Wake Posts Excellent Results On 2002 ABCs Of Public Education
September 12, 2002 - Wake County Schools had its highest number of Schools of Excellence, and one Wake elementary school earned the state's highest honors for growth in student achievement, according to the results of the 2001-2002 ABCs of Public Education announced today.
"Our students and teachers earned this recognition through their day-to-day work in the classroom, tackling homework every night, and studying hard," said Wake Superintendent Bill McNeal. "The success of our schools in the state accountability program shows that students who needed help reaching grade level and students achieving high above grade level both grew academically."
|
School-by-School Results |
The ABCs of Public Education is the state accountability program designed to improve student achievement, reward excellence, and provide assistance to schools that need extra help. This is the sixth year the state has reported on schools with grades 3-8 and the fifth year for high schools.
Cary Elementary honored
State officials named Cary Elementary one of the state's 25 Most Improved K-8 Schools. Cary Elementary met the ABCs program's high growth standards and was named a School of Distinction. The school had a performance composite score of 86.4 this year, compared with 77.7 last year. Administrators at the school asked to be part of Project Achieve, an instructional program piloted at eight schools last year.
Schools of Excellence/Schools of Distinction
Wake County had 52 Schools of Excellence. These schools had at least 90 percent of their students perform at or above grade level and met expected or high growth. The state will present a banner to each of the schools to display and each school's leaders will be invited to a banquet honoring academic excellence. The elementary schools honored include Adams, Apex, Baileywick, Baucom, Brassfield, Briarcliff, Combs, Davis Drive, Dillard Drive, Durant Road, Green Hope, Green, Hilburn Drive, Holly Springs, Jeffreys Grove, Jones Dairy, Kingswood, Lacy, Lead Mine, Leesville, Lincoln Heights, Lockhart, Middle Creek, Morrisville, North Ridge, Northwoods, Oak Grove, Olds, Olive Chapel, Root, Stough, Swift Creek, Timber Drive, Vance, Wakefield, Washington, Weatherstone, Wendell, West Lake, Wiley, and Willow Springs. The secondary schools honored include Apex Middle, Davis Drive Middle, Dillard Drive Middle, Durant Road Middle, Leesville Road Middle, Ligon Middle, Lufkin Road Middle, Wakefield Middle, West Cary Middle, West Lake Middle, and West Millbrook Middle. Last year, Wake had 30 Schools of Excellence.
Wake County had 37 Schools of Distinction. These schools had at least 80 percent of their students perform at or above grade level and met expected growth. The elementary schools honored include Aversboro, Brooks, Cary, Conn, Douglas, Farmington Woods, Fox Road, Fuquay-Varina, Hodge Road, Hunter, Lynn Road, Partnership, Penny Road, Powell, Rand Road, Rolesville, Smith, Vandora Springs, Wilburn, Wildwood Forest, Yates Mill, and York. The secondary schools honored include Carnage Middle, Carroll Middle, Daniels Middle, East Cary Middle, East Millbrook Middle, Martin Middle, Wake Forest-Rolesville Middle, Zebulon Middle, Apex High, Athens Drive High, Cary High, Green Hope High, Leesville Road High, Wake Forest-Rolesville High, and Wakefield High. Last year Wake had 53 Schools of Distinction.
There were 89 Wake County schools named either School of Excellence or School of Distinction this year, compared with 83 last year.
"Wake schools are consistently performing at a high level," said Karen Banks, Assistant Superintendent for Evaluation and Research. "Having a growing number of Schools of Excellence and Schools of Distinction shows we have a growing number of students who are enjoying academic success."
67 schools achieving high growth
Wake had 67 schools achieving high growth, 37 achieving expected growth, and 16 schools not meeting expected growth. None were low performing.
Of the 16 schools that did not meet expected growth, three would have been designated as Schools of Excellence and seven would have been designated as Schools of Distinction if they had achieved the growth targets set by the state formulas. This means that many students scored well on the tests, but did not score as high as the state growth formulas projected for those schools.
"We are not only concerned about students achieving at or above grade level standards, but we want all students to grow, even those already scoring high," Banks said. "Our schools are doing a good job of ensuring success for all students."
Since 1997-98, schools achieving high growth receive incentive bonuses equivalent to $1,500 per certified teacher and $500 per teacher assistant. Bonuses for schools meeting expected growth are equivalent to $750 per certified teacher and $375 per teacher assistant.
The ABCs program focuses primarily on average growth shown by groups of students on state End-of-Grade testing in reading and mathematics. Average test results for a group of students at the end of one year are compared to the scores for those same students at the end of the prior year.
Beginning in 2000-2001, writing scores were not included in the growth calculation for schools serving fourth-grade and seventh-grade students. A new baseline for writing is being established based on a new scoring method and inclusion of writing scores for special education students.
The 2001-2002 school year is the second year in which growth for high school students is determined by predicting how well each student group should perform based on the previous EOG and EOC test scores of the students in the group. Positive gain occurs when the actual EOC score for a group of students equals or surpasses the predicted score for the group.
"Our principals' and teachers' use of additional resources are helping to boost student achievement," Banks said. "All eight schools in our Project Achieve pilot program were recognized by the state for high growth. Our elementary and middle schools continue to boost student achievement with the Accelerated Learning Program. It provides additional instruction for students who need help reaching grade level."
|
School-by-School Results |