AYP Failure at Farmington High Schools Due to Small Subgroup

The reason three Farmington high schools failed to make Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) required by the federal government has to do with the specialized needs of some students, school officials say.

Assistant superintendent Catherine Cost said students with learning disabilities at and high schools failed to meet AYP targets, measured by scores on ACT (American College Testing) exams.

"The challenge for that group is, for many of them, the deficit area is reading," Cost said. "The ACT is heavily based on reading comprehension."

For instance, many of the math problems are story problems, which require students to read information required to solve the problem. "If they can't comprehend, that adds a layer of difficulty," she added.

To help those students, the district has started using a co-teaching model, pairing special education teachers with teachers in core subject areas like math, science and social studies. When a student has difficulty with reading in any of those core classes, a special education teacher is right there to help, Cost explained.

"What we're trying to do it give them skills in reading, so they can demonstrate what they know in those content areas," she said.

The situation at , the district's alternative high school, is a little different. Central's failure to meet AYP was due to graduation requirements. While AYP standards require the district to graduate students in four years, Central students may move from school to school, or leave and then come back to finish their education.

According to the school's 2009-2010 report, 41.9 percent of Central students completed their education in four years.

"Some students just need longer to comprehend the material," Cost said. "The good news is, the vast majority of them graduate."

Central has been placed on the School Improvement list, which means the District has some options in looking at how to better serve those students, she said, "keeping in mind we still want the students to succeed."

this year came off the School Improvement list. "They have been focusing on math and writing, and that has now taken root ... across all content areas," she said.