(posted on January 22, 2010)

EDITOR’S NOTE:
The AYP Report may be viewed at the State Department of Education’s web site at http://ed.sc.gov/agency/Accountability/Data-Management-and-Analysis/NCLBAYPReportsByYear.html

In compliance with the federal No Child Left Behind Act, the South Carolina Department of Education released 2009 data today, showing that Horry County Schools met 91.9 percent of objectives for Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP). By missing three of 37 objectives, HCS did not meet AYP in 2009. For the second year in a row, none of the state’s 85 school districts made AYP under the rigorous “all or nothing” federal accountability system.

More HCS elementary schools met all of their targets, largely due to the General Assembly’s decision to make grade-level student performance on South Carolina’s new PASS tests the standard for federal reporting purposes. Sixteen of 24 HCS elementary schools met 2009 performance objectives, compared to only three that met 2008 goals. None of the District’s 11 middle schools met AYP. In order to meet AYP, elementary and middle schools must have had at least 58.8 percent of their students proficient in English Language Arts.  In math, at least 57.8 percent had to be proficient. Of those elementary and middle schools that did not meet AYP, the most common performance goals missed were for the Disabled English Language Arts and Disabled Math subgroups

None of the District’s nine high schools met AYP for 2009. High school goals jumped upward in 2009, from 52.3 percent to 71.3 percent proficient in English Language Arts and from 50 to 70 percent proficient in math. Only 14 of the state’s 202 high schools met all of their federal AYP goals.

Schools must meet 100 percent of their federal “proficiency” goals each year. District schools have as many as 29 performance goals. The “all or nothing” accountability system expects that in four years, all students - including those who are poor, speak limited English or have learning disabilities - must meet all state targets on math and English Language Arts tests.

Each state sets its own definition for academic proficiency under NCLB, and from the federal law’s implementation in 2001 through 2008, South Carolina used PACT scores to rate elementary and middle schools for AYP. Although a score of Basic on PACT’s four-level scoring system (Below Basic, Basic, Proficient and Advanced) met South Carolina’s state standard under the Education Accountability Act, a higher score, Proficient, was required to meet AYP.

A variety of independent national research studies confirmed that South Carolina’s definition was far more rigorous than other states, and that students who scored Basic on PACT would have scored Proficient in other states.  When the General Assembly replaced PACT with PASS - with its three scoring levels of Not Met, Met and Exemplary - legislators designated Met as grade-level performance under the EAA and also as the scoring level that would meet the federal AYP criteria.

 
NCLB background information and school transfer data

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. The District’s attendance rate is 95.9 percent.  High schools miss if graduation rates decline from the previous year. Five of nine high schools met their goal for graduation rate.

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 AYP target for two years consecutively, the school is designated in "Needs Improvement"
status.
 
For schools identified as being in “Needs Improvement” status, parents must be offered the choice of sending their children to another school in that district that is not in "Needs Improvement" status.  A second year in "Needs Improvement" (third year of not meeting AYP) requires the school to offer supplemental services such as student tutoring, as well as the choice option.  The parent may request either of these options.  More severe consequences follow for Title I schools that continue to be designated as "Needs Improvement."

A school district in “Needs Improvement” status must use 10 percent of its Title I funds for professional development.  In addition, the district must develop a district-wide improvement plan.

While NCLB relies on PASS scores to determine performance ratings for South Carolina’s elementary and middle schools, high school data come from student performance on the High School Assessment Program.

Background on changes in AYP reporting

When the General Assembly approved the EAA in 1998, PACT test scores were designated as the main factors for determining School Report Card ratings.  PACT had four scoring levels (Below Basic, Basic, Proficient and Advanced) and the General Assembly determined that a score of Basic reflected grade-level performance.  Under South Carolina’s EAA, Proficient and Advanced scores were higher than grade-level performance.

When Congress approved NCLB in 2001, it designated Proficient performance as the goal for AYP but left the definition of Proficient up to the states.  Most states decided to report grade-level performance as Proficient under AYP, but in South Carolina, Proficient continued to mean higher than grade-level performance.  That’s why a series of national research studies and newspaper stories determined that it was harder to make AYP in South Carolina than in other states.

When the General Assembly replaced the 10-year-old PACT tests with the new PASS tests, which have three scoring categories instead of four: Not Met, Met and Exemplary - legislators designated Met as grade-level performance under the EAA and also as the scoring level that would meet the federal AYP criteria. 
 
The Education Oversight Committee then aligned the Met cut scores from PASS to the Basic cut scores from PACT.  That meant that the performance required to “pass” the new test and be considered “on grade level” remained consistent from the old test to the new one.  And it allowed for “apples-to-apples” transition when rating schools under the EAA.

In terms of NCLB, the General Assembly also set “Met” as the federal reporting standard.  That means that for the first time, South Carolina schools’ AYP targets are now based on grade-level performance as opposed to higher-than-grade-level performance.  The General Assembly’s goal was to level the playing field so that South Carolina’s AYP results could be more accurately compared to other states.

Changing the scoring levels counted for AYP ratings does not change anything that students are expected to learn because the state’s nationally respected academic standards have not changed.  Likewise, nothing has changed in terms of what teachers are expected to teach or what it takes to pass the test.