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More Indiana schools have fallen into academic watch and probation status, and
the state is sending assistance teams to help 31 schools stuck for years on the
lowest rung of the state’s five-tier ranking system.
State Superintendent Tony Bennett said today that teams of three to five people
will recommend changes in schools that are entering their fourth year of
academic probation. Those schools have been in that category since rankings
began in the 2005-2006 school year.
Bennett said he hopes the teams are in place before this fall. Those teams
could include community representatives, teachers, superintendents, local
officials or special consultants.
“It’s a resource,” he said. “We are going to put a sense of
purpose and a sense of urgency into the delivery of this resource and service
so that it’s very clear to schools, school corporations and school communities
the importance of moving the needle.”
The 31 schools, which are largely clustered in urban areas, will also have to
give parents the choice of transferring their children to another school in the
district next year.
Bennett also said today he wants to reward schools that are improving on
measures such as graduation rates. He said he would announce a program as early
as next week that would give schools “real incentives” to improve
using a “significant” amount of money the Department of Education has
saved in its budget.
More details on that program will be announced soon, Bennett said.
“We’re very excited about that,” he said.
New 2008 state data released today show that
about 70 percent of public high schools, 64 percent of public middle schools
and 35 percent of public elementary schools fell into the state’s lowest two
categories – academic watch and probation.
About a quarter of
public schools fell into a lower category in 2008 than 2007. And about 19
percent moved into higher categories, while the rest stayed in the same tier.
The state rankings are separate from federal accountability measures required
under the No Child Left Behind law. The federal progress goals only account for
performance on statewide exams, while the state rankings give credit to schools
for both performance and improvement over time.
Consequences of the federal law only apply to schools receiving certain federal
funding, while the state consequences apply to all public schools except
charter schools.
Only schools in the lowest category of academic probation face consequences
such as possible restructuring under the state law.
in 2008, up from 127 a year before.
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