State upgrades West End School status
District prevails in appeal of Dept. of Ed finding on NCLB
BY CHRISTINE VARNO
Staff Writer

Joseph M. Ferraina Long Branch Schools Superintendent

The state Department of Education (DOE) has reversed an earlier finding and said last week the West End School in Long Branch has met the benchmarks set by the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB).

The Long Branch School District filed an appeal in September, challenging the DOE's decision that the grade 3 through 5 West End School failed to attain the NCLB requirements for the second consecutive year.

On Jan. 3, the school district received a letter from the DOE Division of Student Services stating that after reviewing the appeal, the division found that West End School had, in fact, achieved its NCLB Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) targets for 2005-2006 school year.

In reversing its original assessment, the DOE agreed with the district's contention that the failing grade did not take into account students with severe special needs or those who were in the school system for less than one year.

"One of our goals is and will continue to be to meet the standards for all our students," said Long Branch Superintendent Joseph M. Ferraina in an interview last Thursday.

"We will be relentless in making that happen," he said, adding, "But our goal is not just to make the mark.

"Our goal is to provide a quality education for all of our students."

As a result of the appeal, the West End School has been taken off the DOE "In Need of Improvement" list and placed on "hold" status, according to Long Branch School Abbott Implementation Liaison Roberta Freeman.

"When a school is placed on hold, it means the school made AYP," Freeman said, adding, "Now, if we prove to make AYP for two consecutive years, then we can be taken off the hold status.

"This is like a safe haven," she said. "The state is trying to say that want to see continued progress."

The DOE released the test results of its NCLB AYP report in August, showing that in Long Branch, four schools failed to achieve the benchmarks: West End, the grade K through 5 Amerigo A. Anastasia, and the middle and high schools.

The district appealed the state's finding on the West End and Anastasia schools.

"We have never appealed before," Freeman said. "Some of the numbers just didn't add up, so we appealed for the first time this year."

According to the DOE, the West End and Anastasia schools both failed to achieve AYP in the special-needs category and the Anastasia school also failed in the economically disadvantaged category.

The district's appeal of the Anastasia school results was denied last month, with the DOE upholding its decision that the school failed to meet the benchmarks.

Freeman explained that when school officials revisited the data that makes up the test scores, it was found that both schools may have reached AYP.

According to Freeman, the preliminary scores released by the DOE include data that may not be applicable toward the final AYP results.

The initial results distributed by the state include the test scores of students who entered the school system after July 1 of the previous year, Freeman said.

The students who entered after July 1 had not received an entire year of instruction at the school, therefore disqualifying them from being counted toward the final test scores, Freeman explained.

The state also permits schools to participate in an Alternate Proficiency Assessment (APA) program for students with severe special needs who are not required to take the standardized test, she explained. The APA is a portfolio assessment of the students whose proficiency is tested through samples of their work collected throughout the year.

According to the letter from the state, the DOE "verified the APA results for your school and has included them in the recalculation of the AYP determination.

"As a result, West End School made AYP. Therefore, the status of West End school changes from Year 2 to early warning - hold."

Freeman said winning the appeal is a "fabulous thing."

"When we got the letter [from the DOE], we were so excited," Freeman said. "It is rewarding because our teachers have been working so hard."

Freeman explained that the district compiles data of the students' tests scores.

"The teachers now have that data in their hands," Freeman said. "They see where their class is and where they have to be.

"The teachers are using the data in their curriculum," she said, adding, "We are very, very prescriptive in everything we do."

Although it is a victory for the district, Ferraina said numbers and scores are not his primary concern.

"It is not about just looking at numbers," he said. "We are looking at children.

"On an academic basis, we are looking to see how we can help children in many ways.

"We are excited at what we are doing and we are looking to get better everyday," he said. "I love the fact that we are trying to do a great job and we are doing it."

The Long Branch School District is comprised of approximately 5,000 students with more than 600 students categorized in different areas of special needs, according to Ferraina.

In order to achieve AYP, students must meet both the proficiency targets and a 95 percent participation rate in math and language arts assessment for each grade span at the school for each of ten subgroups, which include economically disadvantaged and students with disabilities.

There are 40 indicators determined by DOE officials that are based on four categories grouped in two areas: participation rate and performance by all students. Those groups are applied to the 10 subgroups to make a determination, according to the DOE Web site.

If a school fails to achieve AYP in any one of the indicators, the school is placed on an Early Warning list and if it fails a second consecutive year, it is placed on an In Need of Improvement list.