Preliminary figures show three Fort Bend Independent School District campuses – Marshall High School, Willowridge High School and Missouri City Middle School – failed to meet Adequate Yearly Progress provisions of the federal No Child Left Behind laws.
Willowridge High and Missouri City Middle School also failed to meet AYP standards last year. Unless FBISD successfully appeals the findings, the law may require those campuses to offer students the option of transferring out of the school, according to the Texas Education Agency.
Under other requirements, FBISD may be forced to offer supplemental education services “and/or taking corrective actions,” according to information from the TEA.
Those requirements apply to “Title I” campuses, which receive a certain level of federal funding for things such as free or reduced lunches for students from economically disadvantaged families. Willowridge and Missouri City Middle School are Title I campuses.
Students at Marshall would not have the option of transferring based on the school’s failure to meet AYP standards, because this is the first year it has failed. The restrictive provisions only apply to schools that fail to meet AYP two years in a row.
A spokeswoman for the district said students at Willowridge and Missouri City Middle School likely would be eligible for transfers to other schools of their choosing – as long as those schools are not at capacity – and would have transportation costs absorbed by the school district.
She said Marshall failed to meet AYP standards because of its state accountability rating as academically unacceptable.
FBISD normally stops accepting transfers into a school once it reaches 80% of capacity. The spokeswoman said she doesn’t know whether that 80% requirement would be waived in the event of an AYP-related transfer request.
Despite the preliminary findings of Marshall, Willowridge and Missouri City Middle School’s AYP failures, Acting Superintendent Dr. Manuela Pedraza and Dr. Susan Wey, associate superintendent for curriculum and instruction, were upbeat in their assessment of the district’s AYP performance, in a prepared statement released late Tuesday.
The two were unavailable for comment Wednesday, as all administrative cabinet members attended day-long convocation meetings.
As a district, FBISD met the federal AYP standards, Pedraza noted in a press release.
And indeed, three schools that failed to meet the federal standards last year did meet AYP standards this year, according to the preliminary figures – Christa McAuliffe, Hodges Bend and Lake Olympia middle schools.
“We are proud of the Fort Bend ISD teachers and students who responded with professionalism and dedication to help our district achieve Adequately Yearly Progress “We continue to improve each year, even though the tests are more challenging. Our goal is that no child and no school will be left behind, and we are confident that all of our schools will hit the mark next year.”
To meet the AYP standards, within all defined student groups in a school, 42% of the students must meet performance standards in math, and 53% must meet performance standards in reading and language arts. Also, high schools must have a graduation rate of at least 70%
Despite having failed to meet AYP standards, Willowridge and Missouri City Middle School “both improved tremendously” over last year’s results, the district spokeswoman said.
“Last year, each of these campuses missed the standard on several indicators,” Wey said in the press release. “This year, each school missed the standard in only one area. The focused efforts implemented at each of these campuses did make a difference.”
