Roughly a third of this year’s list of “failing” schools as defined by the Alabama Accountability Act are in the Birmingham-metro area. The 76 public schools named February 10 include 18 Birmingham City Schools, four Bessemer City Schools and one each from Fairfield, Midfield and Tarrant.
Three Birmingham schools – Bush K-8, Wylam K-8, and Ossie Ware Mitchell — were removed from the failing schools list this year.
The list is based on students’ 2014-2015 results on the ACT Aspire test, given in elementary and middle schools, and on the ACT Plan test, given to tenth-graders. Schools with results in the bottom six percent are considered failing. This definition was set in 2014 by the Alabama Legislature.
The Alabama State Department of Education takes some issue with these metrics. “This definition was not set by the Department of Education. We collect the data and present it,” said Malissa Valdes-Hubert, an ALSDE spokesperson.
The assessment under the Alabama Accountability Act is based on a school’s performance compared to other public schools in the state, she said.
“These assessments are not the only indicator of success for a school,” Valdes-Hubert said. “If you look at schools, I’m sure you’ll see what some are doing to make it better.”
“I am very concerned that our school district has 18 schools identified as ‘failing,’,” said Dr. Kelly Castlin-Gacutan, superintendent of Birmingham City Schools. “I want to assure our parents that the district is taking this matter seriously and that we will continue our efforts to promote student achievement through the various initiatives that we have put in place since the beginning of the 2015-2016 school year … We believe that these proven best practices will assist us in achieving better learning outcomes for our students,” she said.
Alabama AAA Failing School List 2016 by WBHM News
Photo by brianc 
