3 Schools Complete Required Reports After Missing State's Grade

After three schools in the Riverhead Central School District fell below the grade last year in certain areas, school administrators have collected their findings. Next, it's time to make their case to the State Department of Education.

Such was the analogy by Deb Rogers, principal, after a Tuesday night presentation at the Board of Education meeting by Principal Dave Densieski. 

During the 2009-2010 school year, the district saw three of its schools fail to make adequate yearly progress - defined by the state as "satisfactory progress by a district or school toward the goal of proficiency for all students" - with different groups of students for the second year in a row, resulting in the required corrective action plan to the state.

The AYP measure is used to determine how school districts across the country fall into compliance with federal education programs such as No Child Left Behind and Race to the Top, and New York State's disbursement of the federal funding.

On Tuesday night, Densieski outlined what he his fellow principals, faculty members, and other administrators in the district have been doing for the past three months in order to file proper reports to the state. Next up on the list, he said, is outlining to education officials on the state level how the district is going to fix what has led to the deficiencies.

Specifically, the following cohorts failed to meet adequate yearly progress over the previous two years: students with disabilities at Pulaski Street School and Riverhead High School, Hispanic students at RHS, economically disadvantaged students at RHS and Phillips Avenue Elementary School, black students at Phillips, and limited English proficient students at Phillips. At Pulaski Street School, the students failed to meet AYP in English language assessment; at RHS, ELA, math, and graduation rate; and at Phillips, ELA and math.

While the sudden calls for corrective action may come as a shock, Densieski pointed out that scoring changes in state testing, coupled with changes to how the tests are administered, have forced more schools in Eastern Suffolk County to have to submit comprehensive education plans, as they are formally known. He said that while two schools in Eastern Suffolk BOCES submitted last year, 26 schools will need to this year.

Similar trends played out on the state level - in "unprecedented" fashion, according to the state. Of 1,325 schools needing improvement, 847 were identified as needing improvement for the first time.

While a time consuming process - Rogers and high school Principal David Wicks carried in two boxes worth of binders containing their work, in addition to Densieski's box - the Pulaski Street principal noted that the process of gathering what his school and others are doing where numbers have lagged has made him look much closer at how he runs his ship.

"The positive end of this as a principal is that it has really made me look intricately into exactly what we're doing, what's effective or not," he said. "It may be cumbersome and lengthy, but in the end it's healthy for me and my building to go through."

Using the reports they have gathered, administrators will now begin working on the comprehensive education plans for those areas where AYP was not sufficient. Those reports will require Board of Education approval before they are sent to Albany for review by the State Department of Education.