Floyd County Schools continued its consistent performance on the No Child Left Behind report of Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP).  All but one Floyd County School met all performance goals set by the state of Georgia and that one school, Coosa High School, only missed the mark in one category.  This was also the first time that Coosa High had not met all benchmarks for AYP.  The system missed the benchmarks set by the state in only four out of 100 categories for 2008.  This continues the trend of strong performance by Floyd County Schools over the last five years. 

The AYP Report was released by the Georgia Department of Education on Friday, July 25, 2008.  No Floyd County School was listed in the Needs Improvement category for 2008.  Schools must fail to make AYP for two or more years in a row to be listed as Needs Improvement.  For 2008, the system made 96 of the 100 indicators required by the state to make AYP.  Comparing past years, in 2003, Floyd County made 90 out of the 100 AYP indicators.  In 2004, the system made 98 of 100. In 2005, the system made AYP by meeting all 100 indicators.  In 2006, the system made 98 of 100 indicators.  In 2007, the system made AYP with 100 indicator benchmarks met.  “The system has continued to perform consistently well on AYP reports,” commented Dr. Lynn Plunkett, superintendent of Floyd County Schools. “I am very pleased with the performance of our system and schools on this very complex assessment instrument.”  The system must meet benchmarks on participation, test scores on standardized tests, graduation rate for high schools and attendance for K-8 schools.  With all subgroups included there are exactly 100 indicators for the school system to meet to make AYP.

In looking at the school level data over a five-year period, there have been 95 opportunities for our schools to make AYP (19 schools x 5 years) over the five years.  Of those 95 opportunities, Floyd County Schools have made AYP 92 times or 97% of the time.  It is also important to note that the requirements for meeting AYP have increased each year over those five years.  In Floyd County Schools, no school has failed to make AYP in consecutive years and each of the three schools not meeting AYP all missed by only one annual measurable objective.  Coosa High missed making AYP on the Georgia High School Graduation Test math section in the subgroup of economically disadvantaged students.

Floyd County Schools also posted its highest graduation rate ever on the 2008 AYP report.  Floyd County Schools raised the graduation rate from 73.1% in 2007 to 77.7% in 2008.  Model High School posted the highest graduation rate at 80.2% which was also the largest increase for schools in the system.  Armuchee High had a graduation rate of 79.4%, Coosa High was at 73.1% and Pepperell High was 78.3%.  Dr. Plunkett concluded,”we are very pleased with our AYP report but we will continue to monitor student performance and make adjustments to provide the best possible opportunity for success to each and every child in Floyd County Schools.”

The No Child Left Behind Act is a federal law that holds the basic belief that every child can learn and that no child should be left behind.  Georgia uses the Criterion-Referenced Competency Tests (CRCT) as the AYP assessment tool for the elementary and middle grades.  The Georgia High School Graduation Test (GHSGT) is the assessment tool for high schools.  The state also uses a secondary indicator for schools.  For Floyd County Schools, the secondary indicator is attendance in elementary and middle schools.  The graduation rate is the secondary indicator for high schools.