| The No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) requires that all groups of children reach proficiency in Reading and Math. The three AYP categories in 2007 are:
1. School Attendance
(for schools without a high school graduating class): Target of 90%
or any improvement from previous year.
Graduation Rate (for schools with high school graduating class): Target of 80% or any improvement from previous year.
Districts must meet both targets in school attendance and graduation.
2. Achieving Proficiency (Performance):
To meet the Performance Target required for AYP, schools and every measurable subgroup in the school must have at least 56% of the tested students achieve Proficient or higher on the mathematics assessment and 63% of the tested students achieve Proficient or higher on the reading assessment.
3. Taking the Test (Participation):
At least 95% of students overall and within each measurable subgroup must take the test.
For a school to meet AYP, all AYP targets must be met. Note that the number of targets used for AYP can vary. This is because the targets associated with subgroups that have fewer than 40 students in the school do not apply. However, schools with fewer than 40 students are still accountable and are evaluated at the overall level.
District targets are assessed in three grade spans: Grades 3–5, 6–8, and 9–12. To meet AYP goals in Academic Performance or Test Participation, the district needs to achieve all targets for both subjects in one grade span only. Districts must meet both targets in school attendance and graduation.
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