Rochester Concerned Taxpayers

Friday, May 9, 2008
Fosters

DOVER — Local schools and school districts are seeing small successes among the continued struggle to meet the federal standards of Adequate Yearly Progress.

Rochester, Portsmouth and Dover were among several districts listed as needing improvement in reading or math. Rollinsford is a first-year district in need of improvement in reading and also missed math for the first time.

Farmington and Barrington each made AYP in reading this year, bringing those districts back to academic success in that area after missing last year.

According to the state Department of Education, Adequate Yearly Progress is accomplished only if a school or district meets performance targets established for students in reading and mathematics, as well as state targets for student participation, attendance and graduation. Student performance as a whole is measured, as well as the performance of specific subgroups, which are broken down by ethnicity, socioeconomic status, educational disability and no or limited English proficiency.

If a district or school does not meet standards in both grade groupings in the same target area, they are listed as needing improvement and do not make the Adequate Yearly Progress list. A school or district can miss AYP in one of the target areas for one year without being listed as in need of improvement in that area, but if it is missed a second consecutive time, they become in need of improvement.

Rochester has been listed as needing improvement almost every year the federal AYP has been released. While the district improved over last year and made AYP in reading this year, thus clearing it of being in need of improvement in reading, the district missed AYP in math for the fourth year in a row. Also, six of its schools are schools in need of improvement. Rochester Middle School made AYP this year but remains a school in need of improvement in reading for the third year and in math for the second year. The Chamberlain Elementary and East Rochester schools also made AYP, but remain schools in need of improvement. The McClelland School is a school in need of improvement for the second year in reading and math, and Spaulding High School is a school in need of improvement in reading for the first year and in math for the fourth year.

After two consecutive years of not meeting AYP, parents have the option to send their children to other public schools. In the third year, students from low-income families are eligible to receive supplemental educational services, such as tutoring or remedial classes, from a provider approved by the state and selected by parents. If a school fails to make AYP for four consecutive years, the state can replace teachers and a new curriculum can be put into place. In the fifth year, the state can take control of the school, reopen as a charter school or be turned over to a private company.

Rochester Superintendent Mike Hopkins said the important thing for people to understand about the district is that it made AYP in reading and that “significant progress” has been made in each of the district’s schools.

But like many other districts, Rochester is consistently listed as needing improvement because of subgroups identified by the federal program, including special education and economically disadvantaged students. The larger population of the district also increases the likelihood of having such students who cannot perform at the level of an average student, but are still tested as such.

While progress was made in the economically disadvantaged subgroup, Rochester missed the Black or African Americans subgroup in math this year for the first time.

AYP in all subgroups must be met for the district to meet AYP.

“Unfortunately it becomes, ‘The district didn’t make a subgroup’” instead of the focus being on success in the other testing areas, Hopkins said. “It’s easy to focus on that one thing.”

As many of the district’s schools made AYP this year and “incredible progress” has been made at the middle school, Hopkins said the plans put in place for improvement are having an impact.

Portsmouth has advanced to a second year of being a district in need of improvement in reading but made AYP in math again. The New Franklin School made AYP in reading but missed math for the second year in a row, making it a school in need of improvement in math.

Some districts that met AYP last year and were cleared of their status of being in need of improvement are once again back on the list.

Districts must make AYP two years in a row in order to be cleared of the status of being a district in need of improvement.

Dover made this accomplishment last year. This year, the district is in need of improvement in reading for the first year. It also missed math.

Superintendent John O’Connor said there has been an effort to improve reading as the district has instituted a new language arts curriculum that focuses on spelling and grammar. The district also is piloting a series of reading programs that should begin next year.

“If what we’re doing is getting the same results, then we need to change what we’re doing and I’m trying to impress that upon our teaching staff,” O’Connor said.

Several school districts, including Somersworth, Governor Wentworth, Strafford and Milton, are celebrating academic success as they are not listed as districts in need of improvement.

“We’re pleased we’re not a district in need of improvement,” said Somersworth Superintendent Karen Soule. “We’ve already met and begun to look at the results.”

However, both Maple Wood and Hilltop Elementary schools are listed as schools in need of improvement. Hilltop School is a school in need of improvement in reading for the second year and in math for the first year. Maple Wood is in need of improvement in reading for a third year and missed AYP in math for the first time this year.

Soule said those schools are considering appealing their “in need of improvement” designations, but could not elaborate further.

Somersworth Middle School is in need of improvement in reading for the second year and in math for the first year.

While Somersworth High School is in need of improvement in reading for the first year, it exited that status for graduation rate.

Soule said the dropout rate going down at the high school “really helped” and the district will continue to look at reading for improvement next year.

Rollinsford, which is a one-school district, is listed as a first-year district in need of improvement in reading, and Soule said she thinks the school will “take this as a real opportunity to look at what they are doing.”

She noted Rollinsford Grade School’s “great staff and hard work” and said they only missed AYP because of one subgroup.

Rollinsford needs to make AYP in math next year to avoid becoming a district in need of improvement in math.

