The Jenkins County school system and the systems of all surrounding counties suffered the fate of not meeting AYP this year.

The Georgia Department of Education recently released the state’s AYP results, showing a sizable drop in the number of Georgia schools making AYP; 71 percent for 2010 compared to 86 percent in 2009.

AYP stands for “Adequate Yearly Progress” based on guidelines outlined by the Federal No Child Left Behind Act. It consists of three parts-test participation, academic achievement and a second indicator, usually graduation and attendance rates. All students at a school, as well as subgroups of students, must meet the standards in all the categories in order to make AYP. These academic standards, referred to as AMOs (Annual Measurable Objective), increased for the 2009-2010 year in the areas of math grades 3-8 and the high school graduation rate. The AMOs will continue to increase in the race toward the NCLB goal of 100 percent proficiency by 2014.

Locally, for the eighth consecutive year, Jenkins County Elementary School (JCES) has achieved AYP status for the school term. Jenkins County Middle School (JCMS) and Jenkins County High School (JCHS) did not make AYP.

JCMS met the AYP criteria in eight out of nine categories. The school did not meet the standard for Academic Performance with the black subgroup in math. The required standard for math increased to 67.6 percent, up from 59.5 percent in 2009. The percentage of all students meeting and exceeding the math standards was 69.7 percent, up from 68.1 percent in 2009, and exceeding the AMO by 2.1 points. The percentage of black students meeting standards in math was 57.6 percent. The reading/English language arts continue to rise each year with 90 percent of all students meeting and exceeding standards.

JCHS met the AYP criteria in three of seven categories. Due to increased Georgia High School Graduation Test (GHSGT) standards and a graduation rate requirement of 80 percent, JCHS fell short of the AYP destination. The graduation rate is up to 70.2 from 2009’s 69.2 percent. JCHS students continue their trend of doing well on the GHSGT with 88.4 percent of first time test-takers passing in the area of mathematics (scoring 500 or higher); however, a score of 516 is needed to make the AYP objective. The scores for percentage of first-time test takers passing the GHSGT in English/language arts was 85.4; the AMO was set at 87.7 percent.

Jenkins County School Superintendent Melissa Williams, said, “Unfortunately, no high school in the surrounding counties met AYP for 2009. Increased standards and graduation rates continue to challenge our students and teachers to work even harder. Georgia Department of Education will release an amended AYP report in the fall that may affect the AYP status of Jenkins County schools, as it will include scores from summer retests, summer graduates and appeals.”