Selection Criteria for 2008 Awards
The 388 schools winning the Academic Excellence Award have sustained very high performance levels on state assessments for at least three years. These schools meet the following criteria:
- PK-8 Schools - 90% of students met or exceeded state standards in both reading and mathematics for at least 3 consecutive years.
- High Schools - 80% of students met or exceeded state standards in both reading
and mathematics for at least 3 consecutive years.
- All schools must make Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) for the past two years, and achieve the following criteria:
- At least 62.5% meeting and exceeding standards in both reading and mathematics
- 95% participation rate in state assessments for all students and each subgroup
- Attendance rate of at least 90% for elementary and middle schools and graduation rate of at least 75% for high schools