Three additional Richmond County schools have been taken off the Needs Improvement list, according to Georgia’s final Adequate Yearly Progress report released today by the state.

Preliminary AYP results were released in July, and the final AYP report includes summer retest scores and summer graduates.

Morgan Road Middle, Spirit Creek Middle and Tubman Middle were among 16 additional schools statewide that came off Needs Improvement. A preliminary report issued in July already had announced Hephzibah and Tutt middles as coming off Needs Improvement.

AYP is the annual federal measure of school performance under No Child Left Behind legislation and consists of three parts – test participation, academic achievement and a “second indicator,” which includes the graduation rate. Schools that don’t make AYP for two consecutive years are given the “Needs Improvement” label and face escalating consequences, according to a state Department of Education news release.

Today’s final 2009 AYP report showed 42 out of 57 Richmond County schools made AYP for this past school year. That was an increase of nine from the 33 schools that made AYP in the preliminary figures released in July. It also was an increase of one compared to last year’s final revised report that showed 41 Richmond County schools making AYP, according to Chronicle archives.

The system now has 12 schools on Needs Improvement.

In Columbia County, the final results released today show all but two schools making AYP – that of Harlem High and North Harlem Elementary. Only Harlem High is on Needs Improvement.

The school system had none on the list a year ago.

As for graduation rates, Richmond County increased its overall figure from 63.8 percent in 2008 to 70.4 percent for 2009, according to the report. Meanwhile, Columbia County’s rate slightly increased, going from 82.4 percent in ‘08 to 83 percent for ‘09.

Seven of 10 high schools in Richmond County increased their rates. Two Columbia County high schools saw minimal increases.

Statewide, the report shows Georgia’s graduation rate rose to a high of 78.9 percent in 2009, an increase of three points over the prior year. The state’s graduation rate has risen more than 15 points from 63.3 percent to 78.9 percent since 2003.

“In a short period of time, we have increased by thousands the number of students who are graduating with a full diploma,” said Superintendent Kathy Cox in a news release. “We still have a lot of work to do, but we are making steady progress every year.”

Reach Preston Sparks at (706) 828-0851 or preston.sparks@augustachronicle.com