NCLB Opt out letters
Thanks to Deirdre at NE Cluster schools blog for the link
http://www.seattleschools.org/area/eso/nclb_0910.pdf
No Child Left Behind (NCLB) and School Choice
Quick Overview – August 2009
WHAT IS AYP?
If you got a letter saying that you can choose to send your child to a different school, it means that overall your child’s assigned school did not make Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) in gains in student achievement on the Washington Assessment of Student Learning (WASL). AYP is defined by specific state and federal requirements in particular predetermined categories. If a school misses even one of these categories, then it does not make AYP overall, even if the school as a whole has made gains.
DO I HAVE TO CHANGE MY CHILD’S SCHOOL?
Many people want to know if they HAVE to change their child’s school. The answer is NO, your child does not have to change schools – that decision is up to the parent or guardian.
I WANT TO CHANGE MY CHILD’S SCHOOL. WHAT DO I DO?
If you want to transfer your child to another school, we must receive your application by 4:00 p.m. on Friday, August 21st. You can use the return envelope we provided, fax the application to (206) 252-0816, or drop it off at the John Stanford Center at 2445 Third Avenue South (located south of Safeco Field and two blocks east of Sears).
HOW DO I FIND OUT MY CHILD’S NEW ASSIGNMENT?
If you submit an application by the deadline, we will contact you before changing your child’s school assignment. We’ll try to reach you by phone and complete an assignment change with you at that time. The goal is to get the NCLB transfer assignments done as quickly as possible.
HOW DO YOU DECIDE WHO GETS ASSIGNED TO WHICH SCHOOL?
We prioritize applications based on achievement level and free/reduced-price meal eligibility. (If this information is not available individually for your child, achievement data and free/ reduced meal eligibility for the assigned school will be used.)
If you rank order all of the schools listed on your child’s application, you are guaranteed assignment to one of those schools. If you don’t rank order all of the schools, we will process the request assuming that you prefer your child’s current school to the other (unranked) choices.
Transportation will be provided to all of the schools on your child’s application.
WHAT IF THE SCHOOL I WANT HAS A WAITING LIST?
If your child is eligible for a transfer because of AYP status, your request will be processed before transfer requests of students who are on waiting lists.
MORE QUESTIONS ABOUT AYP?
Call the School Improvement Department at (206) 252-0190 or (206) 252-0818.
NCLB Public School Choice Options for 2009-10
OPT-OUT SCHOOLS
OPT-OUT schools have provided information about the steps they are taking to ensure excellence for all students. If you received a letter about transferring your child to a different school, please refer to the letter you received for this information.
Aki Kurose*
Concord
Dearborn Park*
Dunlap
Emerson
Gatzert*
Hawthorne*
Highland Park*
Kimball*
Leschi
Madrona*
Northgate*
Olympic Hills
Roxhill
South Lake*
Thurgood Marshall*
Van Asselt*
West Seattle Elementary*
Wing Luke
* These schools must also offer Supplemental Educational Services (SES), such as free tutoring, due to being in AYP Step 2-5. Parents can choose either PSC or SES but not both (that is, students cannot transfer and also receive SES). Information on SES will be mailed to families after school starts.
SCHOOLS OFFERED AS OPT-IN SCHOOLS
Specific OPT-IN schools from this list are offered based on where each student attending an OPT-OUT school lives and on which schools offer bilingual services, if applicable. If you received a letter saying that you can choose to send your child to a different school, the specific schools offered for your child are listed on the application you received.
Alki
Beacon Hill
BF Day
Brighton
Bryant
Catharine Blaine
Coe
Daniel Bagley
Green Lake
Hay
Jane Addams
John Muir
John Rogers
Lafayette
Laurelhurst
Lawton
Loyal Heights
Maple
McGilvra
Montlake
North Beach
Salmon Bay
Sanislo
South Shore
Stevens
The Center School
Thornton Creek
TOPS
View Ridge
Wedgwood
West Woodland
Whittier
http://www.seattleschools.org/area/eso/nclb_0910.pdf
No Child Left Behind (NCLB) and School Choice
Quick Overview – August 2009
WHAT IS AYP?
