Failing Schools

Taking advantage of recently relaxed rules, several area districts have persuaded the state to remove schools from a list of those that had failed to demonstrate "adequate yearly" academic progress under the federal No Child Left Behind law. The results of the appeals - based on a change in how children with learning disabilities are treated under the state's accountability program - came as a relief to school systems. Remaining on the list could subject the schools to an escalating list of sanctions that includes, ultimately, a state takeover.

Maryland education officials released the annual list of failing schools yesterday, saying that 13 elementary and middle schools had improved enough to be taken off the list, but 131 throughout the state remain. The designation has taken on new meaning this year because it will trigger a range of actions schools must take under the new federal No Child Left Behind law. If schools continue to fail over a period of years, a state must require a major overhaul, including new staff, or the state can have a private contractor take over a school.

A Maryland child-advocacy group is recommending state officials take a more aggressive approach to fixing the state's most troubled schools, including intervening when the efforts of local school boards fail.A report released today by Advocates for Children and Youth says that at many of the schools identified two or three years ago as failing, test scores have not risen significantly, particularly in Baltimore.Since 1994, the state has put 89 schools in Maryland, including 79 in Baltimore, on a list of failing schools based on their performance on statewide tests that measure reading and math skills.

&TC Without even asking, Baltimore City schools received an extension yesterday to submit plans for rebuilding 35 failing schools to the state Board of Education.Although school officials met the March 15 deadline with a 43-page proposal and another 75 pages of supporting information state Superintendent Nancy S. Grasmick asked the state board to give the city another 10 days."What we're looking for is a level of specificity" about individual schools, said Rhona Fisher, who directs the state education department's program to rebuild troubled schools.

More than 30 Baltimore schools that have failed to meet standards for several years in a row will be forced by federal law to undergo a major overhaul this fall, while virtually every struggling school in Baltimore County improved its performance on testing this year. City parents and students will begin seeing new teachers, principals and curriculum, particularly in the middle and high schools trying to meet new requirements, Baltimore officials said. State education officials, who are charged with implementing the federal No Child Left Behind Act, released the annual list of troubled schools yesterday.

Some of the methods used to improve failing schools in Maryland have not worked, according to the Center on Education Policy, a Washington-based research group. In a new report, the center concludes that one of the most common options - a turnaround specialist - is often ineffective. The same seems to be true of wholesale staff replacement, another increasingly popular solution. There's nothing easy or quick about fixing failing schools. But at a time of decreasing financial resources, thoughtful planning and careful monitoring are critical.

When the Baltimore school board voted last week to close six failing schools this summer and a seventh next year, it was taking its cue from the ambitious reorganization plan of schools chief Andres Alonso. Mr. Alonso wants to close underperforming schools and open new ones that offer a better learning environment. But what makes one learning environment better than another? For Mr. Alonso, the answer was always clear: Successful schools are ones with strong, capable principals and good teachers in every classroom.

AS MOST parents know from experience, even repeated threats do little good if they aren't backed up with action.That is the uncomfortable situation the Maryland State Department of Education finds itself in as it adds another nine elementary schools -- six in Baltimore and three in Prince George's County -- to its list of failing schools.This week's addition expands to 97 the number of schools statewide that have been targeted for state takeover unless they show measurable achievement gains.

Staff and parents at failing schools slated for closure said at a hearing Saturday that they wished their schools had been given the resources to succeed before being shut down. About 50 people, a few dozen of them school system administrators required to attend, turned out for the second and final hearing on a major school reorganization plan that is subject to an April 28 vote by the board of education. Some speakers complained that the hearings were held at inconvenient locations for residents of the west side, where many of the changes would occur.

WASHINGTON -- Maryland is at the forefront of a radical educational experiment that Congress is now considering making permanent: Providing a right for low-income students to transfer from failing schools to better performing public schools. The federal right was established by an obscure provision of the 1999 budget bill. In Maryland, which has been particularly aggressive about implementing the legislation, more than 100 schools have been identified as troubled, the majority of them in Baltimore.