State Education Commissioner John King has identified districts and schools in our area that need improvement, and also those that are high achieving.

There are 70 districts labeled Focus Districts. That means each must develop comprehensive plans to support improvement efforts in poorly performing schools. According to the state, these schools have the highest percentage of non-proficient and non-graduate student results.

The commissioner also identified 250 high achieving and high progress schools, and gave them the status of Reward Schools. These are the highest performing schools in the state. A high progress school means it placed in the top 10 percent in the state.