Minority Students Disappear From Whatcom County Radar Screen

Helen Cozy, Ph.D., has worked as a psychologist in Wisconsin, Tennessee and Washington public schools.

In 2001 Congress passed the No Child Left Behind Act and since then school districts across the country have been attempting to comply with its requirements. The purpose of the act is ensure that all students successfully learn the school curricula taught at each grade. Here in Whatcom County some groups of minority students have disappeared from the annual calculations of academic progress required by this federal legislation.

Each year schools in Washington state administer an achievement test, the Washington Assessment of Student Learning (WASL), to students in 4th, 7th and 10th grades. Eventually all students will be tested every year, as required by the federal act.

The WASL results are used in determining whether a school or school district is meeting a requirement of the No Child Left Behind Act that students in various categories must be making “Adequate Yearly Progress” (AYP).

A recent article in The Bellingham Herald described improvements in the Lummi Nation School. The article noted that:

“During testing last spring, the school had the lowest scores in Whatcom County and was the only local school not meeting the ‘adequate yearly progress’ targets set according to the federal No Child Left Behind Act.”

Bellingham Herald, October 26, 2004

What is interesting is that in (the previous school year) 2002-03, Lummi Nation School was not alone in failing to meet federal Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) requirements. In that year both the Ferndale and Bellingham school districts also were listed as not meeting Adequate Yearly Progress targets set by the federal act. By the following year, 2003-04, both districts were in compliance. What happened?

In Ferndale, 2002-03 WASL scores for the American Indian or Alaskan Native students were low. The district was not meeting the AYP target for that category of students in 4th and 7th grades. That year the district was reporting test scores for minority groups that had at least 30 continuing students who had taken the WASL.

The next year, 2003-2004, the Ferndale district reported test scores only for subgroups that had at least 54 students. There are less than 54 American Indian/Alaskan Native students in grades 7 and 10. Consequently, that subgroup’s test scores were not included in Ferndale’s Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) calculations. Ferndale is now listed for year 2003-04 as being in compliance with AYP requirements.

The approximately 814 American Indian or Alaskan Native students in the Ferndale schools are not included in their category AYP determination when they take the WASL in 7th and 10th grades because there are less than the requisite 54 continuing students at each of those grade levels.

Similarly, in Bellingham 2002-03 WASL scores for Hispanic students were low. The Bellingham district was listed as not meeting 4th, 7th and 10th grade AYP targets for this category of students. In 2002-03 the district was reporting test scores for subgroups that had at least 30 students.

However, in the next year, 2003-2004, the Bellingham district reported test scores only for subgroups that had at least 105 students. There were less than 105 Hispanic students taking the WASL in grades 4, 7 and 10. Consequently those students’ test scores were not included in Bellingham’s AYP calculation. Bellingham is now listed as meeting AYP requirements for year 2003-04.

The approximately 811 Hispanic students in the district are not included in their category AYP determination since there are less than 105 continuing students in each of the 4th, 7th and 10th grades.

In other school districts in Whatcom County, the numbers of American Indian/Alaskan Native and Hispanic students enrolled at grades 4, 7 and 10 are below the number required for AYP subgroup reporting (30 in each group). The schools can be listed as meeting Adequate Yearly Progress targets for the year, but still have students in these categories who are significantly behind in reading, writing or math.

There are approximately 416 Native American/Alaskan Native students and 1,226 Hispanic students flying below the AYP radar. Those students are in Lynden, Blaine, Nooksack, Meridian and Mount Baker school districts. When combined with approximately 1,243 students in Ferndale (814 Native American, 429 Hispanic) and 1,074 students in Bellingham schools (263 Native American, 811 Hispanic), approximately 3,959 minority students have disappeared off the AYP radar screen.

Unforeseen Consequences

The original goals of the No Child Left Behind Act are admirable: to ensure that all students successfully learn the school curricula taught at each grade. Unfortunately, the rules and regulations of the federal No Child Left Behind Act can have unintended consequences. Publicly shaming schools and threatening loss of funds for failing to meet the Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) criteria are probably not productive ways to support the teachers and staff who work with students every day.

Education administrators can make some groups of students disappear from the annual AYP calculations and reporting. This may give the impression that no child is being left behind. But the students are still there, as their teachers and principals well know. It is the public that is lulled into thinking that all is well in their school district. Citizens need to know that current funding levels for the No Child Left Behind Act are inadequate for districts to meet the academic needs of all our county’s students. §