Ledyard Schools Meet Federal Goals

This week the Connecticut State Department of Education published a list of schools that failed to meet goals set by the No Child Left Behind Act. There were no Ledyard schools on the list, although a subgroup of students at Ledyard Middle School may have some work to do.

Schools Assistant Superintendent Cathy Patterson said the state has two lists – the Adequate Yearly Progress list, which includes schools that have met No Child Left Behind requirements, and an “In Need of Improvement” list of schools that fail to meet those requirements. The state published the latter list on Tuesday.

“I’m pleased to report that all Ledyard schools made Adequate Yearly Progress,” Patterson said.

The No Child Left Behind law sets requirements for the percentage of students who must be proficient in mathematics and reading. Proficiency is measured using standardized tests, like the Connecticut Mastery Test and the Connecticut Academic Performance Test. These requirements are periodically raised. The current standard calls for 91 percent of students to show proficiency in mathematics and 89 percent in reading.

Ledyard High School students cleared these requirements. In mathematics, 97.7 percent of students scored proficient or better. In reading, 100 percent of students met the goal.

All three elementary schools also met the challenge. At the Ledyard Center School, 100 percent of students were proficient in math and 91.7 percent in reading. Juliet W. Long School students met both goals with 98.5 percent of students proficient in math and 95.3 percent in reading. At Gallup Hill School, 98.5 percent of students had mastered basic math skills, and 92 percent were proficient readers.

Only at Ledyard Middle School did the scores fail to meet all the law’s requirements. The school as a whole met the standards. Test scores show that 96.2 percent of students in math and 93.3 percent of students in reading demonstrated their proficiency.

However, No Child Left Behind also requires that certain subgroups must also meet these requirements. One subgroup includes students with disabilities.

At the middle school, 87 percent of these students showed proficiency in mathematics. In reading, only 77.4 percent met goals. Both scores fall short of the law’s requirements.

However, there is a provision in the law called Safe Harbor. If a school fails to meet the standards, but has still made progress, it is placed on the Adequate Yearly Progress list, even though it is technically in need of improvement. Through this rule, the middle school made the Adequate yearly Progress.

Ledyard Middle School, as well as the other schools, will still work to improve. “Essentially, our goal is to make continual improvement,” Patterson said. “We think it’s our responsibility to make this effort whether No Child Left Behind is in place or not.”