Clarke County Democrat

Clarke school system makes AYP standards

CCHS and JHS do not make goals but closed CHS does


The Clarke County public school system met Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) requirements in the 2010- 11 school year but remains on a school improvement list because of previously not making AYP.

However, Clarke County High School and Jackson High School did not make AYP this year, or 100 percent of AYP goals and are listed as School Improvement schools.

It takes two years of not making AYP to be designated a School Improvement school. Likewise, it takes two years of making AYP for a school to progress out of School Improvement status.

JHS is in its second year of being on a School Improvement list and CCHS is now in its third year.

Ironically, Coffeeville High School, the school that the Clarke County Board of Education voted to close earlier this year, made AYP goals last year as well as the year before that.

Students from CHS are being divided between CCHS and JHS this year, schools that did not make AYP.

Clarke County’s other schools also made AYP, including Grove Hill Elementary and Wilson Hall Middle Schools in Grove Hill, and Gillmore Elementary, Jackson Intermediate and Jackson Middle Schools in Jackson.

The Thomasville city school system also made AYP but two of its three schools did not, Thomasville Middle School and Thomasville High School. Thomasville Elementary achieved AYP.

Statewide, 73 percent of Alabama’s 1,383 public schools made the tough academic standards set by the federal No Child Left Behind Act. However, that is down slightly from last year’s 75 percent achievement rate.

Forty-nine school systems and 377 schools statewide did not make AYP goals.

The state overall did not meet standards and that was attributed to low test scores by special education students.

The AYP standards are based on reading and math test cores.

Alabama’s AYP graduation rates improved from 87 percent to 88 percent for the Class of 2010. The state’s goal is 90 percent. Some educators acknowledge the inaccuracy of the graduation rating formula and suggest that the actual rate is likely much lower.



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