Bloomington high schools stuck at ‘C’

Bloomington High School North and Bloomington High School South both have graduation rates of 85 percent, an increase from last year’s rates for both schools.

Both have average Scholastic Assessment Test (SAT) and American College Testing Program (ACT) scores that are higher than Indiana’s state average.

Both also have significantly more students passing the Advanced Placement (AP) exam than the state average.  

Yet both institutions are only “C” schools in Indiana’s new public school classification system.

The “adequate yearly progress” component of the No Child Left Behind Act was designed to give parents an idea of how well the schools their children attend are performing.

The program created a five-tiered letter-grade system to replace the previous five-tiered gradeless system.

In current Indiana law, however, a school cannot get any grade higher than a “C” if the school fails to make adequate yearly progress in No Child Left Behind.

The progress component tracks different subgroups within a school’s overall student population and ensures that groups such as poor children, ethnic minorities and children with special needs do not fall behind the rest of the school’s student  population.

The U.S. Department of Education sets targets for these groups in English and math tests. If a school does not make the stipulated gains for the subgroups, the school is deemed to have not made progress.

If a school does not make progress two years in a row, it is stuck with a grade of “C” or lower, regardless of how well the rest of the students performed or if the subgroups simply performed at the same level as the previous year.

If the progress component did not cap a school’s grade at a “C,” both of Bloomington’s high schools would have gotten an “A” and been deemed “exemplary,” according to the State Department of Education’s accountability website.

The Monroe County Community School Corporation (MCCSC) as a whole received a “B” grade and showed overall progress for the second consecutive year. The school was placed on academic watch last year but improved by two tiers this year.

“While we strive to become an ‘A’ school district, this is a solid foundation from which to begin,” the MCCSC administration said in a joint statement. “Our individual schools have also received letter grades for the first time. Our goal is for all schools to be categorized as ‘A’ or ‘B’ schools. In order for this to occur, each school must make adequate yearly progress and show significant growth on the ISTEP+ exam and high school End of Course Assessment.”

MCCSC’s superintendant, Dr. Judith DeMuth, said the district improved since last year.

“We are most proud of our students, staff and parents for moving from a corporation watch category ‘D’ to a ‘B,’ or commendable category,” she said. “With our intentional focus on student achievement, providing a guaranteed viable curriculum and the additional support provided by the referendum, we plan to see continued upward growth in achievement.”

— Zach Ammerman