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New Study: Adequate Yearly Progress Not So Bad
9/23/14 | Politics K-12 (Ed Week)

Behind the Headline
Easy Way Out
Winter 2007 | Education Next

A new study looks at what happened to schools that failed to make adequate yearly progress (AYP) under No Child Left Behind and finds that some of the sanctions against these schools ultimately had a positive impact on student learning. As summarized by Lauren Camera on Politics K-12, researchers Thomas Ahn and Jacob Vigdor found that

The early, more lenient sanctions for schools that initially failed to meet AYP—such as simply being slapped with the failing label or allowing students to transfer out of the school—positively impacted performance.

The intermediate interventions for schools that failed to meet AYP for a couple of years in a row, such a mandatory tutoring for low-income students, had no demonstrable effect.

However, leadership and management changes associated with school restructuring— one of the most onerous sanctions for schools that chronically failed to meet AYP— yielded the most positive impact from schools.

A 2007 Ed Next article by Sara Mead looked at the different interventions being embraced by policymakers for schools that failed to make AYP.

-Education Next