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On February 27 Principal Jamie Thomas delivered bad news to the Board Of Education.  Lansing Middle School has been identified as a 'school in need of improvement' in special education English/Language Arts (ELA) by the New York Department of Education.  Thomas explained that most middle schools are in similar straights in the wake of new higher state performance standards.  Monday he was back to share a comprehensive plan for bringing the school up to the new standard.

"It is an unusual situation for us because we are also the highest scoring school in our entire area for our regular education students in every subject," Thomas told the board.  "We certainly are very proud of the high scores of our general education students.  The fact of the matter is that our school, along with most schools in the area, has been identified by the State as in need of improvement in terms of our students with disabilities."

In 2010 a message on the New York State Education Web site noted, "As a result of raising the bar for what it means to be proficient, many fewer students met or exceeded the new Mathematics and English Proficiency standards in 2010 than in previous years. Across Grades 3-8 statewide, the majority of students, 53% in English and 61% in Math, met or exceeded the new Proficiency standards this year.  By contrast, in 2009, 77% of students met or exceeded standards in English and 86% of students did so in Math."

Thomas said his school was caught in that net.  Middle school students take state tests on which they must score 3 on a scale of 4 to pass.  Those with scores of 1 or 2 do not meet the state bar.  Thomas said more than half of students with disabilities in the middle school are not succeeding on these tests.

"There are only two middle schools in our area that are not in this situation," he said.  "The year before they raised the bar we were succeeding very well with this.  Every school is struggling with this, because the amount they raised the bar is the biggest challenge for students with disabilities."

The consequence for the school is that it must produce a detailed plan for bringing its performance up to the new standard, and it must put $20,000 of grant money aside to pay for outside programs that provide tutoring and other support.  The District is required to set the money aside each year until gains in performance meet the State standard.


"As part of that plan we're required to provide supplemental educational services (SES) in English/Language Arts," said Director of Special Services Kathy Rourke.  "They require that we choose providers that are offered by the State.  Of the 79 they offered us we could find seven that were even close to Central New York."

"I see that money as a cost to the district," says Business Administrator Mary June King.  "That is money that we were previously able to use for other things in the district.  Now we are required to set it aside specifically."

On February 1 Thomas and Rourke sent letters to 57 families explaining the situation, and asking them to respond with their input on what services their children need.  Rourke says that of the state-provided list of approved services, few are near Lansing.  She says school officials are exploring options that are close by.

Monday Thomas and Rourke presented a 60 page plan they have developed.  Thomas, Rourke, Director of Curriculum Lauren Faessler and parent representative Kimberly Williamson make up the leadership team for the project.

Rourke says that when she was hired an audit of special education at Lansing was conducted, and that many of the things they are required to do to meet state requirements were already in progress.

"So much of what we said we're doing we already were doing because of the audit," she says.  "That gave us a good lead on what we needed to do to improve instruction for students with disabilities.  We're really a step ahead.  We were already making progress, but now we have to document our progress."

The plan includes data on past performance, and sets priorities and strategies for improvement.  Strategies include setting explicit reading strategies for special education teachers, creation of a script to teach meta-cognitive skills and templates to be used in teaching, a spreadsheet for monitoring progress, and ways of evaluating progress.


State regulations give the school two years to improve before more drastic solutions are imposed.

They state, "If your child’s Title I school fails to make adequate yearly progress by the end of the second full school year after it has been identified for school improvement, the school district or charter school board will help the school take strong corrective action, including at least one of the following:  Change personnel; Change curricula, including appropriate professional development for all relevant staff; Bring in outside educational experts; Extend the school day or the school year, or; Change the way the school operates (restructure school governance)."

"Before they changed the bar we were in the 90% passing range across the school," Thomas said Monday.  "When they changed the bar we were in the 70% passing range.  The same is true for every school.  That was the result of their raising the bar."

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