2007-8 NCLB Scores: 71% Make AYP...which means 29% don't

SEVENTY PERCENT OF KENTUCKY PUBLIC SCHOOLS MAKE AYP

(FRANKFORT, Ky.) -- Data indicate that 70.9 percent -- 820 -- of Kentucky's 1,157 public schools made Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) in the 2007-08 school year under the requirements of the federal No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act, the Kentucky Department of Education announced today.

In 2007, 78.7 percent of schools made AYP. A rise in reading and mathematics goals likely contributed to a lower percentage of schools making AYP in 2008 than in 2007.

However, fewer schools are subject to consequences in 2008 than in 2007, with three main reasons for the drop:

Seven schools that were eligible for Title I funding in 2007 were not eligible in 2008; only Title I schools are subject to NCLB consequences.

Three schools were reconfigured, meaning that their AYP status was based on their districts’ status.

Thirty-five schools made AYP for two consecutive years, meaning that they are no longer subject to consequences.

AYP results are based on the Kentucky Core Content Tests' (KCCT) items in reading and mathematics. Schools are required to have specific percentages of students reaching proficiency or above in reading and mathematics each year and to meet other criteria in order to make AYP.
According to the data, 820 Kentucky public schools met 100 percent of their NCLB goals for AYP, while 337 schools did not. Of the 337 schools that did not make AYP, 212 made 80 percent or more of their goals. Statewide, 80 percent -- 20 -- of the 25 target goals were met.

The Kentucky Board of Education adopted the approach of establishing two, three-year plateaus of performance toward the goal of 100 percent proficiency by 2014. For the 2007-08 school year, reading goals rose an average of 9.3 points, and mathematics goals rose an average of 12 points.

ANNUAL MEASUREABLE OBJECTIVES IN READING AND MATHEMATICS
(percentage of students reaching proficiency or higher)

Schools and districts that are funded by the federal Title I program, which provides funds to ensure that disadvantaged children receive opportunities for high-quality educational services, will be subject to federal consequences if they do not make AYP in the same content area in any student group for two or more consecutive years. Student groups in Kentucky are minority students, low-income students, students with disabilities and students with limited-English proficiency. Statewide, 119 schools are subject to consequences outlined through NCLB:

• 32 Title I schools are in Tier 1 consequences.
• 24 Title I schools are in Tier 2 consequences.
• 19 Title I schools are in Tier 3 consequences.
• 9 Title I schools are in Tier 4 consequences.
• 32 Title I schools are in first-year Tier 5 consequences.
• 1 Title I school is in second-year Tier 5 consequences.
• 2 Title I schools are in third-year Tier 5 consequences.
  

Consequences for the tiers increase each consecutive year that a school does not make AYP:

Tier 1 (2 years of not making AYP)

• Notify parents
• Implement school choice
• Write or revise school plan

Tier 2 (3 years of not making AYP)

• Continue Tier 1 consequences, including:
• Offer supplemental services

Tier 3 (4 years of not making AYP)

• Continue Tiers 1 and 2 consequences, including:
• Implement corrective action

Tier 4 (5 years of not making AYP)

• Continue Tiers 1, 2 and 3 consequences, including:
• Write a plan for alternative governance

Tier 5 (6 years of not making AYP)

• Continue Tiers 1, 2, 3 and 4 consequences, including:
• Implement alternate governance consistent with state law

School districts also are held to the requirements of AYP under NCLB. Of Kentucky's 175 school districts in 2007-08, 103 – 58.9 percent -- met 100 percent of their target goals. Of the 72 districts that did not meet all of their goals, 65 met 80 percent or more of their goals. For NCLB requirements, school districts are gauged on the total student population. This can mean that, even if every school within a district makes AYP, the district may not because of the total size of student populations and their performance.

School districts also are subject to consequences, which can include rewriting district plans and receiving state assistance. The 2008 data for school districts indicate:

• 3 Title I districts are in Tier 1 consequences.
• 13 Title I districts are in Tier 2 consequences.
• 18 Title I districts are in Tier 3 first-year consequences.
• 16 Title I districts are in Tier 3 second-year consequences.
• 17 Title I districts are in Tier 3 third-year consequences.

In Kentucky, 809 of the 1,174 schools that participated in the state's 2007-08 assessment and accountability system were funded by Title I. With the exception of Anchorage Independent, all of the 175 school districts that participated in the 2007-08 assessments received some Title I funding.

NOTE: Because some schools are designated as "joint" schools for accountability purposes, the combined numbers of those making AYP and those not making AYP only total 1,157.

Signed into law in January 2002, NCLB requires states to provide information on schools' and districts' progress toward proficiency by 2014. Each state uses its own standards and assessments to make the annual determinations. Kentucky used data from the 2007 and 2008 administration of the KCCT to provide 2008 AYP information for its schools and districts.

Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) is the term used in NCLB to refer to the minimum improvement required of each school and district over the course of one year. It is measured at the school and district levels by:

• measuring growth in the percentage of students scoring proficient or above in reading and mathematics
• assessing improvement on the "other academic indicator"
• testing at least 95 percent of enrolled students and student populations of sufficient size

NCLB mandates that schools and districts be held accountable for the progress of student groups in reading and mathematics testing in grades 3 through 8 and at least once in each subject in high school and rates of participation in testing. Schools also are held accountable for other academic indicator -- for elementary and middle schools, that indicator is the CATS accountability classification; for high schools, the indicator is the graduation rate.

Each Kentucky school and district has a specific number of NCLB goals to meet in order to make AYP. Each grade level -- elementary, middle, high and combined -- has a unique Annual Measurable Objective (AMO) for reading and mathematics that schools and districts must reach in order to achieve AYP.

The number of goals varies depending on the sizes of student populations in each school and district. Student population data is reportable only if it meets a minimum group size of 10 students per grade where NCLB-required assessments are administered and 60 students in those grades combined, or the population makes up at least 15 percent of the total student enrollment in accountable grades. The maximum number of goals is 25. For school districts, the number of goals to meet ranges from 4 to 25, with only four of the state's most diverse school districts -- Boone County, Fayette County, Jefferson County and Warren County -- required to meet all 25 goals to make AYP. For individual schools, the number of goals to be met ranges from 4 to 22.

Detailed information on the AYP status of each Kentucky public school and district is available here.

SOURCE: KDE press release