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For most parents, getting children ready to return to school means
shopping for clothes, storing up on school supplies and maybe
making a trip to the pediatrician for a quick checkup. But many
parents are missing a new, critical item on the back-to-school
checklist - the Adequate Yearly Progress Report.
The report, sometimes referred to as the AYP, is a report card on
public schools, and it was mandated under the federal No Child
Left Behind Act, which President Bush signed into law in 2002.
Every year, no later than the first day of classes, schools are
supposed to release a wealth of important data about student
performance.
Under the No Child Left Behind Act, every state must test students
in grades 3-8. The AYP report includes student passing rates on
tests in subjects such as reading, writing and math, broken down
by grade, economic background, race and ethnicity, English
proficiency and disability. The goal is to give parents the information
they need to make important decisions and to ask vital questions
about their children's education.
But the report isn't always made available to parents by the first day
of school. And U.S. Education Secretary Rod Paige and one of the
report's primary authors believe it should be released even earlier.
"Knowing what's in the Adequate Yearly Progress Report before
school starts is very important," said Austin attorney Sandy Kress,
a former adviser to President Bush on education issues. "Parents
have some options open to them if they know what's in the report.
If they are able to have supplemental services for their child, the law
provides for that in certain circumstances. If they have an opportunity
to send their child another school within the district that they might
like better, they need to know that before the start of the school year.
"They can't do that if they don't see the report, or if the report is released
after school starts."
Kress, who sat on the board of the Dallas Independent School District
in the 1990s, has been a formal and informal counsel to President Bush
on education issues for a decade, starting during his first successful run
for Texas governor. During the year leading up to the passage of the
No Child Left Behind Act in January 2002, Kress served as the president's
senior education advisor, working on day-to-day details of the legislation.
The purpose of the Adequate Yearly Progress reports, Kress said, is
to educate parents on the state of their children's school.
"We were very much of the view that knowledgeable parents can be the
most effective players in school reform. In schools where parents and
children have all the advantages, the schools run pretty much to their
satisfaction," Kress said. "In other schools where there are fewer
advantages, if parents have developed a significant amount of interest
in and clout over the school, the school tends to be a better place. It
tends to work better for their children."
"We want that to be the case for all schools, and for all parents. And we
think knowledge about how the school is doing is one of the starting points."
The AYP reports are not just for parents. Teachers, principals and other
school staff are supposed to study the reports to refine and improve the
curriculum and delivery of instruction for their students. Schools and districts
must meet specific goals on the AYP reports every year. If they do not meet
those goals for two consecutive years, schools must give parents the option
of sending their child to another school that has meet the AYP goals, or they
must provide supplemental instructional services if another school is not
available.
Part of the reason schools are having a tough time getting the information
out before the start of school, or even by the first day of school, is that many
of them have adopted ever-earlier school start dates, says Tina Bruno,
executive director of the national grass roots organization Time to Learn.
"Parents can't make a reasonable, informed decision about whether to
send their child to another school because they simply aren't getting the
time they need to do their homework," says Bruno, whose organization
of parents, teachers, businesses and civic leaders advocates for a
traditional school calendar. "When school starts in early or mid-August,
and the Adequate Yearly Progress reports aren't out until the first day
of school or later, parents and children are being short-changed."
Kress is quick to note that the AYP reports are not the only answer to
fix schools that need improvement, but he believes the information
they present is an important part of the solution. "It's a critical piece.
It's not going to happen without the parents knowing, in a number of
ways, how the school is performing."
"If there are problems in the school regarding the number of qualified
teachers, low performance in certain subjects or low performance
among certain subgroups, such as children from low-income families,
that is knowledge that parents can use to try to affect change," Kress
said. "They can go to their neighbors and talk about it, and go to the
principal and ask how the school's staff plans to improve the quality
of education, and how they can help."
Kress said he has heard different reasons why schools cannot get
the Adequate Yearly Progress reports to parents by the deadline
mandated by federal law. Some excuses don't hold water, he said.
"One of the excuses we hear is that these testing companies can't
get the data back on time. That's generally not true," he said. "I know
several testing companies that are able to get results back to states
or school districts within days."
Kress acknowledged that although the law is two years old, the
idea of Adequate Yearly Progress reports is still a relatively new
one in most school districts and state education departments. Still,
he said, this matter needs to be taken more seriously.
"The Adequate Yearly Progress reports are one of the most
important parts of No Child Left Behind," he said. "I would hope
the U.S. Department of Education will press hard in their negotiations
with the states to make sure this gets more universal compliance."
If they do not comply, Bruno noted that states could lose federal
funding in education.
"Title I funding is at stake," she said. "Our schools are already
struggling financially, and they don't need to lose money simply
because administrators can't meet a deadline."
"Teachers expect their students to turn in their homework on
time, and I think we should be holding our schools to the same
standard."
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