Fewer schools meet targets set by 'No Child Left Behind'

Only 18 percent of South Carolina’s elementary and middle schools met the targets for “Adequate Yearly Progress” as defined by the No Child Left Behind Act, according to state education officials.

That drop comes despite the announcement of rising PACT scores just a few weeks earlier.

AYP ratings decline although schools make progress

Despite improvements in student performance on the test that serves as the cornerstone for elementary and middle school Adequate Yearly Progress ratings, few Horry County schools met their 2008 federal goals under the No Child Left Behind Act.  Among the district’s 34 elementary and middle schools, three met AYP. Due to concerns over possible computation errors, high school and district ratings were not included in the report released by the South Carolina Department of Education, but are expected to be released next week.

Click here to view report

AYP CONSEQUENCES

The No Child Left Behind law requires schools to meet annual goals based largely on student test scores. When schools that have large numbers of poor students fail to make "adequate yearly progress," the law requires them to take corrective steps:

• Schools that don't meet goals the first year are put on notice but don't have to take any specific steps.

• After two years of not meeting goals, schools "need improvement." They must allow students to transfer to other public schools in the district that don't have the label, and pay for their transportation.

• After three years, schools must offer free tutoring to poor students and continue offering public school transfers.

• After four years, schools are in "corrective action." That could include using a new curriculum, replacing some employees or extending the school day.

• After five years, schools must develop a plan to restructure the school.

• After six years, schools must restructure. Options could include reopening as a charter school; replacing school employees; contracting with a private company to run the school; or taking decision-making powers away from school officials.

-- The Associated Press

See how your individual school did, click here.

See how Pee Dee schools fared, click here.

State Superintendent of Schools Jim Rex says that’s because South Carolina’s targets for “Adequate Yearly Progress,” like those of other states, are rising quickly in order to meet the requirements of No Child Left Behind.

If a school misses even one of its annual targets, it does not meet the goal for AYP. Rex says this scoring system is unfair to schools that are progressing.

“Unless NCLB’s rating system is revised to incorporate a more commonsense approach, the danger is that this law will lose all credibility with the public. That would really be disappointing because its goals are so admirable,” Rex wrote in a press release.

Here are the 2008 numbers for the Grand Strand:

• In Horry County, only three out of 45 elementary and middle schools met AYP. Those schools are: Midland Elementary, Seaside Elementary and Socastee Elementary. Last year 17 elementary schools were rated as meeting Annual Yearly Progress. As with this year, no middle schools were rated as having met standards.

• In Georgetown County, only three of 17 elementary and middle schools met AYP. Those schools are: Browns Ferry Elementary, Pleasant Hill Elementary, and Sampit Elementary. Last year eight elementary schools were rated as meeting Annual Yearly Progress. As with this year, no middle schools were rated as having met standards.

State Superintendent of Schools Jim Rex says that due to concerns over possible computation errors, the Education Department was delaying the release of high school AYP data.