Lynn schools below state standards

LYNN – Sixteen of the city’s 22 schools were identified for improvement after missing their Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) marks on the 2008 MCAS exams, the State Board of Elementary and Secondary Education said Friday.Education Commissioner Mitchell Chester released the names of districts and individual schools who missed AYP at a press conference Friday afternoon, vowing to restructure the department to provide greater support for struggling schools.His announcement did not include scores or other data, which will be released to the public Wednesday, Sept. 24.Overall, 50 percent of the state’s schools have been identified for improvement in one of the three categories. Individually, 88 districts and 828 individual schools made the list in 2008, up drastically from 82 districts and 621 schools in 2007.Of the 16 troubled Lynn schools only two, the Lynn Woods and Harrington elementary schools, made the list after achieving AYP in every category in 2007. The other 14 schools had already been identified as needing improvement, corrective action or restructuring in previous years.Districts are identified for improvement once they fail to meet AYP for two consecutive years on the English/language arts or math portions of the test either in the aggregate category (which reflects the marks of every student together) or in individual subgroups.These schools receive accountability status, as “needs improvement,” “corrective action” or “restructuring,” and are required to take steps to improve student performance. All schools must meet the state’s AYP requirements by 2014 under the federal No Child Left Behind Act.In extreme cases, such as restructuring classifications, the state department will intervene, and schools face consequences that grow in intensity each year they remain on the list.”We do not take the accountability status of any school or district lightly, but we also do not consider the schools to be failures,” Chester said in a statement. “Across the commonwealth are examples of districts and schools that have not met federal targets but have made great progress academically and, while they have more work to do, are clearly moving in the right direction.”Elementary schools in Lynn that missed AYP are the Drewicz Elementary, classified as corrective action in ELA, Brickett, in its second year of needs improvement in ELA, Cobbett, with subgroups in corrective action in ELA and classified as needs improvement in math, Harrington, in its first year of needs improvement in both categories, Hood, with subgroups in corrective action in ELA and in its second year of needs improvement in math, Ingalls in its second year of needs improvement in ELA, Callahan in its second year of ELA restructuring, Lincoln-Thompson, in its second year of needs improvement in ELA, Lynn Woods, in its first year of needs improvement in ELA, Ford Elementary in its second year of needs improvement in ELA and first year of restructuring subgroups in math and the Connery in corrective action in ELA and needs improvement in math.All three middle schools remain on the list for another year, with Breed restructuring math for a second year and facing corrective action in ELA, Pickering with subgroups in corrective action in both subjects and Marshall facing its second year of restructuring in both subjects.Classical High has subgroups in corrective action in ELA and is classified as needs improvement in math. Lynn Tech is in its second year of restructuring in both subjects, while Lynn English did not make the list of schools identified for improvement.As a district, Lynn remains in corrective action, as only scores at the high school level, grades 9-12, were good enough to make AYP last year.Chester’s plan to reorganize his department will include a center for curriculum, a center for leadership and school design and secure public and private partners to support improvement efforts.Lynn Superintendent of Schools Nicholas Kostan was unavailable for comment Frid