Lakewood schools need improvement
Sanctions could be imposed if federal standards not met
BY JOYCE BLAY
Staff Writer

For a second consecutive year, the state has designated Lakewood as a school district in need of improvement (DINI) under the federal No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act.

According to a press release issued by the Department of Education, the designation was based on ASK4, GEPA and HSPA tests taken in spring 2005 by 94 percent of eligible students in Lakewood. Students met 30 out of 40 indicators set forth by NCLB.

Fewer than 20 students took the tests in each student subgroup of Limited English Proficient, Asian/Pacific Islander, American Indian/Native American or Other.

Leonard Thomas, vice president of the Lakewood Board of Education, said the designation was not a surprise. He indicated that teachers and administrators would continue to work toward improving students’ scores.

“When you’re dealing with education, if you make any significant change, you don’t see results for three to four years,” Thomas said. “We need to continue to make strides and if they aren’t [producing results] fast enough, maybe we have to do more. The kids can and they will learn, and we have to continue to provide them with the resources.”

Locally, the Freehold Regional High School District was also determined to be a district in need of improvement.

Under a new formula, Lakewood was judged on the verbal and mathematics scores of all students in the three grade levels taking the tests, rather than the performance of each subgroup. However, according to individual subgroup performance listed on the state’s Internet Web site, only Lakewood’s white students met federal benchmark standards in language arts and mathematics, while students with disabilities, limited English proficiency, black, Hispanic and economically disadvantaged did not.

Among the latter groups, none made what is referred to as safe harbor in language arts, but limited English proficient and Hispanic students made safe harbor in mathematics.

Jon Zlock, a spokesman for the state Department of Education, said on Monday that Lakewood administrators must notify parents of public school children and inform them that the district had been designated as being in need of improvement. He said the district must also file a corrective plan of action by Nov. 30.

Districts that receive federal Title I funding under the NCLB program are required to develop and implement district improvement plans and allocate 10 percent of their federal money to professional development for teachers.

Although Thomas said it takes time for a plan to yield results, Zlock said the district would still have to submit a new plan for improving students’ scores.

“The hope behind that is to have them continue to improve,” he said. “I doubt they would file the same plan, but rather to adjust the previous plan to reflect issues that might improve students’ performance in areas where they did not meet federal benchmark standards.”

If the Lakewood school district does not make Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) in 2006, NCLB mandates that more severe sanctions be imposed, according to the state’s press release.

Sanctions could include the loss of federal funding, that the district institute and implement a new curriculum, or that it replace administrators or teachers deemed to be responsible for the district’s inability to improve students’ scores.

In addition, individual schools could be removed from the district, receivers or trustees could be appointed to administer its affairs, and parents could be offered the choice of sending their children to schools in other districts. The district itself could also be restructured or abolished.

Thomas said he has a personal reason for committing his efforts to seeing that those sanctions do not become necessary.

“I’m the only board member with children in the public schools and no one feels this more than I do,” he said. “I don’t know what can happen; that’s a question better left to administration. We have to rise to the challenge. It’s a cut and dried situation and we have to do what we have to do.”

Superintendent of Schools Ed Luick was unavailable for comment and did not return a call left by a reporter.