The Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) status of nine school districts, 74 schools and two charter schools has changed because of final No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) calculations for the 2005 testing period, state Department of Education officials announced last week.

NCLB requires the state to release the list of schools and districts designated as “in need of improvement” prior to the start of each school year. To meet that requirement, the New Jersey DOE uses preliminary calculations of students’ scores in the state tests administered in the spring.

During the fall and winter, however, the results must be re-calculated to include the scores of the alternate proficiency assessments administered to students with the most severe disabilities, other NCLB factors (such as attendance and drop-out rates) and appeals of designations by districts or schools.

Final Calculations Forty-eight school districts and seven charter schools have been designated as being “in need of improvement” based on their 2005 test scores, according to final calculations. The fall 2005 preliminary calculations designated 63 districts in that category. In addition, the final calculations show that 539 of New Jersey’s 2,398 schools were designated as “in need of improvement” for 2005.

Under NCLB, schools are labeled “in need of improvement” when they miss one of more of 40 criteria on standardized tests for more than two years in a row. Such schools are subject to federal sanctions. If schools continue to miss AYP benchmarks in subsequent years, they face more stringent sanctions. Schools that miss AYP for the first time are deemed as “Early Warning” schools, but face no sanctions.

AYP Criteria AYP results are based on year-to-year comparisons of schools’ scores in the HSPA (High School Proficiency Assessment) administered to 11th grade students, GEPA (Grade Eight Proficiency Assessment) and NJASK3/4 (New Jersey Assessment of Skills and Knowledge) administered to third- and fourth-graders. The tests are administered in the spring.

For a school to achieve AYP, it must meet the following criteria:

• A certain percentage of its total student population must score at proficient or advanced proficient levels at each grade level on state-developed tests in math and language arts.

• The same percentage of students in ten “subgroups” must also score at proficient or advanced proficient levels. The subgroups include students with disabilities, limited English proficient (LEP) students, economically disadvantaged students and students of various racial/ethnic groups.

• 95% the total student body, and 95% of the students in each subgroup, must participate in the testing program.

If a school does not achieve AYP in the same content area for two consecutive years, it is deemed to be a "School in Need of Improvement." If such a school receives Title I federal funding, it also faces sanctions.

Changes Sought Earlier this month, Leadership for Educational Excellence—a coalition of the state’s major education organizations including NJSBA—urged the state Department of Education to make critical changes in the implementation of NCLB, including the calculation of AYP. (See School Board Notes, March 30.)

For more information about No Child Left Behind, contact Sarah Kohl of NJSBA’s Governmental Relations Department at 1-888-886-5722, extension 5238, or by email.