Adequate
yearly progress (AYP) is a measure of how a school, school system
or state is doing in achieving the goals set by the No Child Left
Behind act.
HOW
AYP IS MEASURED
In
Fulton County, AYP is measured in six areas:
Reading/language
arts (grades 3-8 and 11) - a state-determined percentage of
students must meet or exceed expectations on the appropriate
state test
Mathematics
(grades 3-8 and 11) - a state-determined percentage of students
must meet or exceed expectations on the appropriate state test
Test
participation (grades 3-8 and 11) - at least 95% of enrolled
students must take the tests
Attendance
(grades 3-5) - less than 15% of enrolled students are absent
more than 15 days in a school year
Middle
grades writing assessment (grades 6-8)
Graduation
rate (grades 9-12) - at least 60% of students or a higher percentage
of students than the year before graduate
Each
of the six areas listed above is measured for all students and
for the following nine subgroups of students. A subgroup
must have at least 40 members to be counted.
•
American Indian/Alaskan Native
•
Asian/Pacific Islander
•
Black
•
Hispanic
•
Multiracial
•
White
•
Special education
•
Limited English proficient (LEP)
•
Free or reduced lunch (low income)
If
all students as a whole or any one of the nine subgroups do not
meet one or more of the six criteria, the entire school or school
system does not make AYP for that year.
CONSEQUENCES
OF NOT ACHIEVING AYP
There
are clear consequences and expectations in NCLB for a school that
does not achieve AYP for two or more years in a row.
Consecutive
Years Not Achieving AYP
Referred
to as . . .
Action
Required
1
year
Not
making AYP
No
action required, but schools and
school
systems can use the information
to
identify areas that need attention and make appropriate changes.
2
years
Needs
Improvement, Year 1
Public
School Choice
•
Public School Choice:
Parents
have
the option to transfer their child to
a
higher performing public school in the school system.
Parents are notified of
this
option. Priority for transportation is given to the
lowest-achieving, low-income students in that school.
•
School Improvement Plan:
Schools
and school systems identify the specific areas that need improvement
and work
with
parents, teachers and outside
experts
to develop a plan to raise
student
achievement.
•
Support:
The school receives
technical
assistance from the school
system
to help it improve.
3
years
Needs
Improvement, Year 2
Supplemental
Services
•
Supplemental Services:
Parents
of
students in Title I schools can use their child's share of
Title I funds to pay for tutoring and other supplemental
educational
services from their school
or
from a state-approved outside group.
•
Public School Choice:
Continues
from
Year 1.
•
School Improvement Plan:
Continues
from Year 1.
•
Support:
Continues from Year 1.
4
years
Needs
Improvement, Year 3
Corrective
Action
•
Identified for Corrective
Action:
School must change its staffing or make other fundamental
changes such as implementing new curriculum, appointing
an
outside expert to advise the school, or extending the school
year or school day.
•
Supplemental Services:
Continues
from Year 2.
•
Public School Choice:
Continues
from
Years 1 and 2.
•
School Improvement Plan:
Continues
from Years 1 and 2.
•
Support:
Continues from Years 1
and
2
.
5
years
Needs
Improvement, Year 4
Restructuring
•
Identified for Restructuring:
School
must develop (but not yet implement) an "alternate governance"
plan that may
include
converting it to a charter school, replacing all or most of
the staff, turning it over to a private management company
or
having the state take over the school.
•
Supplemental Services:
Continues
from Years 2 and 3.
•
Public School Choice:
Continues
from
Years 1, 2 and 3.
•
School Improvement Plan:
Continues
from Years 1, 2 and 3.
•
Support:
Continues from Years 1, 2
and
3.
Based
on state reports, 88% of Fulton schools made AYP in 2003-04, including
all elementary schools and 10 schools that did not make AYP the
year before. Fulton County as a whole did not achieve AYP.
The number of Fulton schools in each category described
above is as follows:
Achieved
AYP for 2 or more consecutive years 57
Achieved
AYP for 1 year 13
Did
not achieve AYP for 1 year
0
Needs
Improvement, Year 1, School Choice 0
Needs
Improvement, Year 2, Supplemental Services 2
Needs
Improvement, Year 3/Corrective Action 3
Needs
Improvement, Year 4/Restructuring 1
SCHOOL
CHOICE OPTION
There
are six schools offering choice, the student transfer option,
for 2004-05. Those six schools, and the schools the students have
the option to attend, are as follows:
Schools
Offering Choice Option
(Sending
Schools)
Schools
Students Can Choose to Attend
(Receiving
Schools)
Bear
Creek Middle School
Autrey
Mill Middle School
Elkins
Pointe Middle School
Northwestern
Middle School
Sandtown
Middle School
Taylor
Road Middle School
Camp
Creek Middle School
Autrey
Mill Middle School
Elkins
Pointe Middle School
Northwestern
Middle School
Sandtown
Middle School
Taylor
Road Middle School
McNair
Middle School
Autrey
Mill Middle School
Elkins
Pointe Middle School
Northwestern
Middle School
Sandtown
Middle School
Taylor
Road Middle School
Riverwood
High School
Alpharetta
High School
Paul
D. West Middle School
Elkins
Pointe Middle School
Hopewell
Middle School
Sandtown
Middle School
Woodland
Middle School
Northwestern
Middle School
Elkins
Pointe Middle School
Hopewell
Middle School
Sandtown
Middle School
The
receiving schools were identified based on two factors:
Whether
the school is in Needs Improvement status this year (in accordance
with the law, students must not be transferred to a school in
Needs Improvement status)
Whether
there was space available based on the school's instructional
capacity compared with the projected enrollment for 2005-06.
Parents
of students in the six schools received written notification about
the choice transfer option, along with a form on which they could
indicate their priorities for the school they would like their
child to attend. In accordance with the federal law, priority
for transfers was given to low-performing, low-income students.
These students were identified based on free-and-reduced-price
lunch records and scores from the Georgia Criterion Referenced
Competency Tests (CRCT) in reading/language arts and math.
