Muir's scores force choice in District 54
For the first time since the No Child Left Behind Act began, Schaumburg Township Elementary District 54 is in the position of having to offer students from one school the choice of attending another.
Students at John Muir Literacy Academy in Hoffman Estates can request a transfer, because one subgroup -- disabled students -- failed to reach their goals in reading for the second year in a row.
While not the first time a District 54 school hasn't met NCLB requirements for two consecutive years, it's the first time it's happened at a school that accepts federal Title I money for needy students.
Schools that take Title I money also have to take the penalties for not making the grade. To be taken off the watch list, two years of compliance with standards are then required.
Parents of Muir students got letters this week offering them the choice of a different District 54 school, spokeswoman Terri McHugh said.
Parents have until Sept. 21 to respond, and the district has until Oct. 1 to comply with the requests it receives.
District 54 will collect the requests and fulfill them at once, to ensure that bus routes don't have to be redrawn weekly, McHugh said.
"We'll try to accommodate what people want," she said.
Muir, ironically, is already a school of choice within District 54, with its emphasis on reading instruction. Most of Muir's students, however, live within the normal attendance boundary of its neighborhood.
While it may not be surprising that special education students would be the school's most struggling subgroup, Superintendent Ed Rafferty said he has confidence that significant progress has and will continue to be made.
The district says it failed NCLB because fewer than 55 percent of disabled students passed the reading portion of the test. If one subgroup -- identifiable by race, gender, income level or special needs -- fails to meet annual yearly progress (AYP) goals for a given year, the entire school is considered to have failed.
Last year, Muir had 571 students, of whom 66 had disabilities. For a subgroup to be recognized there must be at least 45 students who belong to it.
A disability, under the definition of the NCLB, is one that affects a student's learning or requires an individualized education program to be used.
The minimum percentage of students in each subgroup which must pass goes up annually until it reaches 100. Next year, 62.5 percent of each subgroup must pass.
Other District 54 schools that didn't meet AYP this year are Armstrong School in Hoffman Estates and Addams Junior High in Schaumburg. Both fell short for the same subgroup as Muir -- disabled students' reading scores.
Frost Junior High in Schaumburg didn't meet standards in 2003 and 2004, while Eisenhower Junior High in Hoffman Estates didn't meet them in 2003, 2004 or 2005.
None of these was a Title I school, however.
McHugh said the district strives to keep parents aware of the No Child Left Behind requirements, and there was no crisis of confidence expressed when any of the other schools didn't meet AYP goals.
"Parents have been very supportive," she said.