NEAT is working to help strengthen school-neighborhood-community connections!

We urge parents and community members to get plugged into their neighborhood community councils to build relationships at the local level.

The following article is reprinted from the September 2004, NEAT Newsletter.

Update on No Child Left Behind (NCLB)

Many of you will have heard concerns about schools throughout Minnesota not making “Annual Yearly Progress” as defined by NCLB.  This is consistent with what was presented by the Office of the Legislative Auditor at the April 2004 NEAT Forum on NCLB.

One of the greatest concerns about NCLB is that it labels schools making substantial progress as failing; indeed, it can label excellent schools as failing.  On the other hand, the single greatest value of No Child Left Behind is getting the disaggregated data which:

a) Exposes the Achievement Gap in undeniable ways, and
b) Allows educators to implement research-based best practices to meet the needs of students in an ongoing cycle of improvement.

The data is a tool to identify needs, not the means to raising student achievement.  The key is to use the data to ask questions such as, “What are the contributing factors?” and “What can we do to make improvements?”  These questions should be asked both within the schools, as well as at a broader community level.

Community-based variables are as important to improving student achievement as school-based reform.

For example:

• Children living in poverty are “56 times more likely to be educationally neglected and 40 times more likely to be physically neglected.” (Minnesota Department of Human Services, Partnerships for Child Development, April 2004)
• In 2002, 65% of Saint Paul children qualified for free or reduced-priced school meals compared to 26.6% statewide. (SPPS: Research, Evaluation & Assessment)
• Lead poisoning can cause learning, behavior, and health problems in young children.  A primary source for children has been lead in paint chips and dust in houses older than 1978.  About 80% of the houses in Ramsey County are in that category.  In the year 2000, there was [sic] about 40,000 children in that age group in Ramsey County and about 25,000 of those lived in St. Paul.  In 2002, 5.7% of children tested for elevated lead levels in Ramsey County tested positive. (Saint Paul – Ramsey County Community Health Assessment, Plan and Plan Summary 2004-2007)
• About a third of Somali and Laotian children, and over half of Southeast Asian children tested by the Minnesota Department of Health in 1998 had lead poisoning. (“New to the Neighborhood: Immigrant Report,” United Way of the Greater Twin Cities.)
• Mobility has a significant impact on learning and in Saint Paul neighborhood schools are most at risk for high mobility. (SPPS: Research, Evaluation & Assessment)
• The State of Minnesota defines mobility in a way that’s more restrictive than allowed by NCLB causing schools with high mobility to be more likely to fail to make Annual Yearly Progress. (Parents United Network)

A 2003 study, “Parsing the Achievement Gap: Baselines for Tracking Progress,” identified 14 correlates of student achievement:

Six are School Based:

• Rigor of Curriculum
• Teacher Preparation
• Teacher Experience and Attendance
• Class Size
• Technology-Assisted Instruction
• School Safety

Eight relate to factors “Before and Beyond School”:

• Parent Participation
• Student Mobility
• Birthweight
• Lead Poisoning
• Hunger and Nutrition
• Reading to Young Children
• Television Watching
• Parent Availability

As a community, we need to be examining and addressing not only school-based reform, but also community-based variables that contribute to student achievement.

The City of Saint Paul is a national model for civic engagement.  The city is divided into 17 neighborhoods represented by independent, nonprofit Community Councils led by volunteer boards - people like you!

The Community Councils serve as neighborhood liaisons to the city council and various city departments.  NEAT urges school parent groups to contact their Community Councils to talk about the community-based variables that impact learning.

Contact your Community Council!

Read the January 2005 Achievement Gap report.