Why Is Your School On This List?

Gaithersburg High School, Gaithersburg

This is my first year as a high school principal, and my first year at this school. We are on the needs improvement list because in previous years, our ESOL students, those still learning English, as well as our special education students, did not meet their annual measurable objective in reading.

Last year, however, we made AYP in both reading and mathematics, so we have to make the same gains next year to get off the needs improvement list. We are making sure we have accurate records of our ESOL and special education students, and that we are providing the right accommodations for them on the tests.

I think what No Child Left Behind does about accountability is great. It really forces us to reassess how we are operating. But there are a lot of challenges. It is an ongoing struggle, because the goals change annually and our students' needs are growing.

Mark T. Murphy

George Washington Carver Elementary School, Lexington Park, Md.

We essentially started a "new" school in the 2003-2004 academic year. That year, due to redistricting, we had nearly 100 percent new students. In the two years that we have had these children, we have shown strong academic growth. But with the challenge of NCLB's rising bar, and the initial low performance of our children, we have not grown fast enough.

Our school has failed to achieve at a high level in the area of reading for two consecutive years. During the 2003-2004 school year, our subgroup of special education students did not make AYP. That year, only 1 out of 17, or 6 percent, of our special ed students achieved reading proficiency. During the 2004-2005 school year, that improved to 9 out of 30, or 30 percent, but our school continued to miss the mark in this subgroup. Additionally, during the 2004-2005 school year, our free and reduced meal subgroup did not make AYP in the area of reading. Put quite simply, our achievement gains in reading were not strong enough.

Our goal is to fully understand what each and every student knows and is able to do. To achieve this goal, we frequently administer, record and analyze student growth and achievement, using the standards as our guide. By identifying the root causes of our achievement deficiencies, we are able to focus our resources and differentiate our staff development. We don't make excuses, we find solutions.

Reem Labib

School for Arts in Learning (SAIL) Public Charter School, Northwest Washington

Our school is chartered as a general education school, but we offer an inclusion model for special education students that has rigor and high standards. Sixty percent of our 109 students have special needs. Our mission is to provide a quality education through differentiated instruction, using the arts as a tool to address the learning differences of our students. Many parents of children with special needs enroll them at SAIL because our student-teacher ratio is low: 16 students with a highly qualified teacher and a highly qualified teaching assistant.

Because SAIL Lower School did not make AYP last year in math, we are identified as being "in need of improvement." Last summer, we were notified by the charter board that we had not achieved AYP because we had only 32 students in our third and fifth grades, which is fewer than the 40 required for a subgroup to be reported. In the fall, SAIL was informed that we would retain the status of Year One "needs improvement" instead of Year Two since we did not have a large enough subgroup. This spring SAIL lower school is required to test third, fourth and fifth graders, as all charter schools will be doing.

My team and I wrote a school improvement plan last year that identifies specific objectives, activities and strategies for improving students' academic achievement in math. We are making an effort to increase parent involvement by helping parents understand how to reinforce at home what children learn in school. We recently held our second annual family math night, where we offer parents the opportunity to learn how to turn practicing mathematical concepts into games.

We hired a math coach who works with teachers and students in the classroom and also one-on-one with students. This was new for us this year, and we face the challenge of scheduling time for math intervention. Scheduling time for additional interventions is a challenge all schools are facing. We also used school improvement funds to purchase math software to help struggling students and a portable computer lab to be used in the classrooms.

I think that in general, No Child Left Behind sets high standards and expectations for all children, teachers and for the community, which must support the educational programs for all children in our city. We all know that there are flaws in the law that need immediate adjustment. NCLB is an unfunded mandate, and not all schools have the same resources. The structure of subgroups is a real problem. The D.C. office of education needs to address requirements for the special needs population, as many states are currently doing.

Sue Dziedzic

Oxon Hill Elementary School, Oxon Hill

The way I look at it, the No Child Left Behind law is very precise -- and not very flexible. And it's going to be a challenge for the school system and the state about what to do for schools that don't make AYP.