NK, CC schools reach full accreditation, short on AYP

Public schools in both New Kent and Charles City counties are fully accredited for the current school year, based on results from last spring’s state Standards of Learning tests.

But not all schools attained “Adequate Yearly Progress” under complicated and often confusing requirements set by the federal No Child Left Behind Act. In fact, neither school division as a whole made AYP.

In Charles City, the county’s elementary and middle schools fell short, and in New Kent, the middle school just missed AYP by what amounts to a single student.

The state Department of Education released SOL and AYP results last week. New Kent school officials unveiled scores during the Sept. 13 county School Board meeting.

New Kent Middle School missed AYP thanks to SOL test results from one subgroup — math performance by students with disabilities — out of 29 listed under No Child Left Behind. Had one additional student with disabilities passed the math SOL test, the school would have achieved a 10 percent reduction in failure rate over the year before and thus AYP, said Lynn Sodat, New Kent director of elementary instruction.

Overall New Kent scores, however, ranked will above respective benchmarks of 79.1 percent of students passing math and an 81.1 percent passing rate for reading/language arts. Results by school are:

New Kent Elementary- Grade 3-5 English 86; Math 90; Grade 3 History 94; History 88; Grade 3 Science 92; Science 91.

George Watkins Elementary- Grade 3-5 English 84; Math 89; Grade 3 History 95; History 83; Grade 3 Science 97; Science 86.

New Kent Middle- English 87; Math 79; History 86; Science 94.

New Kent High- English 96; Math 90; History 94; Science 92.

“We will continue to work on progress and address areas of weakness,” Sodat told board members during the Sept. 13 meeting.

All schools are expected to submit improvement plans for next spring’s battery of tests, but thus far, the state has not released benchmarks for the year, she said. The moving benchmark target rises each year, but only increased this year by one-tenth of a percentage point over the previous year.

Overall test results in Charles City also landed above respective benchmarks, leading to all schools being accredited. AYP, however, proved just out of reach.

After achieving AYP last year, Charles City Elementary fell short on the latest tests, missing the benchmark in three subgroups — English performance by all students, black students, and students classified as economically disadvantaged. Charles City Middle School, meanwhile, continued its string of not making AYP by falling short in the same three subgroups.

Charles City High School, however, reached AYP for the third straight year, according to Department of Education web site data. Results by school are:

Charles City Elementary- Grade 3-5 English 79; Math 90; Grade 3 History 83; History 79; Grade 3 Science 81; Science 94.

Charles City Middle- English 80; Math 84; History 81; Science 98.

Charles City High- English 94; Math 82; History 80; Science 79.

“We still have work to do, but we’re happy schools maintained accreditation,” Charles City superintendent Janet Crawley told county School Board members Tuesday night.

Crawley said board members will review test results and receive principals’ plans for improvement during an Oct. 5, 6 p.m. work session in the middle school library.

Complete SOL and AYP results and breakdowns are available on the Department of Education web site at www.doe.virginia.gov.