Schools make Adequate Yearly Progress

Special needs test scores improve over last year

By Lee Revis

Editor, Valdez Star

 

Valdez City School District received its “Report Card” from Alaska Department of Education and Early Development last week, and the news is good for both students and staff.

 

“We actually made Adequate Yearly Progress for the `06-`07 school year,” said Tracy Pressley, the district’s test coordinator.

 

Schools, and their districts, must make Adequate Yearly Progress – a benchmark of meeting test score goals for categories of students and subjects - each year, under the federal mandates of the No Child Left Behind Act.

 

Last year, all three schools in Valdez made AYP, but the district as a whole did not due to the way statistical data is figured. Students categorized as having “special needs” did not pass testing in either math or language arts in high enough numbers when all three schools were combined to meet the benchmark of passing.

 

Under the NCLB, students are grouped under 10 categories. These include race, whether they are poor or have disabilities. Students can be listed in more than one category. Students with disabilities are only counted as group for achievement if there are 40 or more students.

 

This year, all categories of students passed the targets for testing, though special needs students passed under what is known as Safe Harbor.

 

“We made Safe Harbor with the students with disabilities,” said Pressley.

 

Safe Harbor is a clause in NCLB which passes a category of students if they fall below the target for passing, but as a whole they increase test scores significantly.

 

“Our kids are making progress,” said Pressley.

 

So how are other categories of students doing on standardized testing, passing tests for graduation and other benchmarks schools and students must meet?

 

By the report card, very well.

 

Valdez High School chalked up an 81 percent graduation rate and exceeded proficiency rates for all grades as a whole against the statewide average.

 

“I think we showed growth in all of our students last year,” said Pressley.

 

Pressley credits teachers, students and parents for the improvements.

 

Students, she said, are getting more involved with their scores.

 

“I think that’s key, that our students are asking about test scores,” said Pressley.

 

She said teachers are also using previous test scores of students to help identify strengths and weaknesses of student to help better prepare the in future testing.

 

“It’s going to take time,” she said.

 

No Child Left Behind requires that schools make Adequate Yearly Progress in student achievement. The standards for a school to make AYP increase each year. The eventual goal is to achieve 100 percent proficiency in math, reading and writing for all students with a 100 percent graduation rate for high school students.

 

The Report Card for Valdez City Schools is available online at www.valdezcityschools.org