Honors for six schools

Six Mid-Valley schools are among 239 in the state that earned recognition for academic achievement.

West Walton Elementary School and Andros Karperos Middle School in Sutter County, Kynoch and Lone Tree elementary schools in Yuba County, and Gridley and Manzanita elementary schools in Butte County have been awarded Title I Academic Achievement Awards, according to Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O’ Connell.

This awards program recognizes schools receiving federal Title I funds for socio-economically disadvantaged students. The schools must demonstrate that all students are making significant progress toward proficiency on California’s academic content standards. These standards define the knowledge, concepts and skills students are expected to acquire at each grade level.

The performance of the schools is measured through two accountability models: The federal Adequate Yearly Progress, or AYP, and the state Academic Performance Index, or API.

To qualify for the achievement award, the schools must have Academic Performance Index growth of twice the school’s yearly growth target, meet significant API growth targets for subgroups of students, and have twice the API growth target for socio-economically disadvantaged students for two consecutive years.

Schools also have to meet their AYP for two consecutive years and have at least 40 percent of student meet the poverty index to receive the award.

“These outstanding schools have shown that with hard work and tight focus, the challenges of poverty, language, and socioeconomic background can be overcome,” said O’Connell.

Title I is a part of the federal No Child Left Behind Act of2001. The program’s purpose is to improve the academic achievement of disadvantaged students or students at high-risk of failure. Of more than 9,000 schools in California, more than 6,000 receive Title I funding.

Ten schools in the area received the award last year.

Appeal-Democrat reporter Robert LaHue can be reached at 749-4713. You may e-mail him at rlahue@appealdemocrat.com.