State: Local School Districts All Miss AYP, Need Improving

All three local school districts failed to make adequate yearly progress for 2012 according to data released by the state Tuesday, although local officials are pleased with the fact that there are strong signs of improvement across the board.

Superintendent Kathleen Murphy said Hampton students as a whole performed very well, as and both made AYP in math and reading, while made AYP in math.

The state allows what it calls a "confidence interval" for the local-level testing scores, though, which means some student subcategories within those schools only made AYP because the scores showed growth over the previous year and because they fell within the accepted standard deviation range around this year's targets.

When the raw test scores and the scores of students placed out of district are taken into account at the district level, though, the Hampton School District didn't hit AYP for math or reading — something Murphy said she found "frustrating" because she said there are signs that the overall "systems and programs we have are working."

"That’s what it tells me, and where it isn’t working, we’re going to have to go in and make the adjustments necessary," said Murphy, indicating that students with educational disabilities need more attention because those scores were a large factor in missing AYP. "We did see progress, so we know something is working."

Because of the various results, the Hampton School District earned its second-straight year of a District in Need of Improvement designation in math and reading and Marston School earned a first-year School in Need of Improvement designation in math and reading.

students showed improvement and hit the math and reading targets, although like some of the Hampton schools it missed AYP when various student subcategories and out-of-district students are factored into the aggregate scores. This miss earned WHS a first-year SINI designation.

The Winnacunnet School District as a whole earned its second year of a DINI tag because of the total aggregate scores.

's scores as a whole remained relatively flat over the previous year, although scores for economically disadvantaged students and students with educational disabilities fell off significantly, which led to the district earning a first-year DINI designation.

In order to earn a DINI or SINI designation, a district or school must miss AYP for two years in a row, according to the N.H. Department of Education. In order to shed the designation, must make AYP for two years in a row.

Murphy said more targeted assistance and tutoring will be given to Hampton students, particularly those who missed the targets, to improve learning and the overall scores.

Bob Sullivan couldn't be reached for comment for this story. Winnacunnet Principal Bill McGowan also couldn't be reached, although McGowan told Patch last week that WHS would have to also increase its targeted assistance if it missed AYP this year.

Copies of the individual schools' and districts' AYP reports are attached to this article as PDFs. Page two of each document shows the raw testing scores, as well as the math and reading targets for each school and district.

Also attached are PDFs of the more straightforward preliminary DINI and SINI determinations for the 2012-2013 school year, which respectively show every school entity in the state that earned either of those designations, based on the numbers referenced above.