No Child Left Behind compliance declines

By Berny Morson, Rocky Mountain News (Contact)

Published October 2, 2008 at 12:05 a.m.

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A change in how schools are rated led to fewer Colorado schools meeting federal standards under the No Child Left Behind Act this year.

The number of schools making "adequate yearly progress" toward the federal standards dropped from 75 percent last year to 60 percent in figures released Wednesday.

The adequate yearly progress ratings are based on how students performed last spring on tests administered under the Colorado Student Assessment Program. Those scores, published in August, showed little change from 2007.

Under No Child Left Behind, schools must show an increasing percentage of students passing the achievement tests each year to be listed as making adequate progress. By the 2013-14 school year, all students are supposed to be passing.

But Congress is expected to revise the act before 2013-14, and the next president could propose changes as well.

"It's important to recognize that statewide student performance was stable between 2007 and 2008, based on results from the Colorado Student Assessment Program," said Patrick Chapman of the state Education Department. "The percentage drop in schools making adequate yearly progress is due to factors external to the classroom and shouldn't be considered as an indication that school performance has declined. It has not."

The full listing of the schools and districts making adequate progress can be found at www. cde.state.co.us/fedprograms/ ayp/index.asp.

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