Schenectady
City School District
Achievement Issues
In
Need of Improvement
The
Schenectady City School District is considered a District
In Need of Improvement for English Language Arts based
student scores on the New York State English-Language Arts
assessments in grades 3 - 8 and at the Regents level.
The
District recently completed a Curriculum Audit in the area
of English Language Arts to determine ways in which to
better serve our students. As of August 2007, the
Schenectady City School District is finalizing an implementation plan
based upon the
recommendations from the audit.
Challenges that must be addressed
Like many urban school districts, Schenectady faces many
challenges that affect student achievement.
The
district is considered a District In Need of Improvement
based on the English Language Arts test scores.
There
are a number of factors that can contribute to this
performance level. For example:
- 72% of
students are considered economically disadvantaged.
-
Approximately 15% of students have disabilities with
handicapping conditions.
- More
than 400 students or 3.5% of student population are
identified as Limited English Proficiency (LEP).
-
Additionally, Schenectady includes a large community of
Guyanese students who do not qualify for English As a
Second Language (ESL) services. However, many of these
students do not achieve at high levels in English Language
Arts.
Students
in middle school are not improving quickly enough in
mathematics.
All three
of Schenectady's middle schools - Central Park, Mont
Pleasant and Oneida - are at some stage of needing
improvement. Two of the middle schools are ending a
year of being identified as Planning for Restructuring.
Schenectady
High School is in its fourth year of being A School
Requiring Academic Progress.
Additional
Challenge: As the result of recent retirements, the
Schenectady City School District is experiencing a high
turnover rate among the teaching and administrative staff.
Staff development activities are needed to integrate the
basic district expectation of using differentiated
instruction strategies in every district classroom.
The additional
resources and programs that will be implemented and
integrated in the the district plans in 2007 - 2008
will address many of the student achievement concerns. |
