More Chesterfield schools in jeopardy of not meeting benchmarks

All but 10 schools in Chesterfield County are in danger of failing No Child Left Behind's rising annual objectives for next school year.

The federal educational accountability law enacted in 2002 requires all students to be proficient in reading and math by 2014.

No Child Left Behind's Adequate Yearly Progress benchmarks for Virginia schools increase every year toward that 100 percent. This year, the required pass rates are 81 percent for reading and 79 percent in math, a 4 percentage point jump from last year.

That's 10 percentage points above the state Standards of Learning benchmarks, said Lin Corbin-Howerton, director of school improvement for Chesterfield's 64 schools.

Currently, 49 Chesterfield schools are in line with Adequate Yearly Progress benchmarks, down from 52 in the previous year. All county schools are fully accredited by the state's Standards of Learning, including 10 who failed to meet the federal No Child Left Behind.

"As the passing rate for making AYP climbs each year, the number of schools that are in jeopardy of not making it next year tends to grow because they have to continue to make this big improvement," said Kevin R. Hughes, assistant director of school improvement for Chesterfield's schools.

Henrico County projects that 30 of its 69 schools would make Adequate Yearly Progress by the fall, down from 46 in the current year. In Hanover County, 21 of 22 schools would make AYP. All of the county schools currently meet the benchmarks. In Richmond, 11 of 49 schools would hit the mark, compared with 47 of 49 schools that made it for this year.

Schools across the country face major challenges in staying on track with the No Child Left Behind's 100 percent proficiency goal. According to the National Education Association, the rate at which schools are failing to make AYP in several states has doubled, tripled and even quadrupled.

The number of Virginia schools making AYP has remained almost flat, at about 70 percent.

Educators hope that President Barack Obama's administration will make some changes to the law. He promised in his campaign to make reforms but so far, he has not discussed it.

Chesterfield conducts an analysis of each of the schools and where they stand on the AYP benchmarks in the fall, based on the previous year SOL scores. Elementary and middle schools struggled in reading and high schools in math last year, Corbin-Howerton said.

To meet the Adequate Yearly Progress, schools are required to meet 29 indicators, including students with disabilities and English learners testing successfully. Those students struggle the most to pass the tests, she said.

"The real problem, to me, is the fact that students with disabilities can learn anything," Corbin-Howerton said. "They just need more time. The same concept applies to students learning English. It takes longer for a child who's learning English to learn a skill or concept in English. But every year, you have to make this much progress to make AYP."

Once the schools are identified as being in danger of not making AYP, resources are allocated, Corbin-Howerton said.

"You can't do broad-brush intervention anymore," she said. "It's got to be very, very targeted and very strategic."

Because research shows that general after-school remediation programs don't work, schools have incorporated extra help in the morning and during lunch.

Thomas Dale High School, however, started an after-school program this year with a unique approach. The school sends letters to students who are weak in a particular subject and encourages them to attend sessions targeting that subject.

Based on last year's scores, 10 schools failed to make Adequate Yearly Progress. Matoaca Middle School has never made AYP, said its principal, Carla Mathews. School staff members pore over student data to identify multiple needs of individual students and look for solutions, she said.

"You're trying to turn over every rock, every leaf and your making every effort to reach every single child and then you're stifled again and you're trying to think, 'Why did we miss this?'" she said.

Matoaca Middle, like the other schools failing AYP, is fully accredited under the state's standards. But you can't stop there, Mathews said. NCLB focuses on the achievement progress of subgroups such as poor students, students with disabilities and students with limited English.

"If you stop with just SOLs, it would be possible for a school to appear to be a strong school because it would have enough students who could pass the state standards, but it could hide subgroups of students that are not being served," she said.

No Child Left Behind's 100 percent goal doesn't seem attainable, Corbin-Howerton said.

"I don't think anybody in the field of education thinks that it's reasonable," she said. "It should be our goal. A hundred percent of our kids should be able to read and do science and math."

Contact staff writer Juan Antonio Lizama at jlizama@timesdispatch.com or (804) 649-6513.