| On January 8, 2003, President Bush signed
the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 into law. The law calls
for sweeping changes in public education. Among these is a
new federal requirement that all states and school districts
in receipt of Title I assistance must, by 2003, issue annual
report cards to parents. The purpose of the report card is
to give parents information about their child's school in
terms of academic achievement and the professional qualifications
of its teachers.
The information contained in the report is divided into three
parts:
Part I: Teacher Qualifications
Part II: School Achievement in Mathematics
and Reading
Part III: School Performance Ratings
Part I provides information about the qualifications
of the teachers on our faculty. The information is divided
into two parts: (1) the percentage of teachers who are certified
or licensed to teach in Massachusetts and (2) the percentage
of classes taught by teachers who are highly qualified in
core academic areas such as mathematics, science, reading,
history, and English. Both pieces of information are intended
to help you understand the background and preparation of the
teachers who are working with your child. No Child Left Behind
requires that all teachers be highly qualified by the end
of the 2005-2006 school year, and thus, what you will see
in the percentages are indications of how our school is complying
with this deadline.
No Child Left Behind requires that test results for reading
and mathematics be reported annually.
The information contained in Part II summarizes
how we did on the last round of the MCAS examinations. The
data is broken down by grade level, subject area, and the
performance of different subgroups, or learning populations
in the school such as limited English proficient students
and students with disabilities.
Part III provides information about how
well our school is doing relative to others in the district
and to our performance in past years. The Proficiency Index
(PI) scores for mathematics and English are part of the Massachusetts'
School Performance Rating system. This system has been set
up to comply with the accountability provisions of No Child
Left Behind which require that each school make adequate yearly
progress (AYP) toward meeting a national goal of all students
being proficient in mathematics and English by the year 2013-2014.
Our school continues to make adequate yearly progress in both
math and English.
School report cards are available in all school offices and
on the Belmont Public Schools website. In addition a complete
district report card is available for our school system and
may be found at the Superintendent's Office or on the school
system's website. |
