More Michigan schools fail to meet federal education goals

Fewer schools in Michigan met federal benchmarks for students’ academic progress this year, and state officials blame the slide on higher standards required by the federal government. Schools need to meet something called “adequate yearly progress,” or AYP, under the federal No Child Left Behind Act. Failure to do so for multiple years can result in sanctions, including replacing school staff and principals, or closing a school. For the 2010-11 school year, 79 percent of public schools in Michigan made adequate progress. That’s down from 86 percent the year before. State officials say higher proficiency targets required by the U.S. Department of Education are the reason for the decline. For example, 55 percent of 11th graders had to be "proficient" on the state's standardized test in order to make AYP in the 2009-10 school year. For 2010-11, that went up to 67 percent. The federal government is requiring that 100 percent of schools meet AYP by the 2013-14 school year. Michigan is seeking a waiver from that requirement, in large part because it's raising the scores students need to earn to be considered “proficient” in a subject.