District secure with standards

Deirdre Newman

School district officials say they are not daunted by the state’s

decision to maintain demanding proficiency standards for all students

in the face of projections that most schools will not be able to meet

these standards by the federal deadline of 2014.

Failure to meet the standards could lead to sanctions and the loss

of millions of dollars in federal funding.

On Thursday, officials in the Newport-Mesa Unified School District

commended the state for sticking with more rigorous standards instead

of lowering them to increase the prospects of complying with the

federal law.

State officials announced those plans Wednesday, on the one-year

anniversary of the federal No Child Left Behind law.

The state’s standards were implemented before the No Child Left

Behind law took effect. They describe proficiency for students as the

ability to attend a four-year university by high school graduation,

which experts have maintained is a lofty, if nearly unreachable,

goal.

The No Child Left Behind law requires testing third- through

eighth-graders annually in English and math, with schools making

progress toward the goal of 100% student proficiency.

Schools with a high percentage of English language learners,

students whose first language is not English, are expected to have

the hardest time gaining proficiency in English.

School officials also they say they have already embarked on the

path to meeting those standards.

“I feel good because our systems are in place now and we are

moving forward with a clear, consistent curriculum with our English

learners,” said Karen Kendall, district director of English Learner

Programs. “That which you put a lot of time and attention on,

generally improves.”

The state adopted its standards in 1997 and has been busy aligning

the curriculum to reflect them since. Last year, Kendall created a

master plan for the district’s English language learners and now has

a full-fledged department to monitor and support the plan.

Candy Sperling, principal of Wilson Elementary School in Costa

Mesa, said she is also confident that her students can rise to the

challenge set by the state standards.

“These are the things that we are aspiring to now, and I don’t see

that part changing,” Wilson said.

One of the effects of No Child Left Behind will be state sanctions

against schools that continually fail to meet 100% proficiency.

Schools that serve a high proportion of low-income students could

lose federal funding.

These harsh penalties are a contrast to the state’s own ranking

system, the Academic Performance Index, which is based on rewards,

and intervention for low-performing schools. Trustee Serene Stokes

said the district will redouble its efforts to help every student

meet the standards.

“We need to address the schools that need help to meet the

standards,” Stokes said. “First, you identify the students that need

help, then you develop programs that will assist those students.

That’s our responsibility.”

* DEIRDRE NEWMAN covers education. Reach her at (949) 574-4221 or

deirdre.newman@latimes.com.