Fewer Kodiak Schools Meet NCLB Standards

Casey Kelly/KMXT
Eight schools in the Kodiak Island Borough School District made adequate yearly progress for the 2007-2008 school year under the federal No Child Left Behind Act. That’s according to results released today (Friday) by the State Department of Education and Early Development. KMXT’s Casey Kelly has more.

Kodiak schools meeting A-Y-P were the Akhiok, Chiniak, Danger Bay, Karluk, Ouzinkie and Port Lions village schools. North Star and Main Elementary were the only town schools to make the list.

East and Peterson Elementary schools and the Old Harbor and Larsen Bay village schools, as well as Kodiak High School and Kodiak Middle School did not meet A-Y-P last school year, after making the list for the previous year. Kodiak Island Correspondence School is in its second year of not making A-Y-P.

Consequences for not meeting A-Y-P include developing and implementing a school improvement plan. If a school misses the list too many years in a row it could also have to replace staff, develop new curriculum, hire an outside expert to evaluate school needs, even rearrange the school calendar or undergo a total restructuring plan. No Kodiak schools face consequences that severe this year.

Kodiak followed the statewide trend, where 58.7 percent of schools made A-Y-P for 2007-2008, a drop from 62 percent in 2006-2007.

In press release, state Education Commissioner Larry LeDoux, who was superintendent of Kodiak schools last year, says the results should be viewed in light of higher standards for student achievement.

Adequate yearly progress is the cornerstone of the No Child Left Behind Act. It’s calculated based on standardized tests for language arts and math, as well as participation and graduation rates. The standards are supposed to go up every few years until the 2013-2014 school year, when all students, nationwide, are supposed to be 100 percent proficient.

I’m Casey Kelly.

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