If you got a letter saying that you can choose to send your child to a different school, it means that overall your child’s assigned school did not make Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) in gains in student achievement on the Washington Assessment of Student Learning (WASL). AYP is defined by specific state and federal requirements in particular predetermined categories. If a school misses even one of these categories, then it does not make AYP overall, even if the school as a whole has made gains.
DO I HAVE TO CHANGE MY CHILD’S SCHOOL?
Many people want to know if they HAVE to change their child’s school. The answer is NO, your child does not have to change schools – that decision is up to the parent or guardian.
I WANT TO CHANGE MY CHILD’S SCHOOL. WHAT DO I DO?
If you want to transfer your child to another school, we must receive your application by 4:00 p.m. on Friday, August 21st. You can use the return envelope we provided, fax the application to (206) 252-0816, or drop it off at the John Stanford Center at 2445 Third Avenue South (located south of Safeco Field and two blocks east of Sears).
HOW DO I FIND OUT MY CHILD’S NEW ASSIGNMENT?
If you submit an application by the deadline, we will contact you before changing your child’s school assignment. We’ll try to reach you by phone and complete an assignment change with you at that time. The goal is to get the NCLB transfer assignments done as quickly as possible.
HOW DO YOU DECIDE WHO GETS ASSIGNED TO WHICH SCHOOL?
We prioritize applications based on achievement level and free/reduced-price meal eligibility. (If this information is not available individually for your child, achievement data and free/ reduced meal eligibility for the assigned school will be used.)
If you rank order all of the schools listed on your child’s application, you are guaranteed assignment to one of those schools. If you don’t rank order all of the schools, we will process the request assuming that you prefer your child’s current school to the other (unranked) choices.
Transportation will be provided to all of the schools on your child’s application.
WHAT IF THE SCHOOL I WANT HAS A WAITING LIST?
If your child is eligible for a transfer because of AYP status, your request will be processed before transfer requests of students who are on waiting lists.
MORE QUESTIONS ABOUT AYP?
Call the School Improvement Department at (206) 252-0190 or (206) 252-0818.
NCLB Public School Choice Options for 2009-10
OPT-OUT SCHOOLS
OPT-OUT schools have provided information about the steps they are taking to ensure excellence for all students. If you received a letter about transferring your child to a different school, please refer to the letter you received for this information.
Aki Kurose*
Concord
Dearborn Park*
Dunlap
Emerson
Gatzert*
Hawthorne*
Highland Park*
Kimball*
Leschi
Madrona*
Northgate*
Olympic Hills
Roxhill
South Lake*
Thurgood Marshall*
Van Asselt*
West Seattle Elementary*
Wing Luke
* These schools must also offer Supplemental Educational Services (SES), such as free tutoring, due to being in AYP Step 2-5. Parents can choose either PSC or SES but not both (that is, students cannot transfer and also receive SES). Information on SES will be mailed to families after school starts.
SCHOOLS OFFERED AS OPT-IN SCHOOLS
Specific OPT-IN schools from this list are offered based on where each student attending an OPT-OUT school lives and on which schools offer bilingual services, if applicable. If you received a letter saying that you can choose to send your child to a different school, the specific schools offered for your child are listed on the application you received.
Alki
Beacon Hill
BF Day
Brighton
Bryant
Catharine Blaine
Coe
Daniel Bagley
Green Lake
Hay
Jane Addams
John Muir
John Rogers
Lafayette
Laurelhurst
Lawton
Loyal Heights
Maple
McGilvra
Montlake
North Beach
Salmon Bay
Sanislo
South Shore
Stevens
The Center School
Thornton Creek
TOPS
View Ridge
Wedgwood
West Woodland
Whittier
Comments
What did the district gain from doing that? All of those schools loose out on Federal $.
Olympic Hills was listed as an opt in school for AS#1 last year and now it is an opt out school. How the heck does that happen?
