Schools

Update: Adequate Yearly Progress Results Mixed Bag for Paulding Schools

(Updated 8 p.m.) South Paulding Middle will come off "Needs Improvement" status, but six schools will remain under or enter NI status based on initial AYP results.

(Updated 8 p.m.)

The Georgia Department of Education released Thursday its initial Adequate Yearly Progress report, which shows how schools are meeting goals prescribed by the federal No Child Left Behind Act.

The results as reported by the state DOE showed that within the , 16 elementary and four middle schools were able to meet test participation and academic achievement goals, while four of its elementary, four middle and all five high schools fell short of required benchmarks.

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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.

The schools making Adequate Yearly Progress were:

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  • Allgood Elementary
  • Burnt Hickory Elementary
  • C.A. Roberts Elementary
  • Dugan Elementary
  • Hiram Elementary
  • Hutchens Elementary
  • McGarity Elementary
  • Nebo Elementary
  • New Georgia Elementary
  • Northside Elementary
  • P.B. Ritch Elementary
  • Poole Elementary
  • Ragsdale Elementary
  • Russom Elementary
  • Shelton Elementary
  • Union Elementary
  • Dobbins Middle
  • Herschel Jones Middle
  • Moses Middle
  • South Paulding Middle

South Paulding Middle received more good news in Thursday’s results, as its making of AYP took it off “Needs Improvement” status. Schools that do not make AYP for two consecutive years in the same subject are placed in NI status and face increasing consequences. South Paulding was one of 17 in the state to come off NI.

But the same set of results for the district put or kept six schools in NI status.

Schools not making Adequate Yearly Progress in the initial report and the factors that went into the determination were:

  • Abney Elementary: The school fell short in two of 12 academic performance categories. The economically disadvantaged subgroup failed to meet benchmarks on the math portion of the Criterion-Referenced Competency Tests (CRCT), while the Students With Disability (SWD) subgroup’s pass rate on the CRCT reading/English Language Arts (ELA) test was not high enough.
  • Baggett Elementary: The SWD subgroup fell short of pass rate goals on the CRCT reading/English Language Arts exam.
  • Dallas Elementary: Overall, students did not meet the mark on the CRCT math exam; the black and economically disadvantaged subgroups also came up short on the test.
  • Panter Elementary: The CRCT math exam proved troublesome for the school, as black students and the economically disadvantaged subgroup did meet performance benchmarks; when taken as a whole, the entire group of test-takers also did not meet or surpass test goals.
  • Austin Middle: The district will have to offer Austin Middle parents public school choice under Needs Improvement Year One status after the school saw its SWD student subgroup fall short of goals in CRCT reading/ELA. The school also had 16.9 percent of its SWD students absent for more than 15 days—just over the 15-percent limit.
  • East Paulding Middle: Both sections of the CRCT saw certain subgroups fall short of needed pass rates. The school saw its black, economically disadvantaged and SWD subgroups notch pass rates on the math exam below goals, while the SWD subgroup also came up short on the reading/ELA exam. East Paulding parents will be offered either public school choice or supplemental education services (tutoring) for their children as the school enters NI Year One status.
  • McClure Middle: Keeping the school from making AYP was the SWD subgroup’s pass rate on the CRCT math exam.
  • Scoggins Middle: Three subgroups—white, black and economically disadvantaged students—fell short of goals on the CRCT math exam, while the school also saw the group of test-takers in their entirety fail to meet the required pass rate. The results put the school in NI Year One status, requiring the offer of either public school choice or supplemental education services in the form of tutoring.
  • East Paulding High: A graduation rate of 79.9 percent—under the required 85 percent—puts the school in NI Year Two, which will require the offering of both public school choice and supplemental education services (tutoring). High schools last year were required to meet or surpass an 80-percent graduation rate.
  • Hiram High: The graduation rate of 76.3 percent was short of the required 85 percent or higher rate.
  • North Paulding High: Black students’ pass rate on the Georgia High School Graduation Test’s math exam kept the school from making AYP.
  • Paulding County High: The school recorded a graduation rate of 62.4 percent—under the required 85 percent. The results will put the school in NI Year Four, which will require corrective action and the offering of both public school choice and supplemental education services (tutoring).
  • South Paulding High: Overall, the school notched a graduation rate of 79.7 percent, short of the goal of 85 percent. The school also did not have enough economically disadvantaged students pass the GHSGT’s ELA exam. The results put the school in NI Year One status, which will require it to offer either public school choice or supplemental education services (tutoring).

State education officials said fewer schools made AYP this year due to academic goals being raised in all categories—Reading/ELA CRCT Grades 3-8, Math CRCT Grades 3-8, the ELA and math portions of the GHSGT and the graduation rate.

The GDOE will release this fall the final AYP report, which will include summer retest scores, summer graduates and appeals. Those factors could help some schools ultimately make AYP.

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


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