Wayne County Public Schools receives some high marks, but proficiency scores still lag
By Phyllis Moore
Published in News on September 3, 2015 1:46 PM
Full Size
News-Argus/CASEY MOZINGO
English teacher Kirsten Thomas leads her students in a discussion at Charles B. Aycock High School this morning.
When the state released its accountability results Wednesday, Wayne County Public Schools received high marks in the areas of graduation rates, school growth and career readiness, but is still lagging in proficiency scores.
The 2014-15 Performance and Growth of North Carolina Public Schools report was presented to the North Carolina Board of Education.
This is the third year for the READY school accountability, which replaced the ABC's model that had been in place since the mid-1990s. The program uses more rigorous standards and assessments designed to better determine how prepared students are for college or the workforce.
Academic growth for students is calculated using achievement scores from state end-of-grade tests.
Both the county and the state boasted the highest four-year cohort graduation rate in their histories.
For the 10th straight year, North Carolina's rate is up, now at 85.4 percent.
The district's graduation rate is 84.9 percent, compared to 79.5 percent in 2014 and 77.6 the year before that.
"The graduation rate is the jewel," said Dr. David Lewis, assistant superintendent for accountability/information technology services. "That's a big deal."
In presenting a quick "snapshot" of the district's results, here is how WCPS fared:
* Eighty percent of schools, or 24 of 30, met or exceeded expected growth, compared to 19 schools the previous year. This is a 14.5 percent increase over last year's results and a 30 percent increase from two years ago.
* Based on a 15-point scale, school performance letter grades handed out included one A, two B's, 13 C's, nine D's and four F's, compared to the previous year's two A's, one B, 12 C's, nine D's and five F's.
* Both Wayne Early/Middle College High School and Wayne School of Engineering again met 100 percent of their Federal Target Goals.
* More than 95 percent of WCPS graduates earned Math Course Rigor by successfully completing a Math III course, the same results as the previous year.
* 83.3 percent of students in the Career and Technical Education concentration earned a silver certificate or higher in the ACT WorkKeys assessments, compared to 84.2 percent last year. WCPS is ranked seventh out of 115 school districts in this category.
* Sixteen schools, or 51.6 percent, increased the percentage of students who performed at the College and Career Ready level, compared to 19 schools the previous year.
According to the report, the only schools that did not meet or exceed growth were Dillard Middle, Goldsboro High, Northeast Elementary and Southern Wayne and Spring Creek high schools.
School performance grades are based 80 percent on the school's achievement score and 20 percent on students' academic growth. Elementary and middle schools' achievement scores are based solely on test scores, which include end-of-grade reading and math tests in grades 3-8 and end-of-grade science tests for grades 5 and 8 and, if applicable, end-of-course tests in Math I.
"Two years ago we had half of our schools meeting or exceeding growth," he said. "That was the first year of the new assessments. Last year, we were able to get that up to 65 and a half percent. Now it's at 80 percent.
"So we feel like we're getting a handle on helping kids move forward from where they are. I mean, that's what growth is all about -- wherever you start, we want to make sure you move forward, make a year's worth of progress or more."
In the breakdown of letter grades handed out, Wayne Early Middle received an A, while Charles B. Aycock and Wayne School of Engineering received B's. C's were handed out to Eastern Wayne High, Fremont STARS, Grantham, Greenwood Middle, Meadow Lane, Northeast and Northwest elementary schools, Norwayne Middle, Rosewood elementary, middle and high schools, Spring Creek Elementary and Tommy's Road Elementary.
Those receiving D's were Carver Elementary, Eastern Wayne elementary and middle, Goldsboro, Mount Olive Middle, North Drive and School Street elementary schools, Southern Wayne and Spring Creek high schools. Those with F's were Brogden Middle, Brogden Primary, Carver Heights Elementary and Dillard Middle.
While the letter grades might not be where officials want them to be, Lewis said when it comes down to asking whether the district is making a year's worth of growth with students, "by and large the answer is yes."
WCPS is particularly strong in workforce preparedness, he said.
"WorkKeys measures work ready skills, our students being ready to go get a job and contribute. Of the kids who qualify to be counted, over 83 percent in Wayne County are ready to go," he said. "That is so far away better than the state average (72). That's an area we have a pretty good handle on.
"Our Career Technical Education program is great. They do a really good job of getting kids ready to go out and contribute as part of the workforce right away."
Lewis attributed the successful spike in graduation rates to the fact that the district has come to treat it as a pre-K through 12th grade issue and not simply a high school issue.
"Everybody's responsible for graduation rates. I think that's why you've seen, since they started tracking it this way in 2006, steady increase," he said. "I think what you're seeing is an increased effort on everybody's part to personalize learning for kids, to make sure that each individual student's getting what he or she needs to be successful in school.
"We've got a lot of support from agencies outside of the schools. We get volunteers that come into our schools. Anybody who can help, put their arms around a kid and make sure they don't quit, they don't give up, that's a big deal."
Principals received most of the latest data in late July so have had some time to sift through results. But it wasn't until the state level data was received this week that the district knew where it stacked up.
"We spent the better part of two and a half months wondering, is it just us? Are we the ones lagging and everybody else is taking these leaps and we're doing something wrong?" Lewis said. "To see that the state is also struggling to try to increase proficiency, it's not that that's a good thing. It just lets us know that we're all in this together."
The latest benchmark serves as a barometer of where the schools must focus attention. At the same time, Lewis said, it also reflects positive outcomes from efforts that are being made locally.
"I think the fact that we got so many more of our schools this year meeting or exceeding growth is evidence that our process is working with growth," he said. "We've still got to figure out what to do about proficiency but I think what I'm seeing in the state level is that we're not alone in this.
"Our test scores are essentially flat. Well, you know what? The state of North Carolina test scores are essentially flat. So we've all got to figure out what we're going to do about proficiency and the new standards that are now heading into year four. I don't know that anybody's got a good handle on it yet."