Adequate Yearly Progress
By now, I hope you've all seen today's story on Guilford County Schools' performance on federal test score measures in the 2004-05 school year.
These measures, called Adequate Yearly Progress or AYP, are required of all public schools. I won't rehash the story too much: basically, Guilford didn't do as well as it did last year, but the bar was raised, meaning schools had to score higher in order to pass than they did in 2003-04.
******
UPDATE: Here is a story from the Raleigh News & Observer about AYP performance of school districts in the Triangle. Looks like they struggled this year, too.
Comments (5)
To report abuse of the comment feature on this site, please use the feedback form at the bottom of any page.
Bruce,
Do you happen to know what percentages Wake County uses for Title I determination? Just curious.
Posted on July 19, 2005 1:30 PM
Now I know I have heard Dr. Grier and the 7 Dwarfs say that "the bar needed to be raised" Apparently they did not mean performance, but were truly only talking about themselves and their own salaries.
I am certain the taxpayers of Guilford County are pleased to know that it is costing them more tax dollars for less in results.
Much like how you treat a child, I am not interested in how Wake County, Forsyth County or any other county did, only the county I pay my property taxes in.
Posted on July 19, 2005 1:45 PM
Amy,
I'm not sure how Wake Co. determines which schools get Title I money.
However, I do know that Wake County Schools has a far lower percentage of low-income students than Guilford County Schools does. About 46 percent of GCS students are low-income, while only 25 percent of Wake County's are. Obviously, that has a major bearing on how Title I money is distributed, since GCS has many more needs to meet than Wake Co.
Posted on July 19, 2005 2:38 PM
Bruce,
If Wake County has a far lower percentage of low-income students, wouldn't that also mean that Guilford County gets a greater amount of dollars to spend than Wake County to meet their greater needs? Wouldn't that tend to balance out?
Posted on July 19, 2005 3:56 PM
Yes, to a certain extent, it should. My point is simply that with a greater percentage of high-poverty schools and low-income kids, there are more people waiting in line for that money. Because when you are handing out money, there's never enough of it and the more people you have who qualify for these services, the tougher it is to divide up the pie.
Posted on July 19, 2005 4:40 PM