ATLANTA - The state Department of Education released the final AYP report for the year Thursday and it confirms that all Hall County schools made Adequately Yearly Progress, while for the Gainesville School System only the middle school failed to achieve AYP. In all, 20 school systems in northeast Georgia made AYP.
"For the first time in history, 100 percent of Hall County schools and the Hall County School District have made AYP," Hall County Schools Supt. Will Schofield noted. "Our entire team is to be congratulated and thanked for their focused efforts to achieve this goal."
Schofield went on to say "As we move forward, we will continue to align more of our local efforts and limited resources to rigorous and engaging 21st-century opportunities for all students. The workplace of today and tomorrow demands an ability to think critically, communicate in multiple modalities, have high proficiency with math and science, and possess a deep understanding of how to use the latest technology wisely and efficiently."
Schofield added that it will be the intent of the school system "to continue to lobby for sweeping changes in our national educational policy that currently is focused on narrowly defined low-level skills."
In all, 20 school systems in northeast Georgia made AYP this year: Banks County, Dawson County, Elbert County, Forsyth County, Gilmer County, Habersham County, Hall County, Jackson County, Lumpkin County, Oconee County, Oglethorpe County, Pickens County, Rabun County, Stephens County, Towns County, Union County, White County, Buford City, Commerce City, and Jefferson City.
The final state report includes summer retest scores and summer graduates.
Highlights of the Final AYP report, according to state Schools Superintendent Kathy Cox include:
- One-hundred fifty additional schools made AYP after summer retest scores and summer graduates were included. In total, 86 percent of Georgia's public schools made AYP in 2009, an increase of six percentage points from the final AYP report of 2008 (see list below).
- A total of 73 school districts - including Hall County - had all schools make AYP in 2009, an increase of 25 districts from 2008 (see list below).
- Sixteen (16) additional schools came out of Needs Improvement (NI) status this year compared to initial AYP results released in July (see list below). That means a total of 74 schools shook the NI label in 2009. Of the 74 schools, 17 were in "state-directed" improvement, the highest consequence level in Georgia.
"It takes a lot of hard work and focus to come out of Needs Improvement, especially for schools that have been in NI for a long period of time," Superintendent Cox said. "Our school improvement team has worked closely with these schools and we know they have done the right things to improve student achievement today and for years to come."
AYP is the formula used to determine if schools are meeting expectations under the federal No Child Left Behind Act. It consists of three parts -- test participation, academic achievement and another statistic, called a "second indicator." The academic goals continue to rise every few years toward a goal of 100 percent proficiency for all students by 2014. This year, all of the academic goals remained the same as 2008, although the graduation rate bar went up.
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.
In order 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. If a school did not make that goal, they could use a "second look" which means:
- Having a graduation rate that averaged 75 percent or higher over the past three years OR
- Having a graduation rate of at least 55 percent the previous year (2008) and showing a 10 percent improvement in the rate this year.
Tuesday
July 1st, 2025
7:47AM
