NORWICH – The Norwich City School District is expanding its efforts to raise the graduation rate and reduce the drop out rate for students with disabilities.

On Monday, members of the district’s board of education learned the details of the high school’s Quality Improvement Plan (QIP) for better meeting the needs of this cohort of at-risk students.

“This is why I’m here,” explained Special Education Improvement Specialist Kimberly Matthews, as she reviewed graduation and drop out rate data for this group of students over the last four school years. She pointed out Norwich has failed to meet targets in both of those areas since the 2006-07 school year.

Matthews, who was assigned to Norwich by the State Education Department (SED) last year, has been working with the district and the High School’s LINKS team to correct this trend.

“Our goal is that 63 percent of students with disabilities will be on track for graduation with their cohort by the end of the 2010-11 school year,” she reported.