President Bush campaigned on the education initiative that \u2018No child would be left behind\u2019. The Tyrone Area School District is working hard to meet the criteria set forth in the Bush education program.
\nThe emphasis and themes of the program are stronger accountability for results, all children can achieve high standards, state and local flexibility and scientific based research.
\n\u201cThe focal point of no child left behind is that 100 percent of children will reach proficient levels of achievement,\u201d said Tyrone Assistant Superintendent Joann Lang. \u201cThe progress is measured against State standards in reading, math and science by 2014. The State will choose several tests which they may choose to administrate. The Terra Nova test is at the top of the list. At Tyrone, we have been administering the Terra Nova test for the past two years.\u201d
\nThere are several goals associated with the \u2018No child left behind\u2019 initiate.
\n\u201cThere are many elements that go into the program,\u201d said Lang. \u201cIn 2002, a score of 45 in reading and 35 in math on the PSSA test is proficient. Our fifth graders averaged 59 in reading and math, our eighth graders averaged 64 in reading and 67 in math and the eleventh graders scored an 81 in reading and 64 in math. Our test levels have us in good shape as of now.\u201d
\nSchools can score below the proficiency standards but can stay out of the School Improvement program if their students show a yearly increase and receive bonus points for graduation rates in secondary schools and attendance rates for elementary schools.
\n\u201cThere is a safe harbor clause in the program,\u201d said Lang. \u201cIf the percentage in each group not reaching proficiency is reduced 10 percent in a year, the group makes progress on the other indicator (graduation rates, attendance rate) and 95 percent of the students in the group are required to take the assessment. The school would then fall into the safe harbor clause and not face disciplinary action.\u201d
\nThe qualifications of the teachers are also addressed by the \u2018No child left behind\u2019 initiative.
\n\u201cWe\u2019re working towards meeting the criteria on teachers in the program,\u201d said Lang. \u201cBy 2005-06 all classroom teachers must be highly qualified which means they all must have full certification, a bachelors degree, demonstrated competence in subject knowledge and teaching skills and the Pennsylvania Department of Education has standards that are more demanding than highly qualified.\u201d
\nThis also goes into the paraprofessional levels of education.
\n\u201cAll paraprofessionals newly hired with Title I funds must have completed at least two years of higher education or meet a rigorous standard of quality,\u201d said Lang. \u201cWithin four years of the enactment of the policy, all paraprofessionals paid with Title I funds must meet this requirement.\u201d
\nThus far, the Tyrone School District has been ahead of the curve.
\n\u201cWe\u2019ve been working hard to provide the best education possible,\u201d said Lang. \u201cWe do our best to hire the best teachers possible. If you don\u2019t comply with this program, the State could easily take over your school district. We\u2019ve been taking the Tarra Nova test for the past two years and scoring well on the PSSA test. There are a lot of schools who aren\u2019t where we are, and we have work to do.\u201d
\nThe goal of the program is to have 100 percent of students across America to meet the proficient by the year 2014.
\nEditor\u2019s Note: Next week in The Daily Herald, we will ask the question is this the right way to go to some teachers and administrators.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
President Bush campaigned on the education initiative that \u2018No child would be left behind\u2019. The Tyrone Area School District is working hard to meet the criteria set forth in the Bush education program. The emphasis and themes of the program are stronger accountability for results, all children can achieve high standards, state and local flexibility […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-47425","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-local-news-in-the-tyrone-pennsylvania-area"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47425","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=47425"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47425\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=47425"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=47425"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=47425"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}