Farmington can celebrate clearing its status as a district in need of improvement in reading. It did, however, advance to its second year as a district in need of improvement in math.

Statewide results show that of the 162 districts where reports were issued, 86 districts made AYP and 75 did not. This number is up from just 13 districts in need of improvement in 2006 and about 30 last year.

According to Barrington Superintendent Mike Morgan, school officials there are “very pleased” with the results this year as they made AYP in reading. The district must make it next year to be cleared of its status as a district in need of improvement in reading.

“That’s major for Barrington, especially in reading, because that’s where we put our effort,” Morgan said. “It shows we’re taking No Child Left Behind seriously.”

The district is “really trying to consistently get better” at what it does by increasing professional development and instituting an updated math program, Morgan said.

Like Rochester, Barrington missed math this year because of the special education subgroup.

“We have to do better with them,” he said.

Educators have said since No Child Left Behind began in 2001 that it sets an impossible goal and the program is having an opposite effect. The goal of the federal No Child Left Behind Act is that all students demonstrate 100 percent proficiency by 2013-2014, and the performance targets increase every two years. This year, schools and districts must have 86 percent of their students successful in reading and 82 percent in math.

“There is no way 100 percent of schools and 100 percent of districts can have 100 percent proficiency levels,” Barrington’s Morgan said. “It’s going to keep going up.”

O’Conner said, “You’re always concerned about the repercussions” of No Child Left Behind guidelines. “There’s a lot of criticism, but really the bottom line is there needs to be some measure of accountability and we need to at least meet those standards.”

The N.H. Department of Education is using its Follow the Child initiative to track the individual progress of students. Those scores also have been made available along with the No Child Left Behind results on the Department of Education website at www.ed.state.nh.us/education/

Friday, May 9, 2008
Union Leader

School progress reports released yesterday by the state Department of Education keep city schools on a short list requiring “corrective action.”

The reports are based on statewide assessment tests in reading and mathematics given to students in grades 3 through 8 and grade 11 in October.

Manchester and Rochester districts failed to make “adequate yearly progress” for the fifth straight year.

If the same results play out next spring, both districts will be labeled in need of “restructuring,” a federal designation under the No Child Left Behind law that would be uncharted water in New Hampshire.

Yesterday’s report said almost 300 New Hampshire schools have received failing grades on their annual progress reports.

One-hundred-seventy-five schools achieved passing progress in all areas. Two-hundred-eighty-two schools failed one or more targets and 17 are waiting to have their progress calculated.

State law prevents the DOE from taking over day-to-day operations of a local school or district, but state officials would have to step up their involvement, said Deborah Wiswell, administrator for accountability at the education department.

Corrective action is a two-year process, she said. The first — this school year, for Manchester — involves planning. The second is implementing that plan.

In making AYP announcements last year, Education Commissioner Lyonel Tracy said the state would have a presence in Manchester schools.

Tracy hired a team of educational consultants from Brown University to help shape the district improvement plan. That group’s work continues.

“Just this past week they met with a focus group of teachers,” said Wiswell. “They don’t tell them what to do, but they quantify and help organize information.”

The city’s corrective action plan has taken more time to finalize than originally hoped, said Wiswell, in part because of mid-year turnover in the superintendent’s office.

“We’ve already met with Tom Brennan to talk about what we can do,” she said, referring to Manchester’s recently hired superintendent, who starts work July 1.

Individual schools are also measured for AYP.

Six schools in New Hampshire are now considered in need of restructuring, including Northwest Elementary in Manchester.

But the school’s acting principal, Shelly Larochelle, said Northwest is not a “failing” school. Test results continue to show progress, she said.

State assessment tests classify students in subgroups based on ethnicity, socioeconomic status, educational disability and English proficiency.

“There are 14 subgroups,” said Larochelle, “and from 2006 we’ve made progress in all subgroups but one.”

She said teachers and administrators pour over test results each year and formulate a plan of attack to bring grades up.

“It’s a work in progress from year to year,” she said, focusing attention on individual students, certain classrooms and specific grade levels.

Last year, just one subgroup tripped Northwest up and kept it on the state’s watch list. The rising minimum standards, however, make it difficult to keep up.

“We made it as a whole school last year,” said Larochelle. “If (standards) had stayed the same, we would have made it again this year.”

Henry Aliberti, Manchester’s acting superintendent of schools, said he hadn’t had a chance to review the AYP reports.

Wiswell agreed the news coming out of the city’s schools isn’t all grim.

“In every group,” she said, “Manchester is moving kids out of level one (the lowest scores). It’s going to be a while before they make AYP, but they are improving. The bar goes up every year.”

Failing to make AYP two consecutive years in the same area of testing puts individual schools and districts under the “in need of improvement” label under NCLB.

To make AYP, a school or district must meet performance targets established for students in reading and mathematics, as well as meet state targets for student participation, attendance, and high school graduation.

NCLB requires that all students nationwide demonstrate proficiency by 2014.

Material from the Associated Press was used in this story.

Tuesday, May 6, 2008
Fosters

ROCHESTER — School officials want another enrollment study before committing to a new middle school.

