Federal evaluations create goals and frustration

EDITOR'S NOTE: This is the third in a five-part series on how the local school district is dealing with the No Child Left Behind Act.

To many at Wilson Elementary School, last summer felt like a cosmic joke. The school made another leap on its standardized test scores, posting better results for the sixth straight year. Low-income students, taken as a subgroup, topped themselves again. Some of the wealthier schools across town posted lower gains. But in August, the federal government put Wilson on the sanctions list because its test scores were below par.

The reason? One Wilson student too many failed the state English exam.

Wilson, which is in year three of the Program Improvement list, met 16 of its 17 criteria under the No Child Left Behind Act. To meet federal guidelines, schools must have enough students score as proficient or above on the English and math tests, and each subgroup of students — white, Latino, low-income, special education — must reach the marks individually.

At Wilson last year, 24.1% of English-learner students scored proficient in English, missing the federal benchmark by 0.3%. In a group of 328 students, that calculates to a single child.

"It's extremely frustrating," said Wilson first-grade teacher Jenny Dory. "Our teachers are dedicated to the education of these students."

With 67% of students described as English-learners and 94% qualifying for free or reduced-price lunches, Wilson ranks either among the best schools in Newport-Mesa or among the worst — depending on which statistics tell the story. On the state's Academic Performance Index, which judges schools by how much their scores have risen in the last year, Wilson has flourished in the last five years, gaining 200 points out of 1,000. According to the federal system, however, Wilson has failed to make adequate progress.

To opponents of No Child Left Behind, stories like Wilson's serve as proof that something's got to give. The act, which President Bush signed in 2002, is up for reauthorization this year, and the White House has proposed a number of changes — including giving schools more credit for improved scores. No one, though, seems to expect the law to go off the books any time soon.