Four out of five pass schools' test

Four-fifths of Burke County’s school made adequate yearly progress (AYP) in 2009-10, satisfying a key measure in the federal No Child Left Behind program.

None of those that missed their goals are in danger of being classified as "schools in need of improvement" by the U.S. Department of Education, according to David McGee, Burke County Public Schools’ director of testing an accountability.

Twenty-five out of 30 Burke County schools made AYP in 2008-09. In 2009-10, the preliminary number is 23 out of 28, but McGee expects two more will get credit for adequate yearly progress after N.C. Department of Instruction reviews their situation. That will give the school district two years in a row with 83 percent of its schools’ having achieved AYP.

"We’re still on the same trajectory," McGee said, "and actually doing a good job."

Adequate yearly progress is the No Child Left Behind Act’s all-or-nothing measure of how well schools are progressing toward an ultimate goal of having all students at grade-level proficiency in English, math and reading in the 2013-14 school year. The schools annually test third- through eighth-grade and 10th-grade students on those key subjects.

In addition, the schools report the performance of their "subgroups" defined by race or ethnicity, economic situation, proficiency in English or special-education needs. If 40 or more students in a school or school district fall into one of those subgroups, a certain percentage of the subgroup’s students must also pass the tests at grade level. If any subgroup falls short on proficiency, the whole school "fails."

Walter R. Johnson Middle has 29 targets including subgroups, the most in any Burke County school. All showed adequate proficiency in 2010.

Hallyburton Elementary had 17 targets. It missed one.

As McGee says, "No Child is all or nothing."

He continued, "The sad part about this whole thing is a school may be doing phenomenally well, but because it didn’t have enough tested in a subgroup or the subgroup didn’t show proficiency, it fails. That makes some parents think it’s not a good school because it didn’t make AYP, and that’s untrue."

The law prevents schools from simply not testing some poorly performing students. Each school and the district must test 95 percent of all students, and also 95 percent those in a subgroup. However, if some children are out due to an extended illness or other reason — "such as incarceration," McGee mentioned — the school may automatically miss an AYP target.

Freedom High School failed to make AYP in 2008-09, when it missed three out of 17 targets, and it failed again in 2009-10 (according to the preliminary numbers) for missing two targets out of 14. Detailed reports on the schools’ 2009-10 testing won’t be available until the State Board of Education certifies the reports on Aug. 5. However, it’s known that Freedom missed at least one 2009 target due to insufficient participation and it may have had the same problem again.

In addition to Freedom and Hallyburton, the other Burke County schools that did not make AYP in 2009-10 are Drexel Primary (Drexel’s K-2 students "graduate" to Hallyburton, so it is tied to Hallyburton’s AYP scores), Liberty Middle School and Draughn High School.

"I think our high schools are doing very well," McGee added. "It’s hard for high schools to make AYP because they have so many subgroups."

Different U.S. states set their own percentages of students who must show grade-level proficiency. Some require a steady increase toward the goal of 100 proficiency in 2014; for example, 60 percent proficient in 2008, 65 percent in 2009, 70 percent in 2010, etc.

North Carolina raises the percentages every three years. For 2010, 43 percent of the third- through eighth-grade students had to show grade-level proficiency in reading and 77 percent in math. Among the 10th-grade students, 39 percent had to be grade-level proficient in reading/language arts (English, reading and writing) and 68 percent in math (Algebra I).

The N.C. targets in 2011 step up to 72 percent and 89 percent grade-level proficient in third- through eighth-grade reading and math, respectively, and to 69 and 84 percent in 10th-grade reading/language arts and math.

McGee said the higher targets will be a challenge in the first year, just as they were in 2007-08, the last time the levels rose to higher step.

"We have very high standards," he said. "We’ve continue to raise the bar. If we continue to make AYP, we’ve definitely earned it."

"We’ve had a couple of schools who missed for two years in a row," McGee said, "but they always seem to pull out in the third."

McGee said he does not anticipate any problem with getting the state’s AYP approval for Burke Middle College and College Street Academy. Burke Middle College has no 10th grade students and, in any event, they had to surpass the state’s standards to be admitted.

College Street Academy, an alternative high school, has so few students in 10th grade that McGee said test results won’t present a meaningful picture of the school.