The Wichita school district saw improvement in this year's list of schools that met Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) in reading and math on the 2007 state assessments.

The Kansas State Department of Education released its list of schools today. Of that list, 47 Wichita schools achieved AYP, an increase of three more schools than in 2006, despite schools leaders saying the targets increasing significantly.

Statewide, 89% of public schools made AYP, even though the targets for mathematics and reading have been steadily increasing since 2002. This compares with 84% of public schools making AYP last year.

There are 33 districts and 154 schools on the list for the 2006 – 2007 testing cycle. This compares to 31 districts and 187 schools on last year’s list.

To see the list of schools that didn't make the list, click the document file at the top of the story.. To see the Fact Sheet for AYP, click here

“The good news is that more Kansas schools are achieving their goals in reading and math. This is true even though these same goals increased substantially over last year. By a persistent focus on academic success, Kansas educators are clearly meeting the challenge of educating all students to a high standard,” according to the Kansas Commissioner of Education, Dr. Alexa Posny.

47 Wichita schools achieved AYP, an increase of three more schools than in 2006. Also this year, the district has 15 schools that achieved AYP that did not in 2006. Of those 15, thirteen were elementary schools and two were middle schools.

“What our teachers and students are doing is remarkable,” said Superintendent Winston Brooks. “I don’t think you can find many urban districts across the country that are making the kind of gains that we are achieving.”

Of the 37 schools that missed AYP, nine of the schools missed by one subgroup and three schools missed their targets by two subgroups. The majority of the schools that did not achieve AYP missed the target in reading. A new reading curriculum was implemented in the 2006-2007 school year to strengthen reading instruction and proficiency.

“We saw a bit of a dip, but that is to be expected when you implement new curriculum,” Superintendent Brooks said. “We expect to see the same kind of reading growth in the future that we are now seeing with our results in math. The district implemented a new math curriculum a few years ago, and on the 2007 assessments every district sub-group increased in proficiency.”

Schools and districts are required to meet AYP as part of the No Child Left Behind law.