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Mixed Results in Schools Report Middles Schools Gain, but High Schools Slip in Adequate Yearly Progress Federal Standards.

Posted on: Tuesday, 26 July 2005, 12:01 CDT

ATLANTA -- While more Georgia middle schools met federal standards this year than last and elementary schools held steady, the number of high schools meeting the guidelines fell slightly, Superintendent Kathy Cox announced Friday.

Cox focused on the record number of Georgia schools that made the federal standards, known as "Adequate Yearly Progress" or AYP. The benchmarks are tied closely to test scores, though other factors like high school graduation rates are also taken into account.

"I'm smiling because we have good news today," Cox said, touting the fact that 80.5 percent met AYP.

Several counties saw all of their schools make AYP for the first time last year, including Camden, Brantley Pierce and Charlton.

Ten of 15 schools met the standards in Glynn County; eight of 10 schools cleared the bar in Ware County; and New McIntosh County Academy was the only school to fall short in McIntosh.

Cox pointed out that more schools measured up despite the fact that the state's goals were more stringent this year. More students had to score at the higher end of the grading scale in order for schools to meet AYP this year.

The most dramatic jump came in middle school, where the number of schools making the grade rose seven percentage points, to 56 percent.

About 95 percent of elementary schools cleared the standards, essentially the same as last year. The number of high schools making AYP dipped slightly, to 59 percent, even as the state's graduation rate improved from 65.4 percent to 67.8 percent.

"Our high schools and the work that needs to be done is urgent," Cox said. "I can't be more emphatic about that."

While the state was still reviewing some of the data, Cox said she believed that elementary schools in particular have benefited from a statewide effort to help students in the lowest grades.

"We've got to have that same focus on our high schools," Cox said.

The superintendent also pointed to several instances where, she said, the state's schools defied expectations. For example, schools with a higher proportion of poor students actually did better than those schools serving a more affluent population.

"These [schools] are technically the ones that people have said, 'No, no, they can't,' " Cox said. "And [in] Georgia, we're proving they can."

Several rural counties also increased the number of schools meeting AYP, and the number of "needs improvement" schools -- a status earned by failing to meet the standards for two straight years -- fell by 59.

"They're in Atlanta, they're in the Southeast and Southwest, they're in Middle Georgia and they're up there in the North Georgia mountains," Cox said.

Schools can be removed from the "needs improvement" list if they meet the standards for two years in a row; 135 of the state's 354 schools on the list made AYP this past year and could be removed if they make it again this year.brandon.larrabee@morris.com, (404) 681- 1701

ONLINEAYP RESULTS@To view Adequate Yearly Progress results for individual schools, go to www.doe.k12.ga.us and click on the link called "2004-2005 AYP Results."

Source: Florida Times Union

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