All six Charles County public high schools met their Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) school performance benchmarks for 2008. Charles County Public Schools, as a system, also met AYP at each level -- elementary, middle and high school -- for the 2007-08 school year.

The Maryland State Department of Education released results Friday. The high school AYP is based on the results of grade 11 students' scores on the Maryland High School Assessments. Information released Nov. 14 is only for high schools; the state released AYP data for middle and elementary schools in August.

AYP is the gain that schools, school systems, and states must make each year in the proportion of students achieving proficiency in reading and math. To make AYP, schools and school systems must improve in reading and mathematics for all students as well as for nine student subgroups including each of five racial/ethnic groups, students receiving special education services, Limited English Proficiency services and Free and Reduced Meals services (FARMS). AYP also includes graduation rates for high school and attendance in elementary and middle school. A high school's AYP status is based on its performance on the English and Algebra/Data Analysis 2008 High School Assessments (HSAs), the school's participation rate in the assessments and its graduation rate.

"This is great news for our county, and I am very proud of the work that our students, our teachers and administrators, all our employees, and our parents have put in to make this happen," Superintendent James E. Richmond said. "We are moving forward, and our schools and students are making progress. As with every round of testing results, we take this information and use it to address areas where improvement is needed and build upon our successes."

The Maryland School Assessment (MSA) exams are given in the spring to third through eighth grade students in reading and mathematics. High school students take the HSA in May.

Additional information may be found on the School Improvement in Maryland Web site at http://www.mdk12.org and the Maryland State Department of Education Web site at http://www.marylandpublicschools.org.

The Charles County public school system does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, age or disability in its programs, activities or employment practices. For inquiries, please contact Dr. Patricia Vaira, Title IX Coordinator and Section 504 Coordinator (students), or Keith Hettel, Section 504 Coordinator (employees/adults), at Charles County Public Schools, Jesse L. Starkey Administration Building, P.O. Box 2770, La Plata, Maryland 20646; (301) 932-6610/870-3814. For special accommodations call (301) 934-7230 or TDD 1-800-735-2258 two weeks prior to the event.