MONROE - The fact that the Monroe Alternative Charter Middle School failed to make an acceptable level of progress according to federal standards is basically a moot issue, as this is the last year the district will offer the option for middle-school students.
This year, there were 148 of the 2,269 public schools in Wisconsin that didn't meet standards set by the federal No Child Left Behind Act, according to the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction. The Milwaukee and Beloit public school districts also are on the list that was released this week.
Monroe's alternative middle school is considerably smaller than most of the schools on the list. The school had only four or five students this year, according to Jennifer Thayer, director of curriculum and instruction for the district. The district decided several months ago to discontinue offering the alternative middle school and instead concentrate on serving those students within the traditional school setting.
Because the school has fewer than 10 students, the DPI asked the district to assess whether it had made adequate progress as spelled out under NCLB guidelines. When a school has more than 10 students, the DPI makes the assessment.
After looking at the data, "we had not made the progress we expected and hoped for," Thayer said, so the district assessed itself as not making adequate progress.
Because of the school's small size, the problem can be somewhat distorted. Many students in an alternative school setting have struggled with school in the past, so "getting them to the benchmark in one or two years is very difficult," Thayer said. If these students' scores were included as part of the larger traditional middle school student body, they would have far less effect on the overall average.
The school was going to be even smaller next year. The district is using more interventions to provide more help for students, keeping more of them in traditional school. Thayer said there only were one or two students enrolled in the alternative middle school for next year, so the district decided it would be more cost-effective to provide the students the additional services they need in a traditional school setting.
"We just didn't see the need to continue it," Thayer said. The district instead will be looking at each student's records to see what their needs are and how the school can meet those needs.
Thayer also noted that the students themselves may have made good progress, but it may not have been enough to meet the NCLB benchmarks.
Every other school in the district made adequate yearly progress. The exception was the "virtual school graduation rate has come up as a flag for us," Thayer said. "We know it's a concern."
The district has taken steps to increase the graduation rate at the online school. One such step is an effort to terminate students who repeatedly fail to make progress. Another step, Thayer said, is an increased effort to make sure potential students "know what they're getting into" by enrolling for the more independent style of study of the virtual school.
Thayer said people can expect to see more and more districts failing to make adequate yearly progress under NCLB. By the 2013-14 school year, all students must be "proficient" on the WKCE standardized test. All students, including special education and those whose first language is something other than English, are held to the same standards. The percent of students scoring at proficient will increase until then, and as it does even the most superior schools will have difficulty reaching that benchmark, Thayer said.
This year, there were 148 of the 2,269 public schools in Wisconsin that didn't meet standards set by the federal No Child Left Behind Act, according to the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction. The Milwaukee and Beloit public school districts also are on the list that was released this week.
Monroe's alternative middle school is considerably smaller than most of the schools on the list. The school had only four or five students this year, according to Jennifer Thayer, director of curriculum and instruction for the district. The district decided several months ago to discontinue offering the alternative middle school and instead concentrate on serving those students within the traditional school setting.
Because the school has fewer than 10 students, the DPI asked the district to assess whether it had made adequate progress as spelled out under NCLB guidelines. When a school has more than 10 students, the DPI makes the assessment.
After looking at the data, "we had not made the progress we expected and hoped for," Thayer said, so the district assessed itself as not making adequate progress.
Because of the school's small size, the problem can be somewhat distorted. Many students in an alternative school setting have struggled with school in the past, so "getting them to the benchmark in one or two years is very difficult," Thayer said. If these students' scores were included as part of the larger traditional middle school student body, they would have far less effect on the overall average.
The school was going to be even smaller next year. The district is using more interventions to provide more help for students, keeping more of them in traditional school. Thayer said there only were one or two students enrolled in the alternative middle school for next year, so the district decided it would be more cost-effective to provide the students the additional services they need in a traditional school setting.
"We just didn't see the need to continue it," Thayer said. The district instead will be looking at each student's records to see what their needs are and how the school can meet those needs.
Thayer also noted that the students themselves may have made good progress, but it may not have been enough to meet the NCLB benchmarks.
Every other school in the district made adequate yearly progress. The exception was the "virtual school graduation rate has come up as a flag for us," Thayer said. "We know it's a concern."
The district has taken steps to increase the graduation rate at the online school. One such step is an effort to terminate students who repeatedly fail to make progress. Another step, Thayer said, is an increased effort to make sure potential students "know what they're getting into" by enrolling for the more independent style of study of the virtual school.
Thayer said people can expect to see more and more districts failing to make adequate yearly progress under NCLB. By the 2013-14 school year, all students must be "proficient" on the WKCE standardized test. All students, including special education and those whose first language is something other than English, are held to the same standards. The percent of students scoring at proficient will increase until then, and as it does even the most superior schools will have difficulty reaching that benchmark, Thayer said.