I'd like to know how many other schools could go from 0 to LEVEL 4 status if their FRL numbers change or the district lowers the threshold again.
How is it that there are no comprehensive middle schools available? WHy is the Center School listed as an opt in school?
In the very over crowded NE cluster there are 7 schools that have been identified as NCLB receiving or "opt in" schools this year. The 7 schools are: Bryant, Jane Addams, John Rogers, Laurelhurst, View Ridge, Wedgewood and Thornton Creek.
Last year Eckstein was an "opt in" school. They received 26 sixth grade NCLB transfer students at the end of August. The NCLB students jumped the 150+ student waitlist at Eckstein, and as a result Eckstein was unable to move even one 6th grade student off of their waitlist last year.
Don't get me wrong , I think it is great that students from failing schools are being offered a better opportunity, and I think they must have options and that we must accommodate them. But I have a problem with the last minute, late August, jump the waitlist, assignments. Parents that go through the regular enrollment process research, gather data, and choose a school based on the probability that their child will get into that school. If their child doesn't get in and they are placed on a wailtist, it hardly seems fair that a group of NCLB students jump the waitlist at the last minute and get assigned ahead of them. So why not assign NCLB students first? Before open enrollment even begins for the general public. Then parents applying for schools during open enrollment would have that data and be able to make informed decisions. The District has had to wait until late August because that is when WASL scores were released and NCLB schools were identified, but beginning this year we have a revised WASL or whatever they are calling the new test. Can the district place the NCLB transfer students earlier now?
wow so top 5 on the wl for stevens means ... not gonna happen. we did not know that... what a game
I wonder how many RBHS students would take the opt our option.
I wonder how many kids who were forced to take an assignment at Aki Kurose and jumping at the chance to get into TOPS.
Mind you, I have no interest at all in putting either of my kids into Eckstein. My mental image is of a giant shoe-horn shoving struggling kids through a door... but I would be interested to know what this'd mean for the Salmon Bay wait list.
Wow, I don't mean to sound jaded here but it seems to me that there are a lot of families who didn't get into Bryant, Wedgewood, View Ridge, etc., who are going to be awfully excited this week!
stu
What I do know is that Eckstein generally moves their 6th grade waitlist 25-30 spots each year. Last year was the first year they were asked to be an "opt in" school for NCLB transfer kids, and last year was the first year (according to their registrar) that they were unable to move even one kid off of their 6th grade waitlist. It appears to me, and I may be wrong, that the NCLB transfer students took the attrition/no show spots that would have ordinarily been offered to the waitlist students.
For those looking to game the system, if you think your chances of getting into your school of choice is poor, the smart thing to do is to name it as your first choice and to name a school under sanctions as your second choice.
If you are assigned to your first choice school, great!
If you are assigned to your second choice school, wait for your opt-out letter, and then opt in to your first choice school. You will get assigned there.
Is there information about how many students actually take advantage of this program? For example, is it 1 or 2 per school?
That would be helpful to know. I also think it is interesting that the high schools are not on the list, because I can see that could possibly cause some capacity problems as well.
So, AS#1 for example, chose to take Title 1 funds for last year because it had 47% FRL...taking Title 1 money AUTOMATICALLY put it into Step 4 of NCLB...
We live in the north end; last year my son was slated to start kindergarten at AS#1 - we were offered a place at either Broadview Thompson and Northgate, I think... both schools had failed to meet AYP but had not taken Title 1 funding... we chose to stay at AS#1 because I wanted an alternative education experience for him and I didnt see the point in changing him to another 'failing' school...
This year, because the FRL threshold making a school eligible to take Title 1 funds was raised to 55%, AS#1 is no longer Title 1 (and yet is still in Step 4 of NCLB) and we are not being given a choice to move out...
But that's pretty much a moot point, because kids in 'failing' schools are not necessarily being offered slots in any more 'successful' schools... you'll have noticed that hardly any schools in the District (and on the list available for Opt In) made AYP...
