N.C. schools report improved AYP results

Raleigh, N.C. — The preliminary results are in, and several North Carolina school districts reported more schools making Adequate Yearly Progress this year compared with last year.

Some of the gains are due to the fact that, for the first time, re-tests were allowed to be included in the final percentages.

The results will be not be made official until the State Board of Education approves them on Aug. 6.

In the Wake County Public School System, 98 of 156 schools made AYP, compared with 37 of 152 schools last year.

The number of Durham Public Schools making AYP jumped from seven to 22.

Fifteen of 17 schools in the Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools district made AYP this year, which is an improvement over last year when 10 schools met AYP. As a district, the Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools met 16 of 18, or 88.9 percent, of the performance standards.

Cumberland County Schools "showed a dramatic increase" in the percentage of schools making AYP, according to school officials. Sixty-two out of 86 schools, or 72.1 percent, made AYP.

In Johnston County, 34 out of 40 schools, or 85 percent, made AYP.

Wayne County Public Schools met 98.2 percent of its total target-goals, a nearly 10 percent increase from the year before. In total, WCPS had 28 of 32 schools make AYP.

Halifax County Schools made "significant improvements" with six of the county’s 14 schools meeting AYP, according to Superintendent Geraldine Middleton.

More school districts are expected to release their results later today.

To make AYP, a school must meet 100 percent of its No Child Left Behind target goals. NCLB divides students into 10 subgroups:

• School as a whole (all students)
• White
• Black
• Hispanic
• Native American
• Asian
• Multiracial
• Economically disadvantaged students (students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch)
• Limited English proficient students
• Students with disabilities

Each subgroup must have at least 40 students. To make AYP, each subgroup in the tested grades must meet proficiency targets in reading/language arts and math. School attendance and graduation rates are also factored into AYP. The number of target-goals at an individual school is determined by the number of subgroups at that school.