UPDATED: Most Inver Grove Heights Schools Fail to Make Adequate Progress

More than half of Inver Grove Heights' schools did not make adequate progress this year on statewide reading and math tests, according to federal and state standards set as part of the No Child Left Behind Act.

Only , located on the southern edge of Inver Grove Heights, made adequate progress this year, according to state data released on Friday. , and the Inver Grove Heights Middle School were listed as not making adequate progress. narrowly missed the cut-off; all but one subgroup of students in the school made adequate progress on the math and reading tests in 2011, an improvement over previous years.

AYP is a measure of the percentage of students at a school who are proficient in reading and math, based on standardized test performances—in Minnesota, those are the Minnesota Comprehensive Assessments that students take each spring. Attendance rates also are factored in to AYP, as are graduation rates for high schools.

The targets for proficiency are defined by the federal No Child Left Behind Act of 2001. The goal of the act is for all public school students in the United States to become proficient in math and reading by 2014. When a school fails to make adequate yearly progress two years in a row, it is identified as in need of improvement. Schools that consistently fail to make adequate yearly progress, also known by the acronym "AYP," face sanctions and corrective actions under the act.

This is the fourth consecutive year Hilltop failed to make adequate progress; within two years, the district is required under NCLB to restructure the school, replace staff or hire outside experts to evaluate the school, among other options.

This year also marks the second consecutive year that Salem Hills failed to make AYP, and is the first year the school will be listed as in need of improvement.

But those sanctions could be rendered irrelevant if the state succeeds in applying for a waiver releasing the state from many of the No Child Left Behind Act's provisions. Minnesota sought a temporary waiver from certain provisions of NCLB on Aug. 16, but the U.S. Department of Education has not acted on the waiver request, according to a press release issued by the Minnesota Department of Education.

“Minnesota is directed by state law to release AYP data this year—however we are hopeful that positive changes in how we measure, support, and report school improvement are on the way,” said Minnesota Department of Education Commissioner Brenda Cassellius. “Labeling schools as “failures” or imposing one-size-fits-all mandates is a flawed way to address the unique challenges facing some of our schools.”

Of the 2,255 schools in Minnesota, 1,056 failed to make adequate yearly progress this year, according to data released Friday.

“As we put together our waiver package, we aim to put Minnesota’s stamp of excellence and our own common sense approach on efforts to reform education,” Cassellius wrote in the press release.