Groton — Special education teacher Mara Harris used to step into Jacquelyn Wilson's fifth-grade class sometime during the math lesson to help. Harris would seek out children who needed extra help or pull students out of the class for it.

Now she co-teaches the class. The 23 students remain together for math, despite their varying abilities, while two teachers work with them.

It is perhaps this arrangement and others like it that helped S.B. Butler Elementary School achieve marked improvement among its high-needs students — those receiving special education services, free or reduced price lunch or learning the English language.

The Connecticut state Department of Education recognized Butler among 116 Schools of Distinction for this achievement when it released the results of the 2015-16 Next Generation Accountability System last month.

"So the regular education students did very well, but the high-needs students actually exceeded what the state department set as their expected outcome," Superintendent Michael Graner said.

Butler scored in the top 10 percent of schools with the highest growth for students with high needs. Groton’s Northeast Academy Arts Magnet School also was recognized for improvement of high-needs students and for overall improvement.

The state's growth targets vary by individual student. Based on how a student scores on the test one year, the state sets a target for improvement, then measures how close the student got to that target the following year.

At S.B. Butler, high-needs students met an average of 77.5 percent of their growth targets in English Language Arts, compared to 58.3 percent of high needs students statewide. In math, Butler students met an average of 77.8 percent of their growth targets, compared to 57.4 percent statewide.

Principal Steve Wheeler said the school makes a concerted effort to integrate all students. The district is moving toward a “push in” rather than “pull out” model when it comes to teaching students with special needs, for example. Rather than removing children from the regular education classroom, the school brings specialized teachers into the regular classroom and offers co-teaching.

Twenty-three students in Wilson’s math class worked in small groups on Thursday, along with two other children who spend some time in the class. The students all rotated from one table of activities to another, playing or creating math board games, solving problems with help, or learning decimals via a computer program that uses pictures rather than language to teach math. All of the children interacted with both teachers.

Students said they like the openness of the room, the workshop environment and having Harris nearby, just in case they or someone needs extra help.

“It’s less hard because she puts it in fun ways so we don’t have to be so confused,” said Isabelle Asciolla, 10.

“She puts things in other words if we don’t understand at first,” said Grace Moriarty, 11.

“If it’s new, she would explain it to us,” said Fiza Shariff, 10. “(If) some people don’t get it, she would work with them.”

Wilson said the co-teaching arrangement allows her and Harris to work closely with students, catch problems quickly and offer assistance.

“You’re addressing students in a smaller group and you’re really seeing students and their ability,” she said. “You know right then and there, and you can intervene right away.”

S.B. Butler, in Mystic, always has been one of Groton’s high-performing schools, but has become more diverse over time due to redistricting, Graner said. The school’s quality of teaching continues and student performance shows how the school is benefiting children of varying abilities and backgrounds, he said.

“The way the program has integrated those students into all the mainstream classes is obviously playing really big dividends,” Graner said.

The results of the latest state assessments will be presented to the Groton Board of Education on March 27.

 d.straszheim@theday.com