No Child Left Behind (NCLB) is a federal mandate that became law in 2001. The purpose of this act is to ensure that all children have a fair, equal and significant opportunity to obtain a high-quality education, and to ensure that assessments, teacher preparation, and curriculum are all aligned with challenging state standards. NCLB also includes formal consequences for those public schools that consistently do not make Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) and also participate in the federal Title I program. Title I schools have high percentages of students from low-income families and receive additional federal funding to provide additional services and supports to the children enrolled in the school(s). Three of the elementary schools within the Goshen Community Schools (GCS) are designated as Title I schools: Chamberlain, Chandler and West Goshen. Title I schools that consistently do not make AYP face a series of consequences that become increasingly severe, based on the number of consecutive school years where improvement (as measured by ISTEP) does not occur.
All three of our Title I schools are at different levels of implementing required improvement efforts. To date, Goshen Community schools has implemented many required corrective action steps. Despite these comprehensive efforts, Chandler Elementary will be faced with further corrective action and possible restructuring in the 2010-2011 school year.
In late September, Goshen Community Schools formed a broad-based committee to study the options for restructuring. The four options for restructuring which have been examined are: 1) replace principal and other relevant staff who have remained the same during the sustained failure to make AYP; 2) close the school; 3) reopen as a charter school; or 4) contract with private management to operate the school. This committee met regularly over the past three months to accomplish their charge, of selecting an option which would improve student achievement.
On Tuesday evening the Comprehensive Action Committee concluded its work. Consensus of the committee was to pursue the option of replacing/reassigning staff. Additional components were also included in the recommendation: incentive pay, building the professional capacity of staff, non-traditional grouping of students around learning goals, opportunities for extended learning time, parental and community involvement and improving the school environment. A work committee will be formed to further develop and identify the details of all components of this option. It is anticipated that a final plan will be presented to the Board of School Trustees early in calendar year 2010.
