Rainier View Elementary: One School's Experience

In Cathy Thompson's first year (2003-2004) as principal of Rainier View Elementary in Seattle, the school's test scores had dropped dramatically from the previous year, and those results meant that Rainier's students were eligible to transfer to other schools. But none of the 240 students took advantage of that option.

Thompson believes there are a host of reasons for that. Rainier View is in the poorest part of the city. Many parents are working more than one job to put food on the table. Some don't speak English. Parents may not have felt well-equipped to assess the advantages of the other schools outside their neighborhood.

And, says Thompson, Rainier View has worked hard to involve parents. Teachers make frequent home visits. "I believe they stay because of the improvements we've made," says Principal Thompson. She adds that the school's failure to meet its educational goals has served as a wake-up call. "Making AYP makes schools look at whether they're successful. [The state test] is forcing us to learn how to teach better. It has helped us do a better job of teaching."

She says parents are putting their energy into helping Rainier View improve, rather than pulling out. Principal Thompson recalls a PTA meeting last year, with 12 members present—a "big meeting" for them. Eleven parents were supportive of school improvement plans: "We need to get in here and help." One parent was frustrated, saying, "What can I do?" Since then, he's answered that for himself, becoming a member of the school's leadership team.

Marlene Fuller's family has been involved with Rainier View Elementary for eleven years, and her fourth child goes there now. They are "very happy" with the school despite the state test results being what she calls borderline or lower for several years. Fuller says the teacher home visits that started this year help them all feel involved. Principal Cathy Thompson is a "great asset" and it's a very close "family" at the school.

Fuller wasn't surprised by the school's failure to meet AYP standards. She feels that the way the standardized tests are graded, along with language aspects, work against individual students. English is a second language for many of the students here. (There are 94 languages spoken in Seattle Public Schools.) "Each child learns differently," she points out. "I don't know if transferring would make any difference."

Rural District Dilemma

In Washington's rural Chimacum School District, Superintendent Mike Blair says the district is struggling to meet AYP. In the 2004-2005 school year, the graduation rate rose from 66% to 82%, although the middle school still gets scored low for unexcused absences. But the prospect of losing students via transfers is not a concern. That's because the district doesn't have many schools to start with, and local children don't want to go to school 10 miles away in Port Townsend, Washington. Blair says parents would rather support their local school. Principal Rex Whipple at Chimacum High agrees.

The 400-student high school has a new alternative program this year called FOCUS. Sophomores who are behind on credits for graduation can get individualized teaching and work at their own pace. They concentrate on one class at a time, rather than studying all subjects each day. Tutoring is provided for 10th grade state test remediation. The math and English class sizes have been reduced from 30 students to 23 by hiring teachers with state funds. There's also an advisory class twice a week, when staff adult advocates help students learn how to survive in the real world. All these, says Principal Whipple, foster school unity.

In a Seattle Suburb, Little Choice

Maureen Monson is a parent in the Renton School District, near Seattle. She remembers that just before NCLB was implemented, Dimmitt Middle School was at an all-time high in state test scores. Starting from such a high level has made it hard for Dimmitt to post annual improvements in its scores, as NCLB requires. Since the 2002-2003 school year, Dimmitt students have been eligible to transfer under the federal law—but the only other two middle schools in Renton have also failed to meet AYP.

When Dimmitt was the first middle school in Renton on 'the list,' Principal Charles James reports, "Twenty transferred. [They] came back." Now that the other two middle schools are also on the list, no students have transferred.

Research: Too Early to Judge

Researchers have tried to assess both the extent to which families are using the transfer option, and whether or not students that do transfer are benefiting academically. But so far, answers are hard to come by.

The study by the Citizen's Commission on Civil Rights, "Choosing Better Schools," found that 2.3 percent of eligible students requested transfers in the 2002-2003 school year and 5.6% the next year, but less than half of those actually transferred. Another finding is that "because so few districts with large enrollments submitted complete data for both school years on the number of students actually transferring, the percentages calculated by the Commission are of little use."

Still, it seems "the Commission found a number of districts where NCLB choice was implemented and working relatively well."

The report found that while virtually all school districts informed parents of transfer options, as required by law, the quality of implementation and communication with parents varied widely. Many districts continue to use lack of space in better-performing schools to deny transfers, though NCLB is explicit that this is not allowed. Some districts also ignored the requirement for free transportation.

An online survey by the Public Education Network indicates that while NCLB has pushed schools to do a pretty good job reporting to parents on how each school is doing, communication about transfer options, tutoring, and opportunities for parental involvement has so far been much less effective. While 74 percent of parents said they were informed about school performance, only 18 percent said they were informed about transfer options.

And parents weren't really convinced that transfers would make a big difference, with nine percent agreeing that transfer to another public school in their district would help "a great deal" and another 25 percent believing it "will help a little."

Choosing Not to Choose

As for whether students taking advantage of NCLB transfers benefit from changing schools, research simply cannot yet provide an answer. Though the Commission on Civil Rights report strikes a hopeful note, it also acknowledges the lack of hard data: "Although studies of the impact of the choice program on student achievement have not yet been conducted there is every reason to believe that transferring students benefit academically."

Meanwhile skeptics have argued that because NCLB does not accept "no space" as a reason for refusing transfer students, high-achieving schools in low-achieving districts risk being swamped by transfers and seeing their hard-won excellence eroded.

James Daniels is a freelance writer based in Port Hadlock, Washington.