Results for state end-of-grade and end-of-course tests for the 2012-2013 school year for students in Vance County Schools have been released Thursday.
The results were delayed to this point in the current school year, because of the implementation of North Carolina’s new READY Accountability model during the 2012-2013 school year. North Carolina has had state standards, called the Standard Course of Study, for many decades. This new Standard Course of Study is the latest update and is designed to meet the needs of today’s students to be career and college ready.
Prior to the release of the test results, we anticipated that student scores would be lower. The new assessments and the standards that they measure are more difficult and more challenging. The performance that students need in order to meet Achievement Level 3 or better is more difficult. Achievement Level 3 is considered to be grade-level performance.
Student scores are lower for the 2012-2013 school year across the state. In the past, proficiency standards only addressed what students needed for success at the next grade level. The new proficiency standards address how ready students are for college and careers and whether students are on track to be ready by high school graduation. Whenever new standards are set, test score results indicate a drop at first. This usually is an ordinary trend.
“The test results are not an indication that students have not learned,” Superintendent Ronald E. Gregory stated. “Students in Vance County Schools did continue to grow academically in 2012-2013. The new scores simply mean that we are expecting students to reach higher levels of learning than ever before. It is fair to say that with the curriculum and assessment changes for last school year, there has never been a comparable time in public education in my 50 years that this state has changed so rapidly.
“The content of the new curriculum is more rigorous,” Gregory continued. “The reading curriculum requires more careful analysis to comprehend the information and ideas. Mathematics requires understanding and application of mathematical processes; not just arithmetic. And, we must in Vance County Schools make changes that will cause our students to successfully navigate this new course.”
It is extremely important to note that in this transition year, these scores will not affect students’ grades or current placement. The 2012-2013 scores are a baseline for the new assessments and the state’s new accountability model. It is ineffectual to compare the scores for last school year to the previous school year. The tests administered in 2012-2013 were different. They measured new content standards and the scores established a new baseline for proficiency.
“We have to change our ways and methods of teaching to meet this new challenge,” Gregory said. “Some of our schools exceeded the state in student performances and our goal is to exceed the state in all of our schools.”
For example, in third-grade math, students at Carver Elementary School had 61.5 percent proficiency and L.B. Yancey Elementary School had 56.3 percent proficiency compared to the state average of 46.8 percent. At Clarke Elementary School, fifth graders scored at 58.2 percent proficiency exceeding the state average of 47.7 percent proficiency in math. Third-grade math results at Dabney Elementary School showed 58.8 percent of students proficient compared to the state average of 46.8 percent proficiency. In the fifth grade, students at Clarke Elementary and Zeb Vance Elementary exceeded the state average in science. Fifth graders at Clarke had a proficiency average of 63.4 percent and fifth graders at Zeb Vance had a proficiency average of 53.7 percent compared to the state average of 45.4 percent. In Algebra 1 at the middle school level, students at both Eaton-Johnson and Henderson middle schools surpassed the state average in proficiency. For Henderson Middle, 56.2 percent of students taking Algebra 1 scored at proficiency and 48 percent at Eaton-Johnson were proficient compared to only 42.6 percent statewide. At the Vance County Early College High School, students’ test results well exceeded the state average in Biology and English 2. In Biology, 68.3 percent of students at Early College were proficient, well above the state average of 45.5 percent. In English 2, students scored an average of 65.1 percent proficient compared the state average of 51.1 percent proficient.
“Our students are showing growth and will continue to do so,” Gregory added. “At several grade levels in the areas of reading and mathematics, students in Vance County Schools in grades 3-5 scored just below the state average, but we are going to do better.”
North Carolina is not alone in this curriculum and testing transition. New York and Kentucky were the first two states to implement the new standards and experience similarly dramatic drops in student scores. Many other states across the country will be reporting similar results.
Note:
More than 71 percent of North Carolina public schools met or exceeded academic growth expectations in the 2012-13 school year, according to the first READY Accountability report today presented to the State Board of Education. In addition, test scores dropped as expected in the first year of more rigorous standards. To read more, as well as access results for end-of-grade and end-of-course tests and the other accountability model measures for schools, districts and the state, please visit http://www.ncpublicschools.org/accountability/reporting/