State Percentages of Failing Schools

The following chart reflects the number of schools that did not make adequate yearly progress (AYP) according to the federal No Child Left Behind (NCLB) law for school year 2005-2006. NCLB requires schools to meet up to 40 separate indicators‹missing just one indicator results in the school missing AYP. If this occurs two years in a row the school is labeled as being "in need of improvement" and must offer school choice, where parents have the option to transfer their children out of their current school. This is the first of many increasingly severe sanctions imposed by NCLB.

These indicators include: testing at least 95% of students, having a certain percentage of the students scoring at grade level on state tests (e.g., proficient), and maintaining a certain attendance and graduation rate. Students with disabilities, limited English proficiency, and from major racial and economically disadvantaged backgrounds are judged separately and must attain the same level of proficiency and participation rates as all the others.

There are many shortcomings of this system. A school missing only one indicator is judged the same as a school that misses 40 indicators. In addition, getting students with disabilities and limited English proficiency to reach the same expectations as other students is extremely challenging. The percentage of students required to be proficient increases to 100% by 2013-2014. Schools that are further away from the proficiency requirement must make bigger strides in improvement, while schools already above the proficiency requirement do not need to improve right way or could even get worse and still make AYP. Many education experts are asking that the federal government allow them to change NCLB to recognize student growth and achievement over time (growth models).

Many states made significant changes to their state plan for implementing NCLB in 2005, which resulted in the percentage of schools missing AYP to decrease. Other states have already made these changes or still have not and their percentages have increased. For more information about these numbers, please contact Scott Young at (202) 454-5671 or .