EOG tests: The results are in
By Phyllis Moore
Published in News on September 5, 2014 1:46 PM
More than half of Wayne County's public schools improved scores on the end-of-grade and end-of-course tests, attributed in part to a new standard of measure introduced last year.
Wayne County Public Schools' graduation rate also reached 79.5 percent, compared to 77.6 percent the previous year and earned high marks for preparing students for the work force.
In the 2013-14 Performance and Growth of North Carolina Public Schools report presented to the State Board of Education this week, statewide results showed that about 56 percent of students in grades 3 through 8 scored high enough on end-of-grade tests to be considered grade-level proficient in reading. In math, about 51 percent of students were considered proficient.
Wayne County Public Schools' proficiencies were 47 percent in reading and 39 percent in math.
The state's 2014 graduation rate was 83.8 percent, the highest recorded in the state's history. Since 2006, the first year the state began reporting a four-year cohort graduation rate, reflecting the percentage of students graduating from high school in four years or less, it has risen 15.5 percentage points -- from 68.3 to 83.8 percent.
The challenge for school districts in comparing scores is going to be a "little dicey," considering last year was the first for the new baseline, David Lewis, assistant superintendent for accountability, said Thursday.
"We're measured in many different ways," he said. "To look at any single measure and think that tells (you) everything you need to know about a school is really pretty dangerous. You really need to look at all the indicators.
"We would love to boil it down to something really simple, but they're measured in so many different ways."
The READY accountability program was introduced last year to replace the ABCs model that had been in place in the state since the mid-1990s. It uses more rigorous tests and standards to determine whether students are prepared for college or the workforce.
"The way it works is this -- they established a new Level 3 for students (with four) achievement levels and levels three and four were considered passing. Now there are five," Lewis said. "For state purposes, levels three, four and five are passing. What used to be Level 3 is now 4 and what used to be Level 4 is now 5."
The expansion provides a more narrow range, Lewis said, but essentially allows room for any imperfections in the test itself.
"It used to be way back when kids were allowed to go to summer school, some were exempt because no test is a perfect test," he said. "With these new accountability measures that are in place, (they) just want to replicate your standard area of measure.
"Now everybody's passing rates went up."
At the same time, he noted, what it takes to pass the test this year changed, making comparisons tricky.
"I think we fared sort of consistently with how the state fared," he said. "The state did not see a big increase and we didn't see a big increase either. It was almost steady, a small incremental increase."
The new achievement levels essentially fine-tune the range in scoring standardized tests.
"For example, the new achievement Level 3, they describe that as sufficient, not proficient but sufficient. They can move on to the next grade level," he said. "Level 4 is proficient -- the kid can consistently perform grade-level work. The Level 5 student demonstrates superior, consistently superior mastery. You want to challenge him beyond grade level."
Growth status is another area of measurement, addressing the question of whether students made what amounts to a year's worth of progress, Lewis said. The calculation is broken down by subject, grade level, etc.
Detailed results will not likely be released until October, Lewis said, so at this point the district only knows the status for each school.
"We had a lot more schools this year that met or exceeded growth. Last year we only had 14 schools out of 29 where growth status is reported," he said, pointing out that Edgewood and Wayne Academy are not scored. "We thought that was a pretty good little increase.
"We have still got to find what we can do to help the ones that didn't. But part of that is trying to figure out why we didn't."
Schools that met or exceeded growth included Brogden Primary, Carver Heights Elementary, Charles B. Aycock High, Eastern Wayne High, Fremont STARS, Grantham, Greenwood Middle, Meadow Lane Elementary, Mount Olive Middle, North Drive Elementary, Norwayne Middle, Rosewood Elementary, Rosewood Middle, School Street Elementary, Spring Creek Elementary, Spring Creek High, Tommy's Road Elementary, Wayne Early/Middle College High and Wayne School of Engineering.
Also of note, Edgewood, Wayne Early/Middle and Wayne School of Engineering met 100 percent of their federal target goals and 100 percent of their state target goals.
The district also fared very well in areas of graduation rates and work force preparedness, Lewis said.
The graduation rate especially has shown much progress over the years.
"All the way back to 2006, which is the first year they started measuring it this way, in 2006 Wayne County Schools' four-year graduation cohort rate was 61.5 percent and now it's 79.5 percent," he said. "This year is the second highest rate we have ever had. We dipped a little bit last year."
In one respect, local growth exceeded that of the state, which was at 68.5 percent in 2006 and now is 83.8 percent.
"The state has gone up 15.3 percentage points during that period. We have gone up by 18 points for that period," Lewis said. "While we haven't caught them yet, we feel good about keeping pace."
Career and technical education students have also fared well on the WorkKeys, a national model that measures job readiness, with 84.9 percent earning platinum, gold or silver designations. The state rate is 67.6 percent.
"We're currently fourth in the state at producing job-ready kids," Lewis said. "These are kids that graduated with certificates ready to go to work."