No Child Left Behind discussed at School Board meeting

The Decorah School Board listened to comments Monday night about the recent "in need of assistance" reports of the No Child Left Behind evaluations. Decorah received the evaluation related to a group of special education students in the IEP (Individual Education Plans) category in the Middle School. Principal Leona Hoth emphasized that they are continuing to be very intentional about monitoring this group of students and utilizing all necessary data to help in determining their needs and appropriate interventions.
 
The district hiring has also included a reading specialist and a full time special education teacher that should assist in addressing the issue. It is important to note that most "in need of assistance" reports are related to "sub-groups" and that sometimes the nature of these groups, when students may progress through the initial group, lends itself to a continued low score for the group. The flaw of the legislation pushes schools to a 100% success rate, and in reality, if things do not change related to the law or exemptions are granted, then, according to experts virtually every school district in the United States will be on the list of schools not meeting standards.