No schools in the Austin Public School district made Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) in 2009. AYP, a means of measuring achievement under the federal No Child Left Behind Act, is used to increase standards in schools. The goal is 100 percent proficiency in all schools by 2014.

Neveln Elementary was the only school of eight to make AYP in 2008.

The district must now enter into an improvement plan, said John Alberts, educational services director.

“We will be looking at our data and be looking at what areas to work on for improvement,” Alberts said.

District Made AYP?

Austin (all schools) No

Blooming Prairie No

B.P. secondary school Yes

Hayfield (all schools) Yes

LeRoy (all schools) No

Lyle (all schools) No

Southland (all schools) Yes

Title I dollars — funding received from the federal government — must now be set aside to work on improvement. Federal dollars must also be set aside to provide transportation for students in two schools — Sumner and Southgate elementaries — if they choose to attend other schools in the district. Students may only do so if there is vacancy in other schools.

To “get out” of the improvement plan, the district must meet AYP for two consecutive years.

“As the ramp increases, as we have more students who are required to be proficiency by 2014, it is going to be more challenging for districts to meet AYP,” Alberts said.

Alberts explained that AYP results can label a district in a misleading manner. Each school is measured in multiple “cells,” or subsections. Larger schools are measured in more cells. If a school fails one cell, they do not make AYP. For example, Ellis Middle School failed in five cells in 2008, but only three cells in 2009; however, it still did not make AYP.

“Theoretically, districts and schools can make gains, but if the gains aren’t made at the trajectory to make AYP by 2014, you aren’t making Adequate Yearly Progress,” Alberts said.

The Austin Public School District uses many other sources for measuring performance, including parent satisfaction surveys, ongoing data and ACT scores.

Superintendent David Krenz believes some AYP requirements are “pretty nonsensical.”

“We’re seeing improvement in our students, not at the dramatic rates that are required by federal government,” he said, adding that AYP does help the district learn to analyze data better.

Krenz said they were not making AYP in his previous district, La Crescent-Hokah, in special education.

“You’re not going to see anyway around not meeting AYP in certain areas,” he said.

In other area results, all schools in Southland and Hayfield districts made AYP. In Blooming Prairie, the secondary school did, while the elementary and district as a whole did not. No schools in Lyle and LeRoy districts made AYP in 2009.

Of the 2,202 Minnesota schools earning an AYP status in 2009, 1,066 made AYP compared to 984 schools in 2008. There were 1,048 schools that did not make AYP in 2009, up from 931 schools in 2008. Although there has been in increase in the number of schools making AYP, it is attributed to the higher number of schools now measured.