The School Board will decide on Thursday if wants to award the $4,500 contract to Planning Decisions Inc., a South Portland, Maine, outfit that has studied the area twice before.

The study — to be completed by the end of June or mid-July — will look at current trends and look 10 years into the future for space needs.

“They’ve been very consistent and right on with projections” in the past, said Superintendent Mike Hopkins.

Past studies, including one done in 2002, showed school enrollment has been fairly steady, even with new housing being built, he said.

Kindergarten was just starting out when the last study was done, and now the district is bracing for the dropout age rising to 18 beginning in July 2009.

Enrollment is not the only factor pushing the need for a new school, which is estimated to cost more than $20 million. Next fiscal year’s proposed budget has $250,000 for the school, with the bulk of funding coming the following year, according to the proposed budget.

“Most of our space issues are related to programs that we have to provide for students,” Hopkins said.

No Child Left Behind’s mandate that all students be at proficient learning levels has called for new reading, math and tutoring programs that require additional staff and space, Hopkins said.

An increase in students requiring special education and a program for the deaf also have contributed to the need for more learning space, he said.

Officials have spent the last several years bringing attention to the district’s space crunch.

Two years ago, School Board members and other officials touring the city’s three elementary schools found students learning in hallways and even closets.

There are now 12 modular classrooms at three elementary schools, where the crunch is most felt.

One idea for the new middle school is to bring fifth grade in the fold in order to make room at the lower level, Hopkins said.

The new study could halt building plans if a significant drop in new student enrollment is expected, he said.

“I think it’s way too soon to say when construction might occur,” Hopkins said.

Friday, January 25, 2008
Fosters

ROCHESTER — School Board members received a broad overview Thursday night of a proposed $52 million operating budget for next school year that included “wish lists” from department heads.

It’s unlikely the board will consider all of the extra requests made by principals and other department heads, as it causes the overall operating budget to increase by 6.3 percent over the current budget.

Without those additional requests for staff, equipment and programs, the $52,415,881 operating budget is a 5.4 percent increase over the current budget of $49,747,019.

A great majority of that increase is due to salary increases, including about $1.1 million more in cost of living and merit raises for teachers. The district is currently in the second year of a three-year contract with the Rochester Federation of Teachers.

Other increases include a jump in health insurance, other benefits, textbooks, fuel, transportation and new equipment.

Along with the $52 million proposed budget, an additional $1,555,000 has been budgeted for Capital Improvement Program projects, including for health and safety, facilities, equipment and athletics. A $1,650,000 food services budget also has been proposed.

On the revenue side, Business Administrator Linda Casey said there has been a slight decline in Medicare reimbursements and state building aid. The building aid could, however, increase as Casey has just submitted an application for the Hillsdale Road athletic fields project.

Debt service will be reduced by $1 million by 2012, which could allow the district to plan for the funding and construction of a new school. The new facility has been discussed as an option for more than a year now, as elementary schools are overcrowded.

School district administrators are only recommending $277,906 worth of additional new personnel and staffing changes be budgeted for the 2008-2009 school year. Principals and department heads originally asked for a total of $409,607 in staffing changes or new personnel.

Four new positions included in the administrators’ recommendation include a full-time dean of instruction for the Middle School, an additional full-time English teacher, one part-time Spanish teacher and one part-time math teacher at Spaulding High School and a full-time speech pathologist.

The dean of instruction would handle teacher evaluations, thus freeing up administrators to focus on other tasks, and assist teachers in advancing professionally.

“Basically we need someone to help our teachers to be better teachers,” Principal Valerie McKenney said, also noting providing that teacher support should translate into student success as well.

The Middle School also has asked the School Board to consider providing stipends to academic team leaders so that McKenney can meet with these teachers for leadership training. School district administrators have not listed this request of $8,333 in stipends as a priority, however.

Spaulding Principal John Shea said that the additional math, Spanish and English teachers are needed to reduce class sizes, many of which are exceeding 25 students, and in some cases 30 students, per class. Reducing class sizes will ultimately improve the quality of education, Shea added.

Board member John Connelly said he favored capping classroom sizes, which he said the board should investigate further.

“We need to take a look at (that), but in the end we have a big budget here,” he added.

Shea, like the other department heads who pleaded their cause Thursday night for new learning tools, said he understands the board has hard decisions to make in the weeks ahead.

Other requests by the high school — also recommended by school district administrators — included reconfiguring office space and the school basement for maximum use, creating more permanent exhibits in the hallways, buying a new cabinet for storing chemicals for the science department and purchasing more Smartboards for the math department and other classrooms, all for a total of $79,600.

The Special Education Department has requested the speech pathologist because the district currently contracts that service along with other related services currently at $93,000 a year. The department has budgeted for that position at $58,660.

The School Board will now scrutinize the proposed budget in earnest at the committee level. The Budget Committee will discuss its portion of the budget at 6 p.m. Monday, while the Instruction Committee will meet at 6 p.m. Thursday. Both meetings will be held in the School Department Board Room.