How much does Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) matter to schools?
Nearly 90 percent of Baltimore city schools failed to make adequate yearly progress (AYP) this year, a sharp uptick from the number of schools that did in previous years--and experts say it is quite possibly one of the highest percentages noted of any district in the country. But, it also leads a trend taking place throughout the state and the country, as more schools have failed to meet AYP every year.
An interesting trend this year showed that the highest performers in the city were among those that didn't make the marks, spurring a debate about the increasing pressure and demands of the No Child Left Behind Act, which requires that 100 percent of students be proficient in reading and math by 2014. By then, the U.S. Dept. of Education has predicted, the majority of schools in America will be considered failures under the law.
We wrote the story, outlining the reactions from CEO Andres Alonso, school leaders, and education experts about what this means for city schools. NCLB and education policy experts say that despite NCLB's flaws, the city's percentage is sobering, and our educators should take note of how many students are meeting proficiency levels.
Alonso, who says he has always denounced AYP as a sufficient measure of achievement and progress, said that he anticipates that in one or two years no city schools would be making AYP because the goals will be unattainable. Alonso also said in an interview that he has never fired a principal for not making AYP, and