Our schools are dedicated to providing all children with the education necessary to succeed in school and in life. Holding high expectations for our students is not new. All Oxford Area Community Schools are accredited by the North Central Association school improvement program. This is a rigorous five-year commitment involving research, goal development, strategic planning and implementation, followed by evaluation and measurement. In addition, the district employs the FRAMEWORKS curriculum process to continuously develop, implement, monitor, review and assess all subject areas for all grades.
The way our school and student achievement is measured and reported will be different under the new federal law known as No Child Left Behind (NCLB). NCLB was signed into law by President Bush in January 2002. The law represents the federal government’s largest ever expansion of involvement in K-12 education. Our schools support the concept of NCLB and will fully comply with this new law; but it is very complicated and will require an enormous effort by state, district and local educators to implement.
Under NCLB, Michigan must use a measure known as Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) to ensure all students are proficient on the Michigan Education Assessment Program (MEAP) reading and math tests by the 2013-14 school year. Each year, our schools will receive an AYP status report from the state. The report will include students? scores for the entire school, but that’s only part of the rating. NCLB also requires the report to break students? scores into nine different subgroups, including racial/ethnic, special needs, limited English proficient, and economically disadvantaged. If even one group does not meet the Adequate Yearly Progress target goals, the school will not make AYP. Schools receiving Title I funding, a federal program that provides resources to schools in areas of economic need, could face sanctions under NCLB if the school does not make AYP for two or more years in a row. Sanctions increase in severity for every year a Title I school does not make AYP.
The AYP results for 2001-02 were just released by the Michigan Department of Education. All Oxford District’s elementary schools and the Oxford Middle School met AYP goals for 2001-2002. The state is still determining how measures will be defined for high schools. We expect those results to become available in June.
Oxford Schools is dedicated to continuous school and student achievement through its school improvement plans, including those identified under No Child Left Behind. But we can’t do this alone.
Maintaining high quality schools is a job for the entire community, and we need your help and support in reaching these goals.
Oxford Area Community Schools encourages all community members, including parents, business leaders, and retirees to get involved in helping students succeed.