More Arizona schools miss performance measure
by Paul Davenport on Aug. 28, 2006, under Education, Local, SpecialPHOENIX – One in three Arizona public schools will fall short of a key student-achievement performance measure that can subject schools to improvement mandates under the federal No Child Left Behind program, the state Department of Education said Monday.
The department said 35 percent of district and charter schools this year failed to make “adequate yearly progress” toward making students proficient in reading, writing and math, up from 13 percent last year.
However, state Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Horne said the increase is due to new rule changes by the Bush administration, not diminished performance by Arizona students.
Horne cited changes in federal rules dealing with English-learning students, accommodations for special education students and the counting of more grades’ test results.
Being designated as not making adequate yearly progress puts schools on a track for possible corrective action if schools continue to fail to meet the grade in subsequent years. The correction action could include personnel or curriculum changes or other restructuring.
The department said school-by-school results will be released later this week.
