Schools
More Than Half of Bellevue Schools Don't Meet Federal Benchmarks
A gap in low-income students' reading scores is cited as a reason why schools failed to reach Adequate Yearly Progress. State Superintendent Randy Dorn criticized No Child Left Behind law, which calls for increasing progress toward 100 percent of students
An achievement gap in reading for low-income students was one major reason why more than half of Bellevue schools—including two of its high schools and all the traditional middle schools—did not make Adequate Yearly Progress, as determined by the federal No Child Left Behind law.
Though the , the Bellevue district did not make what is defined as Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) toward having all students pass reading and math tests by 2014, according to data supplied by the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction.
However, state superintendent Randy Dorn criticized the law as flawed.
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“Under AYP in 2014, a school or district could have 99 percent of its students at proficiency and still be deemed as needing improvement,” Dorn said in a prepared statement. “This is a highly flawed law."
“Congress has had four years to act on reauthorization and has done nothing. I’ve not read one comment from a member of Congress who thinks No Child Left Behind, as written, is good for students or schools. Those who represent us in the other Washington must do their jobs and do what is right in bringing some realistic expectations to AYP,” Dorn said.
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The 17 Bellevue schools were among the 1,388 schools in the state that did not make AYP, according to OSPI. Of that total, 1,181 are in one of five steps of improvement. Among districts, 223 did not make AYP and 113 are in one of two steps of improvement.
The students are separated into subgroups, including by race, income level and special education. If one subgroup does not make Adequate Yearly Progress, then the entire school does not make Adequate Yearly Progress.
All of the Bellevue Schools that did not make adequate yearly progress did not have a high-enough percentage of low-income students pass the reading exams, according to the data from the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction.
Another area where some of the schools did not make adequate yearly progress was reading for special education students.
The reading goals set for this year were 88.1 percent of elementary students passing, 82.5 percent of middle school students passing, and 87.2 percent of high school students passing.
Schools and districts that do not meet AYP goals for two consecutive years move into “improvement” status and, if they receive federal Title I funds, face an escalating series of consequences each year they do not make AYP. However, not all the Bellevue schools that did not make AYP receive Title 1 funds. Washington uses the Measurements of Student Progress, the High School Proficiency Exams, and end-of-course exams as its tests to measure AYP.
Bellevue Schools and Adequate Yearly Progress
School
Met AYP 2011
Met AYP 2010
Ardmore Elementary School
No
No
Bennett Elementary School
Yes
Yes
Bsd Voc Ed/Career Educ Options
No
No
Cherry Crest Elementary School
Yes
Yes
Clyde Hill Elementary
Yes
Yes
Eastgate Elementary School
No
No
Enatai Elementary School
Yes
Yes
Kelsey Creek Home School Center
No
No
Lake Hills Elementary
No
No
Medina Elementary School
Yes
Yes
Newport Heights Elementary
No
No
Phantom Lake Elementary
No
No
Puesta del Sol Elementary School
Yes
Yes
Sherwood Forest Elementary
No
No
Somerset Elementary School
Yes
Yes
Spiritridge Elementary School
Yes
Yes
Stevenson Elementary
No
No
Woodridge Elementary
No
No
Chinook Middle School
No
No
Highland Middle School
No
No
Odle Middle School
No
No
Tillicum Middle School
No
No
Tyee Middle School
No
No
International School
Yes Yes
Bellevue High School
Yes
Yes
Newport Senior High School
Yes
Yes
Interlake Senior High School
No
No
Sammamish Senior High
No
No
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