The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, signed into law by President Bush on Jan. 8, 2002, is a re authorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, the central federal law in pre-collegiate education. The ESEA, first enacted in 1965 and last reauthorized in 1994, encompasses Title I, the federal government’s flagship aid program for disadvantaged students.
The Act has come under fire from some, while being praised by others in the educational community.
Schools in Stone County have been showing a marked decline in the AYPs over the past several years.
The county’s largest district, Reeds Spring, has failed to meet the requirements for several years. In fact, as the chart above shows, the district has been declining in the number of groups within the AYP it meets every year since 2008.
Parents of students received a letter from Superintendent Michael Mason noting the district’s failure to meet the standards and explaining that the district is now in level three of District/LEA?corrective action. In level three, the state will be reviewing any plan the district has to improve schools and has the right to modify and impose additional sanctions against the district.
The letter addressed the 2010-2011 results, but did not clarify that the district has failed to meet standards for several years.
Unfortunately, Reeds Spring is not the only district in the county to show failure to meet the standards set. Blue Eye, Crane and Galena are also failing and are also show declines in the number of groups met in communication arts and mathematics.
While some have claimed the No Child Left Behind Act sets impossible goals, several Missouri schools have managed to raise their levels, including Blue Eye which has shown the ability to meet the standards set for the Elementary level from 2008 onward.
During the same time period, Reeds Spring Elementary has shown a consistent failure to meet the standards set forth.
Beginning this school year the district has opted to go with a different grading system, forgoing the traditional letters grades of A-F and replacing them with the non-traditional 1-4. The new system make sit easier for children to learn at their individual pace, but has drawn criticism for not rewarding academic performance by students who excel. Only time will tell if the new system leads to an improvement in the district’s AYP scores.
You can view all of the state’s school district AYP reports online at: http://mcds.dese.mo.gov.

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