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75 School Districts Identified for Low Performance Among Students with Disabilities

The State Education Department has identified 75 school districts as “In Need of Assistance or Intervention” because of low performance among students with disabilities, Commissioner Richard Mills announced today.

This action is part of the Board of Regents initiative to close the achievement gap. It is also required under the federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act.

Many districts identified, which include the Big Five cities, have graduation rates below 35 percent and dropout rates above 20 percent among students with disabilities. Many districts also had low performance in one or more of the 4^th and 8 grade English and math tests and failed to make Adequate Yearly Progress in 2004-05. Districts with 30 or more special education students in the cohort were identified.

Districts “In Need of Assistance” will go through a review of instructional practices to ensure they are using proven, research-based methods and/or professional development. They will get help from special education experts funded by the State Education Department. Districts “In Need of Intervention” may also be required to redirect their federal IDEA funds, which totals $700 million statewide.

“Students with disabilities can and do succeed in many schools throughout the State,” Commissioner Mills said. “But in other schools their performance is very low. The Regents are putting the spotlight on this problem and requiring major improvements. All schools can and must help these students to achieve the standards.”

The U.S. Department of Education will also soon identify states as “In Need of Assistance or Intervention” under IDEA. States and school districts that fail to make progress can ultimately face federal intervention or lose federal funding.

New York State has 410,000 students with disabilities, about 12 percent of the total public school student population. About 225,000 or 55 percent of students with disabilities are in the 75 districts that are being identified today.

The statewide graduation rate for students with disabilities is only 37 percent; the dropout rate is 19 percent. New York has set a goal of 80 percent graduation, with a target for improvement from the current 37 percent to 52 percent by 2011.

All of New York City’s 32 geographic districts are identified, as well as the alternative high school district.

The State Education Department will provide identified districts with assistance from special education experts funded through IDEA and located regionally throughout the State.

The attached chart and slides provide additional information.

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These data are embargoed until October 5, 2006 at 11:00 a.m.


9/18/06: List of 107 School Districts Designated by VESID as "Needs Assistance" or "Needs Intervention"

The criteria to be on this list are:

Large District Criteria:
2001 total cohort of at least 30 students with disabilities and a graduation rate after 4 years, as of June 2005, below 35% and/or drop out rate of 20% or higher. School districts designated as "needs intervention" have graduation rates of 18.5% or lower and/or drop out rate of 33% or higher.
And/Or
School districts with at least 30 continuously enrolled students with disabilities in 2004-05, the performance index (PI) for students with disabilities on two State assessments is below the students with disabilities State PI in 2004-05 and the school districts did not make adequate yearly progress (AYP) in those areas. School districts with graduation rates above 52 percent for students with disabilities are not identified, regardless of their performance on State assessments. The students with disabilities State PIs in 2004-05 were as follows: Grade 4 ELA- 102; Grade 4 Math- 141; Grade 8 ELA- 85; and Grade 8 Math- 82. School districts designated as "needs intervention" had PIs below the State PI in all four areas and did not make AYP in any area.

Small District Criteria
School districts with less than 30 continuously enrolled students in 2004-05 but that have at least 30 students enrolled for Grades 4 and 8 ELA combined in 2004-05 and their combined performance rate over three years at level 2 and above on at least two State assessments is significantly below the State average performance in 2004-05 are identified. "Significantly below the State average performance" is as follows: Grade 4 ELA- 53.7% at level 2 or above; Grade 4 Math- 63.3% at level 2 or above; Grade 8 ELA- 53.1% at level 2 or above; and Grade 8 Math-43.3% at level 2 or above. These percentages represent performance which is 25% below the Statewide average performance in 2004-05 of students with disabilities on each subject.

Explanation of Shading
The school district names that are shaded in red are school districts identified for "needs intervention". The school district names that are not shaded in red are school districts identified for "needs assistance". The data that are shaded in red or yellow are the data that resulted in the school district's designation. (Graduation rate and drop-out rate data are not shown for districts with a Total Cohort of less than 30 students.)

Summary Data
There are 58 school districts designated as "needs assistance"
There are 17 school districts designated as "needs intervention", including NYC.
In NYC, there are 33 districts: 10 districts were identified as "needs assistance" and 23 as "needs intervention"

COUNTY	SED	NAME	Large District Criteria							Small District Criteria
COUNTY	SED	NAME	2001 Total Cohort	Drop Out Rate as of June 2005	Grad Rate as of June 2005	Grade 4 ELA PI and No AYP	Grade 4 Math PI and No AYP	Grade 8 ELA PI and No AYP	Grade 8 Math PI and No AYP	Grade 4 ELA Percent of SWD at Level 2 or Above	Grade 4 Math Percent of SWD at Level 2 or Above	Grade 8 ELA Percent of SWD at Level 2 or Above	Grade 8 Math Percent of SWD at Level 2 or Above
Albany	010100010000	Albany CSD	124	18.5%	17.7%			70	69
Broome	030200010000	Binghamton City S D	84	27.4%	25.0%
Cayuga	050100010000	Auburn City S D	59	35.6%	22.0%	81		60	52
Chautauqua	060800010000	Dunkirk City S D	24									48.4%	33.2%
Chautauqua	061700010000	Jamestown City S D	26			83		61	63
Chemung	070600010000	Elmira City S D	44	31.8%	20.5%			53	49
Chanango	081200050000	Norwich City S D	19					53	67
Clinton	091200010000	Plattsburgh City S D	32	21.9%	37.5%			81	60
Columbia	100501040000	Taconic Hills Central School District	21