Two schools miss AYP

By AUBRIE GEORGE

The state Department of Education released its Adequate Yearly Progress report in early November, and the results show two Moorestown Township Public Schools that did not meet AYP standards for the 2009–10 school year.

According to the report, neither William Allen Middle School nor Upper Elementary School met AYP requirements for the 2009–10 school year.

The state’s AYP report is part of the federal No Child Left Behind legislation that aims to have all students achieving at their grade level by 2014. The data used in the report is based on results of state assessments given to students in grades 3 through 8 and grade 11.

Acting Education Commissioner Rochelle Hendricks compared the report to a “check engine” light in a car.

“It could mean that only one small group of students in a school did not meet standards. Or it could be the first evidence of a systemic problem requiring sweeping change,” Hendricks said.

Both WAMS and UES also appear on an early warning list that indicates schools that will be placed on the Schools in Need of Improvement (SINI) list if they do not make AYP in the following year.

The SINI list identifies schools that did not make AYP for two consecutive years in the same content area. SINI schools face sanctions, including parental notification and the use of 20 percent of the school’s federal Title I money to provide tutoring to struggling students, school improvement plans, and technical assistance from the district and the state.

Schools must make AYP two years in a row in order to be removed from the SINI list.

The state requires that students in each school meet 41 performance indicators to meet AYP. Those indicators include all students achieving scores of proficient or advanced proficient in the test’s subject areas of mathematics and language arts.

Students are broken into subgroups such as racial and ethnic groups, special education, limited English proficient, and economically disadvantaged students.

Students in all subgroups and in all grades tested must score proficient or advanced proficient in all subjects in order to meet AYP.

Kate Napolitano, the district’s assistant superintendent for curriculum and instruction, said it’s important to note that the schools that missed AYP only did so due to a small number of students in the disabilities and economically disadvantaged student subgroups missing the mark.

Napolitano said the district doesn’t wait for the state test to evaluate and prepare students and that teachers and faculty take a year-round, proactive approach.

“We make sure our teachers have the most current information regarding AYP,” Napolitano said.

“All of our supervisors have attended all of the state and county meetings to make sure they have the most recent information.”

The district also provides teachers with professional development opportunities to equip them with skills that can be embedded into regular, day-to-day classroom practices.

Napolitano said the district is in its second year of an ongoing partnership with the University of Pennsylvania called the Penn Literacy Network.

The partnership has allowed teachers to take graduate-level courses in writing on Moorestown’s campus and has allowed teachers to participate in workshops, seminars and mentoring programs.

Internally, Napolitano said the district constantly assesses students on its own and performs individualized instruction.

“We do a lot of work with individual students,” she said. “We really differentiate and individualize instruction to meet students’ skills.”

Napolitano said the district’s faculty prepares students with the skills they need for the state test as well as essential skills they need to be successful in the future.

A copy of the state’s Adequate Yearly Progress report can be found at www.nj.gov/education.