Cook County Schools achieved Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) status for the scores of its students on Minnesota Comprehensive Assessments (MCAs) during the 2008-09 school year. The tests are required under the federal No Child Left Behind Act and measure achievement toward the goal of 100% proficiency by 2014.
Half the state’s schools achieved Adequate Yearly Progress this year, according to an August 20, 2009 Minnesota Department of Education press release.
Affecting AYP status are the English and math scores of subgroups determined by race and ethnicity, disability, Englishspeaking proficiency, and economic disadvantage as measured by free and reduced meal qualification, as well as attendance and graduation rates.
According to the Minnesota Department of Education, “…the AYP Growth Adjustment is a new measure that provides another opportunity for schools to demonstrate proficiency and gain safe harbor. Students with valid scores in the current and prior year contribute points to their school’s AYP Growth measure based upon their growth across achievement levels.”
Schools receiving federal Title I dollars and not making AYP two or more years in a row in the same subject are identified as in need of improvement. “Depending on the number of years they do not make AYP, schools in need of improvement must offer a range of options to students, including school choice with transportation, supplemental services and restructuring,” the press release states.
At the Monday, August 17, 2009 ISD 166 school board meeting, K-12 principal Gwen Carman reported that the district’s 2009 MCA scores were lower than its 2008 scores but above 2006 and 2007 scores and above the state average. Math scores were not as strong as reading scores, she said. Thisyear, the middle and high school will be using a new math curriculum.
A new computer data program will allow individual student subscores to be easily accessed, enabling teachers to determine, for example, which areas of math a student is stronger and weaker in over the course of time.
“We are committed to a path of continuous improvement,” Carman said. Her report of MCA results states that she “will work closely with our staff development and curriculum committees to develop and implement specific strategies to help us be even more successful with those students not demonstrating proficiency and to better enrich those students who are ready for additional academically enriching opportunities.”
“I’m really proud,” Carman said. “Everyone is working really hard on this.”
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