South High School, Lakeville School and Saddle Rock School have been named New York State Reward Schools, placing them among the 220 high-achieving and high-progress schools in the state.
According to the New York State Education Department, “Reward Schools are schools that either have high academic achievement or have made the most progress in the state and do not have significant gaps in student achievement between subgroups.”
The NYSED further explained that a Reward School must: (1) Be among the top 20 percent of schools in the state for English language arts (ELA) and math performance for both the 2013-14 and 2014-15 school years, or be among the top 10 percent of schools in terms of gains in ELA and math performance in the 2014-15 school year; (2) Have made Adequate Yearly Progress for the 2013-14 and 2014-15 school years for all groups of students on all measures for which the school is accountable, including the requirement that 95 percent of all groups participate in the English language arts and mathematics assessments; and (3) Not have unacceptably large gaps in student performance on an accountability measure between students who are members of an accountability group (e.g., low-income students) and students who are not members of that group.
Elementary and middle schools must demonstrate that more than 50 percent of students are making annual growth in ELA and math and that more than 50 percent of the school’s lowest achieving students are also making gains.
High schools must have graduation rates above 80 percent to be a high-achieving school and above 60 percent to be a high-progress school, also the percentage of students in the school who graduate with a Regents diploma with advanced designation or a Career and Technical Endorsement (CTE) must exceed the state average. Additionally, high schools must demonstrate that their graduation rate for students who entered the school performing below proficient in ELA or math exceeds the state average.
Each Reward School will receive a certificate of recognition from NYSED Commissioner MaryEllen Elia.
