All four Calvert County public high schools and the school for students with special needs met Adequate Yearly Progress in 2011. As previously reported, five of the six middle schools and all of the elementary schools met AYP in 2011.
Adequate Yearly Progress, or AYP, is the performance target that schools and school systems must reach in order to meet the requirements of the federal No Child Left Behind Act. According to NCLB, all students must reach proficiency in reading and math by 2014.
According to a press release from the Maryland State Department of Education, 55.2 percent of Maryland’s schools met AYP in 2011 compared to nearly 70 percent in 2010. The press release also states that AYP targets are “increasingly difficult” to meet as 2014 approaches.
As a school system, Calvert County Public Schools did not meet AYP in 2011 in the areas of reading and math at the middle school level for students receiving special education services. School Superintendent Jack Smith said, “We focus intently on providing appropriate instructional services for all students. As a result, the achievement of our special education students has consistently improved.” Smith continued by saying, “There is still much work to be done. We will not rest until we provide each student with what he or she needs to reach his or her potential.”
All students in the graduating class of 2011 met Maryland’s high school testing requirements in algebra, biology, English and government. This was the third year that high school students had to meet Maryland’s High School Assessment (HSA) requirement in order to receive a diploma. Beginning this school year, the state will no longer administer the government exam.
The Maryland State Department of Education also released four and five year student graduation rates which are calculated under a new system. The new “cohort rate” calculation follows each high school student to determine how many students graduate in four and five years. The cohort graduation rates released by the State are for students in the class of 2010. Under this new calculation, 91.66 percent of seniors in the class of 2010 graduated in four years and 93.63 percent graduated in five years. According to the state department, Maryland’s four and five year graduation rates are 82 percent and 84.6 percent respectively.
This is the last year that the state department will also release the graduation rates calculated under the “leaver rate,” which is the calculation that has been used historically. For Calvert County, the leaver graduation rate for the class of 2011 was 93.81 percent compared to 92.47 percent for the class of 2010.
According to Smith, while Calvert’s graduation rates are outstanding, “they are not acceptable. We know that every student who has the ability must graduate from high school. It is our job to make sure this happens.”
