Only 38 percent of Va. schools reach goal
Fairfax County schools failed to meet federal testing benchmarks for the first time since 2007, as much of Virginia struggled under the stringent requirements of No Child Left Behind and top state officials said they would request a waiver.
Just four districts in Virginia — or 3 percent of the state — made “adequate yearly progress,” goals set by the federal government to have all students 100 percent proficient in reading and math by 2014. Alexandria and Arlington, Prince William, and Loudoun counties also missed AYP.
| Passing percentages | ||||||||||||
| Gains have slowed, but despite missing “adequate yearly progress” this year, Fairfax County is working to close a racial and socioeconomic achievement gap. | ||||||||||||
| 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | ||||||||
| All students | Reading: 87%, Math: 84% | Reading: 92%, Math: 87% | Reading: 93%, Math: 90% | Reading: 93%, Math: 92% | Reading: 93%, Math: 92% | |||||||
| Black | R: 75%, M: 67% | R: 80%, M: 73% | R: 84%, M: 79% | R: 85%, M: 83% | R: 87%, M: 83% | |||||||
| Hispanic | R: 69%, M: 68% | R: 84%, M: 73% | R: 87%, M: 78% | R: 86%, M: 82% | R: 86%, M: 85% | |||||||
| Limited English proficient | R: 68%, M: 72% | R: 84%, M: 77% | R: 88%, M: 81% | R: 87%, M: 84% | R: 85%, M: 86% | |||||||
| Economically disadvantaged | R: 68%, M: 67% | R: 81%, M: 72% | R: 85%, M: 78% | R: 86%, M: 82% | R: 85%, M: 84% | |||||||
| Students with disabilities | R: 66%, M: 61% | R: 77%, M: 68% | R: 84%, M: 78% | R: 85%, M: 82% | R: 85%, M: 81% | |||||||
| White | R: 94%, M: 91% | R: 96%, M: 92% | R: 97%, M: 94% | R: 97%, M: 95% | R: 97%, M: 96% | |||||||
| Source: Fairfax County Public Schools | ||||||||||||
The benchmarks have been widely criticized as being increasingly unrealistic, prompting U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan to announce waivers from some of No Child Left Behind’s requirements, including test-score goals.
Despite missing AYP, 93 percent of Fairfax students were proficient in reading on the state’s 2011 Standards of Learning exams, along with 92 percent in math. Performance remained constant or rose for all student subgroups except those with disabilities, whose pass rate dropped 1 percentage point to 82 percent; all subgroups must meet test score goals for a school or district to make AYP.
“Fairfax County Public Schools no longer considers adequate yearly progress (AYP) a true measure of our students’ achievement,” district Superintendent Jack Dale said. “Instead, we are focused on how many students in every subgroup are achieving from year to year, using SOL tests, among other assessments.”
Since 2007, Fairfax County schools have narrowed the achievement gap between black and Hispanic students and their white peers, who traditionally have performed better on both the reading and math exams. Only the gap between white and Hispanic students on the reading exam has refused to budge, at a 10-point spread.
Across the state, 697 schools, or 38 percent made AYP. The benchmarks were five points higher in reading and six points higher in math than in 2010, becoming tougher to meet every year.
In 2006, for instance, 73 percent of schools and 55 percent of Virginia’s districts made AYP.
“But then you get to a plateau — the going gets more and more difficult, because you’re getting down to the students that are most challenging,” said Charles Pyle, spokesman for Virginia’s education department.
“Accountability is not advanced by arbitrary rules and benchmarks that misidentify schools,” State Superintendent Patricia Wright said.
Wright pledged to pursue a waiver from the federal requirements, and to work with the state school board on “creating a new model for measuring yearly progress that maintains high expectations for student achievement.”
Loudoun and Prince William counties last made AYP in 2009. For Falls Church, it was 2007; for Arlington County, 2006. Alexandria has never made AYP.
