Seven Elementary Schools Earn ‘Distinguished’ Honor

Seven Paulding County elementary schools were among the 824 schools statewide to be given the “Title I Distinguished” honor Thursday from the Georgia Department of Education. The complete list of honored schools is attached to this article.

Title I schools have significant populations of students who are classified as economically disadvantaged. The schools receive federal money to assist with the education of their students.

Title I schools earn the “Distinguished” label by achieving Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) at least three years in a row. The Paulding schools that met the criteria were , , , , , and Union elementaries.

is a measure that shows how schools are meeting goals prescribed by the federal No Child Left Behind Act. In addition to academic achievement and test participation benchmarks, schools under NCLB must also meet or surpass goals in a third area known as a “second indicator.” All students at a school, as well as any qualifying subgroup of students, must meet goals in all three categories in order for the school to make AYP.

Those schools making AYP at least three consecutive years are awarded a certificate, while those making AYP 10 or more years receive a monetary award, paid for out of federal funds. Allgood Elementary was the only local school to meet the latter requirement, with its students making AYP 11 consecutive years, putting the school in the Distinguished category for nine straight years. The school will receive $2,295 for its achievement.

Behind Allgood in the AYP streak category were Northside and Union, which have been Distinguished for seven straight years due to making AYP for nine consecutive years. Poole Elementary has made AYP eight straight times, putting it in the Distinguished category for six years.

Dallas, Hiram and Panter elementaries are on the Distinguished list for the first time after making AYP for the third straight year. Dallas and Panter had fallen short of AYP based on , but ultimately achieved the academic benchmarks in .

Making AYP has become tougher in recent years due to the ramping up of academic goals. Schools across the state are being required to increase their academic results as goals move closer to a required 100-percent proficiency for all students by 2014.