Cautions Regarding The NC School Report Cards
Some of the data in the report card may be misleading or confusing unless you understand how and when the data was collected. There are links on the report card to definitions and explanations that you should use when viewing a school report card. Shown below are some of the most frequently asked questions about information in the report card.
1. How was teacher turnover determined? It seems too high.
School turnover rates are derived from school licensure and payroll data. Percentages reported on the 2003-04 report cards are based upon the classroom teachers employed in March 2003 and their employment status in March 2004. Reasons for leaving may include retirement, going to another Wake County school, maternity leave, leave for a temporary illness, or promotion to a non-teaching position at the school.
2. What is included in the Acts of Violence number? How can the district be zero if my school is not zero?
The 17 acts counted (which are identified in one of the links on the report card) include "possession" violations that are not really acts of violence: possession of a controlled substance, possession of alcoholic beverage, and possession of a weapon. The numbers are rounded to the nearest whole number per 100 students. If a school's ratio was 0.51, they would be reported as 1; whereas a school with 0.49 would be reported as 0. For example, the district and state elementary school value is not exactly 0, but is below 0.5.
3. Why is the student performance data lower than other reports I have received?
Previous reports such as AYP results or ABC performance reported students passing math OR reading and counts each test separately. The Report Card reports students passing math AND reading. More data can be found at http://disag.ncpublicschools.org/ .
4. I thought that all the teachers were fully licensed. Why does the report card say only 83% are?
New teachers (either 1st year or new to North Carolina) may still be waiting on clear licensure from the state. They were not recorded as fully licensed when the data was drawn.
5. Why is the average class size so small or so large?
Sometimes small pull-out classes or large combination classes are averaged in with the typical classes because of the way they were reported to the state. This happens particularly at magnet schools. These classes are not typical but appear so in the data file.