In the final Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) report released last week, Appling County High School did make AYP. The Preliminary AYP results back in July reported that the high school had not met requirements. This final report however includes summer retest scores as well as summer graduates. Appling County School district is now one of 73 in which all schools made AYP in 2009, which is an increase of six percent over the final AYP report of 2008.

Schools are measured by the AYP formula to determine if they are meeting expectations under the federal No Child Left Behind Act. Three parts make up the formula: test participation, academic achievement and another statistic, called a second indicator. The academic goals continue to rise every few years and the ultimate goal is 100 percent proficiency for all students by 2014. This year, all of the academic goals remained the same as 2008, but the graduation rate bar rose.

All students at a school, as well as any qualifying subgroup of students, must meet goals in all three categories in order to make AYP. Schools that do not make AYP for two consecutive years in the same subject are placed in “Needs Improvement” status and face escalating consequences.

To make AYP in 2009, a high school had to have a graduation rate of 75 percent or higher, up from 70 percent last year. Without making that goal, the school could use a second look which means the school had a graduation rate that averaged 75 percent or higher over the past three years OR it had a graduation rate of at least 55 percent the previous year (2008) and showed a 10 percent improvement in the rate this year.