The Level 4 List: EJ Harrington and Wm Connery Elementary Schools (Lynn)

CONNERY

The Connery Elementary School in Lynn, which serves approximately 600 students in grades Pre-K through 5, was named to the state's Level 4 school list in January 2010. Connery's student population is just over two-thirds Hispanic; the low income population has ranged from 91.9 to 93.7% since 2007-08 while the Limited English proficiency population has ranged between 43.6 and 63.7%. In 2011-12, 77.1% of students spoke English as a second language (Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education).

On the 2009 MCAS exam, 11% of students overall were proficient or advanced in English Language Arts (ELA) while 24% were proficient or better in math. In 2006, just 19% of 3rd grade students achieved either  a proficient or advanced score on the reading exam. Before Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) was phased out  due to the No Child Left Behind waiver granted to Massachusetts in 2012, Connery had not met AYP at the aggregate or subgroup level in ELA from 2004 through 2010. Additionally, in 2008-09 students missed an average of 7.6 days of school and the attendance rate was 95.4%.

Since being designated a Level 4 school, proficiency rates on the MCAS exams at Connery has improved steadily in both ELA and math. Below are the percentage of students who were proficient or better on each section of the exam from 2009 - 2012.

	2009	2010	2011	2012
ELA	11%	17%	29%	28%
Math	24%	19%	31%	34%

In 2012, the percentage of students in ELA receiving a 'Warning/Failing' grade decreased 9 percentage points while the percentage of students receiving a score in this range in math decreased 13 percentage points. On the math exam, the percentage of students receiving an 'Advanced' score (those between 260 and 280) doubled from 5% in 2011 to 10% in 2012. Further:

• The percentage of students 'Advanced' in ELA increased 2 percentage points from 1% in 2011 to 3% in 2012.
• The percentage of students with a 'Needs Improvement' score in ELA increased 10 percentage points from the previous year.
• The percentage of students who were not proficient in math ('Needs Improvement' or 'Warning/Failure' combined) decreased two percentage points (69% in 2011; 67% in 2012).

In terms of its Cumulative Progress and Performance Index (CPPI), Connery met all of its state-mandated goals at the aggregate and subgroup levels this year. In regard to the CPI, which is a score given to assess a subgroup, school or district's progress toward 100% proficiency, Connery had an overall score of 69.4 in ELA and 70.5 in math; scores range from 0 - 100 with 100 denoting that all students are proficient. In 2012, the school was in the 13th percentile relative to schools serving common grades.

The attendance rate and average number of absences at Connery has remained consistent and in the same range over the last few years. Out of school suspensions were down 1.3 points in 2011-12 from 2010-11.

	08-09	09-10	10-11	11-12
Avg. # Absences	8.0	7.9	7.6	7.2
Attendance Rate	95.3%	95.2%	95.5%	95.6%

HARRINGTON

The Harrington Elementary School in Lynn, which serves approximately 640 students also in grades Pre-K through 5, was named to the state's Level 4 school list in 2010 along with Connery. Harrington's student population is just over two-thirds Hispanic/Latino; the low income population has ranged from 86 to 90.9% since 2005-06 while the Limited English proficiency population has ranged between 32.9 and 56.2%. In 2011-12, 66.5% of students spoke English as a second language (Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education).

On the 2009 MCAS exam, 16% of students overall were proficient or advanced in English Language Arts (ELA) while 11% were proficient or better in math. This was a decrease from the previous year when 19% were proficient or better in ELA and 20% in math. Before Adequate Yearly Progress was phased out, Harrington had not made AYP at either the aggregate or subgroup levels in both ELA and math from 2007 to 2009. Additionally, in 2008-09 students missed an average of 10.6 days of school and the attendance rate was 93.6%.

Since being designated a Level 4 school, proficiency rates on the MCAS exams at Harrington improved from 2009 to 2011; proficiency rates remained the same in 2012 from the previous year. Below are the percentage of students who were proficient or better on each section of the exam from 2009 - 2012.

	2009	2010	2011	2012
ELA	16%	21%	35%	35%
Math	11%	21%	35%	35%

In 2012, the percentage of students in ELA receiving a 'Warning/Failing' grade increased 2 percentage points while the percentage of students receiving a score in this range in math also increased 2 percentage points from 2011. The school was also in the 80th percentile for ELL/former ELL students on the 5th grade science exam; the percentage of students achieving an 'Advanced' score in science nearly doubled from 2011 to 2012. Further:

• The percentage of students 'Advanced' in ELA remained the same from 2011 to 2012 while the percentage of students 'Advanced' in math decreased by 2 percentage points.
• The percentage of students 'Proficient' in math has increased 19 percentage points from 2009.
• The percentage of students in 2008 who were 'Advanced' or 'Proficient' in science was 2%; this number was 33% in 2012.

In terms of its Cumulative Progress and Performance Index (CPPI), Harrington met all of its goals at the aggregate and subgroup levels this year. In regard to the CPI, Harrington has an overall score of 68.8 in ELA and 67.8 in math. In 2012, the school was in the 19th percentile relative to schools serving common grades.

Test scores are not the only area that has improved at Harrington. The attendance rate has increased and the average number of absences has decreased since 2008-09.

	08-09	09-10	10-11	11-12
Avg. # Absences	10.6	8.7	8.1	8.1
Attendance Rate	93.6%	94.8%	95.1%	95.1%

If both schools meet all of the requirements, Connery and Harrington could exit Level 4 status at the end of the 2012-13 school year.



Citation: www.doe.mass.edu 


You may also be interested in:

• The Level 4 List: Charlotte M. Murkland Elementary School (Lowell) 
• The Level 4 List: Henry Lord Middle School (Fall River) 
• Lynn MCAS Results 2012: Part II 
• Lynn's Connery Elementary Featured in the Boston Globe