All but one of the Butler County schools met their goals for Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP).

The Alabama State Department of Education released its 2007 AYP report on Monday, which measures how well schools performed in meeting annual accountability goals under the federal No Child Left Behind Act. The goals are based mainly on standardized tests scores and 2014 national target for all students.

The only school in Butler County not to meet the 100 grade for the year was Greenville Middle School.

The other schools all scored 100 on the report.

An obviously happy Looney said the good news was &#8220gi-normous” admitting he knew that wasn't a word but adding, &#8220that's how big it is to us. It's been eight years since Greenville High, for example, met all the standards. Seeing both the accomplishment and the relief on the faces of our staff was an indication of how important this is to us all.

&#8220We're proud of the statistics, proud of our people.”

Looney said the good scores are affirmation that current programs and guidelines are in the right places and making a difference. And he praised the partnership of students, teachers and administrators whose efforts prompted the solid status.

&#8220I'm not surprised,” he said. &#8220This is recognition that our folks have been working hard, that we're committed to not leaving a child behind, that we're going to keep working to move forward.

&#8220There is more work to do,” he continued. &#8220While we have made some important improvements, we don't need to rest on our laurels. We must keep the focus so that next year we'll show continued advancement, that factors like our graduation rate will improve even more.”

Looney recognized the overall state progress and support as well.

&#8220We're making progress,” he said of Alabama's commitment to education. &#8220Our Alabama Reading Initiative and our Alabama Math and Science Technology program are examples of that support paying off and making a difference.”

Of the 1,358 public schools in Alabama, 82.2 percent achieved the AYP goal for 2007. This is down slightly from 2006 when out of 1,364 schools, 87.5 percent met their goals.

BCSS performance last year:

Schools that don't meet AYP are required to take immediate corrective steps and are placed in several categories. If a school misses AYP for one year, they are marked for its performance. However, schools that fail to make AYP in two consecutive years are labeled as schools that need improvement and parents have the option of transferring students to other schools in the district.