More state schools meet federal goals in federal testing

The law expects schools to continually improve student learning, with the intention that all students are proficient in math and reading by 2014. Schools that repeatedly fail are labeled "needs improvement" and face sanctions, ranging from requiring free tutoring to hiring new teachers to a possible state takeover.

Georgia's gains came from the strong success of elementary and middle schools. High schools by themselves did not fare nearly so well. Only about 47 percent of the state's 442 high schools made AYP, a slightly poorer showing than this time last year.

The results were even worse in Atlanta public schools, where about 60 percent of the high schools didn't make AYP.

"The figure is overwhelming, but it isn't surprising when you look at how kids do on the tests and how few graduate," said parent Shawnna Hayes-Tavares. "We're in a huge crisis."

This year's initial report shows that statewide, 58 schools made AYP for a second consecutive year and will be out of "needs improvement" status for the coming school year.

Radloff Middle School in Gwinnett County was among the 58 schools, and students and teachers screamed and cheered when Principal Patty Heitmuller shared the news Tuesday morning.

"It feels incredible," Heitmuller said. "We're so excited. We worked extremely hard for this."

The school's problem area was math, so kids received 100 minutes of math a day —- 60 minutes in a traditional class and an additional 40 minutes with all teachers. The school carved out the extra 40 minutes by taking time away from other classes.

But overall, the number of needs-improvement schools was almost unchanged because even though 58 jumped off the list, 52 were added to it. The new report shows 334 schools in needs-improvement status, compared with the 340 identified at this time last year.

In metro Atlanta, the overwhelming majority of schools made AYP, according to the state, including: all 28 schools in Forsyth County; 106 out of 109 in Gwinnett County; 102 of 114 in Cobb County; 93 out of 135 in DeKalb County; 81 out of 92 in Fulton County; and 77 out of 100 in the city of Atlanta.

All of the schools in Fayette County, on Atlanta's south side, maintained their record of making AYP every year. Dr. John DeCotis, Fayette County's superintendent, said: "It takes the entire school community working together to accomplish this goal."

Kathy Cox, state superintendent of schools , announced the results in a meeting Tuesday with educators on Jekyll Island.

In a phone interview, Cox gave credit for the overall improvement to teachers, students and parents, saying they're "doing everything they can to educate all the kids, and it's working."

Cox acknowledged that there are problems with high schools, particularly in math, that warrant special attention.

"When you're really going to see AYP for high school change dramatically positive is when this Class of 2012 works its way up, and they have these higher expectations in math," she said.

A final AYP report is slated for release this fall and will include summer retest scores and summer high school graduates.

The state used a complex formula of test scores, graduation rates, attendance and other factors to determine if schools met federal goals. The state analyzed a school's overall score and results from groups of students, such as minorities, kids from poor families, students with disabilities and children who are not fluent in English. The entire school fails if just one group misses the mark.

All three metro Atlanta schools that are the focus of a CRCT cheating scandal made AYP, according to the initial report.

The schools —- Atlanta's Deerwood Academy, DeKalb County's Atherton Elementary School, and Fulton County's Parklane Elementary School —- were stripped of their 2008 AYP status last week by the state Board of Education and would have been in "needs improvement" status if they had not made AYP this year.

A fourth school, in Glynn County, also suspected, fell into needs-improvement status with the state board's vote last week. It failed to make AYP again this year, according to the initial report.

But the news was happy for some metro area schools.

Vonnie Thompson, principal of Fulton County's Oakley Elementary School, had been worried that her school might not make AYP and was relieved Tuesday to see it had.

"First, I almost wanted to cry," said Thompson, whose school in Union City didn't make AYP last year. "Everybody works so hard."

Her phone kept ringing Tuesday morning.

Parents were calling, asking: Did the school make AYP?

"It's always good to be able to tell people, 'Yes. Yes,' " she said. "I'm very happy for my children and my parents and my staff."

Staff writer Kristina Torres contributed to this article.

School district results

Here are district results from metro Atlanta. The last column shows the change from five years ago, when fewer students needed to pass but the rules were more strict.

District # of schools Passing rate* Change 5 Years

Atlanta City 100 77% 4.2% 6.6%

Cobb 114 89.5% 8.4% 4.4%

Decatur City 6 83.3% 16.6% -4.2%

DeKalb 135 68.9% 15.3% -17.5%

Fulton 92 88% 4.5% 0%

Gwinnett 109 97.2% 2.9% 11.3%

Marietta City 12 91.7% 33.4% 21.7%

STATE 2,172 79.1% 10.3% -0.4%

Source: Georgia Department of Education

*NOTE: The state released initial passing rates, which do not count summer school test scores, school appeals and summer graduation. Only initial rates this year over last were compared. Final passing rates will be released later this year and may raise a system's percentage.