An additional 37.8 percent of school districts made AYP based on a calculated method called safe harbor, 8.2 percent on the growth model and 0.8 percent on a two-year average performance.

She said the decision reflected the two-year performance of the team and its coach, not just one game.

Worse, Jason Bere plummeted from a two-year 24-7 performance to 8-15, compounding his regression with a 7.19 earned run average, which nearly matched the 7.28 that was the total of his e.r.a.'s in the previous two seasons.

"We feel very good about adding a high-caliber starting pitcher," Schuerholz said, discounting Hampton's poor two-year performance with the Rockies.

Connors was Langston's pitching coach with the Seattle Mariners in 1987 and 1988, when Langston had his most productive two-year performance, with 34 victories.