Sorting out school ratings may be test for parents
The Boston Globe
Michele Kurtz and Megan Tench
January 6, 2003
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This month Massachusetts is poised to offer families in dozens of struggling schools the chance to transfer to better ones or to use school money for private tutoring under the federal No Child Left Behind Act. But some education leaders worry that the confusing array of school assessments could turn parents off - or hurt their ability to gauge how their children's campuses really measure up.
Part of the worry grows out of the implementation of No Child Left Behind, which measures schools' performance based on how much progress they make toward having every child proficient in math and English by 2014. Like many other states, Massachusetts already had a system for rating schools - with labels like critically low or very high - and for identifying schools that need a state review.
Both the state and federal assessments use MCAS scores to chart progress. And both were designed in part to empower parents by giving them information about their children's schools - and in the case of the newly revamped federal system, the tools to enroll students at another campus.
But conflicts between the lists and the complicated ways schools are assessed may be undermining that intent, said Henry Thomas, vice chairman of the state Board of Education, who raised the issue at a recent board meeting. "To what extent do parents need to be alarmed? To what extent do they need to feel compelled to take their child out of the school?" Thomas said in an interview.
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"But we know we have extremely low-performing high schools and we know it's critical particularly at a time when we have a high school graduation requirement," said Julianne Dow, the state associate commissioner for accountability and targeted assistance.
So as part of its annual review process, the state identified three high schools - and 12 other schools - that were among the lowest performing in 1999-2000 and 2000-2001 and failed to show much progress during those years. A panel of educators will review those schools' improvement plans and the state Board of Education will decide whether to designate them "under-performing," a label that can ultimately lead to sanctions as serious as the removal of a principal or staff.
In Worcester, two schools underwent such a review and were not labeled under-performing, but this year they were placed on the federal "needing improvement" list for failing to meet adequate yearly progress. Superintendent James A. Caradonio, who supports school accountability, still fears the discrepancies could frustrate parents and school employees who have dedicated time to making sure their schools' improvement plans pass muster.
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Educators and parents will have to adjust to some changes in 2004 when federal law will require Massachusetts to report MCAS scores broken down by race and special-needs students. "It's very complicated," said Caradonio. "And by the time you get everyone to explain it, it's all changed. That's the most frustrating thing." Whatever the accountability system, some education leaders say it's critical that it be as simple as possible, especially for parents struggling to decipher the quality of their child's school.
"The research on accountability shows consistently that one of the most important features of a school accountability system is that it be transparent, meaning that people understand what's being rated, how it's being rated," said Paul Reville, executive director of the Center for Education Research and Policy at MassINC, a Boston think tank that is sponsoring a forum on No Child Left Behind later this month. "I think the message to parents is deeply confusing," he said.
State education officials acknowledge parents may be initially confused, but said the lists are nonetheless important because they help hold schools publicly accountable for their performance. At the same time, officials stressed the lists are just one tool to help parents make good decisions about their children's education. Dow of the Department of Education urged parents who may be considering transferring their children to go beyond the lists and read state reviews of schools and visit other campuses.
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