The good news is that, as a whole, Northampton Area School District was one of only nine school districts in Northampton and Lehigh counties to make Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP).

The bad news is that, individually, Northampton Area High School, Northampton Area Middle School and George Wolf Elementary School did not.

Siegfried Elementary School, Lehigh Elementary School and Moore Elementary School met the requirements for AYP.

The Adequate Yearly Progress report for 2012 was presented at Monday night's school board meeting by Dr. Kathleen E. Ott, director of data, grants and special programs.

"We'll continue to work on those scores [high school, middle school and Wolf]," Ott said. "We have some work to do, but we always have work to do."

Based on information provided in the NASD presentation, the high school, middle school and Wolf elementary didn't make AYP because of student performance.

Superintendent Joseph Kovalchik gave an example of what can lower AYP scores.

Taking on the role of a special education student, Kovalchik explained, "I'm required to take the eighth-grade test, even though I'm at the fourth-grade level."

Board member Dr. Michael Baird said AYP statistics can portray an overly negative student performance profile.

"When you have 6,000 kids in a school district, you might have 200 kids in a subgroup that didn't make proficiency level," Baird said.

"It's a way for certain politicians, whatever [political] party is involved, to paint a black picture of public education," Kovalchik said.

"We've made strides over the last four or five years," Kovalchik continued. The district has lost more than $2 million in funding since 2010 and reduced staff by more than 40 positions. But it has not cut any programs or terminated one employee in the last three years.

"Our scores have progressed. The NASD is on the right path. Do we need improvement? Absolutely," said Kovalchik.

"It's not only an administration concern. It's a concern all around," said board member Jane Erdo.

"And every year, you can see the special ed students break down and cry [at test time]," said board member Judy Odenwelder.

Ott reviewed five pages of initiatives in her PowerPoint presentation the administration and faculty are undertaking to improve AYP.

The Pennsylvania Department of Education released AYP results Sept. 21. Only nine of 17 school districts in the two-county Lehigh Valley area made AYP.

Participation and performance in math and reading is based on Pennsylvania System of School Assessment tests taken in spring 2012 by third- through eighth-grade students and 11th-grade students.

AYP is determined by district and individual schools and based on attendance and graduation rates, along with test participation and performance. It was established as a way to implement the 2001 No Child Left Behind Act, which was intended to hold states accountable for improving student achievement.

NASD AYP results were released Sept. 24 to school board members and the media by the NASD administration.

The 2012 attendance goal was 90 percent.

NASD attendance was 96 percent.

Per school, Grades K-8, attendance was as follows:

Middle school: 95.5 percent

Borough: 96.3 percent

Wolf: 95.9 percent

Lehigh: 96.2 percent

Moore: 96.4 percent

The 2012 graduation goal was 80 percent.

The NASD graduation rate is 91.9 percent.

The 2012 PSSA participation goal was 95 percent.

For Grades 3-11, PSSA participation was 95 percent.

Other PSSA participation percentages were as follows:

High school: 98.6 percent

Middle school: 99.6 percent

Borough: 99.8 percent

Wolf: 100 percent

Lehigh: 100 percent

Moore: 100 percent

The following is a breakdown of the 2012 AYP scores for performance by category and schools for students determined to be advanced and proficient:

IEP is an acronym for Individualized Education Plan for special education students.

ED is an acronym for Economically Disadvantaged.

In math, the 2012 goal was 78 percent proficiency. The following are the math results:

Borough, all: 85.5 percent

Borough, IEP: 65.4 percent

Borough, ED: 79.7

Wolf, all: 78 percent

Wolf, IEP: 57.5 percent

Wolf, ED: 67.3 percent

Lehigh, all: 92.6 percent

Lehigh, IEP: 76.9 percent

Lehigh, ED: 91.1 percent

Moore, all: 88.5 percent

Moore, IEP: 55.9 percent

Moore, ED: 81.7 percent

Middle, all: 83.1 percent

Middle, IEP: 42.6 percent

Middle, ED: 73.7 percent

High school, all: 60.9 percent

High school, IEP: 21.5 percent

High school, ED: 48.8 percent

In reading, the 2012 goal was 81 percent proficiency. The following are the reading results:

Borough, all: 79 percent

Borough, IEP: 50.5 percent

Borough, ED: 74.5

Wolf, all: 68.2 percent

Wolf, IEP: 39.7 percent

Wolf, ED: 54.9 percent

Lehigh, all: 82.4 percent

Lehigh, IEP: 53.8 percent

Lehigh, ED: 69.6 percent

Moore, all: 77.9 percent

Moore, IEP: 37.3 percent

Moore, ED: 66.2 percent

Middle, all: 78.9 percent

Middle, IEP: 35.9 percent

Middle, ED: 69.1 percent

High school, all: 71.5 percent

High school, IEP: 39.2 percent

High school, ED: 58.5 percent

"As you know, the bar keeps rising each year," said Ott.

In math, the 2013 goal is 89 percent proficiency.

In reading, the 2013 goal is 91 percent proficiency.

Last year was the last year for the PSSAs, which are being replaced by the statewide Keystone exams.

"The stakes keep getting higher each year, which is good because we want our students to be working harder academically," said Ott.