Just one school in the Albert Lea School District is meeting all index targets for the Annual Yearly Progress objective of the No Child Left Behind Act. The district as a whole is not making AYP, which state and federal law says will require corrective action.

Lakeview Elementary School is the one school in the district meeting all targets. Schools not meeting targets aren’t described as failing but are put into various stages of improvement planning. Targets also increase each year, which teachers and administrators have said is daunting.

“The threshold to meet AYP becomes more difficult with the achievement targets increasing each year,” Superintendent Mike Funk said.

The other elementaries — Halverson, Hawthorne and Sibley — are all not meeting targets in either reading or math. Halverson and Hawthorne will remain in corrective action, and Sibley will have to implement school choice for parents. This is the first year Sibley will have school choice, and one student group missed its target by 1 percent. Funk said that though the three elementaries as a whole aren’t meeting AYP, there were big strides made this year. In 2009-10, elementary schools in Albert Lea had 166 subgroups out of about 180 that made AYP; in 2010-11, 176 subgroups out of about 180 made AYP.

“For the first time in a number of years, all subgroups of students at Halverson Elementary have made AYP in reading, and the only subgroup to not meet its target in math missed it by less than 1 percent,” Funk said. “If Halverson meets targets in reading and math next year they will be removed from the AYP list.”

Funk said at the last board meeting that students in elementaries with school choice will not be able to move schools until the second semester so as not to interrupt classes.

Southwest Middle School, Albert Lea Area Learning Center and Albert Lea High School are also not making AYP for the 2010-11 school year, but will not have to take any corrective action this year because they do not receive Title I funds. The high school and the ALC both made AYP in 2009-10 school year. Albert Lea as a district hasn’t made AYP since 2005.

“At the secondary level, Albert Lea Area Schools still has work to do,” Funk said.

To meet standards the district’s students have to improve the percent of students who are proficient in reading and math. Funk said at the secondary level in the 2009-10 school year, 175 subgroups out of about 180 made AYP; in 2010-11, 170 subgroups made AYP. The district did not make AYP by less than a percent, with 79.65 percent of students meeting or exceeding standards, which did not meet the goal of 80.40 percent.

“I am pleased with the trend of our results in the elementary but am not satisfied with our scores — particularly at the secondary level,” Funk said. “We must continue to build a strong foundation for our students so that they will be successful in all academic areas as they progress through school.”

Minnesota sought a temporary waiver from the federal No Child Left Behind law, but the U.S. Department of Education has not acted on the waiver. By law, Minnesota had to release AYP data by Sept. 30. A process for applying for waivers will begin in November, and Minnesota’s Education Commissioner Brenda Cassellius said the state will apply. The goal of NCLB is to have every child in the nation proficient in reading and math by 2014.

“Minnesota is directed by state law to release AYP data this year — however, we are hopeful that positive changes in how we measure, support, and report school improvement are on the way,” said Cassellius. “Labeling schools as ‘failures’ or imposing one-size-fits-all mandates is a flawed way to address the unique challenges facing some of our schools.”

Federal law states that schools that do not meet AYP must face the same consequences as they did in previous years under NCLB. If Minnesota is granted a waiver, relief from those mandates may come as soon as this school year.

“As we put together our waiver package, we aim to put Minnesota’s stamp of excellence and our own common sense approach on efforts to reform education,” said Cassellius. “That means continuing to implement our rigorous standards that prepare all students for college and career, designing more meaningful accountability systems to measure student growth, supporting and rewarding schools making good progress, and partnering with local school districts that know best how to support the children they serve.”

Other schools in Freeborn County

Glenville-Emmons is again leading the pack in the county with the whole district making AYP. Superintendent Jerry Reshetar said the district, like many schools in the state, has great staff and that he’s pleased with the results.

“It’s only one test, and there’s more to a child than one test,” Reshetar said. “At this point Minnesota is assessing the testing program and looking for perhaps a better method to be accountable for students in schools.”

New Richland-Hartland-Ellendale-Geneva Superintendent Kevin Wellen echoed the same thoughts that the AYP system has odd glitches. NRHEG is an example of that. Both the elementary and high school made AYP; the district as a whole did not.

“It’s one of the goofy parts to the law and one reason I’m glad they’re looking at a waiver,” Wellen said.

With smaller districts, if one of the pools of students tested, an example is special education students, is too small it won’t count toward the school’s grading. In that way both the elementary and high school can make AYP, but when put together as a district those two small pools added together cause the district to not make AYP.

Alden-Conger School District is again not making AYP and hasn’t since 2008. For the second year the elementary school will have school choice. Students were 44 percent proficient in math, but made AYP in reading with 72 percent proficiency.

United South Central School District is not making AYP, and the elementary school will have school choice. The high school is making AYP, as it did in 2009-10. Students are making AYP in math with 58 percent proficiency and making AYP in reading with 73 percent proficiency.