The Times Herald-Record reports Newburgh School District improving rapidly in English Language Arts and there's a corresponding press release at the Newburgh Schools site. There are a couple of comments on the Record Forum here.

It is no doubt a good thing that a computer in Albany has churned through the numbers and categorized Newburgh Schools' 2006-2007 performance as better than its 2005-2006 performance.

Do the students, parents, and teachers in the district perceive this improvement as well? If so, to what do they attribute the improvement? If not, well, then what do we ask?