My 6th grader with Asperger's tested very poorly on the MCAS, which was given to him with special accommodations. Even with those accommodations, it's clear to any observer that the town cannot educate him. I sincerely hope that when the results are received, that the district will not conveniently blame Mr. Knight for the poor score, when the actual reason is the lack of special needs expertise that was needed but not provided, in my son's case. It's a district failure, not a DMS failure.

Mary M.,
Since your child is a sixth grade DMS sped student now, then obviously he/she would have been an Alden sped student over the past three years when the Alden spec needs sub-group was placed on a federal watch list for poor MCAS performance.

Could you let us know if you have received a letter similar to the one that Mr. Trombly sent to Alden families about two months ago? I'll copy it at the bottom of this post for your easy reference.

Has your son recently been offered any "Supplemental Educational Services" as stated in Mr. Trombly's letter? Has anything extra been done to improve his basic English skills in preparation for the MCAS tests and in preparation for life over the past three years?

Mr. Trombly's letter from two months ago:

Dear Alden Families:

As was explained to our whole community in the fall(for example, through televised presentations at school committee meetings), Alden School's special education subgroup did not make "Adequate Yearly Progress" on the Spring 2007 administration of the MCAS English/Language Arts test. [Adequate Yearly Progress is a provision under No Child Left Behind, the federal statute governing elementary and secondary education, which requires schools - and all subgroups within them - to achieve a certain amount of progress per year.] This was the third consecutive year that the special education subgroup's progress was deemed not to have been "adequate" under the regulations.

The Department of Education now requires that I, as principal of the school, notify - by letter - the families of all children attending Alden School of our school's status.
I am glad of the opportunity that this letter affords me to remind families that our district's website (www.duxbury.k12.ma.us) links directly to the website of the Massachusetts Department of Education, where families can review such information as Alden School's teacher quality, student achievement, and school accountability.

I will be sending an additional letter to families whose children are eligible, under the regulations, to receive Supplemental Educational Services.

Respectfully,
Christopher E. Trombly

Dear Sandy W.,

Yes, my son was one of the Alden 5th graders last year who did poorly on the MCAS. I received the letter from the Alden school that you attached to your post, not in relation to my now-6th grader, but in my 4th grader's backpack. I have never been contacted for supplemental educational services because of my 6th grader's poor MCAS performance in 5th grade, and if I hadn't had a child still at Alden, may never have seen that letter from Mr. Trombly. Also, the first day of my son's 5th grade MCAS was also the first time that the district called in the police to "handle" my son with Asperger's. And he was at Alden at the time. I hope I have answered your question. Thanks.