Oct. 5, 2011
Despite Strong Growth in Scores, District Does Not Make AYP
STEAMBOAT SPRINGS, COLORADO –Academic growth continued for students in the Steamboat Springs School District as all grade levels exceeded state averages on the Colorado Student Assessment Program (CSAP) and 91% of the target areas were met, but it was not enough to make “Adequate Yearly Progress” (AYP), under the federal No Child Left Behind (NCLB) law for 2011.
At the school level, Soda Creek and Strawberry Park elementary schools along with North Routt Charter School and Yampa Valley High School made AYP. However, when combining the two elementary schools into one district score, AYP was not made in reading for ELL and students with disabilities due to the combined student counts. As a whole, the elementary did not make AYP in math for students with disabilities. Steamboat Springs Middle and High Schools were cited as not making AYP. The middle school did not make AYP because of low reading and math scores for Hispanic & English Language Learner (ELL) students and in reading for students with disabilities. The high school did not make AYP in math for economically disadvantaged students. Schools and the district are measured each year by the progress made by students in eight subcategories.
“We’re pleased with the academic progress our students are making as measured by the Colorado Student Assessment Program (CSAP), and we are glad to see test scores continue to rise,” said Superintendent Brad Meeks. “It is important to note that the target scores our students work to meet each year continue to increase, thus making it more difficult for schools and districts to make AYP under the present system. It is for this reason that multiple measures are necessary to evaluate the progress of a school district. A great example of this is the district’s recent recognition by the Colorado Department of Education (CDE) in 2010 and 2011 as a district Accredited with Distinction, which uses several measures to determine academic achievement by students in a school district. With that being said, our staff will analyze the data and make improvements to the teaching and learning process to better the education of all students.”
In order to make “Adequate Yearly Progress,” scores on the CSAP tests at schools must increase by amounts set by the CDE to comply with the requirements of NCLB. If overall scores don’t improve by those measures, or if scores for any of eight targeted population cells don’t improve enough, the school is deemed not to be making AYP. The targeted cells include economic, racial, primary language and special education categories.
According to NCLB legislation, schools must reach 100 percent proficiency on state standardized tests by 2014 and must make progress toward that goal every year. CDE recently submitted a waiver from the NCLB requirements to the US Department of Education and requested that the state’s system of academic accountability be used instead.