Middle schools miss AYP targets

By Annie McCallum

Published: September 3, 2008

Middle school math tripped up Amherst and Nelson County school divisions, causing both systems to not meet increasing standards set by the federal No Child Left Behind Act.

- What is No Child Left Behind?
No Child Left Behind, or NCLB, is a piece of federal legislation that became law in 2002. It is aimed at increasing the accountability in public schools and school divisions across the country. Each year public school divisions and schools receiving Title I funds must make Adequate Yearly Progress.

- What is Adequate Yearly Progress?
Adequate Yearly Progress or AYP is a measure of achievement under NCLB. Each year schools and school divisions must meet 29 benchmarks to make AYP. Many have called the achievement measure a “moving target” because pass rates increase by 4 percentage points each year with the goal of 100 percent proficiency by 2014.
Schools that do not make AYP for two consecutive years face sanctions, which can include allowing students to attend another school or offering supplemental services such as tutoring.

- What about state accreditation?
AYP is not the same as state accreditation, even though AYP is calculated using Standards of Learning testing data. State accreditation is based on testing students in various subjects with specific pass rates in each subject. Accreditation results are expected in September.

In Amherst County, eight of 10 schools did make AYP. The two middle schools, Monelison and Amherst, did not make Adequate Yearly Progress, or AYP.

No Child Left Behind, which requires students be tested annually in reading and math, requires certain pass rates for each, which increase each year. Public schools and school divisions must meet pass rates on 29 benchmarks to achieve the accountability measure AYP.

Julie Rogers, Amherst assistant superintendent for curriculum, instruction and assessment, discussed results at last week’s school board meeting.

“Middle schools did not make AYP because of math. That is statewide issue,” Rogers said.

Officials said the county is already responding to the difficulty in meeting the standards. Schools have Standards of Learning resource coaches in place, math and reading coaches in middle schools, math professional development for teachers, and earlier access to funding for remediation.

“We’re about making progress and meeting those benchmarks,” Superintendent Brian Ratliff said. “There will be no excuses from Amherst County. We will meet our subgroups.” In Nelson County,  Superintendent Roger Collins said, “We think this data just shows one piece of the academic puzzle.

“We are certainly proud of the education we provide students in Nelson,” he said. “We certainly think this data shows us we continue to struggle in the area of mathematics, particularly in middle school.”

This year is the first year Nelson, as a division, did not make AYP. Two of the county’s four schools did not meet the mark, Tye River Elementary and Nelson Middle schools.

Sixth- and seventh-grade math has historically been a trouble spot for Virginia students. The tests are still relatively new. While Standards of Learning tests were initiated in 1997, math tests in grades six and seven were added in 2006.

Collins said his division will allow more time for math.

“We have a math plan currently in place that is supported by our instructional team so we’re trying to drill down to the basics, the basic concepts of math, and allow students to apply those concepts in real world situations,” he said.

McCallum covers education for The New Era-Progress and The News & Advance. Email her at .