DOE Releases AYP Results and High School Test Scores

Participation in SAT is higher in spring 2008

September 8, 2008

AUGUSTA – The Maine Department of Education today released the results of the Maine High School Assessment, which includes the May 2008 administration of the SAT, and also released the yearly listing of Maine schools that made or did not make Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) according to the federal No Child Left Behind Act.

Maine High School Assessment (including the SAT)

A higher percentage of high school juniors took the SAT last spring – 96 percent compared to 95 percent – than the previous year. This was the third year in a row that the SAT reasoning test, plus a math supplement, and this year a science supplement, are being used as the grade 11 assessment in place of the previous Maine Educational Assessment test.

“More kids are taking the SAT, they’ve come to expect it as the norm, and our teachers and administrators are now also used to the routine,” said Education Commissioner Susan A. Gendron.

This year’s performance showed minor improvements over last year’s. The percentage of students meeting or exceeding the standards in reading rose from 46 to 48 percent. In mathematics, it rose from 40 to 41 percent. In writing, the percentage meeting or exceeding expectations fell from 47 to 45 percent. The gender difference was minimal. In reading, girls averaged a scaled score of 1142 compared to 1140 for the boys. In both mathematics and science, boys averaged one point higher. In writing, girls scored four points higher than boys. Nationally, the differences are greater, especially in mathematics, where boys scored on average 33 points higher than girls on the SAT, and in writing, where girls scored 13 points higher on average.

“We are seeing more kids taking the test and performance in most areas rise gradually,” Gendron said. “To see 96 percent of our 11th graders show up for four hours of rigorous testing on a Saturday morning is heartening. I think the SAT has firmly taken hold in our state.”

Maine was the first state in the nation to use the SAT as part of its grade 11 assessment. Gendron contended the use of the SAT would raise aspirations for high school students, and also argued that the skills and content knowledge needed by high school students entering the work force are similar to those necessary for students going on to college.

Initially, the US Department of Education told Maine the SAT could not be used to assess its students, but by producing information, making its case, and agreeing to administer 18 supplemental mathematics questions (called the “math augmentation”), Maine was able to convince the USDE to approve the assessment tool. The feds finally gave full approval to Maine’s assessment system, including the use of the SAT, in April 2008.

This year’s grade 11 assessment now also includes a science supplement. The science results must also be reported to the federal government, but do not count in determining AYP status. Because science was not included the previous year, no year-to-year comparison can be made.

Dan Hupp, director of assessment for the Department, is using the release of results as an opportunity to remind students, parents, teachers and administrators of the free preparation materials available to them.

“Since the inception of the SAT Initiative three years ago, the Department has contracted with the College Board to make available to all Maine public high school students year-round access to the SAT Official On-Line Course, free of charge,” Hupp said. “The same benefit is also extended to all high school faculty and administration. This message has not filtered down to many students and their parents and in many schools this resource remains either unused or underused.”

More information about the Maine High School Assessment (MHSA) and timelines can be found at: http://www.maine.gov/education/mhsa/index.htm

Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP)/ No Child Left Behind Act

Thirteen schools that had been on the “priority list” for not making AYP came off the list this year (with another three expected, pending review). Another 19 schools that had been on the list made progress last school year and could come off the list if they make progress again this year (another five are expected, pending review). Meanwhile, 31 schools were added to the priority list for the first time this year.

The federal No Child Left Behind Act requires states to assess students in grades 3 through 8 and grade 11. To “make AYP” a school must meet the participation and proficiency targets in math and reading or, if they don’t meet a target, show adequate progress in that content area. Five subgroups (American Indian, African American, economically disadvantaged, limited English proficient, and students with disabilities), as well as the whole school, must each make AYP; if any one group does not make progress in either reading or math, the school does not make AYP. In addition, the participation level in accountability testing must be at least 95 percent in each category. Average daily attendance by each group must be at least 90 percent in grades 3 through 8; for high schools, the graduation rate must be 65 percent or greater.

The first year a school does not make AYP it is put on “monitor” status. If it does not make AYP a second year in a row, the school becomes a “Continuous Improvement Priority”, or CIPS, school. Each year a school does not make AYP it advances – from CIPS1 to CIPS2, and so on. A CIPS school that makes AYP goes on “hold” and if it makes AYP a second year in a row, it moves off the list.

Highlights and key results:

The targets for high school increased this year. Instead of 50 percent of students meeting or exceeding expectations in reading, schools had to have 57 percent of students meeting or exceeding. The targets increase over time and will reach 100 percent by 2014. In mathematics at the high school level, 31 percent of students had to meet or exceed expectations in order for the school to make AYP, up from 20 percent last year.
Sixty-two percent of schools made AYP this year.
Seventeen percent are in monitor status, meaning they are in their first year not making AYP; and 16 percent of schools are on the priority list.
More schools did not make AYP this year in mathematics and in reading: last year, 121 schools did not make AYP in reading and this year the number was 139; in mathematics last year, the number was 74; this year it was 117. (These numbers include the schools that did not make AYP in both reading and mathematics. For this year 73 schools did not make AYP in reading only; 51 schools did not make AYP in mathematics only; 66 schools did not make AYP in both reading and mathematics.)
The majority of schools that did not make AYP missed the performance targets in only one subgroup (70 percent in reading; 79 percent in mathematics). Students with disabilities accounted for the largest percentage of schools not making AYP: 50 percent in reading and 65 percent in mathematics.
Seven schools did not make AYP because they did not file attendance reports or did not make the 95 percent participation target.
A total of 103 schools are in priority status (CIPS1 to CIPS5) out of 632 schools total.
The status of 31 schools is still pending as the Department seeks additional data from the schools.

Summary of schools status:

391 schools made AYP, including 13 schools that were removed from priority status because they made AYP two years in a row.
107 schools are on “monitor” status, meaning they did not make AYP in at least one subject for the first time; if they do not make AYP again this year, they will go onto the priority list.
103 schools are on the priority list, including the following:
- 19 schools that were on priority status are “on hold,” meaning they made AYP in 07-08 and will exit priority status if they make AYP again this year.
- 23 schools that were on hold last year did not make AYP and remain on the priority list.
- 30 schools that were on the priority list last year did not make AYP in 07-08 and remain on the list
- 31 schools were added to the priority list because they did not make AYP two years in a row.
31 schools are pending review

Complete AYP results, as well as an AYP Fact Sheet and additional AYP information can be found online at: http://www.maine.gov/education/pressreleases/ayp

The results of the Maine High School Assessment can be found at: http://www.maine.gov/education/mhsa/school_reports.htm

The results of the grades 3 through 8 MEA (released earlier this year) can be found at: http://www.maine.gov/education/mea/edmea.htm

David Connerty-Marin, Director of Communications, Maine Department of Education 207-624-6880

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DOE Releases AYP Results and High School Test Scores