Achievement targets increase, Title I schools on improvement remain steady
Today the Kansas Department of Education released its list of Title I schools (schools that receive federal support due to high poverty) that are “on improvement” for the 2009-10 school year under No Child Left Behind. The Wichita Public Schools has nine schools on the improvement list for 2009, the same number of schools on improvement in 2008. The schools that are listed as on improvement for 2009 are Enterprise, Clark, Linwood and Spaght Elementary Schools and Curtis, Hamilton, Jardine, Pleasant Valley and Truesdell Middle Schools.
Under No Child Left Behind, Title I schools that do not make Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) for two consecutive years are indentified for improvement. Once a school has been identified for improvement, it must make AYP for two consecutive years to be off improvement.
Two schools that are on improvement but made AYP in 2009 are Enterprise and Clark. Both schools made significant gains in both reading and math and if they make AYP again this year, they will be off the improvement list.
Two schools, Cloud Elementary and Irving Elementary, were on improvement in 2008. Both schools have made AYP in 2008 and 2009 and are now off the improvement list.
Linwood and Spaght Elementary schools are on improvement for the first time in 2009.
At Enterprise, all students made a 15% gain in reading and a 3.2% gain in math, with one of the school’s subgroups making a 30% gain in reading. At Clark, all students made a 24.5% gain in reading and a 33% gain in math, with one of the school’s subgroups making a nearly 40% gain in math.
“I am so proud of the hard work our teachers and students did last year. Not just with the state assessments, but in every aspect of improving student achievement,” said Pam Stead, principal at Enterprise. “We were focused on what was best for kids and I believe we will keep that focus to improve even more.”
Schools that did not make AYP will continue to receive intensive support for teacher and student needs.
Adequate Yearly Progress, or AYP, is a set of standards that are set each year based on student performance on the Kansas assessments. Click here to see how the standards and scores increase dramatically each year, with every student having to meet proficiency by 2014. For 2009, reading targets for elementary and middle schools increased 4.1% and high schools increased 4.7%. Math targets for elementary schools increased 4.4% and high schools increased 5.9%.
“I have been impressed with the focus on each child that I see from staff across the district,” said Wichita Superintendent John Allison. “Wichita is poised to achieve success like very few urban districts across the country. I believe that our 2009 assessment results will show Wichita’s student achievement has increased yet again, and the entire community can take great pride in the accomplishments of our students and the commitment of our staff.”
August 11, 2009