Making the Cut
Sarah Cohen
February 22, 2010
Filed under News
In 2001 former President George W. Bush signed the No Child Left Behind Act. Odds are most of us were between the ages of 5 and 9 and let’s face it, when kids are between those ages it’s hard to care about anything except what time Spongebob comes on.
The No Child Left Behind Act regulated all public schools in America. It forever changed the way that the school system ran. Regulations on Special Ed programs, Graduation Rates, English as a Second Language, Minority Groups, and many other subcategories were set up where there were none.
Fast forward nine years. We are in high school and we hear about AYP, school report cards, and meeting the standard. But why should we care? Many of you reading this article do not fall into any of those above listed categories. Many of you haven’t seen a difference in the way the school system runs. Many of you do not know what the big deal is.
The big deal is AYP and it affects all of us, whether we know it or not.
AYP stands for Adequate Yearly Progress. In essence, it is a report card for the school. People evaluate our school and our test scores and check to make sure that students who are limited English proficiency students, students with disabilities, students eligible for free and reduced price meals, and white, black, Asian Pacific Islander, American Indian, and Hispanic students meet the requirements for their grade level. It is a way to make sure that schools meet the standards laid out, and North Augusta High School does not meet them. For the first time, North Augusta High School failed to make adequate yearly progress.
This may come as a shock to some. North Augusta High School (until this coming up year) offers the International Baccalaureate Program, one globally known for academic prestige. We always go, and place, in Nationals in Beta Club and in FBLA. We have tons of students in the National Merit Society, and tons of students involved in all kinds of academic clubs. So is it a surprise that North Augusta doesn’t make AYP? Maybe not.
According to assistant principal Mr. Bradley “bigger schools have a harder time making AYP because they have more students to be accountable for.”
North Augusta High School did not make AYP because of a low grade in African American reading and math test score, a low grade in Special Ed reading and math test score, a low grade in Reduced Lunch Students reading and math test score, and a low graduation rate. To further understand why our school does not meet these requirements it’s essential to dissect certain parts.
Bush signing the No Child Left Behind Act in 2001
Why is our Special Ed program lacking? An answer can be found in the testing methods of the Special Education department. Special Education is a place where students who were unable to learn and understand at their age and grade level are taught at a level at which they can understand. The problem comes when Special Education students, according to AYP, must be tested at their age appropriate levels. For example, a Special Education sophomore reads at a third grade level. This student will be taught at third grade level, but will be tested at a tenth grade level. When the students do not pass the tests, the school’s AYP grade suffers.
The graduation rate grading sings almost the same, unfair tune. If a student enters into a South Carolina High School in ninth grade, they must graduate within a four-year period or the school that they are currently attending will lose graduation rate points. For example, a student enrolls in North Augusta High School the last half of his senior year. The student is failing in every subject with no hopes of bringing his grades to passing level within the next semester. This student will not graduate, and North Augusta High School will lose points for him.
There are other areas that North Augusta High School has to improve such as the reading and math test score levels of African Americans and Reduced Lunch students. While many people would like to point fingers and offer reasons (or excuses) for these shortcomings, it is not beneficial to the school’s future success. The only way that North Augusta will be able to make the grade and pass AYP will be for the parties involved with the failing subgroups (teachers, students, parents, and administrators alike) to have a passion for fixing the problems.
So the question is, will North Augusta High School make AYP in the near future? “It all depends on the numbers” says Mr. Bradley. He continues on to say that “we have a lot of extremely bright, well-rounded students and teachers at North Augusta High School. I think we will have to work hard but we can eventually make it.”
Mr. Hudson adds that he thinks the key will be “parent involvement. Studies show that parent involvement increases the rate of student’s doing well in school. School is a community effort.”
To check out the school’s report card for 2009 click here
