The No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) of 2001 requires all schools, districts/local education agencies (LEAs) and states to show that students are making Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP). NCLB requires states to establish targets in the following ways:

• Annual Proficiency Target: The law requires a set target for all students and student subgroups to meet in a progressive nature that would result in all students scoring at or above the proficient level on the state’s assessment by 2014.
  
  
• Attendance /Graduation Rates: The law requires schools, district/LEAs and states to meet an additional indicator based on improvement or established targets in attendance and/or graduation rates.
  Participation Rates:The law requires all students and student subgroups to meet a 95% participation rate.

Missouri’s AYP targets were established by the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education based on a formula from the NCLB Act and an analysis of Missouri Assessment Program (MAP) data, attendance rate data and graduation rate data from prior years. When all targets are met, the requirements of AYP are met.

Beginning with the 2008-2009 AYP determinations, Missouri was approved to implement a growth model for use in determining AYP. Growth model calculations were applied to 2006- 2007, 2007-2008, 2008-2009, 2009-2010, and 2010-11 grade-level MAP and MAP-A data.

Beginning in 2008-2009, the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education replaced the high school grade 10 mathematics assessment with the Algebra I end-of-course assessment and the high school grade 11 communication arts assessment with the English II end- of-course assessment. Since the Algebra I and English II assessments are used to fulfill the high school testing requirement, the United States Department of Education (USED) requires the Missouri Department of Education to “bank” end-of-course assessment scores for all students who participate in these assessments prior to grade nine. Banking scores means that the score will be stored, or “banked,” to be used for AYP accountability purposes the first time the student is enrolled in grade nine on the September count date.