No Child Left Behind (NCLB) continues to be an important component of accountability for North Carolina schools. As part of the U.S. Department of Education flexibility waiver granted to North Carolina, AMOs for mathematics and reading have been recalculated for the 2011-12 school year. The AMOs are set individually for each subgroup with the goal of reducing by one-half the number of non-proficient students within six years. The AMOs are accessible at http://www.ncpublicschools.org/docs/accountability/reporting/abc/2011-12/amotargets.pdf.
Targets are set for student attendance, Cohort Graduation Rates, and for student performance on the state standardized tests in reading and mathematics. North Carolina works toward targets in each of those areas for the state’s performance as a whole and for the following student groups: White, Black, Hispanic, American Indian, Asian, Pacific Islander, Two or More Races (when two or more race/ethnicities are selected with the exception of Hispanic which overrides all other races/ethnicities), Economically Disadvantaged, Limited English Proficient, and Students with Disabilities.
Grade 10 reading targets are based on students scoring proficient on English I. Grade 10 mathematics targets are based on Algebra I (including “banked” scores, i.e., Algebra I scores for 10th graders who took Algebra I in any prior school year). Reading and mathematics targets for grade 10 were changed for the 2010-11 school year. Comparisons of current results to those prior to the recalculation year should be avoided as they will be inaccurate.