Schools
Racine Unified + Poor Math Scores = Yet Another Financial Blow
The non-compliance means that RUSD will lose control of an estimated $700,000 in federal Title I aid for the 2011-12 school year, said Rich Fornal, the district's Title I director.
The Racine Unified School District Board of Education learned Monday that declining standardized math test scores have put the district out of compliance with the federal No Child Left Behind Act.
Board members were told during a work session that RUSD is being identified by the state Department of Public Instruction as a school district “in need of improvement,” said Dr. Steve Miller, the district’s director of standards, assessment and accountability.
At issue are standardized math test scores from the 2010-11 school year that didn’t meet federal “adequate yearly progress” objectives for the second consecutive year, he said. RUSD was required to have at least 68.5 percent of its students scoring at a proficient or advanced level on the Wisconsin Knowledge and Concepts (WKCE) math exam – up from 58 percent in 2009-10.
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“It’s frustrating news to us,” Miller said noting that improvement in RUSD’s elementary schools was not great enough to meet the federal objectives. WKCE math scores declined at the middle and high school levels.
Miller said the state DPI will release the adequate yearly progress (AYP) of all Wisconsin public school districts on Tuesday, including identifying specific schools that aren’t in compliance.
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The non-compliance means that RUSD will lose control of an estimated $700,000 in federal Title I aid for the 2011-12 school year, said Rich Fornal, the district’s Title I director.
The funds, which are used for staff and supplies at schools with high concentrations of students in poverty, must instead be used for district-wide staff development. RUSD had 14 elementary and three middle schools designated as Title I schools.
The news wasn’t all bad. Miller told the School Board that improved test scores lifted Knapp Elementary and Mitchell Elementary schools back into compliance.
The No Child Left Behind Act annually measures improvements in school standardized test participation, graduation rates and proficiency in reading and math. The standards, established in the 2001-02 year, call for public school students to be 100 percent proficient in reading and math by the 2013-14 school year.
