We performed this inspection of Tonalea Day School to determine which measures the school had in place to help close the educational achievement gap and increase graduation rates. The No Child Left Behind Act, signed into law in January 2002, requires schools to complete a comprehensive needs assessment with which to develop a strategy aimed at meeting students' academic development needs. We used the assessment to help evaluate Tonalea's progress.
We found that Tonalea Day School's comprehensive needs assessment did not address all assessment areas. Since the assessment was incomplete, specific needs of students may remain unknown to school administrators, leaving the school unable to effectively prioritize its resources to ensure successful educational achievement for its student population.
School children also may have mastered conversational English and yet struggle to express themselves using academic English, the formal written, auditory, and visual language used in learning environments. The English language learner (ELL) assessment test is required of schools in Arizona to help educators identify students who may have mastered conversational but not academic English. We found that Tonalea Day School officials had administered ELL assessments as required by the State, but that afterwards all students reported to standard classrooms regardless of their assessment outcomes. This may leave students who have limited English proficiency without the additional support they need to achieve academically and close the achievement gap.
We provided two recommendations to help Tonalea Day School improve its efforts to promote educational achievement among its students and close the achievement gap.