Renee Foose, a middle school principal in Rockville, Maryland, is coming under fire for changes she is making in her school to meet NCLB's adequate yearly progress (AYP) goals, according to the Washington Post.  She's being accused of ignoring students who are far behind their peers in order to focus resources on students who, though struggling, have a better chance of passing NCLB-mandated tests.

The Post quotes an anonymous staffer who describes meetings in which English and math teachers were given list of "subgroup" students:

"We were told to cross off the kids who would never pass.... we were told to cross the kids who, if we handed them the test tomorrow, they would pass.  And then the kids who were left over, those were the kids we were supposed to focus on."

If true, this school's policy doesn't give much weight to the literal interpretation of "No Child Left Behind." The school's principal told the Post that all students ereceived extra support, "some more than others."

This triage-like response to NCLB isn't exactly a surprise.  One of the beliefs that shaped NCLB's school accountability system was that educators, left to do what they believed was best for children, weren't paying enough attention to disadvantaged students and those who were far behind their peers.  Schools were writing off, the logic went, certain students and certain populations. The solution was to require states to set proficiency targets -- for subgroups of students which would increase in regular increments to 100% by 2014. 

An anonymous principal quoted in the article suggests that such some principals fear they will lose their jobs if they miss AYP.  And, since current proficiency targets are well below 100%, those principals have to choose between directing resources to the students who need them most or directing resources to the students who are most likely to help the school pass AYP. 

Rock, hard place.  Keeping your job, helping students who are way behind.