For the first time since the federal No Child Left Behind act passed in 2001, Empire Elementary School attained adequate status. It also marks the last year Nevada will report to those guidelines.“This represents amazing effort by the students, teachers, parents and school community,” Associate Superintendent Susan Keema told school board members Tuesday. “Empire demographics represent 100 percent free and reduced lunch and 60.3 percent limited-English proficient students.”She reported Bordewich-Bray and Seeliger elementary schools also made adequate yearly progress. Fritsch Elementary School was named high achieving for its dramatic growth over the year.Fremont, Mark Twain, both middle schools and high schools all failed to meet the bar. Under the guidelines of No Child Left Behind, schools must show adequate yearly progress among all categories of students, which include ethnic groups, special education, low-income and English-as-a-second-language students.If one group is not improving, the whole school fails. And one student may be counted more than once.For example, if a Hispanic student enrolled in English as a second language, who is also living in a low-income home, scores poorly, that score will be counted four times.To reach the adequate designation, schools must meet the required level of proficiency for two consecutive years. While Empire has met requirements before, this is the first year it has done so the requisite two years.Keema said scores were increased at Empire Elementary School in every subgroup for English and math.Carson City’s charter school, Carson Montessori, also made adequate yearly progress. The state-sponsored Silver State Charter School did not. Across the state, 338 of Nevada’s schools met the AYP requirements while 350 fell short.Among those schools that did meet the requirements, 56 schools received distinguished recognition as high achieving or exemplary.However, this year marks the last in which Nevada will report AYP results.This new education performance system — the Nevada School Performance Framework — will classify schools based on student growth, student proficiency, closing achievement gaps for students across different subgroups, and other indicators.The state will rate all schools on a 100-point index from the listed measures, assigning each school a corresponding 1-5 star rating based on the schools’ scores. Nevada State Superintendent James Guthrie said in a press release the new system will ensure students are college and career ready.“An effective education system not only supports the state’s and the nation’s need for a highly skilled workforce to rebuild and sustain a vibrant economy, but also creates educated citizens who participate actively in a civil society,” he said.For a complete list of results, go to nevadareportcard.com.
