RECENT COMMENTS

DOE releases AYP numbers for 2009-2010

Six of the eight East End schools met this years AYP benchmarks. All of the neighborhood elementary schools and Franklin Military Academy met the adequate yearly progress (AYP) standards of No Child Left Behind, while MLK Middle School and Armstrong HS did not. 71% of schools statewide and 78% across the city met their targets for the year.

For a school or school division to make AYP under the federal education law, it must meet or exceed a series of requirements and objectives. A school or school division that falls short on a single requirement or objective is not considered to have made AYP.

These requirements include objectives for participation in state-wide standardized testing in reading and mathematics, achievement in these subjects, and attendance (ES and middle schools) or graduation (high schools). A minimum of 95 percent of students overall must participate in reading and mathematics testing, and 95 percent of students in each of the following subgroups also must take state assessments in these two subjects: white, black, Hispanic, students with disabilities, economically disadvantaged students, and students with limited English proficiency. Students may be counted in more than one subgroup. Students overall and in each subgroup must meet the annual measurable objectives (AMO) for proficiency in reading and mathematics or reduce the failure rates on tests in reading and mathematics by at least ten percent. Schools and school divisions also must meet annual objectives for progress on other indicators of academic achievement.

Meeting AYP is different than being accredited. The targets for school or systems AYP were initially set in relation to an individual school’s baseline performance and get progressively more stringent each year. Schools in a school system as highly regarded as Chesterfield County are expected to have difficulty making AYP as the requirements get tighter and tighter. More locally, for example, Fox Elementary in the Fan did not make AYP this year. Accreditation is based on meeting testing requirements that are standard across the state.