Danbury Schools Improve: NCLB Still Lists as Failing

According to Danbury School's superintendent, the ever rising standards of No Child Left Behind make getting out of the Failing District classification extremely difficult.

 The scores, released Monday by the state Department of Education, show that some of Danbury's schools have yet to meet the challenge. Danbury is not alone however, as according to the report, only 53 percent of Connecticut schools meet the performance standards. 

According to the report, “During the 2010-2011 school year the AYP (Adequate Yearly Progress) targets were raised significantly, such that even with better performance on the exams, it is now more difficult to achieve these challenging standards than it was last year.”

 Schools in Danbury that are not meeting AYP are South Street School, Ellsworth Avenue School, Pembroke School, Rogers Park Middle School, and Danbury High School

“We are working directly with 18 of Connecticut's largest districts-identified under State accountability legislation-to help them turn around schools that have been struggling for years. It is very difficult to overcome the effects of poverty with limited school resources, but our work to employ effective strategies that help close the gaps in student performance is beginning to show results,” the Department of Education Acting Commissioner George A. Coleman said in the report.

 Describing the standards held by NCLB, the report stated, “Since  the  No  Child  Left  Behind  (NCLB)  Act  was  passed  by  Congress  in  2001,  schools  and  districts  across  the country  have  been  measured  against  a  standard  called  Adequate  Yearly  Progress  (AYP).  That  standard  sets  an expected  minimum  level  of  student  participation  and  performance  for  mathematics  and  reading  each  year  on statewide  assessments.”

 At last week's Danbury Board of Education meeting, Superintendent Sal Pascarella, Ed.D. Said, “If the standard that they used seven years ago was used today, our kids would be fine, but they keep raising the bar.”

 Deputy Superintendent Bill Glass, Ed.D., said, “About 80% of schools in the nation are in need of improvement. NCLB is a failed concept. Some schools in other states have asked for the standard to be frozen, but instead of setting the bar, the State of Connecticut keeps moving the bar. We are asking the new commissioner if they can fix the bar so that we can work at a standard. Connecticut is looking for some regulations like that.”

 “What's really broken is the idea that 100 percent of Connecticut's kids are going to learn at the same way at the same rate, and will be at the same end point by 2014,” Glass said. “The timeline and expectation is flawed. If you look at our district reference group, Danbury is at the top or second place of fourteen districts and in many areas, we have outscored our reference group. In some cases, we are in the middle of the next higher reference group, and we are near the bottom of the next higher reference group above that. We recognize we have issues, but we know what we have to do.”