Adequate Yearly Progress better known as AYP, was introduced in 2001 as part of the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB). NCLB falls under the federal government’s Title I funding program. Title I supplies large sums of money to the local education agencies or LEA’s. This money is distributed to LEA’s based on numerous guidelines and the LEA’s individual need. AYP is a major factor of this funding tool for LEA’s.
The Federal No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) requires all states to establish standards for accountability for all schools and districts with in their states. The following items are mandatory:
- All students in the district must be included in the state assessment program.
- Accountability is based on the state’s academic content standards.
- Students must show mastery in these in these content areas.
- All public schools must meet the goal of 100% Proficient by the year 2014.
- States set their own incremental benchmarks.
To meet these Federal mandates New Jersey adopted the NJ Single Accountability System. State assessments in Language Arts Literacy and Mathematics are based on the NJ Core Curriculum Content Standards. The following items are mandatory:
- All public schools and all student subgroups (ethnic, special education, SES) must meet proficiency benchmarks
- Students must score Proficient (200 to 249) or Advanced Proficient (250 -300) to be counted as meeting the benchmark.
- NJ utilizes grade clusters to factor AYP: Elementary 3-5, Middle School 6-8 and High School grade 11.
- In addition to subgroups, clusters, and proficiency, NJ has a total of 41 indicators that need to be met; these include participation and graduation rates.
In the next few months the Obama Administration will release the Reauthorization of The Elementary and Secondary Education Act or ESEA. The ESEA information that is currently posted on the Federal Department of Education website, notes that NCLB has been replaced by ESEA. In fact, if you search for NCLB on the US Department of Education website you are brought immediately to ESEA documentation. Could this be? Are we finally done with the nonsense of NCLB? Has the Federal government realized that we were comparing apples to oranges with AYP over the last decade? Here is to hoping. I am happy to report that the information that is available on ESEA is encouraging. The current administration has designed a blueprint for education that focuses on College and Career-Ready Standards and Assessments.
The new ESEA is calling for ambitious goals by the year 2020 and has outlined the following updates:
- Raising standards for all students in English Language Arts and Math.
- States may choose to upgrade their current standards
- States may partner with their 4-year public university to ensure students will not need remedial course work.
- Work with other states to develop common standards that build college and career readiness.
2. Developing better assessments aligned with college and career readiness standards
- State accountability systems will be expected to recognize progress and growth and reward success rather than only identifying failure. States will be “rewarded” for meeting performance targets. Standardized tests will be based on individual student growth. (Apple to Apple comparisons)
- By 2015 funding will only be available to states that are implementing assessments based on college and career readiness standards. Testing will be conducted student several times during the school year to see if the student has gained knowledge.
3. Implementing a complete education for students through improved professional development for teachers and evidence-based instruction models and supports.
- Increasing building level capacity for support at every level: schools, school leaders, teachers and students. Implement college and career- readiness curricula that will better prepare students for success beyond elementary and secondary levels.
We are currently experiencing a true shift in education. As a district test coordinator, I have seen a major change in what the state of New Jersey requires as a standardized test or assessment. Over the span of three years we saw the End of Course Algebra I test appear, become a graduation requirement and then become non-existent at the end of year 3. We have been testing New Jersey students in the NJ Biology Competency Test (NJBCT) for 4 years, yet it still has no bearing on graduation. Furthermore we still do not know what a passing score is on that test. We are also in the last administration year of the High School Proficiency Assessment or HSPA; however, there is no test scheduled to take its place. My thought is that HSPA will be extended for the next couple of years until the new Partnerships for Assessment of Readiness for College and Career (PARCC) assessments are up and running. The PARCC assessment system will be composed of a series of summative assessments given across and at the end of the school year, as well as aligned formative assessment resources for classroom use, (Doorey, 2011). The PARCC assessments are scheduled for pilot testing during the 2012 -2014 school years, with the first official test during the 2014 -2015 school year. Any coincidence that this new assessment will take full effect when our current AYP is scheduled to end?
Our current AYP standards, benchmarks and targets have no real standing anyway. I have seen individual schools and districts on the “Schools in Need of Improvement” (SINI) or “District in Need of Improvement” (DINI) lists for the entire span of the AYP Benchmark targets. Those schools still are still up and running. Sure, those schools have jumped through all the required hoops of AYP: school choice, school improvement, corrective action plan, new curriculum, replace staff, replace leadership, extend school year or school day, appoint an outside expert to fix your school, reorganize, restructure as a charter school, replace more staff, state takeover and finally the implementation of all the changes listed above. Even with all these consequences I have yet to see a public school turn into a charter school; the worst case scenario that I have seen has been the State takeover. Even with a takeover imminent, the majority of the students choose to stay at their “failing” schools. It is definitely time to incorporate some new assessment options and new curricula that prepare our students for the future and strive for a common goal: college and career readiness.
References:
Adequate Yearly Progress Target Chart. (2009 November). New Jersey State Benchmarks for Adequate Yearly Progress. Retrieved July 15, 2011 from NJ Department of Education:
http://www.state.nj.us/education/title1/accountability/workbook/BenchmarkChart.pdf
Doorey, N. (2011 February). Coming Together to raise Achievement, New Assessments for the Common Core State Standards. Retrieved February 2, 2011, from http://www.k12center.org/pulications.html
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