So did the County school systems of Fulton, Cobb, Gwinnett, Hall, Clayton, Douglas and Fayette but the City School Systems of Decatur and Marietta did make Adequate Yearly Progress.
As far as the Dunwoody schools are concerned, all the elementary schools were deemed adequate but both Peachtree Charter Middle School and Dunwoody High School failed to make the cut as to being successful schools under these same measurements. Click the links above for the individual school results.
I am not an expert as to the No Child Left Behind legislation nor what these results actually mean for our children going to these schools but on the surface it isn't good. Seeing that 71% of DeKalb high schools, 55% of our middle schools and 14% of the DeKalb elementary schools failed to make AYP; I would believe that someone has some explaining to do though the DeKalb County press release states that these numbers are improvements over last year.
As usual, I recommend the DeKalb County School Watch Blog for more in depth coverage of this subject but if anyone has insight as to what these test results mean for Dunwoody, please enlighten me and everyone else in the comments.
What is Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP)?
Adequate yearly progress (AYP) is a series of annual performance goals set by the state for each school district and school as well as for the state as a whole. By participating in Title I, a voluntary federal program that provides more than $11 billion to participating states to help educate low-income children, states agree to commit themselves to the goal of the federal No Child Left Behind Act: that all students will be proficient in Reading/English Language Arts and Mathematics, as determined by state assessments, by 2014.
Schools with a certain percentage of non-English speaking students, poor students, and/or minority (except Asian) students rarely meet AYP, regardless of where these schools are located. Look at demographics for DeKalb DeKalb Fast Facts and you'll find the three categories mentioned above in nearly the entire county school system.
ReplyDeleteUntil parents from all demographics/cultures take a huge interest in the education of their children, DeKalb (and other school districts) will never meet AYP standards. And until the federal governemnt and ICE stop illegals from taking up residency here, our schools (kids, parents, teachers) will always suffer.
Actually, it wasn't the HIspanic sub-group who made Dunwoody high school fail AYP (at only 50 students, their group is too few in number to count). It was the sub-groups of black and economically disadvantaged. Students with disabilities and English language learners didn't do too well either, but their groups were too small in number to be counted for AYP.
ReplyDeleteDunwoody HS met the criteria in 8 out of 10 categories. I wouldn't worry about it too much. Ironically, it could be to your advantage. Now you actually have to offer transfers - you can no longer be a receiving school.
Cerebration, I agree that Dun High is an OK school and met 8 of 10 areas and I agree it is a blessing in disguise as no transfers this year (and for another year as well?)
ReplyDeleteBut to be clear, I did not 'blame' the hispanic sub group for DHS not making AYP.
It does appear as the Hispanic sub-group is the reason the middle school did not meet AYP.
Great schools across the country fail AYP every year, mainly for the reasons I stated in my first post.
but if anyone has insight as to what these test results mean for Dunwoody, please enlighten me and everyone else in the comments.
ReplyDeleteI have some insight. My insight is that these test results mean nothing with regards to our children's education. The only people to which NCLB is meaingful is to the testing companies. For all others it is a waste of time and money.
Rick, if I understand the "rules" of NCLB (and they are confusing at times), because this is Dunwoody's second year not making AYP, the school goes into a "Needs Improvement" category (pardon me, while I laugh). At this time Dunwoody must offer to their students the option to transfer to other schools who did make AYP (pardon me while I laugh again because I have looked at the schools on the "Receiving" schools list. Also, a school must be off the "Needs Improvement" list for 2 years before it can become a "Receiving" school again.
ReplyDeleteI think this is correct info.
As cere said, this is a blessing in disguise for Dunwoody as perhaps the school will not be overcrowded in several years.
Something to consider, thought Dunwoody will not be a NCLB receiving school, it could become a HB 251 receiving school.
ReplyDeleteActually, the list for 251 transfers (thanks Dan Weber for that wonderful piece of legislation) is already published. It can be found here and Dunwoody is not on it.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.dekalb.k12.ga.us/files/8777553C66054EF1A8D4DEB11366BA5A.pdf
I suspect that this legislation will be modified to the point on irrelevance in the next legislative session.