NATCHEZ &045; AYP, MCT, SATP and NCLB.

You are not reading an eye chart, but these are abbreviations parents will probably be hearing a lot of with the federal No Child Left Behind Act.

But what do they all mean?

The Mississippi Curriculum Test (MCT) and the Subject Areas Testing Program (SATP) are both tests Mississippi students take to measure their growth, achievement and adequate yearly progress (AYP). No Child Left Behind (NCLB) mandates all students must be at proficient level on all skills tested by 2014 and these tests are the way the schools measure what the students have done.

AYP was set at the federal level for No Child Left Behind and is the ultimate indicator of the amount of students at proficient level or above in schools. AYP measures the amount of students at proficient level or above. Now, the percentage of students required to be at proficient level will rise every year, eventually to 100 percent by 2014.

The federal act mandates schools meet AYP and that there be a highly qualified teacher in every classroom.

The progress, AYP, is measured by subgroups as well as overall. There are nine subgroups students are broken into to see if students in each group are performing at proficient or above. This &uot;breaking it down&uot; method helps schools and districts identify where the problem areas lie, educators say.

The nine subgroups are:

4All students

4Students with disabilities

4Limited English proficient students

4Economically advantaged students

4Asian students

4Black students

4Hispanic students

4Native American students

4White students

This year is the first year growth, achievement and AYP have been officially measured and presented.

There are many factors, however, that determine whether a district or school earns AYP.

First, and most obvious, the AYP measures whether each subgroup met its progress for the year.

But this is not the only factor. In order to pass AYP, not only does each subgroup have to make progress, but 95 percent or more of students eligible to be tested

must be tested.

For example, if there are 100 students in the subgroup students with disabilities, at least 95 of those students must be tested that year or the school cannot achieve AYP.

If a school does not pass AYP in one subgroup for math, it does not pass AYP overall for the school for math. The same is also true for reading/language arts.

If there are not 40 students in a subgroup, then the district does not count that subgroup toward AYP.

For instance, Robert Lewis Middle School had only two Hispanic students. Even though both of them may have been tested, their subgroup is not used for determining AYP. However, those students did take the tests and their scores do count toward the all student subgroup. They could also count toward any other subgroup not based on race/ethnicity that the student falls in, such as students with disabilities, limited English proficient students or economically advantaged students.

In results were released Friday, Mississippi schools and districts were measured on whether they made adequate yearly progress in reading/language and math. They also were told whether they passed other academic indicators. One indicator is whether the school’s graduation rate was at least 72 percent. The indicator for schools that do not graduate students &045; any schools but high schools &045; is whether the school met their growth expectation.

For the district as a whole, it combines these two elements.

All results are from the 2002-2003 school year when students were tested.

Primary schools

The primary schools do not test for AYP.

Frazier Primary did meet its growth expectation for 2003-2004. Susie B. West did not.

At both schools, 100 percent of teachers are highly qualified teachers.

McLaurin Elementary

McLaurin made AYP in all of its subgroups that were viable (more than 40 students), for both reading/language and math, but it did not meet its growth expectation.

And 97.6 percent of the core academic classes were taught by a highly qualified teacher.

Morgantown Elementary

Morgantown made AYP in all of its viable subgroups for both reading/language and math, and it did meet its growth expectation.

For Morgantown, 99.1 percent of the core academic classes were taught by a highly qualified teacher.

Robert Lewis Middle

Robert Lewis Middle did not meet AYP for reading/language because only 94 percent of white students were tested in reading/language. The subgroup did meet their progress. The school cannot make AYP in a subject area if a subgroup did not make AYP, and a subgroup cannot make AYP if less than 95 percent of students eligible are tested.

In math, the subgroup students with disabilities did not meet their performance standard for math, so the school as a whole could not make AYP since this subgroup did not. Also, the white student subgroup did not meet AYP in math either because only 93 percent of the students were tested, although that group met its performance level.

The school did not meet its growth expectation for the year either.

But 100 percent of the core academic classes at the school were taught by a highly qualified teacher.

Natchez High School

Natchez High made AYP for reading/language and math. It also graduated at least 72 percent of its students.

And 98.5 percent of the core academic classes at the school were taught by a highly qualified teacher.

Natchez-Adams Schools

In the Natchez-Adams School District overall, the district did achieve AYP for reading and language but did not for math, overall. That is because Robert Lewis Middle School did not make AYP in math overall. The district did graduate at least 72 percent of students and did meet its growth expectation for the district overall.

Anthony Morris, Natchez-Adams Schools superintendent, said the message is clear from these results &045; parental involvement is key.

Parents need to understand where children have deficiencies and help them at home to overcome these, he said. Also, parents need to make sure their children are in school because if one child more than 95 percent of students is missing, the school fails its AYP for that year, Morris said.

&uot;They need to be there to be tested,&uot; Robert Lewis Middle School Principal Cynthia Smith said. &uot;What we need more of is parents coming together, parents support.&uot;