And I think that the two school choices being offered people are pretty much 'in cluster', so some people are caught between a rock and a hard place... with the option being offered hardly better than the placement they have now...
Not a very effective way of dealing with quality issues...
Therefor you cannot put down a school that might fail in hopes of getting into an opt in school.
I had three daughters at Madrona when we got the letters a few years ago. Since my youngest was just entering K she did not qualify, only my two oldest that attended the year it failed.
The link says: "Specific OPT-IN schools from this list are offered based on where each student attending an OPT-OUT school lives and on which schools offer bilingual services, if applicable. If you received a letter saying that you can choose to send your child to a different school, the specific schools offered for your child are listed on the application you received.
I would be surprised if the over-subscribed NE cluster schools were offered widely as a choice for families wanting to leave their current "failing" schools in West Seattle, or South Seattle, for example. If for no other reason than transportation costs, I would think that SPS would list a few nearby schools in each of these AYP letters so that children are not moving to schools miles and miles away from home.
It goes on to say: "If you rank order all of the schools listed on your child’s application, you are guaranteed assignment to one of those schools. If you don’t rank order all of the schools, we will process the request assuming that you prefer your child’s current school to the other (unranked) choices."
So these families cannot chose the one school that they want. They have to rank all of the schools offered to them, and they will be assigned to the first one that has space. If they try to pick just one school from the list, they get nothing! They have to stay at the current school.
Honestly, this may be why many families don't opt-out. You have to be willing to accept an assignment to any one of the schools that they offer you (based on your address). Maybe some people don't want to take that chance.
But it did happen last year at Eckstein. And, why did the district list Bryant, View Ridge, Wedgewood,Laurelhurst, and Thornon Creek as opt in schools?
And for the Central South clusters I bet it will be a very different scenario. Nearby TOPS, McGilvra, Montlake, Stevens, New School might seem like very attractive options to kids from Aki and other very low performing schools.
I'm curious about the contradiction between what Sahila (and Deidre's friend) experienced with an incoming kindergartener vs. what happened to katweb. It sounds like the policy isn't applied consistently?
The letter says We prioritize applications based on achievement level and free/reduced-price meal eligibility .
What exactly does that mean? Do kids who have low (high?) grades and are poor get assigned first? What if there are multiple poor kids? (or do they mean achievemnet level of the schools?)What exactly are the tiebreakers?
In practice (at TOPS) it does seem that the classrooms have maxed out at 32 in recent (10) years (since the 34 4th graders debacle). Of course we have a new principal for next year. Do they have any power over how many they have to accept?
We dont get to DECIDE to take Title 1 funds this year because eligibility is based on the FRL percentage - the threshold is now 55%... last year AS#1's FRL number was 47%...
And you dont get to decide/choose whatever school you want on the list - its cluster based (last year's letter offered my son two choices in our cluster and they were both schools not meeting AYP)...so many of us wouldnt be offered a 'successful' school...
As to there not being many non-AYP schools - that's not true... there are very many; I dont have the time to go through every school report and pick out the data - I think Dan Dempsey or someone posted a list on one of the other threads in the last couple of months... it was a long, long list...
and I found a report which I worked off in creating an anti-closure position paper for AS#1, for our public meeting on Dec 15 2008, which report listed all the non-AYP schools in the District...there are many, many, including SALMON BAY (I know)and OLYMPIC VIEW (I think)and other schools you would think are doing well... cant find the report on the SPS website now, lost my hard-drive a few months ago so dont have my copy... it was a large spreadsheet showing every school in the District, with data as to building scores, what step of NCLB they were in, if any and AYP status...
Anyway... not much good saying its so without being able to point you to the proof, so I'll leave it at that... maybe Dan or Charlie or whoever published that list would be kind enough to find it and post it again...
If you'd like the list of "AYP" schools... that too is unbelievably simple. LOOK at the AYP list. You don't need to rely on "what I heard from Dan Dempsey".
