Dighton-Rehoboth Regional School District Restores Its Level 2 MCAS Determination

Only one year after being designated a Level 3 district by the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, Superintendent of Schools, Dr. Anthony Azar has announced today that The Dighton­ Rehoboth Regional School District has once again achieved Level 2. In a given year, the district level is determined by the MCAS scores of the lowest performing school in relation to past performance and statewide performance.

As reported last year, the Palmer River Elementary School was designated as a level 3 due to a small margin of high needs student scores that did not meet the target. Arlene Miguel, principal of the Palmer River Elementary School commented on the accountability rising to a level 2, "Thanks to the dedication and hard work of the teachers and staff we are able to celebrate this achievement and continue to improve on teaching and learning. Through ongoing collaboration with our Central Office Administration and strong teacher teams, research-based strategies and effective pedagogy we strive to ensure the success and growth of each and every student. We will continue to monitor students carefully for adequate progress throughout the year and interventions were designed and implemented to close gaps in reading and/or math."

Beckwith Middle School, Dighton Elementary School and Dighton Middle School all maintained their Level 2 status. Dighton-Rehoboth Regional High School, that was a Level 1 commendation school last year, continued to achieve very high levels of students in the proficient and advanced categories as well as students participating in Advanced Placement Courses and doing well in them, nevertheless, were designated as a level 2 school this year.

Superintendent of Schools, Dr. Anthony Azar commented, "Our team of administrators working in collaboration with educators, families, and our School Committee are confident that we will have a district and already in place school improvement plans that will continue to raise student achievement. We have new mathematics resources and curriculum in place that are already showing promise. Moreover, we are carefully

The mission of the Dighton-Rehoboth Regional School District, in partnership with parents and the community, is to provide students with the tools, including technology, to acquire knowledge, apply skills, critically analyze information and issues, and develop social responsibility.

Dighton-Rehoboth does not discriminate based on race, color, religion, gender, national origin, age, marital status, veteran status, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, or any other legally protected group.

analyzing formative and summative assessment data to monitor and adjust instruction for all students including those in high need categories to ensure that we are meeting the needs of all learners. We will continue to look specifically at the achievement gap for our Special Education students and then prioritize where our energies and resources will need to be channeled."

Azar further commented, "We will continue to be vigilant in monitoring our districts two overarching goals: 1) increasing student achievement, and 2) maintaining fiscal sustainability for our two member towns." Finally, Azar noted that in the entire state only five school districts were newly ranked at Level l or 2 for 2016: Bellingham, Dighton-Rehoboth, Gateway Regional, Medford and Oxford.

*For further information please contact Dr. Azar at aazar@drregional.org