For the third consecutive year, the State Board awarded letter grades to each of North Carolina’s public schools based upon student proficiency and growth. Among Hispanics, the increase was 0.1 percentage points, to 80.1 percent. Schools that serve disadvantaged students can get credit for making gains, even if proficiency on state exams remains low.
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Almost 83 percent of all county schools either met or exceeded expected student growth targets in 2016, compared to 73.6 percent statewide, and up from just more than 80 percent in 2015, according to the school system. Crossroads, a high school for at-risk students, failed to meet the growth goal and had an on-time graduation rate of 18 percent, compared with an average of 86 percent for all North Carolina public schools.
State Superintendent June Atkinson says the numbers show that students are putting themselves in better position for college and careers.
The percentage of Pitt County students who complete high school within four years grew from just over 80-percent to 83-percent, according to officials.
Rowan-Salisbury School district moved from 3 percent of schools exceeding expected growth to 23 percent. And schools whose students arrive performing at grade level can be marked down if those students don’t advance.
“Again this year, the number of our local schools receiving a School Performance Grade of “A” or “B” increased”, said superintendent Dr. Janet Mason. Among all schools past year that received a D or F, 93 percent had enrollments with at least 50 percent of students from low-income families.
In grades three through eight, student proficiency edged up to 56.9 percent from 56.3 percent in 2014-15.
The four charter schools earning A’s – Pine Lake Prep, Lake Norman, Community School of Davidson and Metrolina Regional Scholars Academy, which caters to gifted students – are located in the suburbs, with student demographics similar to the most successful CMS schools.
The state issues letter grades based on a mix of proficiency and growth, a measure created to gauge how much progress students made regardless of where they started. In math, the overall proficiency rate increased to 54.7 percent from 52.2 percent. “At the high school level, our students posted a double-digit increase in math performance and improved by nearly six points in Biology”.
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The school year just kicked off but Guilford County Schools is looking for ways to improve. The state has been working with the county under a court order since 2009 to improve student performance there.
