St. Andrews Schools Struggle To Meet Federal Standards

Richland One schools in St. Andrews did not meet standards set by the federal government despite .

Only 13 of the 48 schools in the district as a whole met Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP). The school ratings dropped significantly this year because 80 percent of elementary and middle schools students had to score proficient on math and language arts tests to meet federal goals, according to a news release from the South Carolina State Department of Education. Last year, only 58 percent had to score proficient to meet the federal goals. 

A score of "met" on the South Carolina PASS test meets the federal standarad for proficient. This means that the student is able to perform at grade-level standard. 

Executive director of the South Carolina Education Association, Roger Smith, said the measurement system, which is part of No Child Left Behind, is flawed. 

"That would be like having 80 percent of the football team score a touchdown," Smith said. "That just doesn't happen." 

Schools have to make more progress than the year before, Smith said. If they don't, they don't meet AYP. 

Smith compared it to the Gamecocks being considered a failing team if they have a 11-1 season after a perfect 12-0 season. 

"It doesn't necessarily mean that the school's progress has declined," Smith said. "It just means that the AYP standards set for that school were unreasonable."  

Schools have a certain number of objectives based on the number of demographic categories a school has. Schools must meet all of the objectives to meet AYP. 

H.B. Rhame met 12 out of 13 objectives. Pine Grove met 10 out of 13 objectives. Sandel met 10 out of 13 objectives. St. Andrews Middle met 16 out of 17 objectives. Columbia High met 6 out of 13 objectives. None of the schools met AYP. 

Districts that don't meet AYP are given a district improvement status based on the number of years they've missed AYP. Richland One has missed AYP for four years, and is the "corrective action" category. This means the district must take action to meet the goals the next year.