By Rebecca Correa
Staff writer
May 20, 2008 06:00 am More than half of local schools may not meet the state's educational standards, but most students made academic progress in the past year. Roughly 70 percent of local students scored better on state standardized tests than they did last year, according to reports released by the state Department of Education. That means the 26 local schools that didn't make adequate progress failed because of students who fall into a specialized category, such as economically disadvantaged or special education students. Only 46 percent of special education students improved their math and reading scores over last year's results. Administrators said those results aren't surprising because special education students typically have a harder time making progress on the state's standardized test. But for the first time, Daniel J. Bakie Elementary School in Kingston was added to the list of schools that need improvement — meaning the school did not make the progress the state wanted. But while 65 percent of the general population made adequate progress, only about 40 percent of special education students did the same. Superintendent Keith Pfeifer said it was a "small number of kids" that earned Bakie the state's lowest designation, but it's still a problem the district is trying to tackle. The general population is made up of 195 students, while there are 25 special education students at the school. "We work at (improving scores) — we work at it every day," Pfeifer said. "We're looking at methods for that particular group and we do offer some after-school tutoring. But, do we need to do more than that? We're open to that, but it's post-budget season so there's only so much we can implement." The struggle is the same for other school districts on the list. Almost 75 percent of the Pelham School District's 750 students improved their state standardized test scores as the state hoped, but fewer than half of the 70 special education students did the same. And in Salem, William T. Barron Elementary School was deemed a school that had not made enough progress this year. That school, like all others in the area, earned that designation because of its special education population. "The fact is these students are identified with a disability for a reason, and I know the logic and rationale behind the law, that everyone needs to meet a certain standard," said Salem Superintendent Michael Delahanty. "But even more alarming is a couple of (schools) ... just squeaked by in the same category and that's not the way we want to go." Four Salem schools, including the high school, middle school and the Soule and Haigh elementary schools, were almost put on the state's inadequate list because of their special education population. Administrators said they are still searching for ways to improve special education scores, but the largest population — the general population — is headed in the right direction. "As a whole school, we made it, which I think is the fairest comparison of if we are doing a good job or not," Pfeifer said. "When we know students with a disability have varying ways to learn and we know that taking a standardized multiple-choice and written test may not be the best method, a whole school shouldn't be judged on that population."
Percentage of students who improved their standardized test scores District%General population%Special education Derry%67%42% Hampstead%78%56 Londonderry%67%39 Pelham%72%46 Salem%71%49 Sanborn%63%36 Timberlane Regional%66%45 Windham%76%53 Percentages are a combined total of improved math and reading scores.
—
Copyright © 1999-2008 cnhi, inc.