Annual Schools Report Sparks Concern

Only two of the eight schools in the Manassas City school system met the federal government’s Adequate Yearly Progress standards for the 2010-2011 school year, according to data from the Virginia Department of Education.

Meeting Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) requires a school or school division to meet at least 28 benchmarks set by the No Child Left Behind Act.  The Manassas City School system fell short, meeting only 17 benchmarks.

George Carr Round and Weems elementary schools were the only two schools to make AYP by passing 29 elements of the 28 needed. 

Osbourn High School was the furthest from meeting AYP standards, passing just 16 of the benchmarks.

Annual Yearly Progress is determined through a combination of reading and mathematic benchmarks and Standards of Learning test results.

Out of the 84 Prince William County schools, 62 did not make the Adequate Yearly Progress standards set by the No Child Left Behind Act, according to the VDOE. 

Virginia Superintendent of Public Instruction Patricia I. Wright said in a statement that she would recommend that the Board of Education ask U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan for a waiver from No Child Left Behind Act requirements and the ability to create a new accountability system for the commonwealth.

“Accountability is not advanced by arbitrary rules and benchmarks that misidentify schools,” she said.

According to the Virginia Department of Education, 697, or 38 percent of the 1,839 schools in the state, made AYP based on last school year’s test results, while 61 percent made AYP during the previous ratings cycle.

The No Child Left Behind Act requires that states set annual student achievement goals in reading and math, which will lead to 100-percent proficiency by 2014.

Editor’s Note: This is the first in a series of school stories examining the SOL and AYP statistics for Manassas area schools.