Thursday, 4:30 PM
Report: Number of troubled schools nearly doubled
By James Vaznis, Globe Staff
A growing number of the state's public schools are failing to meet federal standards, with the number of schools receiving the worst designation nearly doubling, according to a preliminary report released today by the Department of Education.
The department identified 57 schools for restructuring, up from 30 schools that received the designation last year. These schools have failed to meet scoring goals on state standardized tests for five years or longer. Under federal standards, the designation enables the state to directly oversee the schools, but state education officials have said they prefer a partnership rather than a virtual takeover of schools.
Another 47 schools were identified for "corrective action," up from 37 last year. The designation, one notch below restructuring, requires the schools to make significant changes in staffing and other areas.
Overall, 37 percent of Bay State schools, or 617, were identified for improvement, up from 420 last year, under the four-year-old system created under the federal No Child Left Behind Act. About 56 percent of the identified schools are in urban areas, while the rest are in suburban or rural areas. About half the schools identified missed the mark for overall student performance while the other half of schools faltered because of the performance of certain subgroup of students, mostly those who have disabilities or come from low-income households.
"It is sobering to see the state's numbers rise, but this system was purposely designed to identify problems within a school we may not otherwise detect," said state Education Commissioner David P. Driscoll in a written statement. "Now that the problem areas have been identified, it is up to each school and district to take whatever steps are necessary to improve the performance of every student."
Remaining upbeat, Driscoll emphasized that 45 schools that had been identified for improvement in previous years demonstrated enough progress on state tests that they are now in compliance with federal standards. Schools can get off the federal watch list by showing two years of improvement.
“The educators and students at these schools deserve recognition for the tremendous efforts they have made to turn their performance around," Driscoll said. "It is critical that we do whatever is necessary to ensure that every one of our children get the top notch education they deserve, regardless of race, income or community."
The No Child Left Behind Act set a high bar for student achievement. By 2014, all students must show they have solid command of grade level material in English and mathematics. In Massachusetts, to meet that standard, students must score in at least the proficient category -- the second highest category -- on Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System tests.
To avoid being identified as needing improvement, schools must make incremental progress on goals set for them by the state -- or meet overall targets set for the state as a whole.
