Wyandotte Schools Meet Federal Academic Goals

All Wyandotte schools with the exception of one that is now closed met the requirements of the federal No Child Left Behind Act, according to statistics released Monday morning by the Michigan Department of Education.

The former Taft Elementary School, which closed last year due to declining enrollment, was the only school in the district that did not meet its adequate yearly progress goals.

Schools are judged on how well students perform on the Michigan Educational Achievement Program test and the Michigan Merit Exam.

Students are characterized into many subgroups, which allows officials to determine what segment of the student population is struggling. At Taft, for instance, students with disabilities were the subgroup that did not meet federal standards.

While achieved adequate yearly progress overall, middle school reading was cited as the only subject area throughout the district that did not meet federal standards.

That distinction came not because of the scores of Wilson students, but rather from the scores of middle school-aged special education students from Wyandotte who attend another district or one of Wyandotte's center-based special education programs, Superintendent Carla Harting said.

Overall, Harting said, the district scored very well.

"I am very happy," she said. "I think our staff works hard. I am very excited that once again every school made AYP. I really credit the staff for making AYP each year."

Statewide, Michigan schools saw a 7.1 percentage decrease in students meeting the federal academic goals, dropping from 86 percent of schools in 2009-10 to 79 percent in 2010-11.

In addition to the federal guidelines, schools also are graded through a state accreditation system known as Education Yes! Those grades are derived largely on student test scores.

All four Wyandotte elementary schools received an “A,” while the middle school and received a “B.”