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Schools report progress on state exams
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Published: July 22, 2009
Twenty-two out of 32 Cabarrus County and six out of eight Kannapolis City schools made Adequate Yearly Progress for the 2008-09 year, based on preliminary data received from the state, the school systems announced Tuesday.
Cabarrus County Schools said it is pleased with the improvement from last year but knows there is still work to be done. Last year, five schools met AYP.
"We are encouraged by the progress we've made and are looking forward to doing even better next year," said Ronnye Boone, public relations director for Cabarrus County Schools.
The Kannapolis City Schools Board of Education heard the preliminary results at its meeting on Monday night, and members were pleased with the progress, especially after hearing that the school system as a whole met all of its 54 goals.
"It's gratifying, being on the board long enough, to see this," said Danita Rickard, chair for the school board.
Three of Kannapolis City schools met AYP last year.
AYP measures the proficiency in reading and math among 10 student groups as a part of the No Child Left Behind Act.
The goal is to make sure all students are at or above their grade level by the 2013-14 school year.
The 10 groups who must make AYP are the school as a whole, as well as students who are white, black, Hispanic, Native American, Asian, multiracial, economically disadvantaged, limited English proficient and disabled.
To include these groups in testing, there must be at least 40 students in each. The most diverse schools have the most targets.
All Cabarrus County schools have anywhere from 2 to 33 targets, and Kannapolis City schools have between 13 and 29 goals.
To make AYP, schools must meet all of its target. Cabarrus County and Kannapolis City schools that did not meet AYP this year missed it by four or fewer goals.
One of the changes to this year's results is that students' retest scores were included in this year's results, which both school systems said added to their progress.
"I think it did help because the retest gave students who may have had testing anxiety (an opportunity) to do better," Boone said.
For Kannapolis City Schools, working with students on an individual basis has helped more schools meet AYP.
"We put a real emphasis on intervention for students identified as needing assistance," said Janet Jenkins, student assessment director for Kannapolis City Schools. "We put more focus on looking at individual students, instead of a collective group."
And with possible state budget cuts for the 2009-10 year, Jenkins said it would be challenging to continue this progress.
"A lot of the progress we've seen came from us being able to apply resources," Jenkins said. "We are concerned that, if we don't have continued funding, it will affect what we can do with individual students."
School systems said they will continue to evaluate what is working or not and make adjustments.
The current results for each school system are preliminary. The state board of education will meet next month to review, audit and approve the data.
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