Only “50 percent of Indiana schools met a raised standard for adequate yearly progress this year, a decrease from 54 percent a year ago when schools faced a comparatively lower bar for making AYP,” according to the Indiana Department of Education Web site.

“It’s unacceptable that only half our schools are achieving the minimum federal standard,” reported Dr. Tony Bennett, state superintendent of public instruction, in a news brief.

“The circumstances require a renewed commitment from all Hoosiers and a sense of urgency that, sadly, doesn’t currently exist .... if Indiana students are going to compete with their peers from across the U.S. and around the world, we must continue to raise expectations from across the board.”

Three of the four Batesville Community School Corp. schools (Batesville Primary School, Batesville Intermediate School and Batesville High School) achieved AYP. The English scores of two subgroups of students – special education and free/reduced lunch participants – are why Batesville Middle School did not make it.

BCSC superintendent Dr. Jim Roberts reports, “Prior to receiving the results, we were well aware of where we stood with each item used in the calculation of AYP. As with other important points of data, we will utilize the information contained within the report to identify opportunities to make us better.”

Sunman-Dearborn Intermediate School and Sunman-Dearborn Middle School also did not achieve AYP. This was due to the English scores of SDIS special education and free/reduced lunch participants and English and math scores of SDMS special education students.

The other four Sunman-Dearborn Schools (Bright Elementary, North Dearborn Elementary, Sunman Elementary and East Central High schools) reached the goal.

SDCSC officials were not available for comment as of press time.

Other area public school districts – Franklin County, Jac-Cen-Del, Milan and South Ripley – also made AYP.

The goal of the federal No Child Left Behind Act is for schools to show annual improvements in the academic achievement of the overall student population and of identified subgroups of at least 30 students, including economic background, race and ethnicity, limited English proficiency and special education, according to the IDOE Web site.

Each state is required to raise the minimum percentage of students that must pass two assessments in order to earn adequate yearly progress. Currently, it is 72.6 percent for English/language arts and 71.5 percent for math, but by 2014, the law says 100 percent of students must pass.

AYP designations for Indiana school corporations and schools are determined by student achievement and participation rates on the Indiana Statewide Testing for Educational Progress-Plus (ISTEP+); student attendance rates for grades K-8; and high school graduation rates.

Diane Raver can be contacted at 812-934-4343, Ext. 114; or diane.raver@ batesvilleheraldtribune.com.