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Alternative schools complain about performance list
by Tim Pugmire, Minnesota Public Radio
July 10, 2003

Dozens of alternative schools that made the state's list of underachieving schools are crying foul. The Minnesota Department of Education released a preliminary list earlier this week of elementary, middle and high schools not meeting performance goals. But the only high schools identified were non-traditional schools that primarily serve at-risk students.

State education officials identified 259 schools that aren't meeting adequate yearly progress, as required under the federal No Child Left Behind law. The 131 elementary schools on the list failed to meet goals for test scores or test participation. Middle schools and high schools, however, were evaluated this year just on average daily attendance and graduation rates. The identified high schools were almost exclusively area learning centers, or ALCs.

Patti Haasch, principal of the Cass Lake Area Learning Center, says schools like hers offer an alternative learning environment to students who've had trouble succeeding in regular classrooms. She says they shouldn't be compared to traditional schools.

"It's not uncommon for us to have students that are 14 and 15 years old who are reading at a second and third grade level," says Haasch. "They may be pregnant or be a teen parent. They might have chemical dependency issues. They could be a victim of abuse, have mental health issues, be homeless -- many more things in their lives are impacting or getting in the way of them achieving their education."

Haasch is criticizing the state list, even though Cass Lake ALC was not included. She says the school should have been identified, which raises questions in her mind about the state's accuracy. Haasch says ALCs are missing attendance goals because most allow students to work independently outside of class. She says graduation numbers are also misleading, because students often return to their home high schools to graduate.

"So the high school is getting credit, if you want to call it that, for that student graduating -- whereas the student wouldn't have graduated had they not attended the Cass Lake Area Learning Center," says Haasch.

State officials identified the Northfield Alternative Learning Center as one of the high schools not meeting graduation goals. Lead teacher David Bly says when it comes to area learning centers, the list is exposing the obvious.

"It seams counterintuitive to me to lay upon us the same judgment, or the same way of considering whether we're being successful, as you do the regular school because the circumstances of our students are so different. The issues that they deal with are so different," says Bly.

This is the third year the state has compiled an adequate yearly progress list, but the first year it included high schools. The makeup of the list could change significantly next year when high schools are measured for test scores in addition to attendance and graduation rates. Cathy Wagner, No Child Left Behind coordinator at the Minnesota Department of Education, says she's not surprised that many area learning centers fell below the graduation goal.

"The way we calculate graduation rate is an 80 percent goal of graduation rate or any growth from last year. So, typically kids go to an ALC because they're in danger of not graduating. So I would expect to see ALCs with kids that take five, six years to graduate," says Wagner.

Wagner says area learning centers that rely heavily on independent study programs might have grounds to challenge their attendance numbers.

"When they take a look at their attendance rates for independent study and make an adjustment for independent study courses, we think that will probably take some off the list," Wagner says.

State education officials say school leaders can appeal their identification in the coming weeks. They say several revisions are likely before they release a final version of the list on Aug. 7. Leaders of the Minnesota Association of Alternative Programs plan to meet later this month to discuss making a formal response to the state list.

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