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Schools show big gains on annual AYP scorecard
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Published: July 24, 2009
With 98 percent of their Adequate Yearly Progress goals achieved in 2008-09, Mooresville Graded School District officials say they remain focused on continuing those upward strides as they move toward a new school year.
Supt. Mark Edwards said Wednesday that meeting 53 of 54 target goals – part of the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act of 2001 – during the just-ended school year "really relates to our overall improvement in academic performance from our" end-of-course and end-of grade testing.
"I think it's an indication that we are really trying to live up to our motto of 'Every child, every day,'" he added.
In the previous school year, 2007-08, the MGSD met 75 of 86 goals – 87.21 percent – required for grade 3-12 academic achievement.
None of the district's seven schools met the necessary standards that year, in part due to the more difficult reading examinations and resulting lower scores.
This year, all but Mooresville High School met every AYP goal.
Meeting nearly all of their proficiency target goals, Edwards said, "is an impressive effort, and I think it's an attribute to our teachers, principals, students and parents."
"Proficiency target goals," according to the AYP, are comprised of ten student groups: the school as a whole, white, black, Hispanic, Native American, Asian, multiracial, economically disadvantaged students (those receiving free or reduced lunches), limited English proficient students (those whose primary language is not English) and students with disabilities.
Each group must have 40 students to be counted toward the AYP and each must be tested in both reading and mathematics. Schools must have a 95 percent participation rate for each end-of-grade assessment and proficiency in both.
By the 2013-2014 school year, NCLB will require all schools to meet 100 percent proficiency standards.
One hundred percent performance is required for a school to meet its AYP goal.
"If just one student group in one subject (like mathematics or reading) at a school does not meet the targeted proficiency goal, then the school does not make AYP for that year," according to the State Board of Education.
That was the case for the MGSD in the 2008-09 school year.
The one target goal missed by the district was at Mooresville High School where, said Edwards, the dropout rate failed to meet its target because of one student – a child enrolled in the district's exceptional children's program who was counted as a "dropout" because he or she moved into a fifth year of high school education.
"I think it's a common accepted knowledge that some students make progress at different rates," Edwards noted. "And if we have a student that for whatever reason needs another year to graduate, I don't think that that should be held against a school system's track record."
Some states, he said, have made efforts to have similar instances not act against their AYP or other target goals. Working with North Carolina's Department of Instruction, he added, is crucial to make those changes to this state as well.
But being one goal shy of perfection, said Edwards, "is a clear indication that the teachers in MGSD are doing a fantastic job," especially the district's department and grade level chairs.
Calling this year's AYP results – which will be finalized when approved by the State Board in August – something to be proud of through the MGSD, Edwards said it will be a "daunting challenge" to maintain and surpass in the years to come.
"Our goal for next year will be to have a 90 percent pass rate on every EOC and every EOG and for every school to receive a school of excellence," Edwards said, referring to the recently released EOC and EOG scores, which helped compile the AYP results.
He added, "That's reachable, that's doable."
Striving toward improvement also remains a goal for Iredell-Statesville Schools as Supt. Terry Holliday noted.
"We can't be satisfied until 100 percent of our children are successful," Holliday said in a statement. "We're going to keep digging. We're going to continue to improve."
Twenty-seven of the district's 34 schools (79 percent) made AYP for the 2008-09 school year, a 30 percent increase from 2007-08.
Although the district has made improvements, there's more work to be done, said Holliday.
I-SS schools that didn't make AYP this time around include Celeste Henkel Elementary, N.B. Mills Elementary, North Iredell High, Statesville High, South Iredell High, Third Creek Elementary and Troutman Elementary.
The majority of schools that did not make AYP for 2008-09 missed it by one subgroup, with the exception of Statesville High and South Iredell High, both of which missed two subgroups.
Mooresville charter school Pine Lake Preparatory in Mooresville did not make AYP. The school met 11 of 15 target goals.
Reporter Chyna Broadnax contributed to this article.
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