---125 of 193 schools rated either Superior or Commendable---

(Dover, DE) The Delaware Department of Education (DOE) has released the 2007 school accountability ratings for 193 public and charter schools statewide.

Ninety-five schools have been rated Superior; 30 schools have been rated Commendable; 29 schools have been rated Academic Review; 11 schools have been rated Academic Progress #8211; Under Improvement; 28 schools have been rated Academic Watch #8211; Under Improvement.

student population. The nine subgroups are: All Students, American Indian, Asian American, African American, Hispanic, White, Economically Disadvantaged, Students with Disabilities and Limited English Proficient. By the 2013-2014 school year, every student in every subgroup must be proficient in English/Language Arts (Reading and Writing) and mathematics in order for the school to attain AYP.

The formula for determining AYP consists of three parts: Participation, Other Academic Indicator (OAI) and Performance. First, the participation rate for English/Language Arts and math, for each subgroup, was calculated by using the number of students with test scores divided by the number of students enrolled during the testing period. This participation rate was compared to the target of 95%.

Second, the Other Academic Indicator (OAI), which was improvement in reading and math scale scores for elementary and middle schools and cohort graduation rate for high schools, was reviewed for improvement from the previous year or compared to the annual target.

Finally, until this year, performance was calculated only by comparing the performance of a group of students last year to a new group of students in the current year. Using our Growth Model, change in performance of the same individual students from last year to this year was used. The performance was calculated for reading and math for each subgroup using the value table in the model. Individual student growth was used to calculate the average number of points that a school earned and that average was compared to the target of 204 in reading and 150 for math.

The use of a Growth Model for this calculation is new for 2006-2007. The Growth Model places value on each individual's progress towards proficiency. The Original Model, which has been in use since the 2003-2004 school year, is used to calculate progress on cohorts of students to achieve targets. This year, both of these performance models were used to determine a school's AYP rating. The better outcome of the two models was then used to determine a school's rating.

In 2007, 128 schools made AYP while 65 schools did not make AYP. Additionally, seven schools were designated as new schools for accountability purposes and therefore, did not receive a rating.

Under this accountability system, schools are classified in one of five categories:

• Superior means that the school has met AYP, is not under improvement and has met additional state criteria.
• Commendable indicates that AYP has been met while the school is not Under Improvement.
• Academic Review means AYP is not met for one year and SPD is met or; AYP is not met for one year and SPD is not met or; AYP is met and SPD is not met (second year).
• Academic Progress means AYP is not met (different subject) two or more years and SPD is met.
• Academic Watch means AYP is not met for two or more years (different subjects) and SPD is not met.
• Academic Progress - Under Improvement means AYP is not met (same subject) two or more years and SPD is met.
• Academic Watch - Under Improvement means AYP is not met two or more years (same subject) and SPD is not met.