Adequate Yearly Progress 2007-2008

September 24, 2008

Dear Parents and Guardians:

Today the Commissioner of Education released the Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) reports for 2007/2008 as required by No Child Left Behind (NCLB).Many of you may have been surprised to see Har-Bur Middle School listed as a school in which children did not achieve Adequate Yearly Progress.This information requires much greater clarification than was provided by either the press or the Commissioner’s office.There is a requirement in the law that identifies a school as lacking Adequate Yearly Progress if one of nine subgroups fails the AYP test.

Last year 933 Har-Bur Middle School students were tested on the Connecticut Mastery Test.That represents 100% participation.There are nine subgroups that determine Adequate Yearly Progress for a school.They are:Whole School, American Indian, Asian American, Black, Hispanic, White, Students with Disabilities, English Language Learners and Economically Disadvantaged.Within those nine categories we had 104 students with disabilities.Each of these subgroups must achieve this standard for AYP provided there are 40 or more members in the subgroup.Our subgroup, students with disabilities, exceeded this number across grades 5-8.In addition, there were approximately 40 students, who because of their disabilities, had difficulty achieving at the same level as their peers in the whole school population of 933.This is why on the Adequately Yearly Progress Report for the sub-group, students with disabilities, Har-Bur Middle School was identified as a school that did not achieve adequately yearly progress.

I can assure you that an action plan was put into effect in early September to identify all students, whether they be regular education or special education students, kindergarten through 8th grade, who did not score at the proficient level.These students will receive supplemental support instruction throughout the school year with a focus on addressing their weaknesses.

The Adequate Yearly Progress for all of our schools is attached.You will notice, particularly at Har-Bur, that when the proficiency standard in mathematics was set at 82% the proficiency rate for the whole school population for Har-Bur was 95.1% and when the reading proficiency standard was set at 79% the proficiency rate for whole school population for Har-Bur was 92.1%.Clearly, our students performed very well both individually and as a whole school.It is unfortunate, however, that due to major flaws in both the structure and testing of special needs youngsters, accommodations are not made to measure their adequate yearly progress based upon their abilities and disabilities.Some of the other districts in the same situation are: East Lyme, Glastonbury, Greenwich, Hebron, Monroe, Newtown, South Windsor, West Hartford, Wilton, Region 7, Region 16, Avon, Bethel, Cheshire and Simsbury.

If you have any additional questions or concerns, do not hesitate to contact your child’s building principal.

Sincerely yours,

/s/

Alan Beitman

Superintendent of Schools