By Joanna Miller, Correspondent

Prior Lake High School and Twin Oaks Middle School missed the Annual Yearly Progress (AYP) goal in the 2008 analysis of school data by the Minnesota Department of Education.

This is the second year Prior Lake High School and Twin Oaks Middle School did not meet the goal, set by the state, in specific subgroups.

Twin Oaks did not meet goals in the reading exam for special-education students, and the high school did not meet marks for special-education students in math.

All other Prior Lake-Savage Area Schools met AYP goals this year.

Both Twin Oaks and the high school missed AYP last year in the group tested that participates in the free-and-reduced lunch program; this year, it was the special-education subgroups at both schools that didn’t meet AYP.

Superintendent Sue Ann Gruver said results can be confusing to the public, as an entire school or district doesn’t meet AYP based upon the performance of one subgroup.

“All of the other subgroups made it,” Gruver said.

In fact, this year’s Prior Lake High School juniors showed some of the top improvement in reading in the state on the test that measures AYP. The students raised scores from 63 percent to 81 percent in the MCA-II reading exam for meeting and exceeding standards.

Gruver said the areas that didn’t meet AYP testing standards will be a focus for the coming year, while the school staff members continue to work to raise the bar for all students.

“Many high schools have a subgroup within their populations that is struggling,” she said. “This year, we’ll give them special emphasis.”

Hidden Oaks Middle School, and WestWood and Grainwood elementary schools, which all did not make AYP in 2007, met standards in 2008.

Gruver said it’s encouraging that schools that had a lagging subgroup were able to correct the issues pointed out in last year’s data.

“They did come out of [not meeting] AYP in the cells they focused their attention on helping,” she said.

This year, the staff members and a new director of curriculum, instruction and assessment, Mary Noel, will look at making sure needs are met for the subgroups highlighted.

“They will develop a plan and look at what are those students’ needs,” she said. “What is it that we can do differently.”

Gruver said the staff remains focused on all of the subgroups at the schools.

“To me, our faculty and community really need to be aware of what these symbols mean,” Gruver said.

AYP data is collected as part of the No Child Left Behind Act.

There was in increase in schools not meeting AYP marks this year. There were 937 schools statewide that did not meet AYP in 2008, which increased from 727 schools not making the grade in 2007.

The Department of Education attributes the increase to only slight improvements in proficiency, while AYP moved the reading and math targets higher to reach 100-percent proficiency by the year 2014.

AYP measures students through standards and assessments, and it is calculated for the entire school, as well as subgroups within each school.

Statewide, more high schools and middle schools missed AYP marks this year than made the cut.

Of 442 high schools, 230 did not make AYP and 211 met AYP, with one high school submitting insufficient data.

Of 235 junior high and middle schools, 71 made AYP and 164 did not make AYP.

 Joanna Miller can be reached at (952) 345-6375 or jmiller@swpub.com.