Rules put top status beyond schools’ reach

No good deed ever goes unpunished as staff at eight public schools in Clark County know too well.

These schools might be considered exemplary if they were not limited by their students' success.

Exemplary, the highest accolade under the school accountability guidelines of the federal No Child Left Behind Act, is based on achievement and growth. Once student achievement levels are high, it becomes impossible to show significant growth.

The problem is one of diminishing returns, or too few children left behind. A school considered "exemplary" one year will revert to the lesser status of "high achieving" the next year though it still has a high record of student success.

Such is the conundrum of the Advanced Technologies Academy near Vegas and Rancho drives.

"We're at the top of ladder," said James Burt, the assistant principal. "There's really nowhere we can go. So we can't say we've improved. We're at 100 percent graduation rate. Our students are nearly 100 percent on their proficiency tests."

On Friday, the state Board of Education in Carson City will consider tweaking rules to allow exemplary schools to keep their status as long as there's no decrease in student achievement.

"We're getting to the point where no school could make exemplary anymore," State Superintendent Keith Rheault said.

Nevada had five exemplary schools for 2007-08, compared with 17 exemplary schools in 2005-06.

Clark County School District officials identified eight schools that could be considered exemplary if not for the growth requirement.

They are the three high schools on the campuses of the College of Southern Nevada, the Advanced Technologies Academy, Boulder City High School, John F. Miller special education high school, the Las Vegas Academy and the Virtual High School, which gives classes online.

Some have been stuck in a holding pattern for three to four years, unable to reclaim their "exemplary status."

The Advanced Technologies Academy, for instance, was last declared exemplary for 2005-06, though all students in 2007-08 met their English requirements while just 2 percent failed to perform at grade level for math.

Under No Child Left Behind, schools must decrease the number of nonproficient students by 10 percent or more to show growth.

At the Henderson campuses of the College of Southern Nevada high school, all students last year met their English requirements, and 7 percent failed to perform at grade level for math.

Dennis Birr, principal of three College of Southern Nevada high schools, said he does not waste a lot of time worrying about status because the schools are still considered "high achieving" after all.

The high schools on the community college campuses are for 11th- and 12th-graders who want to start taking college classes.

Birr expects 13 or 14 of his seniors will graduate with a two-year associate degree with their high school diploma.

"These are people who know where they want to go," he said.

Under No Child Left Behind, recognition is the only reward high-performing schools will receive.

Staff at failing schools, however, might worry about their jobs. Nevada law allows the Department of Education to replace employees at failing schools, although teachers can be reassigned instead of being fired.

There is no commensurate reward for staff at high-performing schools, such as a pay raise or vacation.

The state Department of Education only sends a certificate for school staff to mount on the wall.

"That's all we can afford," Rheault said.

Contact reporter James Haug at jhaug@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-4686.