Schools to hold to standards

Christine Carrillo

The state Board of Education has decided to maintain the rigorous

standards currently laid out by the state’s Academic Performance

Index program, even though it may mean losing federal funding when

schools fail to meet those standards as demanded by President Bush’s

No Child Left Behind program.

The No Child Left Behind program requires that all students,

including those in special education programs and those students

still learning English, meet proficiency standards in English and

math, standards that are set by each state.

Despite projections that nearly all schools will fail to meet

federal expectations by the 2014 deadline, state education officials

decided to stick to the rigorous proficiency standards put in place

last year before the federal law was in effect.

Huntington Beach school officials applaud the state board’s

gumption, yet they harbor concerns about the repercussions.

“We want to uphold the standards that we have here and we’re

pretty proud of them,” said Karen Colby, assistant supt. of

curriculum and instruction with the Ocean View School District.

“I think this No Child Left Behind program kicks it up to a higher

level,” she said. “I’m just hopeful that there will be an opportunity

for review by the [state board] over time.”

California has defined “proficiency” in English and language arts

and math as being determined by state tests and a student’s ability

to attend a four-year university by high school graduation.

“California has had really high standards academically and I

really appreciate that,” said Duane Cox, principal at Ethel Dwyer

Middle School in Huntington Beach. “I think we’ve developed really

strong programs and it’s really raised the bar and if we lower our

standards, we lower them for everyone.”

While lowering state standards may qualify more schools for

federal funding, providing they meet federal expectations as a

result, school officials worry that it may send the wrong message.

“I think there’s been a tremendous push to move students toward a

greater proficiency and a lot of that is because of the high

standards California has,” Cox said.

As more and more teachers become accustomed to teaching the state

standards by using the materials that support it, school officials

are hopeful that more and more students will increase their level of

proficiency and eventually meet expectations.

“I think we have to shoot for it, we can’t not,” Colby said. “I

think it needs to be reviewed ... and I hope that the Department of

Education is willing to look at it again and make modifications if

needed.”

* CHRISTINE CARRILLO is a news assistant with Times Community

News. She can be reached at (714) 965-7177 or by e-mail at

christine.carrillo@latimes.com.