So close but so far away. Here is the latest update on JCHS AYP status for this year.
Good News:
The GOOD news is JCHS made AYP in the area of AMO. That is based on JCHS students achievement in math and English. We made English at the confidence interval which means our real scores were so close to the bar statistically, we made the real bar. In math we made it by Safe Harbor in the subcategory of Black Students which means we were able to move 10% of that population from did not meet to meets. In all other subgroups, we met the bar.
BAD News:
When you have to use Safe Harbor to make AYP, all subgroups must also make the graduation rate. That bar is now 75%. We made all subgroups for graduation rate except for Black. Our rate was 73.6% (which means we were 2 students short). Soooo...we did not make AYP.
Implications:
We will be on Year 3 of Needs Improvement. We will have to continue to offer Choice and Supplemental Services. The real heartbreak is that we made AYP last year and IF we had made it this year, we would be off the Needs Improvement list and it would take two more years to get back on it. Now, the critieria will continue to increase and the bar will be higher. To come off the list, we must make AYP for 2 consecutive years.
Encouragement:
We will continue to move towards an upward trajectory whether it is enough for AYP or not. We have not slipped backward. It is just becoming harder and harder to make it. Less than half of the high schools in GA will make AYP this year. The good part is we did it in the most difficult area of academics-math and English. The other good news is that we are only talking about a handful of students. Just keep using best practices and there is no doubt we will continue to see the gradual gains we have seen for the past 15 years. I greatly appreciate all the hard work you do to help our students achieve at higher levels. We will continue to do that, NOT for AYP, but because it is the professional and RIGHT thing to do.
