County schools reports 2009-10 score results
By Phyllis Moore
Published in News on July 22, 2010 1:46 PM
Wayne County Public Schools dropped slightly in its Adequate Yearly Progress, or AYP, scores for 2009-2010, according to preliminary results released Wednesday by the N.C. Department of Public Instruction.
The district met 95.6 percent of its total AYP target goals, or 452 out of 473, with no schools identified for "School Improvement," officials said.
Out of 31 schools in the county, 20 made AYP, with nine missing the distinction by only one or two goals.
Last year, the district met 98.2 percent of its total target goals -- 28 out of 32 schools -- which was a 10 percent increase from 2008.
The district had its highest rankings ever in 2008, with 30 of the 33 schools making AYP.
Achieving AYP status is an absolute -- schools must meet 100 percent of their target goals to be categorized as such. There are 10 subgroup areas, including the school as a whole, white, black, Hispanic, Native American, Asian, multiracial, economically disadvantaged students, limited English proficient and students with disabilities.
Each subgroup must contain at least 40 students. To make AYP, each subgroup in the tested grades must meet proficiency targets in reading/language arts and math. Also factored in are attendance and graduation rates.
The number of subgroups determines the number of target goals at each school.
"For those who do not understand AYP, it is worth noting that one unsuccessful student identified in just one subgroup can cause an entire school to not make AYP," said Dr. Craig McFadden, assistant superintendent for accountability and student services. "It is also possible for a school to increase in overall achievement, or not maintain the achievement level from the previous year, and not meet all of its AYP target goals."
According to the preliminary numbers, schools not making AYP included Charles B. Aycock High, Eastern Wayne Middle, Fremont STARS Elemen-tary, Goldsboro High, Greenwood Middle, Mount Olive Middle, Norwayne Middle, Rosewood Elemen-tary, School Street Elementary, Wayne Mid-dle/High Academy and Wayne School of Engineer-ing.
Goldsboro High School was lowest on the list, with 76.9 percent, after making 10 of the 13 target goals. Mount Olive Middle was next, with 82.8 percent for making 24 of its 29 target goal.
The latest results of Adequate Yearly Progress, part of the federal No Child Left Behind requirements, are subject to change and will not become official until the State Board of Education approves them on Aug. 5.
This year, one change was introduced that factored into preliminary reporting results. Beginning with the 2009-2010 accountability cycle, the retest policy for end-of-course tests for high school students was implemented. The higher of the two scores would be used in calculating AYP results in Algebra I, English I and biology classes. As such, results would not be directly comparable to those from the previous year.
Schools superintendent Dr. Steven Taylor said the district is working hard to keep pace with state and federal standards, which are growing more rigorous each year.
He praised the collaborative efforts which go beyond school personnel to include community volunteers, mentors, business partners, business and community leaders and elected officials invested in the educational system in Wayne County. He also credited the Board of Education with being supportive of programs and initiatives that have been beneficial to the district.
"We are also appreciative of the Wayne County Board of Commissioners for its support of early education," he said. "For the past three years, the board of commissioners has funded summer school for grades K-2 as well as funded the district's second Wee Wings mobile pre-K bus."
"Our schools have worked very hard to help increase student achievement and their efforts are reflected in the high number of schools that have achieved AYP in recent years," McFadden said. "Although the district did not have as many schools make AYP as it did last year, this year's report does reflect that the district had its second best year ever, despite having 66 more AYP target goals than just two years ago."