Measuring "adequate" progress from year-to-year, AYP is part of the federal No Child Left Behind Act. To meet the federal AYP requirements, 60% of all students in public schools must reach state standards in English/language arts (up from 50% last year) and 59% of students must meet state standards in mathematics (up from 49% last year). The percentage of students reaching standard will continue to go up until it is 100% in 2014.

For Salem-Keizer, here is a summary of the preliminary AYP ratings:

• >>> 36 schools out of 65 (that received a rating) MET AYP.
• >>> 33 Salem-Keizer elementary schools out of 47 MET AYP
• >>> 3 Salem-Keizer secondary schools out of 18 MET AYP

These ratings are preliminary and might change. Final ratings come out later this fall. Ratings are calculated based on several criteria including the performance of student groups like Students with Disabilities, English Language Learners, Economically Disadvantaged. If any one piece of the requirements is not met... the entire school receives a NOT MET rating.

This is our first review of the AYP ratings. Anything less than 100% meeting AYP is not acceptable to us. District staff and our community are working together to improve student performance, and continue to increase student success. Our strategic plan for 2008-09 is focused on academic improvement...including implementing a Formative Assessment system. That means our teachers will have access to student data that will help them create lesson plans that build on student-academic strengths and address weaknesses.

View the complete Strategic Plan online at http://www.salkeiz.k12.or.us/content/2008-09-strategic-plan