Wheeler, Feeder Schools Miss AYP Targets

Four East Cobb schools, all in the Wheeler High School district, were among 30 schools in the Cobb County School District that failed to meet 2010-11 Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) indicators released by the Georgia Department of Education Thursday.

, and and elementary schools did not achieve federal No Child Left Behind-mandated standards after reaching them for the 2009-2010 academic year. 

Cobb school officials pointed to an increase in the number of targets in the AYP, which measures schools according to a number of factors, including test participation, graduation and attendance rates and the performance of specific groups, including by ethnicity and English language proficiency. Last year, 17 Cobb schools missed AYP targets.

School officials were quick to point out that for some schools that didn't make the grade, it was a very close call. 

For example, Wheeler graduated 84.7 percent of its seniors, and would have made the required 85 percent threshold under AYP had one more senior received a diploma. Last year the graduation rate was 80 percent for high schools. 

Wheeler is likely to meet the new standard and thus pass AYP when summer graduations are factored into revised reports to be submitted to the state this fall.

Mathematics and English Language Arts measurements at the elementary and middle school levels also were raised. Brumby, Powers Ferry and East Cobb serve student populations that are among some of the most ethnically diverse and multilingual in the county. 

Both Brumby (11 of 12) and Powers Ferry (10 of 11) met all but one category in their respective criteria, falling short in overall academic performance. 

East Cobb Middle School met 12 of the 16 criteria for middle schools, and also did not reach academic performance goals. 

Overall, Cobb students met 95 percent of the AYP criteria, or 77 of the 81 measurements. That is up from 70 of 78 criteria in 2009-10. 

"Unfortunately, the first thing most people will see is that more of our schools did not make Adequate Yearly Progress this year, but that doesn't tell the whole story," Cobb Superintendent Michael Hinojosa said in a statement. "The reality is that under the No Child Left Behind Act the targets jumped significantly this year, and yet overall we met 95 percent of the indicators, which is higher than last year, 85 percent of our students met or exceeded standards, and we showed significant improvement in the performance of key student groups. Unless the law changes, the targets are going to continue to increase and more and more schools will not make AYP."