DeKalb County fails to meet AYP in 2011
- 8/3/11
- Categorized in: DeKalb News, Education
The DeKalb County School System has failed to meet Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) this year, according to a report released by the Georgia Department of Education (GDOE).
Of the 136 schools in the DeKalb system, 34.6 percent made AYP in 2011. However, according to school officials the report only lists preliminary findings that will likely change once data from summer school is considered.
“We won’t have final calculations until September so you’re kind of comparing apples to oranges,” said DeKalb School System’s Executive Director of Assessment and Accountability Trenton Arnold.
AYP is a measurement under the federal No Child Left Behind Act that uses standardized test results and other measures to determine how every public school and school system in the country is performing academically.
The results determine how much federal and state funding a system receives based on the number of schools it has making AYP. The act also calls for all schools in the country to meet AYP by the year 2014.
Arnold said one factor that played a role in DeKalb’s failure to meet AYP this year was that the benchmarks needed for a school to meet AYP have increased each year and will continue to increase until 2014.
In September when all of DeKalb’s data is given to the GDOE and a final report is made, Arnold said, the system will most likely see a slight increase in schools that met AYP, but he would not speculate on how many.
“From a historical perspective we do see scores roll over,” he said.
Although he thinks No Child Left Behind has had some benefits, Arnold said having an assessment system based mainly on standardized test results was not the best predictor for a school’s success.
Organization of DeKalb Educators President David Schutten said it was difficult to pinpoint why a certain school failed to reach its benchmarks without an in-depth study of AYP data and looking at every sub-group.
Schutten, who taught math to a group of third graders this year, said it was frustrating when teachers and administrators worked hard only to learn that what they taught their students was not being reinforced at home. He said that even with his help, many of the third grade students still failed the math portion of the Criterion-Referenced Competency Test.
“Until parents start enforcing what the teachers are doing in school the scores won’t get better,” Shutten said. “I think when it comes to math there needs to be a community-wide effort.”
Matt Cardoza, a spokesman for the GDOE, said that his agency is addressing the AYP issue at the state level.
“As you look at AYP numbers, everyone across the country is starting to realize that 100 percent efficiency all across the country by 2014 is really unrealistic,” Cardoza said.
According to Cardoza, the U. S. Department of Education said it was willing to entertain waivers if a state presented a better system to determine a school’s success. Now, Cardoza said that the GDOE is working to obtain a waiver that would allow them to change the way schools in Georgia are assessed.
“We’ve been working on a College and Career Ready Performance Index that takes into account many factors for a school’s success rather than just the one test given at one point in time [during] the school year,” Cardoza said.
When DeKalb begin utilizing the Parent Portal, this put the responsibility back on the parent-which is where ultimately, it should be. There should not be any reason that a parent does not know what is going on with their child’s education...you see the grades, if your child was late to a class and even if your child did not attend school.
If we parents learn to rise up and accept the challenge of parenting our kids throughout their education-it doesn’t stop when they get to middle/high school-we will see better results. If we DEMAND a better education from OUR education system, we will see it.
Their future rest on their education; we HAVE to invest in it, before it is too late.
Under the NCLB accountability system, schools in their fourth consecutive year of failure must take at least one "corrective action," such as adopting a new curriculum, replacing some staff, or extending the school year. After six years of failure, schools face restructuring. The options here include handing control over to the state or to a private management company, bringing in an entirely new staff, and opening public charter schools in place of the failing schools.
Parents you need to know what’s going on at your child’s school. There are reasons why your child’s school is failing. The following are just a few that you need to inquire about.
There are numerous factors that contribute to the failure of a school. One being the principal…he/she is responsible for carrying out the mandate that is established by the school district. Many principals fail in this area because they let personalities and attitudes get in their way. Instead of appointing a qualified person to an area of obvious weakness, they appoint instead one of their cronies to a position that they are not qualified for, thus contributing to continued dysfunction of the school. Many principals fail to keep an objective mind when dealing with fellow professionals. They are too caught up in gossip, innuendo, and foolishness. They are people that no one on their staff would want to emulate or share confidential information with for fear of hearing it from colleagues. This type of principal keeps strive and confusion going on amongst their faculty and staff. A house divided against itself cannot stand!
Second, a school that has a high turnover rate among it faculty and staff is a bad sign. Teachers need a reason to transfer or retire. If they are not getting support from the administration or the administration is riding their back unfairly, they will leave. The county is very reluctant to reassign an ineffective principal unless the parents get involved and demand it. For the teachers that are leaving, many times, are some of the best.
Finally, if your child is frequently coming home and telling you about a fight, a weapon, or about a sexual assault that took place at their school; this is a failing school in the making. A dangerous environment is not conducive for learning. It is up to you as parents and taxpayers to demand for a change. If your child’s school is not improving academically and behaviorally, start looking for another school for your child to attend immediately. Your child’s future and welfare is at stake!
We need teachers in the classroom that really want to be there. We have too many teachers that really want to be an administrator, while neglecting their real job as a classroom teacher. This is hurting our children because that person has lost focus on the mission of educating our boys and girls. There is nothing wrong with trying to better ones self as long it is not at the expense of the ones that you were hired to teach.
We have too many chiefs and very few Indians. Because of so-called online universities, we now have an overabundance of misfits in the guise of an administrator. This is very disturbing since ONLINE is an acronym for “Only Need Limited Intelligence, No Experience.” Whatever happened to teachers going to accredited four-year colleges to obtain a degree in administration? Lawyers have a saying…If you act as your own lawyer…you have a fool for a client. The same goes for someone that educates themselves on a computer. Online universities cannot replace the interaction, debate, and intellectual stimulation that one would receive at an accredited university.
It's not nearly as important as to whether teachers and/or parents are failing to do their jobs, as how unspeakable it is that our children are not being educated. The fact of the matter is everyone looses when we stand idly by cultivating ignorance. This would not be the case if we genuinely cared about our children's future and their potential contributions to this nation. The fact of the matter is, when our children fail it is because we (each and every adult regardless of title or occupation), have failed them. We need to do better! FDHarper
Although I am a product of public education as well as come from a family of educators, public school is going down hill very fast. The article states that parents are not re-enforcing what is being taught, on the flip side there are many educators that are only in it for the money and do not have the passion necessary to bring the best out in kids.
DeKalb County = A County in Crisis from the School House to the Court House to the Government House !
With Districts 3, 4 and 5 " dumbed down " by whatever the EXCUSE is !
Many citizens ponder how to escape this Hell Hole of DeKalb County !
With the likes of some of the School Board members that have been elected and re-elected with questionable principals should these results surprise anyone ! And why worry = It's only your Childs Future we are talking about !!!
And as DeKalb County continues to slide into the toilet let The Informed Voters ? gaither around the May Pole and sing We love Little Burrell we do we do , We love Little Larry we do we do , We love Little Jay we do we do !