February 8, 2011

Dear Citizens of Biddeford,

I am pleased to present the 2010-11 Annual ESEA (Elementary and Secondary Education Act) School District Report Card.   This letter serves a summary of our students’ performance on standardized tests administered during the previous school year.

This report card summarizes the Biddeford School Department’s 2009-10 performance on the New England Common Assessment Program (NECAP) that is administered in grades 3-8 and the Maine High School Assessment (MHSA) that is administered in grade 11.  

Each district in the nation is required, by law, to report these results in accordance with determinations around Adequate Yearly Progress, or AYP.  

This report card outlines four major areas:

1. Specific Assessment Reports for each grade level broken down by subgroups in the content areas of Reading and Mathematics.  Please note that subgroups with minimal students are, by federal law, not reportable due to confidentiality considerations.
   
   
2. Accountability Reports for each level (Elementary, Middle, and High) broken down by subgroups with an emphasis on percentages meeting or exceeding the targets. 
   
   
3. Teacher Quality Data for all of our 260 professional staff members and their “Highly Qualified” status, as defined by federal law.
   
   
4. NAEP (National Assessment of Educational Progress)/ NECAP Comparison data. This data is a comparison between Maine students overall and students nationally and is not a direct reflection on Biddeford students’ performance.

To summarize the ESEA district report card for our school department, the following are common threads to be noted:

• In the area of Reading, Biddeford students improved their scores (met or exceeded the standards) in grades 3, 4, 5, and 6 when compared to scores in the previous year. Biddeford students performed below state average, though, in all grades.
  
  
• In the area of Mathematics, Biddeford students improved their scores (met or exceeded the standards) in grades 3, 4, and 5 when compared to scores in the previous school year. Biddeford students performed below their state counterparts, though, in all grades.
  
  
• Over 99% of our teachers are considered to be “Highly Qualified”.

The following are the ways in which this report card will be made available to the public:

1. On the district’s web site, www.biddschools.org. Go to “ESEA Report Card.”
   
   
2. Televised presentation to the School Committee at a regular meeting in February 2011.
   
   
3. A letter will be sent home with all students in the district in March 2011 directing parents and guardians to the report card on the district’s web site.

Please note that the health of a school or school district cannot be measured by one assessment. Rather, a school or district should be measured and held accountable for the combined efforts of its staff to educate all children in its care. To that end, the Biddeford School Department strives to meet each child’s educational needs at every opportunity.

Sincerely,



Jeffrey J. Porter
Assistant Superintendent of Schools

Biddeford NCLB Report Card for 2010-11

Accountability Summary for 2010-11

Science Templates: Grade 5, Grade 8, Grade 11