In its haste to release status

reports last month, the Georgia Department of Education failed to include

Hood Avenue Elementary School in Fayetteville on the list of "Title

I" schools that did not meet the state's Adequate Yearly Progress

(AYP) report.

Results were released from

the confusing and now controversial measure of school progress, required

Progress made by schools receiving

Title 1 federal funds, considered most at risk to failure, was reported

the week of Aug. 11.

Hood Avenue should have been

on that list, confirmed Superintendent John DeCotis and Pam Riddle, assistant

superintendent for curriculum.

Fayette County school officials

did not realize the oversight, DeCotis said, until the state released

a second list of non-Title 1 schools that also were in noncompliance with

AYP, and Hood Avenue was on that list. Last school year was the first

for the Fayetteville school to be designated Title 1.

Nick Smith, spokesman for the

DOE, said Fayette County correctly listed Hood as a first-time Title 1

school for the 2002-03 year in the paperwork it is required to file with

the state. He confirmed state officials mistakenly put Hood on the non-Title

I list rather than the Title I list when the report was first released.

"Hood was listed as a

non-Title I school not making AYP," Smith said. "The district

did not do anything wrong, and they do not determine who is listed or

not."

"It was simply an oversight

on our part in a rush to get the list out," he said.

Administrators reported the

error immediately, and also dispute the state's claim that Hood students

failed to show measured improvement over the course of last year.

Complicating the matter, DeCotis

and Riddle said, is the fact that Hood serves students in grade pre-K

through second. Under AYP, the state uses standardized test scores from

grades three, five and eight to determine if a school is improving year

to year.

For schools like Hood that

don't administer standardized tests, the state came up with a determination

based on tracking of the students enrolled in the Early Intervention Program,

said Riddle. At least 10 percent of students had to be removed from the

program from one year to the next to show progress, she said.

"We are contesting and

appealing their findings," said Riddle.

Her office is also appealing

the state's claim that six other Fayette schools failed to meet AYP provisions.

None of those receive Title 1 funds and aren't under the same microscope

as Hood Avenue, but instead are tagged for not proving that an adequate

number of students in various demographic breakdowns were tested, Riddle

said.

Those schools are J.C. Booth

Middle, Fayette Middle, Flat Rock Middle, Rising Starr Middle, Sandy Creek

High and Fayette County High.

A form letter sent home to

the parents of students at the six schools said the data showed not enough

black students or disabled students were tested. At a town hall meeting

held Aug. 23 in Peachtree City, many black parents said the letter made

it sound like their children were being blamed for the schools' "failure."

The state doesn't use the term

"failure" to describe the performance of the students, just

proof of progress, Riddle explained. DeCotis was to write a second letter

to parents last week that better explained the AYP guidelines and what

they mean.

"All other provisions

were met or exceeded," said Melinda Berry-Dreisbach, public information

officer for the school board, of the six schools on the state list.

Indeed, 2003 SAT scores released

last week show large leaps at both Fayette and Sandy Creek high schools.

Under the national "No

Child Left Behind" law, each school, school system and the state

of Georgia must meet annual performance goals for reading and math on

state assessments for each student group, as categorized by race, ethnicity,

disability, English proficiency, and socioeconomic status, in order to

make AYP, or Adequate Yearly Progress. These performance goals increase

each year until the 2013-2014 school year, when every child in Georgia

must achieve at grade level.

State Superintendent of Schools

Kathy Cox, a Peachtree City resident, has expressed frustration that participation

alone caused so many schools to fail on the first AYP report.

According to Berry-Dreisbach,

none of Fayette's schools are required to provide supplemental services

or transfers to other schools yet. Because 2003 is the first year of making

AYP determinations for non-Title I schools, none of the six will be in

school improvement status this year. Next year, however, any of the schools

that again fail to meet requirements ofAYP years will face consequences.

If Hood Avenue were to lose

its appeal and fail to meet AYP again next year, it would be required

to launch new programs and allow students the option to transfer to a

better school, with the district providing the transportation.

But Riddle said the whole method

of measuring improvement next year will change, as performance will be

measured using the statewide curriculum assessment exams administered

to every age group.

Meantime, DeCotis said the

district will focus on the requirements as spelled out in the NCLB law.

"Our district-wide and

school improvement plan addresses our school improvement needs, including

those identified under NCLB," said DeCotis, acknowledging that while

Fayette ranks among the top school systems in the nation, the NCLB requirements

provide a solid set of standards to judge improvements by.

Riddle, who was appointed assistant

superintendent for instruction on July 1, pointed out that Hood was the

only one ofFayette County's seven Title 1 schools to not make AYP.

The districtprefers using the

more positive terminology, "Targeted Assistance Program," to

identify the schools that receive additional funds to aid potentially

"at-risk" students,Riddle said.

The main thrust of No Child

Left Behind is holding schools accountable for those funds, more than

$11 billion nationwide in 2003.In some cases, said Riddle, entire school

districts are earmarked for Title 1 because of poverty rates in the community.

Determining poverty rates isn't

an exact science, but Georgia like most states uses the federal free lunch

program as a guide.

Systemwide, just 8.7 percent

of Fayette students qualify for the free and reduced lunch program, a

reflection of the county's overall affluence.

Riddle said an individual school's

free lunch rate in the 20 percent range or higher is a good indicator

that it may need extra financial aid, but that Fayette doesn't necessarily

apply that stringent a rule.

In addition to Hood, the other

schools receiving funds are North Fayette, Oak Grove, Burch, Tyrone, East

Fayette and Fayette Intermediate, which was just added this year.

The free and reduced lunch

rates at those schools range from a system-high 27.23 percent at North

Fayette, to 16.04 at East Fayette.

Title 1 funds pay for pre-K

programs at five schools, while state funds generated by the Georgia Lottery

cover the pre-K programs at two more. North Fayette gets funding from

both sources for its pre-K instruction, Riddle said.

"With all of these schools

we have a parent involvement program and we invitethem to participate,

be in advisory groups, to be as involved as possible," said Riddle,

echoing a popular theme.

"The federal government

says we've been looking at averages across the board, and it's time we

meet the needs of all children,so we're not leaving any child behind,"

she added. "So the intent is very good."

Riddle said the results of

the appeals would be known sometime this month.

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