Today marked the official release of results from state testing conducted during the spring of 2010.
According to results released by the North Carolina Department of Instruction (DPI) and certified by the State Board of Education, among the sixteen schools in the Vance County Public School System there are two North Carolina Schools of Distinction, nine North Carolina Schools of Progress and ten schools which met the stringent requirements under the federal No Child Left Behind legislation.
The overall performance of schools improved from 2008-2009 when there was only one School of Distinction and six Schools of Progress.
“I am pleased 14 out of 16 schools met expected growth for the 2009-2010 school year,” said Dr. Norman Shearin, superintendent of Vance County Schools. “Our teachers, aides and administrators have worked hard to make sure our students have grown academically this past school year.
“As a school system, we are always trying to improve the performance of the students in Vance County Schools,” Shearin added. “We continue to move toward every school meeting their ABC goals.”
The Vance County Early College High School, with 85.8 percent of its students scoring at or above grade level on state end-of-course tests in selected subject areas, led the way among local schools. The Early College was closely followed by New Hope Elementary School, which had 80.2 percent of its students in grades 3-5 scoring at or above grade level on state end-of-grade tests in reading and mathematics. For their students’ and staff members’ accomplishments, both Early College and New Hope have been designated as Schools of Distinction for the 2009-2010 school year. A designation as a North Carolina School of Distinction is the second highest recognition schools can receive in the state’s ABC Accountability Program. Students must collectively score between an 80 and 90 percent proficiency level on the state tests for their school to achieve the recognition.
Results for local schools also indicate substantial gains in student achievement at Northern Vance and Southern Vance high schools. For the 2009-2010 school year, the percentage of students in grades 9-12 at Northern Vance High School who were proficient in state end-of-course tests was at 78.8 percent, an increase of approximately 17 percent from 2008-2009 when 61.9 percent of students were proficient. At Southern Vance High School, 73.7 percent of students were proficient on the end-of-course testing, an almost 16 percent jump from the 58 percent who were proficient in the previous school year. Both high schools have been designated as North Carolina Schools of Progress for the 2009-2010 school year. This is the third highest recognition category with between 70 and 80 percent of students needing to be proficient to qualify for the distinction.
Southern Vance High School also met the state’s “high growth” standards with the sharp increase in its students’ performances during the past school year.
Additional Schools of Progress and their proficiency composite results include: Aycock Elementary with 77.2 percent of students scoring at or above grade level; Zeb Vance Elementary School with 71.5 proficient; Clark Street Elementary School with 65.6 percent proficient; E.O. Young Jr. Elementary School with 65.5 percent proficient; Dabney Elementary School with 64.9 percent proficient; E.M. Rollins Elementary School with 63.9 percent proficient; and Henderson Middle School with 61 percent proficient.
The number of schools meeting Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP), with all identified student groups or target goals meeting federal testing standards, increased to 10 from the nine schools designated as meeting the requirements in preliminary AYP results released on July 21. With the certification of AYP results by the State Board of Education, Western Vance High School joined nine others in meeting AYP standards. The other schools meeting the standards were Aycock, Carver, Clark Street, Dabney, New Hope, E.O. Young, E.M. Rollins and Zeb Vance elementaries, along with Early College High.
State testing results for other schools were Carver Elementary, with 57.6 percent proficient; Eaton-Johnson Middle, with 59.5 percent proficient; Pinkston Street Elementary, with 57.2 percent proficient; and L.B. Yancey Elementary, with 50.3 percent proficient.
With Southern Vance High School leading the way with its students scoring at “high growth” standards from the previous school year, 13 of the remaining 15 schools met “expected growth” standards in the 2009-2010 school year. Only Pinkston Street and L.B. Yancey did not meet expected growth.