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District fails 5 targets for disabled students
One reason the Douglas County School District failed to meet federal standards is that it didn't reach goals for students with disabilities.
By By: Susan Dage-Ruby
One reason the Douglas County School District failed to meet federal standards is that it didn't reach goals for students with disabilities.
Work has begun to reach those students, said Elliott Asp, assistant superintendent for research and assessment for the district, but concerns remain for the quality of that education.
"We will do what's best for our students," Asp said. "If we don't make [adequate yearly progress], we don't make AYP. If we only work to reach the federal bar, we will have done a disservice to the kids."
The district failed to meet five of the 122 targets mandated by the No Child Left Behind Act, said Asp, who presented a report Jan. 3 to the Douglas County Board of Education.
At the elementary level, the district had 44 targets but failed to meet the math performance target for students with disabilities.
The target was for 75.86 percent of elementary students with disabilities to score in the "proficient" range, and 65.01 percent did so, Asp said.
At the middle school level, the district failed to meet three of the 43 targets. These also involved the performance of students with disabilities in reading and math.
The target for reading proficiency was 73.61 percent, and 66.97 percent of middle school students with disabilities were proficient. Less than 1 percent of disabled students scored advanced in reading.
The target for math for this subgroup was 59.51 percent proficient, and 49.20 percent of district middle school students scored in the proficient range.
At the high school level, the district failed to meet one of the 35 targets, again math performance for students with disabilities. The target was for 47 percent of the students in this subgroup to score partially proficient or higher, and 32.32 percent of district students with disabilities scored at that level, Asp said.
"With one exception, schools did not make AYP because they did not meet targets for performance for students with disabilities," Asp said.
The exception was for Cherry Valley Elementary School, south of Franktown, which failed to have 1 percent of its students score advanced in reading, Asp said.
The district has two years to meet the targets before it could face sanctions from the state and federal level, said Bill Windler, assistant commissioner for special services with the Colorado Department of Education. "The No Child Left Behind Act applies to all public schools."
With the passage of the No Child Left Behind Act two years ago, federal funding became results-based, Windler said.
The act forces special attention on the discrepancies in achievement relative to ethnic, socioeconomic levels, English speaking and special needs, Windler said.
Douglas County was not alone in its failure, Windler said.
"Generally speaking, no district with more than 3,000 kids made AYP," he said. "The larger the district the higher the goals they have to reach to make AYP."
Every three years, the goals will ratchet up until the targets are 100 percent proficient in reading and math by the 2013-14 school year, Windler said.
Failure to reach adequate yearly progress could eventually result in a loss of federal money to some of the district's Title I schools.
A school identified by a school district to receive federal No Child Left Behind Title I funding is based on its overall student population being "economically disadvantaged" compared with the district's overall socioeconomic status.
Douglas County Title I schools' additional funds are used for intensive literacy instruction.
Work has begun to reach those students, said Elliott Asp, assistant superintendent for research and assessment for the district, but concerns remain for the quality of that education.
"We will do what's best for our students," Asp said. "If we don't make [adequate yearly progress], we don't make AYP. If we only work to reach the federal bar, we will have done a disservice to the kids."
The district failed to meet five of the 122 targets mandated by the No Child Left Behind Act, said Asp, who presented a report Jan. 3 to the Douglas County Board of Education.
At the elementary level, the district had 44 targets but failed to meet the math performance target for students with disabilities.
The target was for 75.86 percent of elementary students with disabilities to score in the "proficient" range, and 65.01 percent did so, Asp said.
At the middle school level, the district failed to meet three of the 43 targets. These also involved the performance of students with disabilities in reading and math.
The target for reading proficiency was 73.61 percent, and 66.97 percent of middle school students with disabilities were proficient. Less than 1 percent of disabled students scored advanced in reading.
The target for math for this subgroup was 59.51 percent proficient, and 49.20 percent of district middle school students scored in the proficient range.
At the high school level, the district failed to meet one of the 35 targets, again math performance for students with disabilities. The target was for 47 percent of the students in this subgroup to score partially proficient or higher, and 32.32 percent of district students with disabilities scored at that level, Asp said.
"With one exception, schools did not make AYP because they did not meet targets for performance for students with disabilities," Asp said.
The exception was for Cherry Valley Elementary School, south of Franktown, which failed to have 1 percent of its students score advanced in reading, Asp said.
The district has two years to meet the targets before it could face sanctions from the state and federal level, said Bill Windler, assistant commissioner for special services with the Colorado Department of Education. "The No Child Left Behind Act applies to all public schools."
With the passage of the No Child Left Behind Act two years ago, federal funding became results-based, Windler said.
The act forces special attention on the discrepancies in achievement relative to ethnic, socioeconomic levels, English speaking and special needs, Windler said.
Douglas County was not alone in its failure, Windler said.
"Generally speaking, no district with more than 3,000 kids made AYP," he said. "The larger the district the higher the goals they have to reach to make AYP."
Every three years, the goals will ratchet up until the targets are 100 percent proficient in reading and math by the 2013-14 school year, Windler said.
Failure to reach adequate yearly progress could eventually result in a loss of federal money to some of the district's Title I schools.
A school identified by a school district to receive federal No Child Left Behind Title I funding is based on its overall student population being "economically disadvantaged" compared with the district's overall socioeconomic status.
Douglas County Title I schools' additional funds are used for intensive literacy instruction.
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