Chapter 2: Characteristics of Schools

Indicator 7: Adequate Yearly Progress

In school year 2008–09, higher percentages of Hispanic (48 percent), Black (46 percent), American Indian/Alaska Native (43 percent), and Asian/Pacific Islander (40 percent) students attended schools that did not meet adequate yearly progress (AYP) than did their White peers (33 percent).

Adequate yearly progress (AYP) is an individual state's measure of yearly progress toward achieving state academic standards based on criteria contained in the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) statute that involve meeting predetermined annual objectives in various subject areas. AYP represents the minimum level of improvement that public schools must attain each year. In school year 2008–09, some 60 percent of the 48 million students in public elementary and secondary schools that reported data attended a school that met AYP. Thirty-nine percent attended schools that did not meet AYP, and 1 percent attended schools that were not required to meet AYP.
The percentage of students attending schools that did not meet AYP was similar for males and females (both overall and within each racial/ethnic group), although it did vary by race/ethnicity. Higher percentages of Black, Hispanic, Asian/Pacific Islander, and American Indian/Alaska Native students than White students attended schools that did not meet AYP. The percentages were: Hispanics (48 percent), Blacks (46 percent), American Indians/ Alaska Natives (43 percent), Asians/Pacific Islanders (40 percent), and Whites (33 percent).

Technical Notes

Data are derived from the 96 percent of public schools that reported on adequate yearly progress. This indicator presents information on Asians and Pacific Islanders as a combined category because the data were collected in a manner that does not permit separate reporting. Since 96 percent of all Asian/Pacific Islander 5- to 24-year-olds are Asian, this combined category substantially reflects the situation for Asians, rather than Pacific Islanders. For more information, please see the introduction to this report.

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Figure 7-1 Percentage of students attending public elementary and secondary schools, by status of adequate yearly progress (AYP), race/ethnicity, and sex: School year 2008–09

Table E-7-1 Number and percentage of students attending public elementary and secondary schools, by status of adequate yearly progress (AYP), sex, and race/ethnicity: School year 2008–09