Four Chilton County Schools met their Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) goals, and seven schools did not, according to the reports released by the Alabama Department of Education on Monday.

Maplesville High School, Jemison High School, Jemison Middle School and Jemison Elementary School met 100 percent of their goals for the 2010-2011 academic year.

Under the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) each school has to meet 100 percent of its goals in each sub group to achieve AYP — missing one goal will prevent a school from making AYP.

One school might have seven goals, while another might have 20 or more, depending on the school’s size, grade levels and other criteria.

Those who did not meet their required goals for the year include: Thorsby High School met 20 out of 21 (95.24 percent), Clanton Middle School met 20 out of 21 (95.24 percent), Verbena High School met 16 out of 17 (94.12 percent), Chilton County High School met 12 out of 13 (92.31 percent), Clanton Intermediate School met 23 out of 25 (92 percent), Clanton Elementary School met 23 out of 25 (92 percent) and Isabella High School met 15 out of 17 (88.24 percent).

“Obviously, we would like if all schools made AYP, but it’s like making a 90 on a test, it may be passing, but on this particular test; it is failing,” said Superintendent Dave Hayden. “We’re all going to keep working, we have good students and good teachers.”

Similar to last year, the main issue for the Chilton County school system is reading for special needs students, said Karen Mitchell, Board of Education school improvement specialist and professional development coordinator.

“Each year the scale goes up, but our schools are improving and making great strides,” said Mitchell. “We have teachers that have been working really hard. Many systems are in the same boat.”

If a school does not make AYP for two consecutive years in the same groups, the school enters into school improvement status.

Thorsby High School, Chilton County High School, Clanton Middle School, Clanton Intermediate School, Clanton Elementary School and Isabella High School are on school improvement. Verbena High School did not make AYP, but is not on School Improvement.

It takes two years of not making AYP for a school to make the School Improvement list. Likewise, it takes two years of making AYP for a school to progress out of School Improvement status.

“The smaller the school the more AYP is affected by two students,” said Pamela Harris, system test coordinator and AYP coordinator. “If a student goes into the military or gets a GED, it affects the numbers of the graduation rate.”

Out of 1,383 Alabama public schools, 1,006 schools made AYP or met 100 percent of their goals despite increasingly difficult NCLB requirements, according to an Alabama Board of Education press release.

For more information about Chilton County’s AYP scores, visit alsde.edu/Accountability/Accountability.asp