She has been researching this for 3 years. As she got closer and closer to the truth, the Ventura S.D. administrators got adversarial, called the police on her, had her arrested and called Child Protective Services. It is quite a story. You may have seen her being interviewed on TV by David Cruz.
For those who have been wondering "Just what is AYP", here's the scoop. Every state has a different Annual Yearly Progress target. Several years ago California was given a very low goal of 45% of our state testing, because the Feds knew that our academics scores were weak to begin with. That was reasonable and generous. So, that translated to 560 on the California scoring system using our unique API, the Academic Performance Index. (There are 800 points possible from 200 to 1000. Every 8 points equals 1%, and 75% is the Interum Minium Target at the 800 mark.)
The Federal AYP for California has stayed at 560 until this past year when it increase to a whopping 590, or just 49%. Still a very generous and easy target. I take exception to the critics of NCLB who often throw stones at the program, saying that the targets are too high for California students. Huh?? Can those critics even tell you what the target is?
Also, schools are given small mini targets, in the hopes that they will climb up and eventually meet the annual AYP after a couple of years. If they don't, THEN they are put on PI, or Program Improvement. That is when the emergency bell rings. So, yes, you can have schools under the annual target for a year, as has happened in the Conejo, without being put on the scary PI list. The Conejo has "dodged the bullet" every year for many years by bringing up the scores of those schools that failed to meet AYP immediately. That is good use of the NCLB funds.
Now, why can't other schools in the County do the same? That's what Tim is asking in this blog. It is a very good question. What the heck happened to the monies that those districts got from the feds that should have been used for student tutoring and other programs? For those of you who ask too closely, who demand to see receipts, you may have Child Protective Services come knocking at your doors, courtesy of a false report from your local principal.
All the indications point to big time fraud of Title I monies in Ventura County. The coverup at some districts appears absolutely byzantine. Tim, I doubt that you will get truthful answers to your inquiry at this point. But, eventually some heads will roll, and I predict that those who know where the money really went will turn in others to protect themselves.
If there are shy potential whistleblowers reading this, please report federal fraud of NCLB and Title I monies to the Federal Fraud Dept in the Dept of Ed under Secretary Margaret Spellings office. They are very easy to reach by phone and they will ask you to send an email with the details. You can try to do this anonymously as well by sending an unsigned letter to them. They already have a heads up about this County.
Posted by: Cathy Carlson at February 17, 2006 11:10 PM