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| 4 FL schools make AYP, 8 do not |
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| Wednesday, 06 August 2008 | |
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Three elementary schools and one junior high school in the Forest Lake Area School District made Adequate Yearly Progress on the most recent report by Minnesota state education officials, which was released late Tuesday night. Columbus Elementary, Scandia Elementary, Central Montessori Elementary and Century Junior High School all scored a perfect 18-out-of-18 in fulfilling the criteria established by the Minnesota Department of Education, which was created to fulfill the federal mandate established by the No Child Left Behind Act. The remaining eight schools in the district each fell short, and six of these schools missed the mark in only one or two categories. Nearly half of all public and charter schools in the state of Minnesota – 933 of the state’s 1947 schools – did not meet AYP standards this year, according to the MDE report. Overall, Forest Lake students ranked better than the state averages in both reading and math scores. In reading, 73.5 percent of Forest Lake students were proficient, and 63.6 percent were proficient in math. State averages were 70.7 percent in reading and 62 percent in math. AYP standards are based primarily on MCA-II test results. For a school to meet AYP standards, students in nine demographic categories – based on racial or socio-economic status, or on English language learner or special education designations – must meet the MDE’s student achievement criteria. Each of those demographic groups are then rated in both reading and math skills, creating a total of 18 categories. As few as 20 students could make up any given demographic group at any one school. Failure to meet even one of the 18 categories would prevent a school from meeting AYP requirements and places the school on the state’s “needs improvement” list. Of the eight Forest Lake schools that did not make AYP, four fulfilled every category but one. Southwest Junior High School and Forest View Elementary succeeded in every section but special education math, while Lino Lakes and Wyoming elementary schools fell short in special education reading. Forest Lake High School and Linwood Elementary School missed the mark in only two of the 18 categories: special education reading and special education math. The remaining two schools, Forest Lake Elementary and the Forest Lake Area Learning Center, each underperformed in three or more categories. Forest Lake Elementary School did not make AYP status in the following categories: special education students in reading and math; students with limited English language proficiency in reading; and students receiving free or reduced-price lunches in reading and math. Forest Lake Area Learning Center missed AYP for all students in reading and math. The MCA-II tests meet the requirements of the federal No Child Left Behind Act, and results are used to determine if schools have made AYP toward all students being proficient. Each year the percentage of students who must be proficient increases, with the ultimate goal of having 100 percent of students being proficient by 2014. As a district, Forest Lake Area Schools easily exceeded the 80-percent graduation requirement in 2008 with an overall graduation rate of 91.83 percent, and meeting or exceeding the AYP standards for all nine demographic groups. The district’s 95.35 percent attendance rate also exceeded the state’s standard of 90 percent. “Despite the fact that our overall student achievement consistently places us in the top half of all Minnesota public school districts, we still have a lot of work ahead of us in order to reach our own goals, much less fulfill the requirements of the No Child Left Behind Act,” said Superintendent Lynn Steenblock. “I’m certainly happy that our graduation and attendance rates continue to be extremely high. But, by virtue of the fact that we have schools that did not meet AYP standards, it means that we need to concentrate more of our efforts in certain areas, such as special education, English language learners and economically disadvantaged students.” Social Bookmarking ...       |
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