No Child Left Behind
Under the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB), school districts are required to provide parents and community members with a detailed report about student achievement in their schools. This report contains data from the 2003 and 2004 Pennsylvania System of School Assessment (PSSA) tests for students in grades 5, 8, and 11, in Mathematics and Reading. Because the intent of NCLB is to ensure that every child regardless of their background is achieving, student achievement data are provided by race, ethnicity, gender, English language proficiency (students whose native language is not English), migrant status, disability status and low-income status. The report also contains information about the attendance of students in grades kindergarten through eight and the graduation rate of high school students.
The report lists the percentage of students in the district, the school and in each subgroup who are achieving at the Advanced and Proficient levels compared with students in the state. Students at the Proficient level have demonstrated a solid understanding and an adequate display of skills included in the Pennsylvania Academic Standards. Standards define what each student should know and do in a core set of subjects. Students at the Advanced level have demonstrated superior academic performance indicating an in-depth understanding and exemplary display of the skills. The goal of No Child Left Behind is to have every student at the Proficient level by the year 2014. Every year schools are expected to make Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) toward this goal.
Pennsylvania established the following AYP targets for 2004:
• 45% of students proficient or above in reading
• 35% of students proficient or above in math
• 95% student participation in the PSSA
• Improvement in attendance/graduation rates
If a school or district does not meet its AYP in the first year, it is placed in “warning” status. Warning means that the school fell short of the AYP targets but has another year to achieve them. If a school does not meet AYP for two consecutive years, it is designated as needing improvement and is placed in the School Improvement I category. With each year that follows, if the school does not meet AYP, it moves through a progression of categories — School Improvement II, Corrective Action I, and Corrective Action II. Each of these categories requires action on the part of the school district and communication to parents.
KEY
# – Number of students tested in subgroup
AYP – Adequate Yearly Progress
1 = Met AYP
2 = Making Progress
3 = Warning
4 = School Improvement 1
5 = School Improvement 2
6 = Corrective Action 1
7 = Corrective Action 2
8 = Corrective Action 2 (second year)
A+P% – Percentage of students who scored at either the Proficient or Advanced level.
IEP – Individualized Education Program. These are students enrolled in special education programs.
LEP – Limited English Proficiency. Students whose native language is not English.
Econ. Disad. – Students from families with an income level that meets eligibility requirements for free and reduced lunches.
(In order to protect the identity of students, the percentage of students at the Advanced + Proficient (A+P%) level is left blank if there are less than 10 students in the subgroup.)
Note: When the number of students for 2003-2004 in a subgroup nearly doubles, the Pennsylvania Department of Education used 2 years of data to determine AYP Status.
http://www.pde.state.pa.us/pas/cwp/view.asp?a=3&Q=94636&pasNav=|6134|&pasNav=|6326|
NCLB 2002-2003 Report card
NCLB 2003-2004 Report card