Education News in Alabama

October 17 , 2006 (archive)

By Sallie Owen

Nearly 700 schools honored in second rewards phase

Faculties at more than 300 public schools throughout Alabama earned financial rewards for student achievement last month, and many more schools have been highlighted in the next phase of the Alabama State Department of Education's Accountability Rewards.

Though there is no money associated with selection, these "recognition schools" also deserve the spotlight. The list of recognition schools also includes more than 150 schools that received financial rewards in the program's first phase.

Lists of the 2006 recognition schools are available at http://aplusala.org/rewards_analysis.asp

The page also contains detailed information about schools and systems that earned financial rewards.

The department designated recognition schools in two categories: Advancing the Challenge and Addressing the Challenge.

Recognition schools in Advancing the Challenge were those where the percent of students scoring advanced in reading and math exceeded the state percent scoring advanced.

These schools also improved their scores from the previous year, but they were not eligible for financial rewards because less than 80 percent of their students qualify for free or reduced-price meals.

In the category of Addressing the Challenge, these recognition schools made some progress narrowing the achievement gap for certain defined groups of students. But gains were not large enough to merit financial rewards.

Performance was measured using each school's adequate yearly progress (AYP) report, which primarily reflects scores on math and reading tests as well as the graduation exam. AYP is a key standard of the federal No Child Left Behind Act.

Austin, Calcedeaver elementaries win Blue Ribbons

The U.S. Department of Education recently announced that two Alabama schools were selected for the No Child Left Behind Blue Ribbon Schools Program, which honors public and private K-12 schools that are either academically superior or that demonstrate dramatic gains in student achievement.

Mary B. Austin Elementary in Mobile and Calcedeaver Elementary in Mount Vernon were chosen. Both schools are part of the Mobile County system.

Located in suburban Mobile, Austin Elementary enrolls a little more than 400 students in kindergarten through fifth grades. Four out of five students are zoned for other schools but their parents have chosen Austin, which has traditionally posted high test scores.

With NCLB, teachers at Austin were able to see for the first time how different groups of students were learning, and they found that children who were black or who qualified for free or reduced-price meals lagged far behind.

"Breaking the surface to get to the real meat and bones of our data was the best thing that happened to our school. We were forced by NCLB to look at each child individually," states the school's application.

Test scores show that Austin, which is led by Principal Jacquelyn M. Zeigler, is successfully closing the achievement gap. Reading scores for the 2005 school year indicate that 80 percent of African-American fourth graders exceeded state standards, compared to 34 percent the year before. Students qualifying for free or reduced-price meals made similar gains.

Calcedeaver Elementary is located in rural northern Mobile County, and the school enrolls about 240 students in pre-kindergarten through sixth grade. Most students qualify for free or reduced-price meals.

The school is distinct because more than 90 percent of students are Native American, predominately of Choctaw descent. Teachers have woven Native American culture throughout the curriculum, and students regularly guide groups from other schools through the 12 pre-Colonial dwellings in the Native American Culture exhibit.

"We have been fortunate to succeed when all of the odds were against us. Typically, schools with similar demographics struggle to perform; however, Calcedeaver is not struggling, we are leading the way in Mobile County and the State of Alabama," states the school's application.

Fourth-grade reading scores from the 2005 school year show that 62 percent exceeded state standards, up nearly 30 points from the year before.

Last year Calcedeaver was featured in an issue of Working Toward Excellence, a journal published by the Alabama Best Practices Center. The issue is available here www.bestpracticescenter.org/pdfs/wte5-1.pdf, and the Calcedeaver article begins on page 10.

Nationwide, 250 schools received the award this year, which was based on testing data from the 2004-05 school year. No Alabama schools had won the NCLB Blue Ribbon since Huntsvilles Randolph School, which is private, was recognized in 2003.

To be eligible, a school must meet either of two assessment criteria. The program recognizes schools that have at least 40 percent of their students from disadvantaged backgrounds that dramatically improve student performance in accordance with state assessment systems. It rewards schools that score in the top 10 percent on state assessments.

The principal and one teacher from all selected schools will travel to Washington, D.C., next month for the national recognition ceremony.

In the Alabama State Department of Education's Accountability Rewards for 2006, Calcedeaver earned $31,500 in rewards in multiple categories, including the prestigious Torchbearer designation. Mary B. Austin garnered recognition in Advancing the Challenge, because its students outperformed the rest of the state.

Funding increases proposed

Preliminary budget priorities for the 2007-08 school year began to emerge during the Alabama State Board of Education's last work session. They include:

• Helping teachers improve instructional methods for key subjects: A $5 million boost has been proposed for the Alabama Reading Initiative to cover rising costs and to support pilot projects. Work is already underway on a pilot to expand ARI beyond the third grade.
  
  The Alabama Math, Science and Technology Initiative could get an $11 million increase to add more regional AMSTI sites and enroll additional schools in the program.
• Expanding high-quality offerings: The state superintendent is considering a $15 million increase for ACCESS, the distance learning program that expands the variety of courses available to high school students, especially in small schools.
  
  An extra $2 million has been suggested for Advanced Placement or dual-enrollment courses, two methods for high school students to take more rigorous classes and earn college credit.
  
  The superintendent has also suggested that -- for the first time -- the state should provide funding for gifted students. State law has required public schools to provide special services for gifted students since 1971, but no state money has ever been allocated. He has suggested a little more than $3 million, which works out to $100 per gifted student.
• Motivating teachers to do a better job: A $7.6 million increase is proposed for Accountability Rewards, paid to school faculties based on student achievement.
• Compensating leaders: A $12 million increase would pay for raises to principals, assistant principals and counselors.

Budget discussions between the board and State Superintendent of Education Dr. Joe Morton will continue at a work session Oct. 26. Morton said he expects to present his budget recommendation to the board at its November meeting.

Superintendents matter

Mid-continent Research for Education and Learning recently released a new report that the researchers say "dispels the myth of administrative blob." System superintendents probably don't think of themselves as "administrative blobs," but citizens frequently bash central offices and call for more dollars to go straight to the classroom.

This research report shows that superintendents do have an impact on student learning, effective superintendents create goal-oriented districts, and superintendent tenure is linked to student achievement.

The 27-page report, School District Leadership that Works: The Effect of Superintendent Leadership on Student Achievement, is available for download at http://www.mcrel.org/topics/Leadership/products/244/

On the horizon: reforming secondary schools At 5 p.m. today, CNN's "Lou Dobbs Tonight" will air an interview with Bob Wise, president of the Alliance for Excellent Education and former governor of West Virginia. Wise believes public support for education reform is necessary, and the conversation will focus on ways to improve the nation's middle schools and high schools.

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The A+ Education Foundation, based in Montgomery, publishes Education News in Alabama twice a month. A+ is a nonprofit organization that advances policies, programs and initiatives in Alabama's K-12 education system that result in high achievement by every child.

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