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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