AUGUST 13, 2009 ISSUE
Watauga County Schools Students Post Strong Results on State Tests
Students in the Watauga County Schools have again posted strong results on the state tests of academic proficiency and growth required under North Carolina’s ABC’s school accountability system. Results of the tests for the 2008-09 school year were released by the State Board of Education on Thursday, August 6.
In mathematics tests for grades three to eight, 88.9 percent of Watauga County Schools (WCS) students met or exceeded expected proficiency compared to 79.9 percent statewide. In reading tests for grades three to eight, 81.1 percent of WCS students met or exceeded proficiency compared to 67.5 percent statewide. WCS students also exceeded average statewide proficiency on the fifth- and eighth-grade science tests, with 82.7 percent of local results meeting or exceeding proficiency compared to 64 percent statewide.
In 2008-09, retest results counted for the first time on the end-of-grade tests in grades three to eight. Students who initially scored at Level II, one step below the Level III required to meet state proficiency standards, were retested and their results counted as proficient if they achieved Level III or IV on the retest. This change boosted end-of-grade proficiency results by an average of 8 to 10 percent across the state.
The combined test results for reading, math, science and eighth-grade computer skills are used to determine the “performance composite” score of elementary and middle schools under the state’s “ABC’s” accountability system. The performance composite score and academic growth results are then used to assign each school an ABC’s recognition status.
Seven schools in the WCS system—Bethel, Blowing Rock, Cove Creek, Green Valley, Hardin Park, Parkway and Valle Crucis—were rated “Schools of Distinction” for 2008-09, the second highest status available. In elementary and middle schools, a School of Distinction is one where at least 80 percent of test results are at or above grade level proficiency and where academic growth has met or exceeded state standards. Approximately 25 percent of schools in the state achieved School of Distinction or the higher School of Excellence ratings compared to 78 percent of the Watauga County Schools.
Mabel Elementary and Watauga High School missed School of Distinction status by the narrowest of margins. Mabel missed by just two-tenths of one percent on its performance composite score. The high school achieved the proficiency results needed for a School of Distinction but fell short of the standard for expected growth.
The 10th-grade writing test and end-of-course tests in 10 subjects are the principal measures of student proficiency for high schools. At Watauga High School, 80 percent of these test results met or exceeded proficiency standards. Another positive sign at the high school is that the graduation rate increased seven percentage points to 75.5 percent in 2009, almost four points above the state average of 71.7 percent.
Eight of nine schools (89 percent) in the Watauga County Schools met North Carolina’s standards for expected academic growth and seven schools (78 percent) also met the more stringent standard for high growth. The schools making high growth include Bethel, Blowing Rock, Cove Creek, Green Valley, Hardin Park, Parkway and Valle Crucis. Statewide, 42 percent of the state’s public schools met the expected growth standard and 39 percent achieved high growth.
In elementary and middle schools, academic growth is measured by test results in reading and mathematics. At the high school level, growth is measured through a combination of end-of-course test results in ten academic subjects, the change in the percentage of students completing courses in the college/university and technical college preparation tracks, and by changes in dropout rates.
For the first time in the 13-year history of North Carolina’s ABC’s system, teachers and other school faculty did not receive bonuses if students at their school met or exceeded expected growth. The state-paid bonuses, which were up to $1,500 per teacher two years ago, were reduced in the state budget of 2007-08 and eliminated for 2008-09.
The results of state tests also determine whether schools make “Adequate Yearly Progress” (AYP) under the No Child Left Behind law. To make AYP, a school must meet proficiency targets for the school as a whole and for each recognized subgroup containing 40 or more students. Subgroups include lower income students, males and females, racial subgroups, students speaking English as a second language and students with disabilities, among others.
Eight of nine schools in the WCS system made AYP for 2008-09. Watauga High School exceeded AYP performance targets but did not achieve AYP because there was one subgroup in which less than 95 percent of students took the required tests.
For tables summarizing state test results for the Watauga County Schools, click to the news and data page of www.watauga.k12.nc.us. For more information about the state’s ABC’s testing system and detailed results for each school in North Carolina, click to http://abcs.ncpublicschools.org/abcs.
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