By John Speer

Editor

jspeer@tamatoledonews.com

South Tama School Superintendent Kerri Nelson has pointed to “challenging demographics” following release last week of the 2014 “Iowa Schools Report Card.”

STC Schools remain classified, as it was previously, as a “District in Need of Assistance,” one of 45 out of a total 345 public school districts in the state, in this latest education assessment under the federal No Child Left Behind Act of 2001.

Kerri Nelson

Brad Buck, director of the Iowa Department of Education, and Nelson both came out critically of the report methodology shortly after it’s release.

“No Child Left Behind has outlived its usefulness as a lever for improving student achievement in our country,” Buck said in a news release. “We need some different solutions. In Iowa, we embrace high expectations and accountability, but we must have an approach that dignifies growth and progress as much as proficiency on a test.”

Nelson told The Chronicle in an email asking comment, “I would agree with Dr. Buck’s assessment the NCLB accountability system is flawed. The NCLB system in its current state provides a very limited view of the progress Iowa schools have made or actual student achievement.”

Nelson countered the report findings by pointing to success at elementary, middle school and high school levels at South Tama despite facing high numbers of factors including socio-economic and English Language Learner levels.

In further response to the academic progress report, Nelson wrote, “The poverty level, Hispanic, and ELL population have increased in recent years. Last school year, 63 percent of the Elementary students qualified for free and reduced lunch, 18 percent of the students qualified for ELL services and 29 percent of the students were Hispanic.

Brad Buck

“AYP formula does not fairly demonstrate the progress these students have made or the work that is being done.

“For example, the Elementary School did not make AYP in reading and math, but the Elementary did receive the “Breaking Barriers Award” from the Iowa Department of Education for reducing the achievement gap.

“The Middle School did not meet AYP for reading and math, but they made adequate progress to be removed from the state’s lowest -achieving schools list and also were honored for improving school climate and becoming a PBIS Honor School.

“The high school substantially reduced the dropout rate over the past three years. Additionally, the High School had an average of 90 students per semester successfully completed college level coursework with Iowa Valley Community College.”

“I firmly believe in the premise that every student should be provided high-quality education every day. Schools need to have high expectations and accountability. However, I also join Dr. Buck in advocating the reauthorization and overhaul the existing requirements of NCLB. The current system does not adequately assess student achievement and provides a very limited view of the progress schools make each year. There are better ways to assess student learning and school progress than a single test score,” Nelson said.

State-Wide

According to the Iowa Department of Education, state-wide, these are 737 public schools within the school distrcits which are idnetified as schools in need of assistance.

The department says this is a jump of 7.2 percent over the number in the 2012-13 report.

The Iowa Department of Education said in the news release accompanying the report, “While most states have obtained a waiver from key components of No Child Left Behind, Iowa must continue to follow the federal law unless it is reauthorized by Congress or Iowa’s system for educator evaluation is changed by state legislators to meet waiver criteria.”

“I continue to fully support Congressional reauthorization, which is long overdue, as well as a significant overhaul of this law,” Buck said. “We want a rigorous system that both acknowledges growth and holds schools and districts accountable without labeling schools that fall short of proficiency targets as failures.”

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