Number of failing students cut nearly in half

Angelique Flores

Among the three local elementary school districts, 1,075 students are

at risk of being held back at the end of the school year -- nearly half

the number who were at risk last year, school officials say.

Ocean View School District records show 565 students, or 5.5% of the

district’s student population, are at risk of repeating a grade. Last

year, the district sent out about 1,300 letters to parents warning them

their children may have to be retained. Only 604 pupils were held back.

“It will change again this year,” said Beverly McNealy-Hempstead,

Ocean View’s director of student services. “Some students may not be at

risk, but teachers still want to monitor them to make sure that students

are still moving.”

District officials attribute the drop to the efforts of teachers,

students and parents.

Teachers credit other teachers who they say properly prepared

students. Some teachers test students every month and report improvement

to the children and their parents.

“It gets them going and motivated,” McNealy-Hempstead said.

The district also has a group of students who are not at risk of

failing but are being monitored. Teachers monitor students by taking into

account a student’s environment and his or her academic assessment.

“If there’s an issue that comes up -- such as a divorce, moving, death

in the family or just getting new glasses -- the teachers monitor as a

safety net,” McNealy-Hempstead said.

The students are also more comfortable with the assessment tests this

year and more academically focused, officials say.

“They’re reading and writing like there’s no tomorrow,”

McNealy-Hempstead said.

This year, Oak View Elementary School has 177 students at risk of

failing and another 158 whom teachers are closely monitoring. Last year,

244 students were kept back at Oak View, where 98% to 99% of the students

are English language learners.

“We expect children to move, and they do,” McNealy-Hempstead said.

“When things are aligned, it just makes music.”Fountain Valley School

District has seen the same drop this year, with 289 students, 4.8% of the

district’s student population, at risk of not graduating to the next

grade, compared to the 600 who were identified last year. That figure

dropped to 12 when it came time to retain students.

“It went down considerably,” said Catherine Follett, the district’s

assistant superintendent of instruction. “The kids did better on the

benchmark test this year.”Only students in second through eighth grades

are assessed for retention in the Fountain Valley district.

Follett doesn’t foresee another significant drop in the at-risk

numbers next year, but she does expect a gradual decline in future years.

Huntington Beach City School District saw a smaller decline, with 221,

or 3.2% of the district’s student population, being identified as at

risk. That’s down from 268 last year.

“The goal isn’t to make the [at-risk] numbers smaller. This way, we

can help them and respond with intervention,” said Lynn Bogart, the

district’s director of curriculum and instruction.

Last year, the district retained 18 students, or less than 1%, in

kindergarten through eighth grade. Huntington Beach City does not assess

students in kindergarten, first or second grade as being at risk, but

students are assessed at the end of the year for promotion to the next

grade.District officials expect the number of at-risk children will

sharply drop at the end of the year when it comes time to determine who

will be kept back to repeat a grade.