List of 'Failing' N.C. Schools May Grow

The failing schools list is published by the DPI so schools that do not meet basic academic standards can improve their status. A school is deemed failing if it performs poorly on standardized tests.

Seventeen schools are on the failing schools list, entitling them to additional financial support from the state.

Jackie Colbert, DPI assistant director for school improvement, said the extra money goes toward several improvement methods. Assistance teams and staff under the Division of School Improvement are all enlisted to help improve student performance within the failing schools, Colbert said.

But when compared to other states, North Carolina is doing surprisingly well, she said. "We're ahead of the game in that aspect," Colbert said. "As a matter of fact, other states are going to have to add tests."

She said that since North Carolina already tests students annually, significant changes will not have to be made like they will in other states.

The changes are mostly a result of the No Child Left Behind Act, the equivalent of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, Colbert said.

The Elementary and Secondary Education Act, which was signed by President George W. Bush in January, mandates that every student in grades 3-8 is tested each year on reading and math skills. "(This legislation) is having a significant effect on schools across the country," she said.

Five of the state's public schools and 12 charter schools are on the list.

Colbert said charter schools are more susceptible to maintaining a position on the failing list. "They're newer," Colbert said. "Anytime you're just getting started in a venture you've never been involved in before it takes time to settle in."

But Liz Morey, executive director of Healthy Start Academy, a charter school in Durham that is facing the possibility of going on the failing list, said she disagrees with the methods used to determine the list. "Any school in the state may be on the list next year when you look at it," Morey said. "They have no clue."

She said the list is pointless and has no validity. "What they've done is taken any school that was low-performing with the two year time span (1999-2001) and put it on that list," Morey said.

She said that Healthy Start Academy should no longer be on the list and that it only had one low-performing year. Since then, Morey said, the academy has taken measures to improve its standing by reducing class size.

But many schools in the area are measuring up. Guy B. Phillips Middle School Assistant Principal Richard Pierce said Chapel Hill schools do well. "We live in a community that is highly educated and highly supported with resources."

The State & National Editor can be reached at stntdesk@unc.edu.