What's the Solution?

The following is excerpted from Sherri Onorati's article, "Strike out the band: CMS considers cutting band, choir program," from the April 29, 2008, The Leader.

It's long, but make sure you read the whole thing before posting.


According to the 2007 Tennessee Department of Education Report Card which was released in Nov. 2007, Crestview Middle School did not meet the federal benchmark standard in math for students with disabilities. Even though they met the federal standards for the other subgroups, failing this area caused them to fail to meet the Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) and Crestview Middle was assigned the status of a ˜target" school.

A target school is one that missed a federal benchmark in at least one area for the first year. There are no sanctions or penalties for target schools and the Department of Education offers technical assistance to help keep target schools from becoming high priority schools. Schools and school systems that do not meet the federal benchmark for two or more consecutive years in the same category are assigned the status of "High Priority."

Because of Crestview Middle School's status as a "target" school, Principal James Fields is considering various options that could help bring Crestview back into compliance and on track to ensure that all of Crestview's student needs are met. One of those options is the possibility of canceling the band and choir program at the school.

...

If the decision is made to eliminate the band and choir program at Crestview Middle, students would have the option to attend Covington Integrated Arts Academy (CIAA) since they emphasize band and choir in their curriculum. Fields acknowledges that the possibility exists that students may have to switch schools if the band program is cut and that may cause problems.

"My parents and my students have not really had a voice in the decision and that is definitely important," stated Fields. "It was an instance that presented itself, I jumped on it and although it really sounded great at the time, I am having reservations about it and I just don't feel good about it now because band is really important to the kids that we have here. We realize that switching school to be a part of the band could be detrimental to some of them and I understand that. But there comes a time when decisions still have to be made and a principal has to decide what is best for his school and for all students."

The ultimate responsibility of the school lies in educating its students and meeting the benchmark standards of the NCLB.

"If something doesn't change it's not only going to be Crestview Middle, it's going to be a lot of schools in this area and across the nation that are going to have to change the way they do things to meet the standards that's being brought down by NCLB."

...

We're not canceling the band program," stated Buddy Bibb, Tipton County Schools Director of Instruction. "Students would still be able to attend band classes at CIAA, we are just looking at possibly combining the band programs."

"Our students and their education is always our first priority," concluded Fields. "We know that band and music is extremely important and research shows that students who are in band perform better on standardized tests. My goal has been to always offer whatever we can to students, but sometimes there comes a time when we can only offer a bit of this or a bit of that and this may be one of those times.


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Keep in mind that this is JUST ONE OPTION that has been floated, and that nothing has been decided yet.

Your question today is this:

What are some other things Crestview (or any other target school) could do to increase its test scores?

Your options cannot include, "Get rid of NCLB," or anything comparable to that. Like it or not, NCLB is here, and it drives the curriculum.

If the goal of schools is to educate students, and the measure of success is determined by standardized test scores, what can schools do to make sure their students meet their (government-mandated) goals?

You should also consider that schools have to educate EVERYONE, regardless of achievement level, and that EVERYONE'S scores count. (It's beautifully illustrated in this story.)

Would your solution be affected by the fact that every student must be tested?

It's a lot to think about; since it's the second-to-last post of the year, and since so many of you indicated that school curricula have been dumbed down, I thought I'd give you a bit of a challenge.

You're welcome.