10/09/03
Many
Mississippi Schools That Failed No Child Can't Face Sanctions
STEVEN A. McCALEB
103 ALVERADO DRIVE
LONG BEACH, MISSISSIPPI 39560
PHONE & FAX: (228)-868-8428
After reading this article, would you send you young adults to the, University of Southern Mississippi.
When Mississippi schools are usually 50th out of 50 states its hard to image anyone getting a higher education in Mississippi.
Poindexter did not meet its growth index. But like many of Mississippi's public schools that failed to meet all of the new No Child Left Behind requirements, Poindexter is off the hook for now as far as possible sanctions.
In Mississippi, about 300 of the 438 public schools that did not meet the new requirements, either fell short in the area of graduation rate or growth index, didn't receive Title I funds, or both.
In some ways Poindexter Elementary School is a model of student achievement. The school in Jackson's inner city is considered Level 3, or successful, by the state's standards, and its students made the grade on reading/language arts and math tests, which are required by the federal No Child Left Behind law.
The federal law, however, goes beyond reading, math and language to measure how well a school is performing and that has snagged Poindexter. No Child Left Behind also takes into account other academic indicators - in Mississippi's case that's high school graduation rates and, for elementary and middle schools, improvement in student achievement, or growth index.
Poindexter did not meet its growth index. But like many of Mississippi's public schools that failed to meet all of the new No Child Left Behind requirements, Poindexter is off the hook for now as far as possible sanctions.
That's because Mississippi's approved plan to follow the federal law says that a school's other academic indicator can't target it for sanctions, said Associate State Superintendent Susan Rucker.
Poindexter Principal Evan Caine said he's working to improve student achievement at the elementary school even though the sanction threat - such as opening the door for his students to go elsewhere - doesn't exist for now.
"I have a superintendent who is very demanding when it comes to student achievement,'' Caine said. "The pressure is there to meet the growth index.''
The federal law requires sanctions against all Title I schools that fail to meet requirements two years in a row in math or reading/language arts, or the other academic indicators, said Kerri Briggs, special assistant at the U.S. Department of Education.
Federal Title I funds provide aid to poor children. While some public schools do not receive Title I funds, every district in the state does have schools receiving the federal dollars, Rucker said.
In Mississippi, about 300 of the 438 public schools that did not meet the new requirements, either fell short in the area of graduation rate or growth index, didn't receive Title I funds, or both.
"We are 100 percent in compliance with the plan approved,'' Rucker said.
But Mississippi officials may have interpreted their own law differently than the federal officials who approved it, said Briggs.
"Mississippi is applying their plan as it was approved, as they understand it,'' Briggs said. "We have concerns about this issue and we are going to be working with them to think through this some more.''
"No state said outright, that 'we will not use other academic indicators for identifying schools in need of improvement','' she said of the 52 separate plans to comply with the federal law.
While the other academic indicators don't currently mean the possibility of sanctions in Mississippi, they can be used, along with other factors, in a "safe harbor'' provision that can help a school reach the federal standard, Rucker said.
Rucker said state and federal officials are cooperating to make adjustments to Mississippi's No Child Left Behind plan if need be. Rucker pointed out that while nearly half of all Mississippi schools failed to meet the graduation/growth index indicator category, 84 percent met the mathematics and 86 percent met the reading/language arts requirement.
"We want to make sure schools are being recognized for progress they are making,'' she said. "Graduation rates and growth index are very important long term goals, but we really need to look at subject area tests.''
(Copyright 2003 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
STEVEN A. McCALEB
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