New Federal Requirements Show Alameda County Students Improving Academically

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New Federal Requirements Show Alameda County Students Improving Academically
Friday, November 14, 2003

HAYWARD - Federally required data released today by the California Department of Education reveal for the first time that Alameda County schools with sub-groups made more progress than schools in general.

Superintendent Sheila Jordan announced the results of the 2003 Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) reports today for Alameda County. “This data shows that we are beginning to see academic improvement at schools with higher populations of African American, English learners and Socioeconomic Disadvantaged students,” said Jordan. “It’s a sign that the focus and dedication of our schools to shrink the achievement gap is beginning to pay off.”

Looking at this data in terms of the achievement gap, it shows that Alameda County schools are continuing to improve. Most impressive, for the AYP API measure, sub-groups outperform all schools together.

For schools reporting data in Phase 2, these percentages met the requirements:

	All schools	Schools with an African American sub-group	Schools with an English Learner sub-group	Schools with an Socioeconomic Disadvantaged sub-group
AYP API growth requirement	88%	94%	95%	95%
High School graduation rate requirement	89%	69%	80%	83%

The purpose of the 2003 AYP Phase II report is to determine if each of the schools as well as the districts meets the second phase of the requirements. The second phase requires that all schools and districts either have a minimum score of 560 for the 2003 Academic Performance Index (API) Growth or show growth in the API from 2002 to 2003 of at least one point. In addition, Phase II requires that all high schools and districts have a graduation rate of at least 82.8 percent or show other improvements.

The data also shows strong academic achievement by sub-groups, with improvement needed in the high school graduation rate requirement.

94% of schools with an African American sub-group met the AYP Phase 2 criterion requiring API growth
69% of schools with an African American sub-group met the AYP Phase 2 high school graduation requirement.
95% of schools with an English Learner sub-group met the AYP Phase 2 criterion requiring API growth;
80% of schools with an English Learner sub-group met the AYP Phase 2 high school graduation rate requirement;
95% of schools with a Socioeconomic Disadvantaged sub-group met the AYP Phase 2 criterion requiring API growth;
83% of schools with a Socioeconomic Disadvantaged sub-group met the AYP Phase 2 high school graduation rate requirement.

“The Alameda County Office of Education will use this data to continue our focus on the schools where we know our programs and services can make a difference in shrinking the achievement gap. We will continue the sustained, long-term, and collaborative professional development – teachers working together to help their students improve,” said Jordan.