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Most ASD schools get positive NCLB Adequate Yearly Progress rating

August 4, 2004

Contact: Carol Comeau
Superintendent, ASD
Phone: 907-742-4312
Fax: 907-742-4318
E-mail: comeau_carol@asdk12.org

Most ASD schools get positive NCLB Adequate Yearly Progress rating

Fifty-eight percent of Anchorage School District schools made Adequate Yearly Progress this year as defined by state and federal education regulations, compared to 40 percent last year, according to data released today by the school district and the Alaska Department of Education and Early Development.

"I am very pleased that most of our schools met the AYP criteria this year," said Superintendent Carol Comeau. "Credit goes to our dedicated teachers, principals and staff who strive every day to improve instruction, and to our hard working students."

Of ASD's 90 schools and programs, 52 made AYP this year. Last year 92 schools received an AYP rating, with 37 schools passing. This year several small, specialized programs were combined under one AYP designation, two new charter schools were added, and two schools formerly combined with other programs were given their own AYP designations.

AYP is an accountability system within the federal education act, No Child Left Behind. Under No Child Left Behind, all schools must show annual progress toward achieving academic proficiency for 100 percent of their students by 2014. Proficiency means that a student is at or above grade level in the particular subject area. The Alaska Department of Education and Early Development, in compliance with NCLB regulations, established annual proficiency rates schools must achieve to reach the goal.

AYP measures students' academic performance in language arts and math, level of participation on mandated tests, and attendance and graduation rates against a set of standards. A school is judged not only by the performance of its students as a whole, but in each of nine categories of students within the school. In all there are 31 standards a school must pass in order to make AYP.

"Adequate Yearly Progress is a tough standard to achieve, but it is a valuable tool educators can use to improve instruction and ensure that all groups of students, regardless of ethnicity or socio-economic background, are being served well by our schools," said Comeau. "These results show that the majority of our students are proficient, but also show that we still need to do better for our students who are impacted by poverty and special education needs, and those who are learning English."

Academic gains and challenges are not always reflected by overall AYP rating

As valuable as AYP measures are as a tool for improving instruction, it isn't a perfect system, according to Comeau.

"By itself, a yes or no AYP rating doesn't show a complete picture of the academic progress a school might be making or the challenges it still must address," said Comeau. "AYP is an important tool for educators and parents, but no one should rely on it as the only measurement of a school's performance. All of us need to remember that there are many ways to gauge a school's success in educating our students."

As an example, Comeau points to William Tyson Elementary School, which has not made AYP for two years due to missing some of the 31 AYP categories and standards. However, when looking deeper into the data, Tyson has shown significant gains in its sixth-grade students' proficiency levels in reading, writing and math in each of the last three years. In 2002, 32 percent of Tyson sixth-graders were proficient in reading. This year, 62 percent are proficient. Writing proficiency climbed from 48 percent to 69 percent. Math proficiency, at 30 percent proficiency in 2002, has more than doubled, soaring to 74 percent this year.

William Tyson Elementary ~ 6th-Grade Academic Proficienc

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