Friday, January 21, 2005
When all else fails, just lower your standards
We have just been notified that the U.S. Department of Education has approved our Department's request to modify Missouri's targets for Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) for 2005. These targets were originally established in 2003 and are a part of the official "Accountability Workbook" that Missouri is required to submit to the U.S. Department of Education under No Child Left Behind.
Missouri's state-level AYP targets were scheduled to take a big jump in 2005. As a result, we would expect that a large number of schools in the state probably would not meet the AYP goals next year. It is also understood that we will be introducing revised and additional MAP exams in the spring of 2006, and it will be necessary at that time to revise the progression of annual AYP targets leading up to the year 2014, when all students are expected to achieve proficiency. Because our new statewide testing program is still fluid, we requested the opportunity to amend our existing AYP targets for 2005 in order to limit the negative consequences for schools across the state.
I am grateful that federal officials granted us this flexibility to amend our accountability plan. As a result of this revision, the 2005 AYP target in communication arts will be 26.6%, instead of the previous target of 38.8%. The 2005 AYP target in mathematics will be 17.5%, instead of the previous target of 31.1%.
While this revision in our timetable does not change the ultimate goal of 100 percent of the students being proficient in 2014, these amended targets are still demanding for many schools and far more realistic than the original targets.
Missouri's state-level AYP targets were scheduled to take a big jump in 2005. As a result, we would expect that a large number of schools in the state probably would not meet the AYP goals next year. It is also understood that we will be introducing revised and additional MAP exams in the spring of 2006, and it will be necessary at that time to revise the progression of annual AYP targets leading up to the year 2014, when all students are expected to achieve proficiency. Because our new statewide testing program is still fluid, we requested the opportunity to amend our existing AYP targets for 2005 in order to limit the negative consequences for schools across the state.
I am grateful that federal officials granted us this flexibility to amend our accountability plan. As a result of this revision, the 2005 AYP target in communication arts will be 26.6%, instead of the previous target of 38.8%. The 2005 AYP target in mathematics will be 17.5%, instead of the previous target of 31.1%.
While this revision in our timetable does not change the ultimate goal of 100 percent of the students being proficient in 2014, these amended targets are still demanding for many schools and far more realistic than the original targets.
# posted by Stevie P @ 11:23 AM 
