Dec. 8, 2008 — Only five out of 34 Schools in the territory are meeting adequate yearly progress standards set by the V.I. Department of Education, according to a new report.
While the numbers sound dismal, there have been some bright spots, such as a rise in the number of qualified teachers. In addition, the scores are now being benchmarked against higher goals, and these scores will stay in place until six percent of the schools meet the target, when the objective will be raised again.
"Change must happen, and we are going to make our students the world-class students that we know they can be," said Education Commissioner La Verne Terry.
While last year's scores sounded better — 13 schools met the standard — the target scores were raised by 15 percent over the previous year. Some schools' numbers would have met the standard, but low enrollment prevented inclusion of their scores. Click here to view the report card.
Eight of the territory's schools have been on the "identified for improvement" list for three years. These schools are Charles H. Emanuel, Juanita Gardine and Claude O. Markoe elementary schools; Elena Christian, Arthur A. Richards and John H. Woodson middle schools on St. Croix; and Bertha C. Boschulte Middle School and Addelita Cancryn Junior High on St. Thomas.
Parents whose children attend Title I (low-income) schools that do not make adequate yearly progress (AYP) over a period of years are given options to transfer their child to another school or obtain free tutoring (supplemental educational services), according to the U.S. Department of Education website. For more information, go to answers.ed.gov and search for "AYP."
Scores generated from the V.I. Territorial Assessments of Learning tests are among the factors that created the Department of Education's Report Card, released Monday at the department's headquarters on St. Thomas.
"The assessment is designed to determine students' progress towards meeting the standards in reading and mathematics," Terry said. "The results of this assessment, along with attendance and participation rates and number of classes taught by highly qualified teachers, are the key indicators of accountability that are used to measure how much progress individual schools, districts and states have made towards meeting the NCLB requirements."
The No Child Left Behind Act requires states to develop an annual assessment to measure student performance and their progress toward meeting specific targets — or AYP.
AYP is measured here by student performance on the VITAL, the territory's annual assessment. VITAL benchmarks student proficiency in reading and mathematics and, starting in 2010, will also measure science proficiency.
Some schools may achieve AYP even though they did not meet the testing goals. If a school can demonstrate a 10-percent reduction in non-proficient students, it can claim what is called a safe-harbor exemption.
AYP is also measured on the percentage of teachers qualified to teach in their subject area. On the first report card, less than 15 percent highly qualified, but these numbers have risen to more than 40 percent.
The Education Department's goal is 70 percent by the start of the 2009-10 school year and, ultimately, to have 100 percent of the students taught by highly qualified teachers. At the end of the school year, the department will hold a summer institute for teachers who are still not highly qualified.
Clear consequences await teachers who don't leverage the opportunity to improve their status: They won't get a raise.
All Means All
AYP is a 12-year plan for ensuring that all schools, districts and states are making progress toward 100 percent of the students meeting or exceeding proficiency. The territory's baseline year was 2004-2005, meaning that all students must make their proficiency numbers by the 2016-17 school year.
This means that all students — including black and Hispanic students, students with disabilities and limited English-proficient students — are expected to meet or exceed the standards.
"This is indeed a challenge, but it goes to the heart of one of the department's beliefs that all means all," Terry said. "We have to address the needs of all students and provide all students with rigorous instruction and relevant learning opportunities."
Nationwide, the number of schools failing to meet the AYP has tripled or even quadrupled because of increased proficiency levels, Terry said, referring to an article in the National Education Association's October newsletter.
The biggest problem is attendance, she said: Students aren't learning if they aren't in school. She hopes to educate the parents and hopes to implement a calling system that will notify parents when their child is not at school. She plans to focus on the truancy issue, possibly adopting a weekend truancy-sweep program, if necessary.
The department has a number of initiatives underway to pursue improvement, including sanctions and rewards for schools that make or fail to make AYP. Terry is also looking at putting incentives on transfers for high-performing principals to low-performing schools and reassigning principals whose schools have underperformed.
The department is also hiring more special education and bilingual teachers.
January will bring 20 new teachers from across the globe, including other Caribbean islands and Asia, according to the Education Department's Human Resources director, Alscess Lewis-Brown.
The department is entertaining the idea of partnership schools, a scheme where a business or an industry will adopt and manage a school along with the department, and work with the staff and students to improve the school's performance while helping to develop a labor base.
Report Card By School
(School name — Meet AYP for Reading? / Math? / Identified for Improvement?)
Elementary Schools — St. Croix
Alfredo Andrews — No/No/No
Charles H. Emanuel — No/No/Yes
Juanita Gardine — No/No/Yes
Alexander Henderson — No/Yes/No
Pearl B. Larsen — Yes/Yes/No
Claude O. Markoe — No/No/Yes
Lew Muckle — No/No/No
Ricardo Richards — Yes/No/No
Eulalie Rivera — No/No/No
Evelyn Williams — No/No/No
Middle Schools — St. Croix
Elena Christian — No/No/Yes
Positive Connections — enrollment too low to make assessment
Arthur A. Richards — No/No/ Yes
John H. Woodson — No/No/Yes
High Schools — St. Croix
Central High School — No/No/No
St. Croix Education Complex — No/No/No
Elementary Schools — St. Thomas
Gladys Abraham — Yes/Yes/No
Guy Benjamin — enrollment too low to make assessment
Yvonne Milliner Bowsky — No/No/No
Leonard Dober — Yes/Yes/No
Joseph Gomez — No/No/No
J. Antonio Jarvis — enrollment too low to make assessment
Lockhart — No/No/No
Evelyn Marcelli — enrollment too low to make assessment
Ulla F. Muller — No/No/No
E. Benjamin Oliver — No/Yes/No
Joseph Sibilly — Yes/Yes/No
Julius Sprauve — No/No/No
Jane E. Tuitt — enrollment too low to make assessment
Middle/Junior High Schools — St. Thomas
Bertha C. Boschulte — No/No/Yes
Addelita Cancryn — No/No/Yes
Sprauve — No/Yes/No
High Schools — St. Thomas
Charlotte Amalie — No/Yes/No
Ivanna Eudora Kean — Yes/Yes/No
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