Academic recovery plan approved for Youngstown schools

COLUMBUS — State Superintendent of Public Instruction Deborah Delisle today approved the Academic Recovery Plan for the Youngstown City School District, which was submitted in June by the Youngstown Academic Distress Commission.

"The approval of this academic recovery plan represents a new chapter for the Youngstown City School District," Delisle said. "The academic recovery plan provides a blueprint of new and refined initiatives to provide high-quality services to all students and to provide educators with the necessary supports to effectively serve all students."

The plan strategically focuses on improving literacy instruction in the elementary grades, providing remediation and intervention services for students in middle and high school and providing critical professional development to improve literacy instruction.

The annual targets and benchmarks outlined in the plan aim for the district to be in continuous improvement by 2015.

The plan also requires the district to provide monthly and quarterly progress reports to the Academic Distress Commission and the superintendent of public instruction. Based on these reports, the commission or the state superintendent can determine the need to amend the plan.