59 of region's schools fail to meet federal testing goals

Last year, 78 percent of low-income students at Western Branch Middle School passed the English Standards of Learning tests. This year, 79 percent of them did.

Last year, Western Branch Middle met federal testing benchmarks. This year, the school failed.

With standards ratcheted up another notch, more schools across South Hampton Roads struggled to meet federal goals this year.

Fifty-nine South Hampton Roads schools did not make Adequate Yearly Progress, or AYP, in improving their test scores this year. That's compared with 52 last year.

The issue facing schools is that the standards "are escalating so high, so quickly," said Cindy Sparks, Chesapeake's director of assessment and accountability. "We are improving every year but probably are not going to be able to improve at the rate that the numbers are escalating."

When the No Child Left Behind Act was put in place eight years ago, states were required to develop plans to bring their pass rates up to 100 percent by 2014.

Initially, Virginia schools were required to have pass rates of 60.7 percent in reading and 58.4 percent in math in order to have made AYP. Those applied to the school as a whole, along with various racial, ability, gender and income groups.

This year, at least 81 percent of students had to pass reading and 79 percent had to pass math tests for their school to meet AYP. The pass rates will continue to increase at the rate of 4 percentage points a year until 2014.

For the first time in four years, Virginia Beach City Public Schools failed to meet AYP goals as a division. It missed because its reading scores for English-language learners and its math pass rates for black students were too low.

"If you look at African American students, the pass rate increased, just not enough," said Jared Cotton, assistant superintendent for testing.

The division has a plan to target black males and plans to revamp its math curriculum. Still, Cotton said, because minimum pass rates will continue to rise each year, "you can see the challenge before us."

Statewide, 71 percent of Virginia's schools met AYP this year, compared with 74 percent last year. However, more school divisions as a whole met the goals: 59 this year, compared with 54 last year, with one school division's status yet to be determined.

The consequences for schools that don't meet AYP vary. Schools with a high percentage of low-income students that accept Title I federal funding can be forced to offer school choice or tutoring for students. After enough failures, those schools could face restructuring.

Schools that don't accept that funding don't face those sanctions, though their divisions are expected to step in and make changes. But not making AYP is still "a morale issue," Sparks said.

"Everyone feels the stress of it," she said.

In a news conference Sunday, State Superintendent of Education Patricia Wright said she worried about what would happen in the future, when even high-scoring schools and divisions would have trouble meeting standards. Though the Obama administration has shown support for some changes to the No Child Left Behind law, it hasn't indicated a position on schools needing 100 percent pass rates by 2014.

But Wright said the focus at the school level should be on improving student achievement, while her office worked on policy issues.

"What we want teachers and principals to do is to stay focused on the teaching and learning," she said. "Let us worry about the benchmarks."

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VIRGINIA BEACH

The number of schools that missed testing goals in Virginia Beach jumped from 11 last year to 16 this year among 81 eligible schools.

Six of the schools that missed last year made strides and came off the list, but other schools took their places.

Eight of the school division's 14 middle schools missed the mark, and math scores were a factor for all but one of the middle schools and one of eight elementary schools on the list. Plaza and Independence middle schools have missed math targets for three years, and Plaza has missed reading benchmarks for four years.

Administrators also have a plan to revamp the secondary math curriculum so that more students could take algebra in seventh or eighth grade. Tools such as modeling and simulation software would help students visualize equations.

"We're on the right track," though much work remains, Cotton said.

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SUFFOLK

As a division, Suffolk saw improvement in English and math in almost every student subgroup. The gains were not enough for many schools - 12 missed benchmarks, the same as last year.

"I think it's fair to say that we're disappointed," said Deputy Superintendent Deran Whitney.

Suffolk schools experienced their lowest pass rates among students with disabilities, with as few as 31 percent passing in one instance.

Elephant's Fork Elementary School will again have to give parents the option of moving their children to a school that met AYP. The school must allow transfers until it passes for two consecutive years. Elephant's Fork missed federal goals both this year and last.

Two other Title I schools - Mack Benn Jr. and Mount Zion elementary schools - must now offer school choice because they missed the mark for two consecutive years.

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CHESAPEAKE

In Chesapeake, 10 of 45 schools did not meet AYP requirements this year, compared with six last year.

Four schools that had failed to meet benchmarks last year came back this year to meet standards, but they were replaced by other new schools that missed the mark.

Two - Hugo Owens Middle and Indian River High - also did not make AYP last year.

Sparks said the school division would once again be targeting middle school math - historically a weak testing area - and would focus on the reading skills of low-income students in their efforts next year.

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NORFOLK

Of Norfolk's 49 schools, 33 met federal benchmarks this year, up from 31 last year.

Four schools that failed last year achieved the latest goals: Lake Taylor High School and Camp Allen, Campostella and Fairlawn elementary schools.

Two that made the mark last year didn't this year: Granby High and Tidewater Park Elementary.

Administrators said some reasons for the gains were that teachers are getting better at analyzing data on the student level and the school division has introduced a new measure to better hold adults accountable for what happens in the classroom.

Schools that didn't meet the benchmarks struggled almost equally in math and English. Several failed to achieve the required pass rates for students with disabilities.

Two Title I schools - Jacox and Lindenwood elementaries - that didn't meet a federal standard for the second consecutive year will be required to offer school choice.

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PORTSMOUTH

In Portsmouth, five of the city's 20 schools did not make AYP, same as last year. Three of the schools on that list made the grade last year. Of them, Churchland Academy Elementary failed to meet the mark in three categories, although its pass rates in those categories either held steady, improved, or had declined by only 1 percent.

"The point that needs to be made is that there is a difference in the targets this year," said Assistant Superintendent Patricia Fisher, referring to the rising pass rate standard.

However, she said that's not an excuse for not meeting the benchmarks. "We've got to do what we've got to do."

Churchland Academy must offer school choice, as well as Brighton Elementary, which made AYP this year but failed to do so the last two years in a row.

While the number of schools in Portsmouth missing the mark on AYP has not increased, Superintendent David Stuckwisch said, "We're never pleased as long as we've got some deficits. We'd like to have them all at 100 percent, which is what we have to do in a few years."

Pilot writers Hattie Brown Garrow, Amy Jeter, Cheryl Ross and Lauren Roth contributed to this report.

Alicia Wittmeyer, (757) 222-5216, alicia.wittmeyer@pilotonline.com