FITGERALD,GA., JULY 9, 2007:  â€œWe are pleased to report that every school in the Ben Hill County School District showed improvement in their Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) status during the 2006-07 school year,â€? said Dr. John R. Key, Superintendent of Education for the school district.  According to reports recently released by the Georgia Department of Education, three of the four schools in Ben Hill County achieved AYP. Specifically, Ben Hill County Primary School, Ben Hill County Elementary School, and Ben Hill County Middle School all met the criteria necessary to be classified, under the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB), as meeting AYP.

The percentage of schools, locally, meeting AYP is approximately what it is statewide, (81 percent statewide as opposed to 75 percent locally), and this represents an increase from 2005-2006 when two Ben Hill County Schools (Primary and Elementary) made AYP.   Both of these schools were recognized as Title I Distinguished Schools with the Primary School meeting this achievement plateau for the past 8 years, and the Elementary School achieving it for the past 5 years.

Ben Hill Middle School made AYP in all categories and with all subgroups.  This accomplishment puts the Middle School in a position to come off the “Needs Improvementâ€? list if AYP is made next year.  “We are proud of the hard work that Principal Jackie Hall and the entire Middle School staff have done during the 2007 school year,â€? said Dr. Key.  The new principal at the Middle School, Mrs. Patti Williams, has expressed her pride and confidence in the staff and students at the school in taking on the challenge of meeting AYP for the upcoming school year.

Mrs. Shirley Brooks, Chair of the Ben Hill Board of Education, stated, â€?The board is extremely proud of our students and faculty of all schools.  The board will continue to make governing decisions with student achievement as the primary goal.â€?

2007 Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) Overview Report

(Reference:  Georgia Department of Education  http://public.doe.k12.ga.us/ayp2007)

Although Fitzgerald High School did not meet AYP for this past school year, under the leadership of Dr. Morris Leis, substantial progress was made from the previous year’s results.  Implementing data- and research-based approaches in addressing the needs of the students, faculty and staff have worked diligently to provide necessary assistance to all students.  Increasing the overall graduation rate, and that of the various subgroups, was a high priority for both the administration and faculty, this year.   The results supported the effort in that the rate was increased from 49 percent in the 2005-06 school year, to 66 percent for this school year.  Throughout the year, the Ben Hill County Board of Education has monitored the anticipated graduation rate through monthly and bi-monthly reports from Dr. Leis, and from Mrs. Gail Stokes, Director of the Performance Learning Center (PLC).  This action kept the board abreast of the changes in the academic and instructional status of the school, and provided an in-depth analysis of the practical application of the various research-based activities and philosophies that were being implemented at the high school and PLC.

ABOUT AYP and NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND

The controversial No Child Left Behind Act is a federally mandated piece of legislation that compel all school districts that accept federal revenue to run their schools to meet certain requirements as set forth by the act.  In essence, states, in order to receive federal dollars, must agree to meet the requirements although they have no input into the compilation of the requirements.  Basically, to meet AYP, a school must meet federally required, state-set goals in test participation, academic achievement, and a “second indicatorâ€? statistic (which is always graduation rate for high schools and, usually, attendance rate, but can be academic in nature, for primary, elementary, and middle schools).

To meet the academic achievement goals, a school must have a certain percentage of students pass the state curriculum tests in math and reading/English language arts. All students and any qualifying subgroup of students, must meet those goals.  A subgroup is a group of students which comprised of 40 or more in membership in the area of race, students with disabilities, economically disadvantaged, gender, and other federally identified areas.

States are required, under NCLB, to develop specific criteria regarding levels of proficiency and when schools are to meet those levels.  Those percentages will continue to rise until 2014, when the NCLB Act mandates a 100 percent proficiency rate for all schools.  The U.S. Congress is in the process of reauthorizing No Child Left Behind. In Georgia, more than half of the schools that did not make AYP in 2006-2007 missed it because of the performance of one subgroup in one subject.  In some schools, as was the case with the Middle School last year, the school missed making AYP as the result of a handful of students in only one subgroup missing only two or three test questions which kept them from a “passingâ€? grade for the overall test.  Thus, when a school is classified as “Needs Improvement,â€? further scrutiny should take place if a true picture of the nature of the academic progress of the school is what is sought.

GRADUATION RATE

Fitzgerald High School’s 2007 graduation rate is 66 percent, an increase of 17 percentage points over the 2006 school year.  Comparatively, Georgia’s graduation rate, which serves as the second indicator for all high schools, increased slightly to 71.1 percent in 2006-2007. Both numbers could rise more as summer graduates are added.

Fitzgerald High school has implemented several programs that are underway and will help further boost its graduation rate:

•    A High School Graduation Coach is already in place, and an additional graduation coach has been employed for the middle school to begin next school year. The coaches are building relationships and using data to identify students who are at risk of dropping out.  These academic (graduation) coaches are undertaking extensive activities to help these at-risk students stay on track toward graduation.

•    The state’s new curriculum is still being implemented and provides more rigor, focus, and relevance in the core areas of math, English, social studies, and science.

•    The changes to Georgia’s Career, Technical, and Agricultural Education programs will make sure that students are seeing the relevance of what they are learning and can translate this learning into the work place.

•    We are continuing to embrace innovation by providing different options for learning, from the Performance Learning Center to career academies to virtual schools. One-size-fits-all is not an option in the 21st century.

MORE INFORMATION

If you would like to see more detailed information, please feel free to visit the Georgia Department of Education’s website in the AYP section, at - http://gadoe.org/ayp2007

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