Arlington Public Schools were among the 40 91 percent of school districts in Virginia that failed to meet the Adequate Yearly Progress objectives set under the No Child Left Behind Act this year. Arlington also failed to meet AYP objectives last year.
This year, 16 Arlington schools met federal AYP targets — down one from last year. The remaining 14 schools failed to meet AYP.
The neighboring Falls Church and Alexandria City school systems also failed to meet AYP. Fairfax County was the only school system in Northern Virginia to get a passing grade.
In announcing the results, the school system cited overall progress in several areas, including reading and math.
“This year’s results include several promising trends in academic achievement,” superintendent Dr. Pat Murphy said in a statement. “Improving student achievement requires tremendous dedication by everyone, and I commend our team of dedicated professionals for their continued commitment and effort to support our students.”
“As we prepare for the 2010–11 school year, we will build changes and improvements in our instructional program,” Dr. Murphy said. “This work begins with analysis of these results to determine what changes and adjustments should be made to ensure that our students attain greater success in the coming year.”
Several AYP benchmarks were made more stringent this year, according to a press release from the Virginia Department of Education.
The results cited by the state are preliminary and may change when the final analysis comes out in September, the school system cautioned.