Just the Facts for NY Parents
Schools in Need of Improvement
The NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND (NCLB) ACT of 2001 is a federal law to improve education for all children. It holds schools responsible for results, gives parents greater choices, and promotes teaching methods that work. This fact sheet will point out a part of the law that is important for parents to know.
All children deserve a high quality, challenging education that gives them the skills and knowledge they will need to succeed in today’s world. Under NCLB, the New York State Education Department must make sure that every school is helping its students improve academically.
All schools must make Adequate Yearly Progress. The NCLB law requires every state to set high academic standards and yearly goals for achievement. By 2014, by law all children should be performing at the proficiency level in reading, language arts, and math, and science. Adequate yearly progress (AYP) is the minimum level of performance school districts and schools must achieve every year to meet this goal.
Title I schools that fail to show adequate yearly progress for two years in a row in the same subject and grade are considered in need of improvement.
Title I schools in need of improvement must develop a plan
for improvement and involve parents in the plan. The New York State Education
Department and the local school district or charter school board will help the
school get resources and improve teaching.
Your child’s school must tell you if the school is in need
of improvement.
The school must tell you:
Why the school is in need of improvement,
How the school plans to improve and how it will help students do better,
How the New York State Education Department and the local school district are helping your child’s school (charter schools, not the local school district, are responsible for providing this information for charter schools), and
Who can answer your questions about schools in need of improvement.
When a school in need of improvement makes adequate yearly progress for two years in a row, it is no longer considered in need of improvement.
If your child’s school is receiving Title I
funds and is in need of improvement, you may have new choices.
Your child may be able to transfer to a better
school in your school district (public school choice) if your child attends a
Title I school in need of improvement.
Schools that continue to fail must take corrective action. If your child’s Title I school fails to make adequate yearly progress by the end of the second full school year after it has been identified for school improvement, the school district or charter school board will help the school take strong corrective action, including at least one of the following:
This table shows the steps schools and districts must take to ensure that Title I schools perform to high academic standards.
| Year | Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) Status | District’s Role | School’s Role | Parental Options |
| Year 1 | Fails to make AYP | Districts provide support so schools can improve | Schools work to improve achievement | Parents can work with school teams for improvement |
| Year 2 | Fails to make AYP | District identifies school as in need of improvement | School writes an improvement plan | Parents notified about school status and public school choice option |
| Year 3 | Fails to make AYP | School continues to be in need of improvement | School works toward meeting improvement goals | Transfer options continue; students can receive supplemental educational services |
| Year 4 | Fails to make AYP | School continues to be in need of improvement and requires corrective action | School works toward meeting improvement goals | Transfer options continue; students can receive supplemental educational services |
| Year 5 | Fails to make AYP and is in need of corrective action | District must implement additional corrective actions | School works toward meeting improvement goals | Transfer options continue; students can receive supplemental educational services |
| Year 6 | Fails to make AYP and is in need of corrective action | District must plan for alternative governance | School works toward meeting improvement goals | Transfer options continue; students can receive supplemental educational services |
| Year 7 | Fails to make AYP: school is under alternative governance | District must carry out its alternative governance plans | School works toward meeting improvement goals | Transfer options continue; students can receive supplemental educational services |
How can you find out if your child’s school is
in need of improvement?
Ask your child’s teacher, school principal, or a
member of the school’s parent group for a copy of the School Report Card, or
read your child’s School Report Card on the New York State Education
Department's website at http://www.emsc.nysed.gov/irts/reportcard/home.shtml.
This is one of a series of NY parent information sheets about the federal education law No Child Left Behind. Section 1111(b)(2)(B) of No Child Left Behind covers “adequate yearly progress”; Section 1116(b) covers “schools in need of improvement”. For more “…Facts,” ask your principal, e-mail the State Education Department at nclbnys@mail.nysed.gov or go to the Department's NCLB website at http://www.emsc.nysed.gov/deputy/nclb/nclbhome.htm. The federal No Child Left Behind website offers information especially for parents at http://www.ed.gov/parents/landing.jhtml?src=fp.
Last updated: 02/07/2006