Tres Pi
ños School Principal Lou Medeiros was pleased when he received
the Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) report for his school this year,
but he wasn’t ready to gamble on how students would score next
year.
Hollister – Tres Piños School Principal Lou Medeiros was pleased when he received the Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) report for his school this year, but he wasn’t ready to gamble on how students would score next year.
“You can teach to the standards as much as possible, but if you have a low performing group, they may not score well,” he said. “Out of nine second-graders last year, three scored poorly and it threw all the data off.”
Medeiros has the same problem as many other rural schools in the county. They’re small; they only have a handful of teachers, sometimes just one; and they’re having a difficult time meeting the federal No Child Left Behind requirements.
The act passed in 2000 is based on four principles: accountability for results, expanded local control and flexibility, expanded parental options and an emphasis on doing what works based on scientific research. In order to comply with the requirements, schools must employ a certain number of teachers highly qualified to teach in different subject areas. The students also must meet a certain proficiency level in math and English on the AYP. Because rural schools have far less students and teachers than bigger urban schools, their data can become skewed.
Aromas School failed to meet the AYP because the English Language Learner subgroup missed their proficiency mark in math by .3 percentage points, according to Principal Ercilia Zavala. She feels the standards are too high for certain subgroups, and that the state and federal government should reconsider how they spend their resources.
“Part of the problem is expecting a child who has never been to school before, or has never spoken English at home, to perform at a sixth or seventh grade level,” she said. “It’s virtually impossible for them to meet these requirements.”
Zavala feels one way to improve student learning is to continue searching for what schools can do to provide more resources to children with failing scores.
“When you think of the town of Aromas, there is no youth center here, and the parents do what they can in providing Little League and things like that, but there isn’t much enrichment for these kids,” she said.
Even farther off the beaten path, in the small town of Panoche, population eight, teacher Ottalie Davis said student scores aren’t an issue because the school is so small they can’t be calculated. Her concern is being able to meet the No Child Left Behind teacher requirements. By the end of the 2005-06 school year, every teacher in core content areas working in a public school must be “highly qualified” in each subject he or she teaches, according to the U.S. Department of Education. With 10 students, ranging from grades one through eight, Davis said it’s impossible for Panoche School to meet the requirement.
“I’m teaching eight different grade levels with quite a few different subjects,” she said. “It’s impossible for me to be considered highly qualified in every single one of them.”
If schools do not meet the federal requirements, they can be deemed “under-performing” and parents have the right to pull their children out and place them in a different school.
But putting their children in a different school would mean a 30 mile plus commute each way for Panoche Parents, and school board member Gardiner Davis said it’s not likely they would drive the extra distance.
“We’re not an under-performing school, but it would be very difficult if a parent wanted to do that,” he said. “The closest school is Willow Grove and they’re full. It would take them at least 30 to 45 minutes just one way to take their kids to school.”
