106 LI schools on 'needs improvement' list

The number of Long Island public schools the state says need academic improvement more than tripled this year to 106, prompting the region's educators to call for speedier overhaul of the federal No Child Left Behind law that has governed academic ratings the past nine years.

Only 28 Island schools were identified last year as needing improvement.

The unprecedented increase, described as a "tsunami" by staffers, reflects a combination of factors, including higher passing requirements on state tests for students in grades 3-8. This has created particular challenges for special education students, many school officials say.

The new additions extend to such well-regarded school systems as Elwood, Half Hollow Hills, Massapequa, Oceanside, Plainview-Old Bethpage, Smithtown and West Islip.

"This is just further evidence -- as if we needed any -- that we must move forward to reform our schools and change what is happening in our classrooms," Merryl Tisch, chancellor of the state Board of Regents, said Thursday after the state Education Department released this year's list.

Statewide, the list of schools falling below academic targets jumped to 1,325 this year, compared with last year's 532. In New York City, 640 schools were named, up from 321 last year.

In addition to individual schools, 17 districts on the Island and 123 districts statewide also were identified on the latest list as requiring improvement. That compares with three Island districts and 35 districts statewide last year.

Only one Long Island school -- William Floyd High School -- was dropped from the state's list and returned to good academic standing this year.

State and local school officials agree that the increases stem mostly from higher academic demands imposed by the state Regents and federal law, rather than from major declines in student achievement. Since last year, average student math scores have remained about the same on the Island and statewide, while average English scores have fallen slightly.

"Instruction in the schools remains solid," said Gary Bixhorn, chief operating officer of Eastern Suffolk BOCES. "But because of the way the accounting works, this looks like a sudden decrease in student performance. And it really isn't."

Goal seen as unrealistic

The lists are compiled annually as a result of the No Child Left Behind law, which took effect in 2002 as the signature education initiative of then-President George W. Bush. The law requires annual increases in percentages of students deemed proficient in English and math -- for school enrollments as a whole, for racial and ethnic groups, and for specific groups such as special-education students and those who speak limited English.

Many education analysts praise the law for focusing attention on students who were overlooked in the past. But even admirers have concluded that the law's rigid requirements aren't always practical. By the end of the 2013-14 school year, it requires all students to be proficient -- a goal widely regarded as unrealistic.

"It's like saying all students are going to be able to run a 100-yard dash in 10 seconds or less," North Merrick school Superintendent David Feller said.

President Barack Obama and many national education leaders agree the school-identification system under No Child Left Behind is flawed, and the president has urged major revisions for nearly two years. Efforts to accomplish that are lagging in Congress, a cause of frustration for local school representatives.

"With Congress unwilling to tackle the needed changes to its admittedly flawed No Child Left Behind legislation, it is deplorable that we now see more schools unjustly labeled as in need of improvement," said James March, president of the Nassau-Suffolk School Boards Association.

Educator defends scores

In Hampton Bays, school Superintendent Lars Clemensen voiced concern that his middle school is among those newly identified as "in need of improvement," although students' test scores there generally are rising. The reason, he said, is that a small number of special-education students have fallen short of the target scores set for them under federal and state guidelines.

"We bucked the trend by raising our students' performance between 2010 and 2011," Clemensen said. "Yet we find ourselves on a state 'needs-improvement' list that suggests we did worse, even though that's not the case."

State and local officials cite multiple factors for the rise in schools deemed to need improvement. For starters, the state in July 2010 raised cutoff scores for students to reach proficiency level on tests administered in grades 3-8.

That resulted in a plunge in the number of students passing state tests, and a corresponding rise this year in the number of schools deemed to need improvement.

In addition, a partial federal exemption for special-education students from rules requiring specified score improvements each year has expired, making it more difficult for schools to meet targets.

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