More district schools fail to meet federal standards

DARLINGTON — Despite recent gains on the PACT standardized state achievement test, fewer Darlington County public schools met federal achievement goals in 2008 under the No Child Left Behind Act.

One school out of 17 elementary and middle schools in the Darlington County School District met the standards for Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP), compared to five that met the AYP standards in 2007.

The State Department of Education released AYP data for elementary and middle schools on Wednesday. Data for high schools and school districts was not released because of concerns over the accuracy of some information. High school, district and state data will be released later, education officials said.

In Darlington County in 2007, Cain Elementary School, Carolina Elemen-tary School, Southside Early Childhood Center, Thornwell School for the Arts and Washington Street Elementary School met federal AYP standards under NCLB. In 2008, only Carolina Elementary met the standards, achieving 17 of the 17 goals set for that school.

Darlington County Superintendent of Educa-tion Dr. Rainey Knight said the decline came as no surprise. Education officials warned in 2007 that fewer S.C. public schools would meet AYP standards in 2008 because of rising achievement goals for 2008. In fact, the 2008 test score targets for elementary and middle schools on the PACT (Palmetto Academic Challenge Test) rose by more than 50 percent from 2007.

In order to meet AYP standards this year, S.C. elementary and middle schools must have had 58.8 percent of their students proficient in English language arts, up from 38.2 percent last year. In math, 57.8 percent had to be proficient, up from 36.7 percent in 2007.

Knight said schools and school districts are constantly trying to hit a “moving target” as AYP test score goals continue to climb each year.

South Carolina’s AYP targets, like those of other states, are rising quickly in order to meet NCLB’s requirement that all students — including those who come from low-income families, speak limited English or have learning disabilities — score “proficient” on state math and English language arts tests by 2014. Under NCLB, each state gets to set its own definition of proficiency.

“Essentially, we’re demanding six out of every 10 students that walk through our doors to earn a B-plus or higher average in math and English,” Knight said. “We expect a great deal from our students and teachers. We will continue to strive toward proficiency for every child.”

But NCLB, she said, sets unrealistic goals for schools. “At the same time, we have to recognize that not every child excels academically,” Knight said. “Our children are wonderfully diverse and talented. Some may take more time to understand a concept. Others may find their strength lies outside the classroom. Regardless, we will give all our children a high quality education so they can succeed.”

Each of the district’s elementary and middle schools met the majority of their goals. But missing just one objective out of the 13 to 21 that are set for each individual school is enough to prevent a school from meeting AYP.

In Darlington County, Brockington Elementary met 17 of its 21 goals, while Brunson-Dargan Elementary met 12 of 21 goals, Cain Elementary met 11 of 13 goals, Lamar Elementary met 10 of 13 goals, North Hartsville Elementary met 15 of 21 goals, Pate Elementary met 13 of 17 goals, Rosenwald Elementary/ Middle met seven of 13 goals, Southside Early Childhood Center met 15 of 17 goals, Spaulding Elementary met 11 of 17 goals, St. John’s Elementary met 13 of 21 goals, Thornwell School for the Arts met seven of 13 goals, Washington Street Elementary met 10 of 13 goals and West Hartsville Elementary met 12 of 17 goals.

Among district middle schools, Darlington Middle met 12 of 21 goals, Hartsville Middle met 13 of 21 goals and Spaulding Middle met 11 of 17 goals.

Statewide, elementary and middle schools saw similar results. Four out of five elementary and middle schools in South Carolina fell short of the test score targets.

“Unless NCLB’s rating system is revised to incorporate a more common sense approach, the danger is that this law will lose all credibility with the public,” said State Superintendent of Education Jim Rex. “That would really be disappointing because its goals are so admirable.”

Rex said other states are seeing the same downward trends with AYP, but added that South Carolina’s situation differs from most other states. “But it’s more dramatic here in South Carolina because our standards for proficiency are higher,” he said. “In other states, it’s easier to clear the bar.”

Rex predicted that this year’s 50 percent increase in test score requirements would cause confusion, especially in communities with schools that previously met their AYP goals.

“Principals will have trouble explaining why their school didn’t meet AYP for the first time even though their performance improved,” Rex said. “It’s a perplexing message when your school appears to be getting better and worse at the same time. Your gain ends up looking like a loss.

“Add to that the more fundamental, long-term problem with NCLB — that 100 percent proficiency isn’t going to happen for any state unless it sets standards for academic proficiency that are ridiculously low. There’s an obvious need to make changes to the law.”

Rex said there is little political support across the country for national proficiency standards that would apply equally to all state tests. He has suggested financial incentives for states like South Carolina that have already set high standards.