Despite a pattern of rising test scores, 20 North Olympic Peninsula schools — in eight public school districts — failed to meet the federal Adequate Yearly Progress targets for the 2010-2011 school year.
The only district in Clallam and Jefferson counties that had no school considered to be underperforming is Brinnon, which is excused from the federal standard because it has only 40 students.
Statewide, the number of schools failing to make adequate yearly progress, as required by the federal No Child Left Behind law, increased.
Preliminary figures show 1,388 Washington schools were on that list in 2011, an increase of about 200 schools from 2010.
A total of 223 school districts — out of 295 in the state — failed to make adequate yearly progress in 2011.
To make adequate yearly progress, a certain percentage of students in a school or district must pass the state’s reading and math tests each year.
The results are broken down by ethnic group and poverty level and if one category of students fails to meet its goals, the whole school fails — which explains how test scores can improve generally without meeting the measurements imposed by No Child Left Behind.
Schools receiving federal Title I funds that do not meet federal targets for two consecutive years are designated for a series of sanctions designed to identify the districts’ problems and find solutions and give students a way out of struggling schools.
The way the law is written, Superintendent of Public Instruction Randy Dorn said, “a school or district could have 99 percent of its students at proficiency and still be deemed as needing improvement.
“This is a highly flawed law,” he added.
Neah Bay
The school that is closest to the most severe sanctions is Neah Bay Junior/Senior High School, which failed to meet AYP for a sixth year.
It will continue to be a Step 4 school, according to the state website.
“We appealed to the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction,” said Kandy Ritter, superintendent of Cape Flattery School District.
That appeal to OSPI, along with receiving an award for the most improved test scores in the state and other actions taken by the school district, may have been a part of the district not being named a Step 5 school — and subject to the most severe sanctions.
“There is no explanation yet,” Ritter said.
Neah Bay missed the target in only one area: seventh-grade reading.
In 2010, both reading and math scores in the seventh grade were below the target, she said.
So that shows that tutoring, a newly implemented curriculum and professional learning communities for teachers are working, Ritter said.
Neah Bay received a grant based on the school’s high science scores last year, a testament to the progress made, she said.
“The teachers work so incredibly hard every single day,” she said.
“It’s good to recognize the progress they make along the way.”
In 2012, if the school fails to meet a single target out of 37, it could be designated a Step 5 school.
Step 5 federal sanctions require the school to notify parents of the school’s status, continue to offer the choice to attend another school, provide tutoring and begin planning for restructuring, which could include replacing all or most of relevant school staff, contract with an outside entity to operate the school, a state takeover or other major restructuring of school.
According to the OSPI website, schools that receive federal Title I funding on the Peninsula that may move up a step this year include Forks Elementary School — to Step 4 — and Forks Middle School, Chimacum Elementary School and Chimacum Middle School — to Step 3.
Other schools on the Peninsula are not Title I schools and so aren’t sanctioned, or they have not missed AYP targets for more than two years.
Not enough
Neah Bay is not the only school that had some dramatically improved scores but failed to meet the required targets.
Chimacum High School’s science pass rates soared from 42 percent in 2009-2010 to 68.8 percent in 2010-2011, and improved reading pass rates from 84.9 percent to 87.9 percent.
But the school did not meet math goals.
Chimacum Creek Elementary missed reading targets for white, special education and low-income students, and math targets for special-education students.
Chimacum Middle School failed to meet overall reading targets and math targets for white students.
Chimacum High School failed to meet math targets for white and low-income students.
Crescent Middle School failed to meet overall reading and math targets, as well as math targets for white students.
Crescent High School passed AYP, said Superintendent Tom Anderson, but the reason for the school’s success is unclear.
Port Angeles School District
In the Port Angeles School District, Roosevelt Elementary failed to meet reading targets among low-income and special-education students.
Stevens Middle School, which met standards in 2009-2010, failed to meet reading targets among white, low-income and special-education students.
Port Angeles High School failed to meet reading targets for low-income students and failed to meet special-education math participation rates.
Port Townsend School District
Grant Street Elementary School failed to meet reading targets among low-income students.
Blue Heron Middle School failed to meet reading targets for special-education and low-income students, and math targets for special-education students.
Quilcene School District
Quilcene Elementary and Quilcene Middle schools failed to meet reading targets among white students.
Quillayute Valley School District
Forks Elementary School failed to meet reading targets among Hispanic, special education, and low-income students, as well as math targets for special-education students.
Forks Middle School failed to meet reading targets among white, special-education and low-income students, and math targets for Hispanic, white, special-education and low-income students.
Insight School, a statewide online high school, failed to meet targets for Hispanic, white and special-education students, and math targets for Hispanic, white and low-income students.
Sequim School District
Sequim Community School failed to meet math standards among white and low-income students.
Helen Haller Elementary failed to meet reading standards among low-income students.
Greywolf Elementary failed to meet reading standards among white, special-education and low-income students.
Sequim Middle School failed to meet reading standards among white, special-education and low-income students, and math standards among special-education and low-income students.
Sequim High School failed to meet reading targets among low-income students.
Detailed individual school and district MSP and HSPE 2011 score and AYP results are available at http://tinyurl.com/3ftf72c.
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Reporter Arwyn Rice can be reached at 360-417-3535 or at arwyn.rice@peninsuladailynews.com.
