Liberal USD 480 �?? AYP and Improvement Status

Each year, the Kansas State Department of Education releases two lists: one that identifies schools and districts that did not meet the Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) targets and a second that indicates which Title I schools and districts are identified for some level of improvement – “on improvement, corrective action, or restructuring”. When the lists were released on August 9, it can be noted that the Liberal School District (math), Garfield Elementary (reading 1^st year), Sunflower Intermediate (math 1^st year), and South Middle School (reading and math) did not meet the AYP targets set for the 2010-2011 school year in reading and/or math. This does not reflect the actual gains made by these schools and the district.

When a Title I school or district fails to meet the AYP targets for two consecutive years in one of the tested areas for any group of students (comprised of 30 or more individuals) on which the district is required to report, the school or district is placed on improvement status. If the school or district continues to fail in meeting the moving targets, there are more advanced levels of improvement such as corrective action and restructuring. Along with this continuum of improvement levels come more severe sanctions for which the identified school and/or district are held accountable. The list of Title I Schools and Districts on Improvement for 2011 identify Liberal USD 480 in corrective action, South Middle School in restructuring, and Cottonwood Intermediate on improvement. Again, the labels don’t show the gains and improvement realized by the district and these two schools. Garfield and Sunflower that were mentioned above as failing to make AYP are considered “on watch” because this is the first year that they did not reach the target. Once a school or district has been identified for improvement and has had to write what is called an “integrated improvement” and implement that plan, it takes two consecutive years of making AYP to come off of improvement.