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Overcast Memorial Junior High added to watch list
Special education test scores in ELA are not up to par, state says
Memorial Junior High School is one of more than 1,300 schools in New York state that needs improvement, according to state education officials. The school did not make adequate yearly progress, as mandated by the No Child Left Behind Act.
The Valley Stream junior high school, which serves grades 7-9, made the list because of the low performance of special education students on the seventh- and eighth-grade English Language Arts test. Memorial joined more than a dozen other middle and junior high schools in Nassau County that have been newly added to the in need of improvement list.
“When you see the number of schools in need of improvement tripling, it kind of makes your eyebrows go up,” said high school district Superintendent Dr. Bill Heidenreich. “Student success didn’t just fall of the cliff in one year.”
State Education Department officials noted that two years ago, a statistical adjustment for the students with disabilities subgroup ended. That made it more difficult for this group to meet its adequate yearly progress expectations in many school districts.
Heidenreich also pointed to this change as a possible reason that Memorial Junior High was added to the list. However, he said that district officials are not making excuses and will look to improve student performance, especially among its special education student population.
Anthony Mignella, principal of Memorial Junior High, said that a Saturday Academy program will begin in December for students who need additional English Language Arts support. The program will run through mid-April, which is right before the state testing period.
Additionally, resource room is being restructured so students in those support classes are receiving instruction that targets the skills in which they lag behind.
The school will now be required to complete a School Quality Review, according to Dr. Thomas Troisi, the assistant superintendent for curriculum and instruction. He said that this will give district officials the chance to review and reflect upon its instructional program. Specialists from the state Education Department will also come in to do an analysis, and present their recommendations to school officials.
Troisi said the district will then put forth a plan of action to the state, to show how it plans to improve student achievement. That plan is due by Dec. 31.
The Central High School District’s other three schools, as well as the 10 schools among the three elementary districts, were listed in good standing. The four districts as a whole also received good marks from the state.
Troisi noted that the special education population is a diverse group that includes students with various academic, social, emotional and developmental disabilities. Troisi also said that other subgroups at Memorial, which has about 1,100 students, are making the grade. “Some people would say the school is failing, but for the performance of about 70 students,” he said. “We were cited for the performance of one group.”
Troisi explained that throughout the state, it has been a struggle to improve student achievement in English Language Arts. It’s easier to help students improve their math skills than their reading skills, he said. Also, Troisi said that students who are not reading on grade level by second grade are more likely to drop out of high school, so it’s important for the district to take this pronouncement seriously and help students to do better.
Heidenreich called the seventh- and eighth-grade tests a “diagnostic” assessment. Once the results are in, the Central High School District still has four years to help students improve and meet graduation requirements. He also noted that Central High School, which gets its students from Memorial, graduates students at a high rate and even special education students there are doing well.
That is why, he said, it is hard to read too much into Memorial’s inclusion on the state’s in need of improvement list. “Everyone wants the school to be successful,” he said. “Obviously no one wants to be singled out on a list, but our ultimate goal is that students graduate and are productive members of society.”
