(Posted on 10/15/2008)

The South Carolina Department of Education today released 2008 results under the federal No Child Left Behind Act for high schools, districts and the state as a whole.  High school ratings had been delayed two weeks beyond the release of ratings for elementary and middle schools due to computational errors.

Among Horry County Schools’ nine high schools, none met all of their AYP goals. Statewide, only 25 percent of high schools made AYP. All district high schools met AYP objectives for “all” students and subgroups of students on free and reduced lunch in the areas of English language arts and mathematics. Four of nine high schools met their objective for graduation rate. The most frequently missed objectives were the subgroups of African American students and those with disabilities and limited abilities to speak English.

While Horry County Schools did not make AYP as a district, it met 81 percent, or 30  of its 37 AYP objectives. The district fell short in meeting AYP objectives in English language arts among the subgroups of African American and Hispanic students as well as those with disabilities and with limited abilities to speak English. In the area of mathematics, HCS did not meet AYP objectives among the subgroups of African American students and those with disabilities and limited abilities to speak English. None of the state’s 85 school districts made AYP, the same as last year. 

Earlier this month, AYP ratings were released for the district’s 34 elementary and middle schools. Among these, only three elementary schools made AYP. Eight schools missed only one objective, and seven others missed only two objectives. All elementary schools met objectives for English language arts among “all” students and students on free or reduced lunch. Twenty one of 24 elementary schools met objectives for math for “all” students, while 19 of 24 schools met math objectives among students receiving free or reduced lunch.

Among the district’s 10 middle schools, seven met English language arts objectives for “all” students. All middle schools met objectives in math for “all” students. Across the district, the objectives most frequently missed were those among disabled students, who are required to take grade level tests.

The three schools that made AYP are Seaside Elementary School, Midland Elementary School and Socastee Elementary School.

NCLB is an “all-or-nothing” rating system in which schools must make all of their Adequate Yearly Progress targets or face sanctions.  HCS high schools have between 13 and 21 AYP targets, and falling short on even one means that a school does not meet AYP.

South Carolina’s AYP targets, like those of other states, are rising quickly in order to meet NCLB’s requirement that all students – including those who come from low-income families, speak limited English, or have learning disabilities – score “proficient” on state math and English Language Arts tests by 2014.  Under NCLB, each state gets to set its own definition for proficiency.

Each state sets its own definition for academic proficiency under NCLB, and a number of independent national research studies have shown that South Carolina’s definition is far more rigorous than other states.  The studies indicate that students who score Proficient in many states would score at Basic or Below Basic levels in South Carolina.

Federal sanctions are being felt sooner – and more severely – in states like South Carolina that have set high standards for what it means to be academically proficient.  The Palmetto State is mentioned often in increasingly intense national debates about the need for “national academic standards” and national testing.   

Background information on NCLB

NCLB requires schools and districts to break out their performance data into a number of student "subcategories" that include ethnicity, special education, poverty and limited ability with English.  The more demographic categories a school has, the more goals it must meet. 

Most South Carolina schools have either 17 or 21 of these AYP targets, although some have as many as 37.  If even one subcategory of students doesn't meet its goal for that year, or if more than five percent of those students weren't tested, the school does not meet AYP for that year. Elementary and middle schools can also miss AYP if their overall attendance rate is lower than 94 percent.  High schools miss if graduation rates decline from the previous year.

For "Title I schools" – those that receive federal Title I funds because they have a significant number of students from economically disadvantaged families – not meeting AYP carries considerable consequences.  When a Title I school misses the same subject area performance target for two years consecutively, the school is designated in "Needs Improvement" status. 

No Child Left Behind relies on student performance data on the Palmetto Achievement Challenge Test, the High School Assessment Program, and high school graduation rates.

A complete listing of elementary and middle school AYP ratings is available through www.horrycountyschools.net.

_______________________________________________________

Visit the State Department of Education to see individual school AYP ratings.