By By JOHN EBY / Dowagiac Daily News
All Dowagiac schools met the AYP criteria in reading and math -- the two areas measured for the federal No Child Left Behind Act.
AYP stands for "Adequate Yearly Progress," Assistant Superintendent Todd Bingaman explained Monday night to the Dowagiac Board of Education.
Under federal law, school districts are mandated to test 95 percent of all students.
Each school receives its AYP status as a whole, but that's part of the report. Schools also receive "disaggregated AYP status" for subgroups of students based on such categories as race and ethnicity, students with disabilities, limited English proficiency and economic disadvantage.
According to the Michigan State Board of Education, each subgroup must include at least 30 students to insure student confidentiality and statistical reliability.
NCLB requires other indicators to be used in determining AYP. For Michigan elementary and middle schools, attendance rates are used. For high schools, graduation rates count, though the state is still determining how attendance and graduation measures will be defined. It is expected that 2002-2003 AYP status schools receive in June will include these "indicators."