OXFORD — Curriculum Director Kathy Elkins reported to the Oxford Hills School District Board of Directors on Monday that the high school was the only secondary school participating in either the Class A western or eastern football conference to make adequate yearly progress in the Student Achievement Tests.

“Oxford Hills Comprehensive High School is the only Class A school to make AYP,” said Elkins as board members, school staff and others at the meeting applauded the news.

The Student Achievement Test, or SAT as it is better known, is a test of college readiness in the areas of math and reading.

Under the 2002 Federal No Child Left Behind Act, adequate yearly progress refers to the growth needed in the proportion of students who achieved the state benchmarks of academic proficiency. The scores must be reported to the U.S. Department of Education.

Elkins also reported that the high school is in the top 20 percent of grade 9 through 12 schools across the state who made AYP.

“I think it’s something to celebrate,” she said.

According to information provided by Elkins to the board, of Maine’s 635 public schools, 380 made AYP in both reading and mathematics including seven out of 10 schools in the Oxford Hills School District.

A total of 113 of Maine’s 635 public schools are in “monitor status.” Elkins said that means the schools made AYP in the previous school year, but did not meet at least one of the targets in this year’s testing. If the schools meet targets in the current year they will go back to “making AYP status,” she said. The only group of Oxford Hills School District students that have this status are students receiving special education services at the Guy E. Rowe School in Norway.

Elkins said 102 schools are in the “continuous improvement priority school” status, meaning they have not met testing targets for at least two years in a row. A total of 36 schools entered this status for the first time this year. There are no Oxford Hills School District schools in this category.

And finally, Elkins reported there are 30 schools in CIPS on hold status, which means they are poised to come off the list. The schools were on the list last year, met all targets this year and if they meet their targets again next year will be “making AYP.” Only Oxford Elementary and Oxford Hills Middle schools are on this list.

In 2006, the Department of Education mandated that all third-year high school students take the SAT in place of the weeklong Maine Educational Assessment testing that had been used in the past. The move was part of a statewide educational reform strategy.

Maine is the only state that requires all junior class students to take the SATs, an idea that has not been supported by school officials.

When the state-mandated testing was implemented, Department of Education officials said its purpose was to encourage all students to attain college and high-level workplace readiness, plus to measure academic achievement.

School officials said the MEA showed student achievement in mastering the Maine Learning Results, but the SAT is a college readiness test.

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