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TAMPA - Just seven weeks after record numbers of Florida schools earned A grades under Gov. Jeb Bush's accountability system, the state learned that a surprising 87 percent of its schools need to improve under President George W. Bush's plan.
The state Friday released the list of schools that failed to make "adequate yearly progress" under the federal No Child Left Behind law. More than 2,500 schools made that list, including some schools that have always thrived under Florida's own school accountability system.
In Hillsborough, 87 percent of schools failed to meet some or all of the federal requirements that measure student proficiency. Individual schools were graded on a wide array of student performance categories, and if they came up short on even one measure the school was deemed to have not made adequate progress.
Of the county's 213 regular, magnet, charter and specialty schools, only 27 made the grade, according to the Department of Education report. This comes despite the fact that Hillsborough had a winning record over the recent FCAT testing season with 82 schools earning A grades.
Virtually all of those A schools were labeled inadequate under the No Child Left Behind guidelines.
So how is that supposed to square in the minds of parents?
"I really think parents should be most concerned with whether their school is meeting the needs of their child," said superintendent Earl Lennard. "I think it's the parent that knows more about whether a school had made adequate progress or not."
Federal standards are so tough that high-performing, award-winning schools such as Claywell Elementary have to explain what they're going to do to improve.
Claywell, in north Hillsborough, has been an A school for five years running and is one of only two schools in the district with that distinction. Yet, the school was rated as not making adequate progress because it failed to meet three of 20 measurement thresholds. (Failing even one category relegates a school to inadequate progress status.)
"It's very easily misunderstood," said Claywell principal Glenda Midili, "Florida's A+
plan (based on FCAT scores) is like a report card and No Child Left Behind is like the comment section. It points out areas within a school where there is room for improvement."
In Claywell's case that means testing more low-income students, testing more students who are just learning English, and increasing the math scores of students with disabilities.
"There's always going to be somebody who says you haven't done enough," said Hillsborough School Board chairwoman Carol Kurdell. "But you've got to find a balance here and measure it through your experience and expectations. Who knows their children better than a parent?"
Federal and state education officials scrambled to characterize the federal plan as fitting nicely with the state plan. Nevertheless, the overall reaction to the release of the long list of schools in need of improvement was one of puzzlement.
"I'm sure there's a perfectly legitimate rationale for what they (Department of Education officials) are doing," said John Hilderbrand, the district's director of testing and evaluation. "I just don't know what it is yet."
Because of the make-or-break stringency of the No Child criteria, some entire schools were declared not to have made adequate progress based on the performance of just a handful of students.
Hilderbrand said one elementary school was snubbed because one student failed to take a single test.
"They tested 94 percent of the kids instead of 95 percent (the minimum requirement)," Hilderbrand said.
Looking further into the attendance rolls, school officials learned that while the student had been enrolled early on in the school year, he withdrew before the achievement tests were given.
"But you have to draw the line somewhere," Hilderbrand said. "You can't say, "Well, you were close, so that's okay.' You can get close in the lottery, but that doesn't necessarily mean you get the prize."
Still, some schools did win that prize.
Because the No Child Left Behind law rewards vigilance, educators have to make sure that every subgroup of minority students reaches prescribed benchmarks. That's how Gorrie Elementary, a perennial A school, managed to earn its adequate progress badge.
Gorrie principal Susan Foster said much of her school's success came after the staff adopted strategies she learned at a leadership conference called "Closing the Achievement Gap."
"We bought into that and I worked with the whole staff last year coming up with ways of meeting the needs of all kids," Foster said. "If you keep the standards high for all children and help the children that need a little additional help, you'll continue to see a rise in everybody."
The result was that Gorrie students, including its minority subgroups, not only met, but far exceeded, the No Child Left Behind benchmarks.
Except for the obvious public relations damage, most schools face no immediate consequences for appearing on the list. But being on the list can carry sanctions. They only apply if a school receives federal Title I money, which goes to those with large numbers of poor children, and when a school appears on the list for two years in a row.
What are those sanctions? Vouchers.
Under No Child Left Behind, any Title I school that falls on the list two years in a row must allow students to transfer to a better-performing public school.
Education Commissioner Jim Horne said the list is a helpful diagnostic tool, providing parents with more detailed information on their schools.
That point is emphasized in the Department of Education's informational fact sheet:
"No Child Left Behind assures parents that if their child is in a subgroup that needs help, that group will be identified and given the additional assistance and resources that are needed to ensure that their child is not left behind."
If "additional assistance and resources" means "money," officials in the district office are dubious of the source.
"We've gone through some massive budget reductions over the last few years and there are still hard times ahead," said Mike Grego, assistant superintendent for curriculum and instruction. "So we really don't have additional resources."
- Logan D. Mabe can be reached at 269-5304 or at mabe@sptimes.com