Even as 'No Child' Bar Is Raised, More County Schools Hurdle It

Share of Campuses Hitting Benchmarks Tops 90 Percent

More Montgomery County schools made adequate progress under the No Child Left Behind Act this year than in either of the past two years, even as the academic targets dictated by the federal law continued to rise.

Twelve of 193 elementary, middle and high schools missed performance targets, which measure how many students pass the Maryland School Assessment or High School Assessment exams, as well as attendance and graduation rates. The latest annual progress reports were released this month.

The public school system fared better than last year, when 21 schools failed to make adequate progress, and much better than in 2006, when 38 schools missed their targets.

"I think we're figuring it out," said Jennifer Baker, principal of Tilden Middle School, which made adequate progress this year and was taken off a state watch list of under-performing schools.

A school can make adequate yearly progress under the law only if scores are consistently high among all demographic "subgroups," including students of every racial category, those learning English and those in special education. Pass rate goals vary by grade level and subject. This year's reading target for a Maryland elementary school was 71.8 percent. Next year's target is 76.5 percent. Last year's was 67.2 percent.

The microscopic focus of the law is new to many schools, which in the past were measured on the performance of the entire student body. The requirement that each of several subgroups meet the same standards as the student body as a whole has proved difficult even for high-achieving schools.

Baker and other Montgomery principals say their schools have learned to respond to the law with the same level of focus: monitoring the performance of each student in any group that struggles to make adequate progress.

Albert Einstein High School in Kensington was one of five high schools that missed the target last year. This year, four of the five, including Einstein, met their marks. Einstein improved in two areas: special education and English-learners. Montgomery Blair, Sherwood and Springbrook high schools also improved, and Blair will exit the state watch list next year if it continues to improve. Watkins Mill was the only high school in the county to miss its targets this year.

Einstein met its targets "by identifying exactly how many kids we need in each of the categories, by name, and then making all staff aware of who the kids are," said Jim Fernandez, the principal, in an e-mail response to a question. "It becomes more difficult every year."

Schools that miss targets for two consecutive years go on a state list called Schools Identified for Improvement. They remain on the list until they meet their targets for two consecutive years. Schools that fail to make progress for six or more years are required to "restructure," by replacing staff, converting to a charter school or taking some similarly serious action. Schools serving large numbers of disadvantaged students must take additional steps.

None of this applies to Montgomery at the moment, because none of its high-poverty schools is on the state watch list, and none of the 10 schools on the list is in the "restructuring" phase.

Six of 130 Montgomery elementary schools, five of 38 middle schools and one of 25 high schools missed their targets this year.

Two special-needs schools also failed to make adequate progress. One of them, Stephen Knolls School, generated publicity this year because of unusual circumstances. The school was sanctioned for poor attendance. School system leaders contend the school is being penalized unfairly, as its students are medically fragile and often miss school for complicated medical reasons. State officials denied the school's appeal.

Most schools that missed their targets in recent years have had problems with small groups of students, typically those in special education or learning English. Maryland has reworked its accountability system this year to distinguish between schools struggling with some of their students and schools with performance issues across the board.

Many Montgomery schools have managed to exit the state watch list by focusing attention on the cadre of students -- potentially as few as five -- in the particular subgroup that failed to make adequate progress.

The lagging elementary schools were Clopper Mill, Capt. James E. Daly Jr., Fairland, Highland View, Roscoe Nix and Sligo Creek. Forest Oak, Francis Scott Key, Neelsville, Parkland and Rocky Hill middle schools fell short. The Stephen Knolls special-education center missed adequate progress, along with the Mark Twain center, which closed last year.

Overall, nearly 1,140 Maryland schools made adequate progress this year, compared with 1,050 last year, state officials said.