For the Springfield School District, the preliminary results released this week by the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education are mixed.

To see a chart showing a summary of each Springfield school's test scores and its recent history, click here.

As a whole, certain factors kept the Springfield School District from making the grade or, as the state calls it, Adequate Yearly Progress. The results are meant to show how students meet goals set in four areas: math, communication arts and, now, attendance and graduation.

This year's report highlights some real progress in some areas for the school district but also some difficult news for a couple of schools.

First, the good news: the graduation rate for the Springfield School District was up in the last school year to just more than 81 percent. Of the district's five high schools, Hillcrest was the only high school that failed to meet the graduation rate goal.

As for attendance, Williams Elementary was the only school to fall short of expectations; 44 others hit the bar.

Now for the academic standards: 15 schools bolstered their overall scores on communication arts and 23 went up on math. But the news wasn't as bright for eight elementary and middle schools. If a school doesn't meet set standards two years in a row, it's identified as “in need of improvement.”

On the “in need of improvement” list this year: Westport, Williams, York, Pipkin, Study, Bissett, and McGregor. All of those schools are now required to offer students the option of transferring to other district schools without cost.

Most notably, Reed Middle School, which has been previously identified as “in need of improvement,” has been tagged again. This time around, pretty much every student group at Reed fell short in the communication arts category, and almost as many in math.

Reed is now identified in the "Corrective Action" category, meaning the district must take extra measures to make the school meet those Adequate Yearly Progress standards.

Superintendent Norm Ridder, in a news release said, "Adequate Yearly Progress is only one measure we use to evaluate our students' academic achievement. Failing to make Adequate Yearly Progress in no way indicates that a school or our district is not improving."
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Edited news release from Springfield School District:

The Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education released preliminary 2008 Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) results on Friday. The No Child Left Behind Act of 2002 requires all schools, districts and states to show students are making AYP by meeting annual targets in communication arts, mathematics, attendance and graduation rate.

Overall, Springfield School District students continued to perform well above the state average on Missouri’s mandated assessment tests in 2008. However, performance in identified subgroups prevented the district from meeting AYP this year. At the school level, 28 of 50 Springfield schools met AYP overall.

A notable achievement for the district was meeting AYP in the additional indicators of attendance and graduation rate. The Springfield School District increased its graduation rate to 81.2 percent. Additionally, four of five high schools met AYP in the area of graduation rate. On the attendance indicator, 44 out of 45 elementary and middle schools met AYP.

Other highlights of Springfield AYP results include:
-- 15 schools increased the percent of students who scored proficient and advanced in communication arts between 2007 and 2008.
-- 23 schools increased the percent of students who scored proficient and advanced in mathematics between 2007 and 2008.
-- 30 of 35 elementary schools met AYP in mathematics.
-- The percent of Limited English Proficiency (LEP) students scoring proficient and advanced in communication arts increased from 2007 to 2008.
-- The percent of Hispanic and LEP students scoring proficient and advanced in mathematics increased from 2007 to 2008.

A key objective of NCLB is that 100 percent of students be proficient in communication arts and math by 2014. Meantime, annual AYP targets have been established to track schools’ progress. For 2008, schools must have 51 percent of students performing at proficient or above in communications arts and 45 percent must be proficient or better in math. In 2009, those requirements will increase to 59.2 percent and 54.1 percent, respectively.

This year, for the first time, Missouri schools benefited from the AYP Growth Model, which takes into account individual student growth over time. The Growth Model allows for students who may not currently be proficient but who are “on track” to achieve proficiency in four years to be counted toward AYP.

The Growth Model allowed the Springfield School District to count an additional 957 students in the area of communication arts and an additional 752 students in the area of mathematics because their performance increased enough to be considered on track to proficiency for AYP.

Another change this year is the uniform subgroup cell size of 30. Previously if a school had fewer than 50 students with Individual Education Plans or Limited English Proficiency, they were not identified as reportable subgroups.

Any school failing to meet AYP two years in a row is identified for school improvement. According to the preliminary data, eight Springfield schools were identified for school improvement this year (and could face federal sanctions because they're Title 1 schools, which means they have a high percentage of low-income students and receive special federal funds to help them teach those students).

Title I Schools in School Improvement Level 1
Westport Elementary School
Williams Elementary School
York Elementary School
Pipkin Middle School
Study Middle School

Title I Schools in School Improvement Level 2
Bissett Elementary School
McGregor Elementary School

Title I Schools in School Improvement Level 3, Corrective Action Year 1
Reed Middle School

As a district, the Springfield School District did not meet AYP in math or communication arts but did meet AYP in the indicators of attendance and graduation rate.

“Adequate yearly progress is only one measure we use to evaluate our students’ academic achievement,” said Superintendent Norm Ridder.. “Failing to make Adequate Yearly Progress in no way indicates that a school or our district is not improving. We have numerous indicators that our students are not only performing well but are performing better than most students in Missouri.”