Farmington Public Schools is once again feeling the impact of more rigorous state academic standards, with the release today of Michigan Dept. of Education (MDE) school report cards.

The district is among a surprising number across Michigan that did not meet Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) targets set by the federal No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act. In total, 262 districts (48 percent) statewide did not make AYP, compared to 37 (6.7 percent) last year. At the school building level, 82 percent of schools made AYP across the state, compared to 79 percent last year.

The increase in districts not making AYP is due in part to the more rigorous career and college-ready cut scores now used on the MEAP (Michigan Educational Assessment Program) and MME (Michigan Merit Exam) tests. In addition, the state now factors graduation rates for all students into the calculations and also now includes the achievement of certain student populations who previously may have not been counted.

Also, districts are now required to meet AYP targets at elementary, middle school and high school levels, rather than at just one.

All but three of the district's 17 buildings – North Farmington, Harrison and Farmington Central high schools – met AYP, which includes targets for standardized testing participation, assessment proficiency and attendance or graduation. The same three schools failed to meet AYP last year. 

Jan Ellis, a spokeswoman for the MDE, said this year's designations put a focus on the achievement gaps between students, an identified issue in Farmington Schools, and really tries to highlight the need for all students to achieve success.

"The goal is to have all students proficient, not just some," she said, adding that in the past there was the ability to mask poor student peformance because the focus was on those students who were doing really well.

Waiver leads to 'accountability scorecards'

The changes this year may not matter in the long run. Because of a No Child Left Behind (NCLB) waiver granted from the federal government, the state in 2012-2013 will no longer be measuring districts based on AYP. Instead, school districts will receive accountability scorecards that use five different colors to recognize varying levels of achievement and accountability for each school and district.

In addition, lower performing schools are no longer subject to sanctions. Instead, the state has come up with three new school designations: reward schools (top 5 percent), priority schools (bottom 5 percent) and focus schools (10 percent with the widest achievement gaps). 

Eleven of Farmington Public Schools buildings are considered "Focus" schools, including Highmeadow Common Campus, which received the highest score on today's report card. 

“We are committed to closing the achievement gaps in all of our schools for all of our students,” state Superintendent Michael Flanagan said. “With this measure of transparency, schools will be identified and held accountable for the achievement of all of their students.”

The MDE will help work on improvement plans for these schools, with the goal of seeing improvement in a year.

Individual schools also received grades for Education YES!, the state's accreditation system. Scores ranged from a "D" for Harrison High, to an "A" for Highmeadow Common Campus. Because grades reflect student achievement and growth in achievement (along with self-assessment) MDE notes these grades are also lower than in previous years. 

Farmington Public Schools Report Cards

This is a developing story.