Lincoln-Bassett school made enough progress on standardized tests to lift off a federal watch list for failing schools, while two dozen remain.
That news came Monday, as the state released the latest report on progress toward goals set by the federal No Child Left Behind Act.
When it was created in 2002, NCLB set a goal that every school in America would meet 100 percent proficiency on statewide standardized tests by the year 2014. The federal government measures progress through an annual goal for schools, called Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP).
Only one of the city’s 44 schools, Worthington Hooker, made AYP in the 2010-11 school year, state officials announced. That’s partly because the AYP standard keeps rising: Last year, about 90 percent of students in the school — as well as in minority and disability subgroups — had to score at or above proficient on statewide standardized tests for the school to meet AYP. The standard rose from about 80 percent the prior year.
While they failed to make AYP, 10 city schools did make significant progress last year.
Lincoln-Bassett and nine others made “safe harbor” by boosting the number of students achieving proficiency in math and reading by at least 10 percent.
Lincoln-Bassett did that two years in a row, thus lifting off the “In Need of Improvement” federal watch list for failing schools. Schools end up on that list when they fail to meet AYP or safe harbor for two or more consecutive years. Lincoln-Bassett was the only district school out of 25 to graduate from that list last year, according to the state. It follows on the heels of Ross/Woodward, which graduated from the list the prior year.
Other schools that made safe harbor last year were East Rock, Benjamin Jepson, Wexler-Grant, Nathan Hale, Hill Central, Sound School, Cooperative Arts and Humanities High School, Metropolitan Business Academy and Sound School.
In a press release Monday afternoon, Superintendent of Schools Reggie Mayo applauded those schools for their progress, including Hill Central, which he said led the pack. Mayo criticized the federal law for imposing unreasonable standards on schools.
Mayo said he “supports tough standards,” but the goal of 100 percent proficiency by 2014 is “unrealistic.”
Mayo said the latest increase in the AYP standard “skewed the results and masked our progress, making it appear that we are getting worse when we are getting better.”
Under the older, 80 percent standard, Mayo said, six schools would have made AYP in 2010-11: Sound School, Davis Street School, Edgewood School, Engineering and Science University Magnet School and Nathan Hale School.
No Connecticut school failed to make AYP because of insufficient participation, according to the state. That means all schools had at least 95 percent of students participating in standardized tests.
The city’s environmental-themed public charter school, Common Ground High School, made AYP for the fourth straight year, according to Director of Development & Community Engagement Joel Tolman.
Amistad Academy and Elm City College Prep, charter schools run by Achievement First, both failed to make AYP last year.