Montgomery, Ala. – Accountability Reports released today by the Alabama Department of Education show over 75 percent (75.13%) of Alabama public schools made Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) as identified by the federal No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB). Out of 1,375 Alabama public schools, 1,033 schools met 100 percent of their goals to make AYP – despite increasingly difficult NCLB requirements.
“As the deadline of 2014 gets closer, the requirement of perfection gets closer. Having the ‘requirement’ of No Child Left Behind that every student in America be proficient in Reading and Mathematics is very different than the ‘goal’ aspiring that every student hit that mark,” stated Dr. Joe Morton, State Superintendent of Education. “Every year the bar gets higher and higher and every year Alabama students show improvement. The challenge is to have our improvement trajectory be the same increase as the annual goal requirement trajectory.”
“While every state in America is required to have100 percent compliance with the law, no state will be able to meet that requirement because there is no leeway in the requirement of 100 percent of the students in our nation meeting the challenge,” Morton stated as he called for the Reauthorization of the No Child Left Behind Act currently in Congress to include a growth model compliance that recognizes states such as Alabama that have shown academic improvements.
“We know and accept the responsibility to teach every child to the fullest extent of their capabilities, and that is why Pre-K, the Reading Initiative, the Math, Science, and Technology Initiative, and the Distance Education Initiative are so essential to Alabama’s future. Those programs coupled with the new graduation plan (FIRST CHOICE), graduation coaches, Making Middle Grades Work, and increased AP courses will help Alabama schools meet any challenge in the next reauthorized federal law,” said Morton.
For 2010, 51 school systems and 342 schools did not make AYP (did not achieve 100 percent of their individual goals). Out of 51 school systems, 30 did not meet the goal for special education students. Other subgroups not meeting the goal at the high school span included limited-English proficient students, black, Hispanic, white and students receiving free or reduced meals.
Alabama’s AYP attendance rate goal is 95 percent or improvement. However, for the 2009-10 school year, the rate was adjusted to 90 percent due to the impact of the H1N1 virus across the state. Alabama’s schools met and surpassed the adjusted attendance rate goal with 94 percent.
“With fewer schools and school systems making AYP, there is an unknown factor of the role the H1N1 virus and the significant drop in student attendance played in the final results. School attendance statewide dropped from 98 percent in 2008-09 to 94 percent in 2009-10, primarily due to the H1N1 virus. It was significant enough that the U.S. Department of Education permitted Alabama a waiver on the 95 percent attendance requirement for one year,” explained Morton.
Alabama’s graduation rate goal is 90 percent or meets the improvement target. Alabama schools missed the graduation rate goal of 90 percent with approximately 87 percent graduating for the class of 2009, but still made more than 1 percent improvement from the previous year which allowed Alabama to meet the improvement target.
The good news is that reading and mathematics scores have continued to increase across time in Grades 3-8. For example, Alabama’s 3rd grade reading scores for all students continue to surpass AYP goals. For 2010, the percentage of proficient Alabama students in Grade 3 is 86.56 percent, surpassing the NCLB requirement for 2010 of 85 percent proficient. From 2005 to 2010, Alabama students’ proficiency (based on ARMT) in reading and mathematics increased.
NCLB Annual Measurable Objectives
Under NCLB requirements, the percentage of students required to meet the proficient standard continues to increase annually. In fact, 2010 is the first year that annual measureable objectives have increased in every grade for both reading and mathematics and will continue to increase each year. The national target determined by NCLB is for 100 percent of the students in America to be proficient in reading and mathematics by 2014.
Determining AYP status
The AYP status of Alabama schools and school systems is based on student achievement and participation rates on assessments for reading and mathematics and meeting Additional Academic Indicators (AAI), which are attendance rates for elementary and middle schools and graduation rates for high schools. The assessments used are the Alabama Reading and Mathematics Test (ARMT) - Grades 3-8, the Alabama High School Graduation Exam (AHSGE) - Grade 11, and the Alabama Alternate Assessment (AAA) - Grades 3-8 and 11.
AYP Components
The three components that make up AYP are as follows:
1. READING
Annual Measurable Objectives
Participation Rates
2. MATHEMATICS
Annual Measurable Objectives
Participation Rates
3. ADDITIONAL ACADEMIC INDICATORS (AAI)
Attendance Rate (elementary and middle schools)
Graduation Rate (high schools)
Schools Required to Achieve 100 Percent of AYP Goals
Under the NCLB law, schools must meet 100 percent of their respective annual goals in all student groups to be identified as having achieved AYP. As a result, missing just one goal will prevent a school from making AYP. NCLB requires schools to meet annual goals in the academic achievement of the overall student population and by student groups, including economic background, race/ethnicity, limited English proficiency, and special education.
In all, there are 37 different configurations of students possible. Should a school have all 37 student configurations, the school is required to have each make AYP. Should only one student subgroup not meet the AYP requirement then the school does not make AYP.
School Improvement
It takes two years of not making AYP to be designated a School Improvement school. Likewise, it takes two years of positive growth and of making AYP for a school to progress out of School Improvement status.
This year, 127 schools are identified for School Improvement. That is an increase of 5 from 2009. If a school does not make AYP for two consecutive years in the same component (reading, mathematics or AAI), the school enters School Improvement status. Those schools missing AYP for at least two consecutive years will receive specific training and technical assistance through the state Support Team, which will help schools analyze their assessment data and develop a Continuous Improvement Plan.
School Choice
Alabama evaluated 1,375 public schools for 2010-11 AYP status (based on 2009-10 data); 924 are Title I schools (high-poverty schools that receive Title I federal funding, the largest single federal funding source for education). Because many school systems chose to serve additional schools with one-time American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) funds, Alabama experienced a 6.7 percent increase in the number of Title I schools served. This year, 68 Title I schools were identified for School Improvement. Of the 127 schools identified for School Improvement, 59 are non-Title I schools – a decrease of 11 from last year.
NCLB requires Title I schools identified for School Improvement in Year 1 and beyond to offer School Choice to all students or to offer access to free after-school tutoring called supplemental educational services to eligible students, if choice is not available. Parents may contact their local school system’s central office for information and assistance regarding options in Title I improvement schools.
Accountability results, assessment results, and a listing of all schools, including their respective AYP and School Improvement status can be found on the Alabama Department of Education’s website at www.alsde.edu under “Accountability Reporting.” Use drop-down menus to locate various reports.
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