Yesterday, the U.S. Department of Education (ED) approved two state plans (NC's and TN's) to use students' progress to determine whether a school meets NCLB's adequate yearly progress (AYP) requirement. 

ED's decision represents a small improvement in AYP.  Previously, ED-approved state plans required schools to have a certain percentage of students (and students in certain subgroups) at or above a cutoff score on NCLB-mandated tests.  Now, a student in NC or TN who is below the cutoff score test will be counted as proficient if the student's year-to-year scores are improving at such a rate that he or she is on track to pass the tests within three (TN) or four (NC) years.

To oversimplify, a school in NC or TN can get credit for taking a student who is far behind his or her peers if test scores show the school is helping the student catch up.

Why is this an improvement?  Because the old AYP formula didn't capture schools in these states that were making solid progress with their students. 

Why is it only a small improvement?  Because schools in 48 states that make solid progress are not going to get credit for it.  It also seems likely that some schools that mostly serve advantaged students will continue to pass AYP even if students aren't progressing much.  Finally, impact analyses done by the states shows that if the new growth formulas had been in effect in 2004-05, a fairly small number of schools would have been affected.  Just 47 more TN schools and 40 more NC schools would have made AYP.

Four and a half years ago, AYP -- again, that's adequate yearly progress -- became the federal government's accountability measure for schools.  Only now is AYP actually beginning to measure student progress.

*For you young-uns scratching your heads about the title of this post, it relates to yesterday's other big news, the announcement of the media-induced breakup of Paul McCartney's marriage.