Lindbergh School District students tackled the standards of the federal No Child Left Behind Act, earning Adequate Yearly Progress for each student subgroup and academic field measured for the 2003-2004 school year.

Lindbergh was one of very few St. Louis County school districts to achieve Ade-quate Yearly Progress, or AYP, according to a district news release.

Based on student performance on the Missouri Assessment Program tests, Lind-bergh schools met AYP goals in both communication arts and mathematics.

“This is a tremendous accomplishment for Lindbergh students and staff,” Nancy Rath-jen, assistant superintendent for curriculum, stated in the release. “When the final scores came out on Nov. 1 for Adequate Yearly Pro-gress, Lindbergh was one of very few St. Louis County districts to make AYP as a district. We are exceptionally proud of the efforts of our staff in helping each and every child achieve at higher levels.”

The passage of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 gave public schools across the country a mandate to bring each student to “proficiency” by 2014 in math and reading. While yearly goals have been established, the NCLB Act leaves it to each state to define what it means for students to be “proficient” in the two subjects.

Nationally, progress is being tracked for 10 student subgroups, including African-American, Asian-Pacific Islander, white, Hispanic, Native American, other, free-and-reduced lunch, special education, limited English proficiency and total.

Lindbergh made gains in its MAP scores and achieved the AYP scores required.

Schools must show AYP for each of the qualifying subgroups to earn a “met” rating.

Lindbergh met the requirements in both communication arts and mathematics in five subgroups measured: African-Ameri-can, free-and-reduced lunch, limited Eng-lish proficiency, white and total. The other subgroups were not measured at Lind-bergh because the groups do not meet minimum size requirements.

“We’ve made great gains for students in all areas since we began tracking MAP scores,” Rathjen stated. “Our MAP scores, ACT scores, Advanced Placement and In-ternational Baccalaureate scores and other assessment data confirm that the typical Lindbergh student performs above average on both state and nationally normed assessments of knowledge and academic skills. Achieving AYP is another indicator that Lindbergh students are doing very well academically.

“Lindbergh is committed to helping each child achieve,” she continued. “The challenge is not educating most students to a high level; it is educating every student in every subgroup to a level of achievement that is above grade level. We will continue to work to ensure that every child achieves to his or her greatest potential.”