I received the following email from the NH DOE today.
New Hampshire’s Persistently Lowest-Achieving Schools Definition
The following provides details as to the information and process used by New Hampshire to identify the
persistently lowest-achieving schools.
Definitions from New Hampshire’s Rules for Public School Approval (NH RSA 189:25):
school.
A public school containing any of the grades kindergarten through 8 is classified as an elementary
public middle school, subject to meeting the rules applicable to all middle schools. (NH RSA
189:25)
A public elementary school containing any combination of grades 4-8 may be classified as a
secondary, or high school, subject to meeting the rules applicable to all high schools.
Using the above referenced state definitions and in accordance with US Department of Education
guidance entitled: “
New Hampshire’s “persistently lowest-achieving schools” are:
(a) Any Title I school in improvement, corrective action, or restructuring that —
(i) Is among the lowest-achieving five percent of Title I Schools in Need Improvement,
Corrective Action, or Restructuring or the lowest-achieving five Title I schools in
improvement, corrective action, or restructuring in the State, whichever number of schools
is greater; or
(ii) Is a high school that has had a graduation rate as defined in 34 CFR 200.19(b) that is
less than 60 percent over a number of years;
and
(b) Any secondary school that is eligible for, but does not receive, Title I funds that —
(i) Is among the lowest-achieving five percent of secondary schools or the lowestachieving
five secondary schools in the State that are eligible for, but do not receive, Title I
funds, whichever number of schools is greater; or
(ii) Is a high school that has had a graduation rate as defined in 34 CFR 200.19(b) that is
less than 60 percent over a number of years.
IDENTIFICATION PROCESS
Review of student achievement results. All available student achievement data for the “all students”
group from New Hampshire’s approved state assessment, the New England Common Assessment
Program (NECAP), was reviewed for each school on the above-referenced lists. Four years of NECAP
data (2005-2008) was reviewed for elementary and middle schools, and two years of NECAP data (2007
and 2008) was reviewed for high schools. As the data available increases in future years, four years of
data across all school attendance areas will be used. As the raw student achievement data for the state’s
A public school or public academy containing any of the grades 9 through 12 is classified as a
As of February 25, 2010
content area for the “all students” group were added together for each school in order to produce an
annual combined score. The index system is consistent with items B-V-8 and B-V-16 through B-V-18 of
the Frequently Asked Questions Concerning Phase II of the State Fiscal Stabilization Fund document.
The annual combined scores were then totaled (four years for elementary or middle schools and two years
for high schools) to produce a cumulative achievement score for each school. New Hampshire chose not
to weight data used in identifying the persistently lowest-achieving schools.
Selection of schools. For each list, schools were rank-ordered from lowest to highest on the basis of the
cumulative achievement score. Schools at the top of each rank-ordered list were determined to be the
state’s persistently lowest-achieving. Seven elementary and/or middle schools (5% of 132) from the Title
I Schools in Need of Improvement, Corrective Action, or Restructuring list, and five high schools from
the Title I Eligible list were selected (as of January 2010).
Based on the most recent four years of data, no high school in New Hampshire (as of January 2010) met
the selection criteria for low graduation rate (graduation rate less than 60 percent over a number of years).
reading and mathematics assessments converts to a 100-point index score system, the index scores in each
The list of Schools using this criteria:
Manchester SchoolDistrict
Beech Street School
Manchester SchoolDistrict
Wilson School
Manchester School District
Bakersville School
Manchester School District
Parker Varney School
Farmington School District
Henry Wilson Memorial School
Franklin School District
Franklin Middle School
Manchester School District
Gossler Park School
Nute High School
Farmington School District
Farmington Senior High School
Pittsfield School District
Pittsfield High School
Franklin School District
Franklin High School
Littleton School District
Littleton High School
Milton School District
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