Alki, Day, Bryant, Concord, Bagley, Greenlake, Coe, Hay, Lawton, Muir, Stanford, Lafayette, Laurelhurst, Loyal Heights, McGilvra, Montlake, North Beach, Salmon Bay, Schmitz Park, Stevens, Center School, New School, View Ridge, THornton Creek, Wedgewood, West Woodland, Whittier ...
All making AYP, to name a few.
You may have to get a lawyer, but you can assert your rights to a passing school, if that's what you want. The district may have to place you out of district or provide other compensatory education... and you will have to fight for it.
I'm not going through the whole list again pulling out the elementary/middle schools that did... they are a fraction of the total, and none that did, have room for kids to transfer in from Title 1 Non-AYP schools... they're already full and have waitlists - it wont make a difference if you frog leap to the front of the waitlist - there is no room, especially as the District has dumped many hundreds of kids into the pool by closing so many schools...
Have you ever gotten a letter offering you the option to switch? Were the schools you were offered out of cluster or not? Did they make AYP or not...
I got the letter last year, we were not offered places in schools that were succeeding, we were not offered places in schools that were out of cluster, we were not offered a place in another alternative school...
And while I didnt go through AS#1's WASL stats past the last two years, I checked the 'no score for' and 'unexcused absences' numbers and they make up at least 50% of the total for each grade enrolment... AS#1 has consistently refused as a school community to do the WASL - only in the last two years has the percentage of kids doing the test crept towards the 50% mark... and taking out those zeros for non-completion, our scores are pretty much the average for the District...
http://reportcard.ospi.k12.wa.us/AYPList.aspx?groupLevel=District&schoolId=100&reportLevel=District&orgLinkId=100&yrs=14&year=14
You'll note that out of 94 schools (EM, MS, HS and K-8), only 29 Seattle Schools made AYP last year.
If a school fails to meet AYP in even one small area the school goes on the OSPI list of schools not meeting AYP. This can be deceiving. Consider for instance Eckstein MS, which is one of the highest performing middle schools in the district, has a 160 kid waitlist, and the highest WASL scores of all SPS middle schools, but failed to meet AYP in one area, ELL.
You might also be surprised to know that several of our districts top performing, most popular, over subscribes schools are also on the list of schools that did not meet AYP, Roosevelt, Garfield and Ballard, TOPS.
So a school not meeting AYP may not be what you think. You would have to do more research and find out in what area/s it did not meet AYP.
If fewer than 10 students in a category are tested, then that category isn't reported.
So a school that makes AYP more likely did it by not having enough ELL students to include in the consideration than to do it by getting the ELL students to pass the test in sufficient numbers.
In addition to having high enough pass rates, there are other means for meeting AYP. It can be attendance rates or graduation rates.
Rainier Beach High School advocates love to brag about how RBHS met AYP last year. They did, but not with their test scores. It was through the alternative method and, even then, on appeal.
In short, I wouldn't use AYP or NCLB sanction steps as any indication of school quality. It would be just as misguided as using the that stupid list of America's "best" high schools that is based entirely on participation in AP and IB classes.
The district is not making only "failing" schools available to NCLB "opt out" students. That would be against Federal Law.
Here is an example of how, when and why the district might reassign a NCLB opt out student to a school that did not meet AYP. Student A is attending Aki Kurose a NCLB "opt out" school and the student is not an ELL student. The district could offer that student a transfer to Eckstein, as Eckstein meets AYP in every area but ELL.
Eckstein is on the OSPI list of schools that didn't meet AYP, but it is not a "failing" school in any category but ELL. Eckstein is one of the highest performing middle school in all other categories in the entire district. So if you didn't have an ELL student you'd be getting offered a GREAT placement. If however, student X was an ELL student the district could not offer him space at Eckstein.
Are you saying that if a school has nine or fewer African American kids (or ELL or whatever category) at every grade level, they will always meet AYP in that category regardless of the kids' test scores? (I assumed the scores were just not reported to the public, not that they weren't accounted for in AYP.)
Yes, Maureen. That is exactly correct.
At that time the district was scrambling around to meet the NCLB requirements and some of the schools that were listed as options were having emergency PTA meetings to deal with the fact that they had waitlists and we would not only jump them but be enrolled. They were not happy.
