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GREENSBORO — At Alderman Elementary, it was a team focus on lifting math scores. At Guilford Middle, students took the lead for charting growth. And at Kirkman Park Elementary, striving for excellence was mandated, not optional.

Each Guilford County school had its own strategy this past year for meeting federal testing standards. Collectively, the efforts led to a record performance for the district, according to preliminary data released Tuesday.

More than 69 percent of the county’s schools made AYP during the 2008-09 year. That’s up from a 30.1 percent success rate last year.

“That is the highest percentage since the inception of AYP,” Superintendent Maurice “Mo” Green said.

Adequate Yearly Progress is the federal accountability standard under the No Child Left Behind Act. Standardized reading and math test scores are used to determine whether a school makes AYP.

Each school is subdivided into subgroups of 40 or more students. Those subgroups include children who qualify for free or reduced lunch; children with disabilities; and children with limited English skills.

Every subgroup has target goals for academic achievement, and each group has to meet its goal for a school to “make” AYP. If one subgroup fails, the whole school fails.

Those results are important because the government uses them as a benchmark for whether a school needs help or — worse — sanctions for poor performance.

Leaders credited this year’s results to strong leadership from principals and collaboration among teachers.

Teachers volunteered numerous hours before and after school to work with students, and parents also got involved.
But there were also some changes this year in how AYP results were calculated that most likely had a huge impact on Guilford’s gains.

For instance, for students in grades three through eight, schools were allowed to use the first retest if the results were higher than the original test scores.

This is an idea that schools — which use retests in deciding whether a student is promoted — had long supported, said Lou Fabrizio, director of accountability policy and communications with the state Department of Public Instruction.

Next year, initial retests on end-of-course tests will be allowed to be configured into AYP results, he said.

While touting their achievement, Guilford leaders were mindful of what Green called the “all or nothing” nature of AYP.

Just because a school “fails” AYP doesn’t necessarily make it a dysfunctional school.

For this reason, the AYP data is viewed as a snapshot of a school’s progress, said Beth Folger, the district’s chief academic officer. “I do see it as just one piece of information, and it’s a good piece of information,” she said.

The results mean good news for several specific schools, including Archer and Alderman elementary schools. Both have met AYP for the past two years now and will have federal sanctions lifted.

Those sanctions, which vary, could include responses such as extra tutoring or complete school restructuring.

Guilford County was not alone Tuesday in improving its scores.

Rockingham County Schools also reported significant gains with 75 percent of its schools making AYP.

Those results do not include the district’s alternative school — the Score Center — nor the Early College High School. This is also Rockingham’s best AYP showing since the measure was implemented.

Superintendent Rodney Shotwell said that the scores highlight the dedication among the administration, teachers, students and parents.

“Our focus in the coming year will be on the continued implementation of elementary, middle and high school improvement initiatives, along with the retention of the best teachers and sustained support for all teachers in order to ensure that this rate of success continues and that our students are achieving at their highest possible levels,” he said.

In Alamance County, 22 of the 34 schools in the Alamance Burlington School System that test for AYP met federal requirements. That’s up from just seven of 35 schools last year.

Results will not be official until the state board of education approves them next month.

Contact Jonnelle Davis at 627-4881, Ext. 126, or jonnelle.davis@news-record.com