Despite Improvement, California Schools Fail To Make Adequate Yearly Progress

The Los Angeles Times (10/12, Blume) reports that the California Department of Education has released this year's Academic Performance Index, noting that though some struggling schools made significant improvement, "to the federal government" they "simply notched another dreary year of failure." The piece notes that 53% of the state's schools reached state targets, an increase of 4%. Nevertheless, many of the state's schools have failed to make Adequate Yearly Progress under NCLB for multiple years, making them subject to "so-called program improvement status."

 

Similarly, the San Jose Mercury News (10/12, Murphy) reports, "In the Bay Area, public schools in Palo Alto, San Ramon, Pleasanton and Walnut Creek have come to symbolize educational achievement. But on Thursday, those districts joined the ranks of schools and districts that have failed by the federal government's standards. ... Despite steady test score gains locally and statewide, only 26 percent of California's 10,000-plus schools met the increasingly tough and numerous targets of the No Child Left Behind Act this year." The piece notes that California has not received an NCLB waiver, even though "dozens of states have," and adds that "with the proficiency standard nearing 80 percent, the law is playing out as one might expect."

 

Other California media outlets covering this story include the San Francisco Chronicle (10/12), the Salinas Californian (10/12), the Riverside (CA) Press Enterprise (10/12, Klampe), the San Jose Mercury News (10/12, Harrington), the Santa Rosa (CA) Press Democrat (10/12, Benefield), the Orange County (CA) Register (10/12, LEAL, MARTINDALE), and U-T San Diego (10/12, Magee).