A KOTA Territory school district struggles to meet the increasing requirements set by the "No Child Left Behind" act.
Goshen County Schools are one of six Wyoming school districts that failed to meet "Adequate Yearly Progress"(or "AYP") benchmarks during last school year.
Superintendent Ray Schulte says the AYP for eleventh graders across the district was lower than expected, and several sub-groups failed to meet the federally mandated requirements. However, several sub-groups that didn't meet AYP benchmarks last year were off the list this year.
Teachers are meeting for the next three days to amend their strategic plan to hopefully get off the list.
"Whether or not we're only going to be able to get 100% of our students proficient in language arts and mathematics, that will be a real test," says Schulte.
Schulte says the district doesn't want students to be taught *specifically* towards passing these standardized tests. He feels their education should be 'based on rigor and relevance', that will help them as they enter college or starting a career.
"That's what's important. That's what this district has identified as being important. Sometimes that doesn't always alight with standardized test practice- but that's where we're at."
When the "No Child Left Behind Act" began in 2004, only 40 percent of students had to test at a proficient level... by 2014, 100% of students will have to test at a proficient level.
Schulte says that will be a daunting challenge for nearly every school district in the state.
