News 12 at 6 o'clock, October 2, 2008

AIKEN COUNTY, Ga.---Three out of every four Aiken County Elementary and middle schools did not make Adequate Yearly Progress, or AYP. Across the state the results are worse.

Teacher Miranda Whitson always tries to get her students to make the grade, but unfortunately, this year her school did not.

New Ellentown Middle School missed making AYP by a fraction of a percent.

"We're gonna use that fraction of a missed point to light our fire, and make sure we go above and beyond next time," said Whitson.

Across Aiken county, the number meeting the federal goal has gone down. This year only a quarter of elementary and middle schools passed. Last year about half of them did.

Most south Carolina schools have 17 to 21 targets, and they have to meet every single one to pass.

"We certainly would never hold our students to that type of accountability. If they missed one question out of 17 they make an "F," said Whitson.

Aiken County school officials say they predicted the lower numbers because some of their test scores had to go up about 20% from last year.

Some teachers say you can't compare these numbers to other states because each sets its own definition of proficiency. An "average score" in one state can be "above average" in another state.

South Carolina officials say studies have shown their definition is much harder than others.

"But I don't think parents understand that. When they hear that South Carolina's not doing as well as other states, they don't realize that our standards are a lot higher than the other states, said teacher Renee Johnson.

"That's a good thing. That only benefits our students, our communities, our state," said Whitson.

For the school and the state, they're just hoping high standards will lead to brighter students, even if that means not making AYP.

Across South Carolina the elementary and middle school results were a little worse than Aiken County, with only about 20% meeting the standards.

High school results will be released next week.