Adequate Yearly Progress

How is it determined whether or not a school makes Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP)?

AYP measures the yearly progress toward achieving grade level performance for each student group in reading and mathematics. Schools must test at least 95 percent of students in each group and each group must meet the targeted proficiency goal in reading and mathematics in order to make AYP. Student groups are: 1) the School as a Whole; 2) White; 3) Black; 4) Hispanic; 5) Native American; 6) Asian; 7) Multiracial; 8) Economically Disadvantaged Students; 9) Limited English Proficient Students; and 10) Students With Disabilities. If just one student group in one subject at a school does not meet the targeted proficiency goal with a confidence interval applied to account for sampling error, then the school does not make AYP for that year.

Can a school make Adequate Yearly Progress if a student group or groups fail to reach their target goal?

If a school meets "safe harbor" criteria for each student group that does not make "regular" AYP, the school still makes AYP. "Safe harbor" is a safety net for schools to use when a student group or groups fail to meet target goals. Because tests and statistical calculations are imperfect measures, "safe harbor" is one of the safeguards in place to help ensure that schools are not unfairly labeled. If a student group meets the 95 percent participation rate, but does not meet a target goal for a subject area, the group can meet it with "safe harbor" if: 1) The group has reduced the percent of students not proficient by 10 percent from the preceding year for the subject area; and 2) The group shows progress on the other academic indicator.

What is the other academic indicator?

In North Carolina, the other academic indicator is the attendance rate or the graduation rate of a school. For schools that have both elementary/middle grades and high school grades, the other academic indicator is the graduation rate if the school has 12th grade and graduates seniors and attendance rate if the school does not. Progress is considered to be at least a .1 percentage point increase up to the 90 percent threshold for attendance and graduation rates. Any fluctuations above 90 percent meet the requirement for progress.

If a school makes 18 of its 19 target goals, is the school still not considered to have made Adequate Yearly Progress?

The school needs to meet 19 of its 19 target goals in order to make AYP. Invoking "safe harbor" is one safety net schools can use. In addition, beginning with the 2003-04 data, a 95 percent confidence interval is used around the percentages of students scoring proficient in reading and/or mathematics to determine whether target goals for AYP are met.

The NC School Report Card includes more than this "all or nothing" AYP information by providing numbers and percentages of targets each school has met. It is available at http://www.ncreportcards.org/src/.

How were the starting points and target goals determined?

North Carolina set incremental reading and mathematics target goals by averaging student test data ranging from 1998 to 2002 and determining what it would take to get to 100 percent proficiency by 2013-14 as required by NCLB. The 2002-03 school year was the first year for AYP accountability under NCLB. Increases in the percentages of students expected to meet or exceed grade-level proficiency in reading and mathematics are set for 2004-05, 2007-08, 2010-11, and 2013-14.

Starting Points and Intermediate Goals for AYP January 30, 2003

Do alternative schools have the same criteria for making Adequate Yearly Progress?

Yes. According to the U.S. Department of Education, alternative schools must be evaluated on AYP using the same criteria as traditional public schools. However, alternative schools are evaluated for the growth component of the ABCs program using the alternative schools model.

Are school districts accountable for AYP and are they sanctioned for not meeting proficiency standards?

School districts are held to the same reading and mathematics proficiency goals for student groups. School-based AYP results cannot be combined to calculate district AYP results. In some cases, a student group is under 40 at the school level, but at 40 or above at the district level. In other cases, a student may not have been at a particular school for 140 days (full academic year), but may have been in the district for 140 days. This means that some students' scores are part of AYP calculations at the district level, but not at the school level. Thus, it is possible for a district to not make AYP, even though its individual schools do. Districts in Title I District Improvement must take certain measures, such as setting aside 10 percent of their Title I allotment for professional development purposes.

What happens to Title I schools that do not make Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP)?

Title I schools not making AYP in the same subject (reading or mathematics) for two years in a row are identified for Title I School Improvement. In the first and subsequent years of Title I School Improvement, schools must provide students with public school choice. In the second and subsequent years of Title I School Improvement, schools must offer tutoring services to economically disadvantaged students who choose not to transfer. In the third year of Title I School Improvement, schools must take corrective actions, such as replacing school staff, implementing a new curriculum, or changing the school's internal organization structure. In the fourth year of Title I School Improvement, schools must plan for restructuring. Schools in the fifth year of Title I School Improvement must implement the restructuring plan.

Title I School Improvement Timetable

NOTES: If a Title I School Improvement school makes AYP two consecutive years, it exits Title I School Improvement and is no longer subject to sanctions. Students who had exercised public school choice are allowed to stay at the school they transferred to, but Title I is no longer responsible for transportation.

If a school makes AYP in any one year after entering Title I School Improvement, it does not move to the next level of sanctions. But then if the same school does not make AYP the year after it made AYP, it moves to the next level of sanctions.