SHELBY COUNTY, ALABAMA: School officials give reaction to AYP report

From the Shelby County Board of Education office.....

Shelby County school system leaders are confident that the district-wide Continuous School Improvement (CSI) process implemented since 2007 will provide the necessary support to schools that did not make Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) on state assessments this year. However, they are concerned that schools with larger and more diverse student populations will find it increasingly challenging to make AYP as the bar continues to be raised in order to meet the federal No Child Left Behind (NCLB) mandate that all students achieve 100 percent proficiency by the year 2014.

This year, the Shelby County School District and five schools did not make Adequate Yearly Progress. The school district did not make AYP in reading proficiency in the Special Education subgroup for grade spans 3-8 and in Special Education, Hispanic, Limited English Proficient and Free/Reduced subgroups for grade spans 9-12. The five schools that did not make AYP were Thompson High School and Calera Middle School (reading and math proficiency for the Special Education subgroup), Thompson Intermediate School (reading proficiency for the Special Education subgroup), Creek View Elementary (math proficiency for the Black and Free/Reduced Lunch subgroups), and the Linda Nolen Learning Center (reading and math proficiency for All Students and Special Education subgroups and graduation rate).

“We have high expectations for all children and our goal is to improve their capacity to learn, but we also must recognize that some of our students have more challenges than others,” said Superintendent Randy Fuller. “Through our Continuous School Improvement process, we are increasing the quality of education for all students and changing their lives by developing specific strategies to meet their individual needs. Over the next four years the AYP requirements in reading and math will be increased to reach the ultimate goal of 100 percent proficiency by the year 2014. That is going to be challenging for all schools and school districts.”

In order to make AYP under the guidelines of NCLB, schools must meet state goals in all subgroups in reading proficiency and participation, math proficiency and participation, and additional academic indicators. Those additional academic indicators are attendance rate for elementary, intermediate and middle schools, and graduation rates for high schools. Schools and districts are only required to report AYP status for subgroups that have 40 or more students.

Larger, more diverse schools and districts such as Shelby County will find it increasingly more difficult to achieve AYP status because they are held accountable for more subgroups. Smaller, less diverse schools and districts with less than 40 students in a subgroup do not have as many AYP goals to meet. For example, one subgroup creates four goals that have to be met – reading proficiency, reading participation, math proficiency and math participation.

According to School Improvement Specialist, Dr. Elisabeth Davis, these federal requirements present an additional challenge for schools with large diverse student populations. For example, one school might have 21 goals to meet due to their various subgroups, while another school may only have 10 goals to meet.

The Two Percent (2%) Flexibility Option, which was a guideline that allowed schools and systems to make AYP using a complex mathematical adjustment of the Special Education subgroup’s proficiency scores, was removed for this year’s AYP status. The Two Percent (2%) Flexibility Option was one of four provisions that the State Department applied to the calculation of AYP status.

The district has already implemented support for local schools through CSI. That support includes CSI Professional Development three times a year for local school leadership teams, monthly school walkthroughs by the district’s Instructional Staff to monitor continuous improvement strategies, and evidence box documentation that supports the implementation of their continuous improvement plan. District support that addresses the area of Special Education specifically include Program Area Specialists assigned to every school, specialized reading and math programs, and additional resources and support implemented with American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) funds.

The Linda Nolen Learning Center, which serves students with significant special needs, moves into School Improvement Status, Year 3. Shelby County has developed an individualized plan to assist the Linda Nolen Learning Center’s school improvement efforts. The other four schools that did not make AYP will not enter School Improvement Status because they made AYP last year. (Reminder: it takes two years of not making AYP to enter School Improvement Status.) There are no schools in Shelby County that will have to offer School Choice.

District leaders still have reason to celebrate as improvement was made in many areas, including the highest graduation rates the district has ever seen. Calera High School had the highest graduation rate at 97.75 percent. Shelby County’s middle school students made significant increases in math proficiency (sixth grade math scores increased by two percent, seventh grade by four percent, and eighth grade by six percent). A structured math program that has been implemented in numerous elementary schools resulted in increased scores for those students. Because of the program’s success, four additional schools were trained this summer.

“The Shelby County School District is proud of the efforts of our faculty and staff,” Fuller said. “We remain committed to meeting the individual needs of all our students.”