I believe that was the first year anyone actually used the option (that was because of the principle there - but that's a whole other story - oh, and she's still there and the schools still failing) We had received the letters four years previous, but never thought of opting out (Ricky Malone was principal back then and raised them off the list).
I can't say if they changed the policy, but the whole point is that if the school your child is attending isn't meeting the needs of the kids (WASL scores), you can go somewhere else. Not just play the game of put down a school that is pretty sure to fail and wait for my letter to get into the school of your dreams....or maybe that is the competition that the district wants? Charters anyone?
The problem is that the District will not take it upon itself to create an alternative school. Instead, it takes a dedicated cadre of families to create an alternative school and they then have to sell the District on the idea.
So let's say you think that Thornton Creek is simply wonderful and you notice that it has a waitlist up the wazoo. So you figure that there's an unmet demand for Thornton Creek-style alternative education. --I chose Thornton Creek for this example because it has a distinctive and documented educational perspective that is part of a significant movement and because it does have a waitlist from here to Kansas City--
Let's say that you also notice that the Southern part of West Seattle - the Denny service area - lacks access to an alternative school for K-5. That area also has a vacant elementary school building: E.C. Hughes.
So you might think that there would be sufficient interest and demand to support the creation of a school like Thornton Creek in the E. C. Hughes building. Now what?
The District's process would be for you to make a Program Placement Proposal, in the Fall for the following school year.
But it's going to take a lot more than that.
First, regardless of the demand, the District is going to need some time to get the building ready for occupancy. So your program is going to have to meet somewhere else at first - at either Fairmount Park, Genessee Hill, or Boren.
Second, you're going to need about 200 families to commit to the program or there's no way that your Program Placement Proposal could possibly be successful. Let's be real - even if you had the people, there is little chance that the Program Placement Proposal would be successful. The District staff who decide on those things has absolutely no interest in approving new alternative programs. It doesn't serve their interests. Moreover, they will hate the idea simply because it isn't their idea. You will need at least one Board member - probably two - to champion it for you. Even then, they will not approve it the first time it is proposed. They will need a year or two to get used to the idea before they will even begin to seriously consider it.
You will have to recruit people who say that they will enroll their children in such a program - three or four years from now when the program is up and running.
You will have to sustain pressure on the Board first to create the program and then you will have to sustain pressure on them to fund the program's facility for years and years.
Think of how long Pathfinder went without a decent building. Think of how long ORCA went without a decent building. Think of how long AS#1 has been in an inadequate building. Think of the condition of Lowell when it housed only APP and Special Ed. Think of how long The NOVA Project was in the Mann building. Think of the John Marshall school in their building and now at Wilson-Pacific. This District will not spend a dime to improve a building that houses an alternative program.
You're supposed to be so grateful that you are allowed to exist that you're not supposed to ask for a decent place to exist.
The only alternative programs to get buildings are those with significant political clout: the money behind The New School, the African-American Academy (and they had to wait a long time for theirs), and TOPS. The only other way that alternative programs get buildings is following a closure. ORCA gets Whitworth, Pathfinder gets Cooper. Poor NOVA and SBOC get moved into a closed school - Meany - but it is still in poor condition.
Under these conditions, it is no wonder that there hasn't been a new alternative program for years and years.
We don't need charters. We just need to make it easier to create a new alternative school.
Using Thornton Creek as your example. It has 7.7% FRL. Although that may be a good school, that is why it is both popular and successful. And, that is why there is no replication possible. Why would we even want that? "Hey let's replicate the alternative schools that don't serve any poor kids." You're really asking to replicate demographics... which isn't possible.
Finally TC, uses a very proven educational methodology that could be replicated and has been replicated all across the county.
FYI, a grand opening is scheduled for the new South Shore (New School) building on Sep. 3rd. This is one school I absolutely want to tour so I'll be there.
As for the self contained program, my neighbor's daughter has been in that program for years. They rave about it.