Nine GCISD campuses met standards on the 2012 Adequate Yearly Progress Report (AYP) released Wednesday by the Texas Education Agency. GCISD campuses that met AYP are: Bransford Elementary, Colleyville Elementary, Grapevine Elementary, Heritage Elementary, O.C. Taylor Elementary, Colleyville Middle, Cross Timbers Middle, Heritage Middle schools and Bridges Accelerated Learning Center. The remaining nine campuses and the district did not meet federal accountability requirements.
AYP, a measure of student performance and participation included in the federal No Child Left Behind Act, uses the state assessment standards to determine results. Since the STAAR test was new and more rigorous, the state is not holding districts accountable on STAAR results in this first assessment year. However, the federal government did use these STAAR results for AYP determination.
“Through our LEAD 2021 strategic plan, we are continuing to increase the level of rigor in our classrooms not only to meet increasing state and federal requirements but, more important, to address the expectations of our community and better prepare our students for success beyond high school,” said Superintendent Dr. Robin Ryan. “While these ratings are one gauge of progress, there are other measures such as AP scores, SAT and PSAT, ACT and college admissions that, when considered collectively, provide a clearer picture of our teachers' innovative learning strategies and sound instructional practices and are more accurate indicators of students' increasing academic performance.”
Under AYP, all public schools, school districts and states are evaluated on three measures: reading/language arts, mathematics, and either graduation rate for high schools and districts or attendance rate for elementary and middle schools. AYP ratings address "all students" as a group and separately for students in six, federally identified student categories: African American, Hispanic, White, Economically Disadvantaged, Special Education and Limited English Proficient. All seven subgroups must meet all established standards on test performance, participation rates and graduation rates. When AYP was implemented as part of the No Child Left Behind Act, the established criterion was that 100 percent of students will be successful on all tests by 2013-2014, with the intent to have 100 percent of students graduate from high school. GCISD currently has four-year graduation rate of 95 percent and our teachers are working hard to make certain every student in our district receives the best possible education. That said, we take these and all student performance results seriously and will be working diligently with our students and staff to ensure the success of every student.
