<I>DAMIAN MULINIX/Chinook Observer</I><BR>Ocean Park Elementary School is one of many in the state that didn't meet federal standards.

PENINSULA – Ocean Beach School District Superintendent Boyd Keyser says Ocean Park Elementary School “finds itself as one of 1,073 schools in the state of Washington that have been designated by the federal government as being ‘in need of improvement.'”

Keyser said that, according to State Superintendent Randy Dorn, the fact that nearly twice as many Washington schools received that designation this year indicates more about the No Child Left Behind Act than it does about the performance of the schools in our state.

“Our state testing scores are flat, and yet the federal system shows an additional 500 schools failing,” Dorn said. “What is really failing is No Child Left Behind.”

Schools that do not meet federal standards for test scores in reading and/or math for two years in a row are designated as being “in improvement,” Keyser said. The recent release of the 2009 WASL scores revealed that Ocean Park Elementary has gained that designation in math.

He said that in 2001, the federal government legislated, through the Elementary and Secondary Education Act – better known as No Child Left Behind – that by 2014 all students in public education would meet rigorous academic standards in reading and math. “The legislation established a progressive set of benchmarks, known as Adequate Yearly Progress, or AYP, that required a higher percentage of students meet the standard each year until by 2014 schools would be required to have all students passing the annual exams,” he said.

While improvement in scores has been seen across the country, more and more schools are finding themselves unable to meet the AYP benchmark as we close in on the 2014 100 percent requirement, Keyser said. “To Dorn, this standard of measurement is faulty. It’s a statistical guarantee in the law that all of our schools will soon be in federal improvement status. That’s unrealistic.”

The designation requires that the staff at Ocean Park create an improvement plan that addresses the challenges in math, Keyser said, adding that the new principal, Dustin Salisbury, said “The requirement for an improvement plan really just reinforces what we have been planning to do. We have a brand-new set of teaching materials and textbooks for our teachers this fall and we will be training them during the pre-school year in-service time in late August.”

According to Salisbury, that in-service training will be followed up by a series of grade-level workshops throughout the year where teachers and administrators sit down and review student performance and plan for the implementation of specific strategies to improve teaching and learning. “While the designation doesn’t feel very good” Salisbury said, “it really gives us motivation to sharpen our skills and get our kids to the benchmarks.”

Another requirement from No Child Left Behind is that a school “in improvement” must announce to their parents that they may seek to transfer their students to another school in the district that is meeting the standard. The 2009 WASL scores did indicate that Long Beach Elementary reached the benchmark and is therefore open for transfers.

While space is limited at Long Beach, Keyser said parents who wish to have their children moved can apply by making a written application to Salisbury at Ocean Park Elementary School, P.O. Box 1220, Ocean Park, WA 98640. Parents who apply must also attend a parent meeting scheduled for 6:30 p.m. on Aug. 25 at the Ocean Park School library if they wish to be considered.

All requests will be reviewed and placements will be made based on number of seats available and the federal guidelines requiring that students in greatest need get served first. Salisbury intends to announce the placements on Aug. 25.

Statewide WASL results and more information about No Child Left Behind may be viewed on OSPI’s Web site at (www.k12.wa.us).