August, 2015

Dear Parents, Guardians, and Students:

As members of the HartfordHigh School community, you have a right to know where our institution stands with regard to our students’ Average Yearly Progress (AYP), as measured annually based on their performance on standardized tests in English and Mathematics. The requirement for these assessments originated with passage of the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) by the federal government in 2001. The state of Vermont set the bar for what adequate student performance on the tests was to be, and schools that did not meet the bar were identified under NCLB as being in need of “improvement” or “restructuring.”

As a part of NCLB compliance, every three years, expectations for school performance on standardized tests were raised. At the conclusion of the testing year 2014-2015—based upon scores attained on assessment instruments known as the NECAPs—expectations for student achievement reached their highest level. Hartford High did not meet the continuous improvement expectations, beginning in the school year of the 2011-2012. In order for a school to be considered effective by the federal government, every student in tested grades in a given school must test as “proficient” on both standardized English and Mathematics tests. This is an incredibly high bar to meet annually, one which no school in Vermont reached, in spite of the fact that Vermont’s schools have historically ranked highly when compared against the highest performing countries in the world.

Then, as of the testing year 2015-2016, a new assessment battery known as the SBACs was introduced. They were designed to measure student achievement according to the tenets of the new Common Core curricula. In order to afford time to adjust, Vermont received a waiver allowing us to disregard these new assessment’s results for accountability purposes in the first year of their administration. As a result, all Vermont schools’ status for the purposes of Annual Yearly Progress will remain the same as last year. Therefore, this year we will continue to monitor, implement, and revise our 2014-2015 School Improvement Plan.

We are committed to continuous school improvement, and to supporting all of our students in their effort to succeed. This is what we strive to achieve every day. But we don’t believe that NCLB effectively measures the quality of our school—what our students know, or what our school and district are doing to support their learning and development. This stance regarding NCLB as a model for measuring school quality is something that the Vermont Agency of Education has been vocal about, as evidenced by the accompanying copy of a recent letter from our education secretary.

While we reject NCLB labeling of all Vermont schools as “low-performing,” we are continuously working to improve the quality of our programs and student supports. This year, we will continue to partner with our District and the Agency of Education to implement a continuous improvement plan for our school that will support the needs of all of our school’s students. We will be reviewing all of our programs as a part of a more comprehensive review of our school’s academic experiences and student supports. As we identify opportunities for parent and family participation in the development and implementation of our improvement plans, we will let you know. We hope that you will continue to support our school in these efforts, and we value your involvement.

Very truly yours,

Joseph D. Collea, Jr.

Principal - HHS