County Schools Fall Behind on No Child Left Behind Standards

Out of the 84 Prince William County schools, standards set by the No Child Left Behind Act, according to data recently released by the Virginia Department of Education.

Three new schools were not applicable for this year’s statistics. Last year, 28 schools – or just over 33 percent of the county – did not meet their progress goal.

“While making AYP, as currently defined by the NCLB legislation, has become extremely difficult due to the benchmarks being moved up over time, we continue to embrace our mission of providing a World-Class education to all of our students,” said PWCS Superintendent Steven  Walts.

Virginia Superintendent of Public Instruction Patricia I. Wright said in a statement that she would recommend that the Board of Education ask Secretary of Education Arne Duncan for a waiver from No Child Left Behind Act requirements and the ability to create a new accountability system for the commonwealth.

“Accountability is not advanced by arbitrary rules and benchmarks that misidentify schools,” she said.

According to the Virginia Department of Education, 697, or 38 percent of the 1,839 schools in the state, made AYP based on last school year’s test results, while 61 percent made AYP during the previous ratings cycle.

The No Child Left Behind Act requires that states set annual student achievement goals in reading and math, which will lead to 100-percent proficiency by 2014.

Schools that did not meet AYP this year include Woodbridge Senior High School, Gar-Field Senior High School, Freedom High School and Stonewall Jackson High School.

Eighty-seven percent of PWC students passed the mathematics SOL and 89 percent passed the reading test, said PWCS. In 2010, the county reported that all levels had above an 80 percent pass rate in all areas.

Fort Hunt Editor Naomi Nix contributed to this piece.

Editor’s Note: This is the first in a series of school stories examining the SOL and AYP statistics for Prince William County and Woodbridge-area schools.