All of Polk County schools made Adequate Yearly Progress as required by the federal No Child Left Behind act and are in good standing with the state, but Polk County High School missed the graduation benchmark and is on the “target” list. Schools that miss the same benchmark for two years are put on a “high priority list.”

On Monday, the Tennessee Department of Education released the list of schools and school districts that met performance standards under the federal No Child Left Behind guidelines for the 2007-08 school year. This year, Tennessee reduced the number of schools on the high priority list to 134 from 139.

This forward momentum was achieved despite proficiency benchmarks being raised. Raising these benchmarks typically makes achieving AYP more difficult. The state is also celebrating 28 schools that came off the high priority list entirely, an almost 200 percent increase over the number of schools that came off last year.

Tennessee measures whether schools and districts are making "adequate yearly progress" (AYP) toward the goal of 100 percent of students being proficient in reading and math, and a 90 percent graduation rate by 2014. High priority schools receive additional support and interventions from the state.

Schools and systems must make AYP for two years to return to good standing. Six of the 20 schools that have spent seven or more years on the high priority list are now in good standing. This is a notable achievement for these schools who have reported chronically poor test scores for their students.

Performance benchmarks increased for the second time this year, making it more difficult for schools to attain AYP across the board. The percentage of students that must test proficient in Math and Reading/Language increased on average 5 to 6 percentage points at the Elementary and High School levels.

Schools and districts must meet performance standards in 37 categories at each grade span to be deemed in good standing under federally mandated No Child Left Behind. Categories include such things as economically disadvantaged students.

For the elementary/middle school grades, 89% of students overall must show proficiency in reading/language arts, up from 83%, and 86% must show proficiency in math, up from 79%. The next change will put the reading proficiency requirement at 94% of students and math at 93%. In addition, 93% attendance is required and 95% participation in the testing program.

For high schools, 93% of students must be proficient in reading/language arts, up from 90%, with 97% required by 2012-13. For math, 83% of students must show proficiency, up from 75%, and that goes to 91% in 2012-13. The law requires a graduation rate of 90% to remain in good standing.

By 2014, the law requires that 100% of student be proficient in reading/language arts and math. For more information, visit the Adequate Yearly Progress web page at www.tennessee.gov/education