As stipulated by the U.S. Department of Education, Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) is a measure that requires students to meet targets for attendance, graduation, English/language arts proficiency, and mathematics proficiency. AYP is also applied to subgroups by race/ethnicity, subsidized meals, disability, and limited English proficiency. None of the districts examined made Adequate Yearly Progress in 2007; however, the ratings system is considered to be fraught with internal and external validity issues. Schools and districts are also given "Absolute Ratings" and "Improvement Ratings" yearly. Again, there is state and national controversy in terms of application of ratings and how they are calculated and interpreted.