Like many superintendents across the state, Litchfield Superintendent Bill Wold isn’t shy about expressing his opinions regarding the state’s Adequate Yearly Progress measure. But at the same time, he knows reaching every child is the goal of education.

“We’re not particularly pleased with the AYP system as it is; however, we do understand that we need to work with kids to improve the basic skills,” Wold said.

The Litchfield School District will have its work cut out in the coming year, as the district failed to meet AYP for the second consecutive year, according to School Report Cards released Tuesday by the Minnesota Department of Education.

Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City, Dassel-Cokato and Eden Valley-Watkins school districts all made AYP for 2008.

Throughout the state, 937 Minnesota schools did not meet AYP for 2008, an increase from last year’s 729 schools. The progress reports are required by the federal No Child Left Behind act.

AYP is a means of measuring, through standards and assessments, the achievement of NCLB’s goal. The goal of NCLB is to ensure that all children have a fair, equal, and significant opportunity to obtain a quality education and reach, at a minimum, proficiency on challenging state academic achievement standards and state academic assessments, according to the Minnesota Department of Education.

Schools meet AYP by achieving benchmarks for the number of students meeting or exceeding standards on the MCA-IIs or by decreasing the percentage of students not meeting math and reading target scores.

AYP is calculated separately by student population subgroups — special education, English language learners, ethnic groups and students receiving free and reduced-priced meals. Each subgroup must meet its goals for the school to meet AYP.

Read reaction from area superintendents regarding the AYP data and what it may mean for your school in the Aug. 7 Independent Review. You can also find a complete list of Minnesota school performance on the Minnesota Department of Education Web site, www.education.state.mn.us.