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Binghamton
school officials use study to pinpoint areas to improve Posted Friday November 23, 2007
By
George Basler BINGHAMTON -- A consultant's report that the Binghamton City School District is doing well academically when compared to other high-poverty school districts in the state is welcome news, district officials said. But the report also points to areas where improvement is needed, including the district's graduation rate and the percentage of students classified as needing special education services, they said. "The report is favorable, but we want to focus on areas to improve in," board President David Hawley said. The report, presented to the school board Tuesday, was done by Lonnie Palmer, a consultant with the new Center for School Improvement Planning, established by the New York State Association of Small City School Districts. Using state data for the 2005-06 school year, Palmer examined Binghamton and 14 other districts with similar enrollments and poverty levels and placed Binghamton on a prediction line of where students should be performing. His conclusion was that Binghamton students exceed the prediction line in many areas, including student performance on state tests. In fact, Binghamton ranks at the 92nd percentile among 255 large districts in New York in exceeding academic performance predicted by three measures of poverty: the percentage of students qualifying for free or reduced-price lunches, median household income behind each child and the 2000 census poverty rate, Palmer said. "This is not made up. It's based on state data," said Palmer, former superintendent in the Troy and Albany school districts. At the same time, Binghamton needs to improve in some areas, such as its high school graduation rate of 64.8 percent after five years, he said. Palmer's report "is giving us a more balanced picture of the district," said Superintendent Peggy J. Wozniak. District officials have always known poverty is a big issue, Hawley added. "This is data we can really use to focus in on areas we need to improve," he said. Palmer's report also concluded that Binghamton has low per-pupil spending when compared to the statewide median. But its tax rate of $25.05 per $1,000 is 25 percent above the median for the state. |
•Albany
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