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Local ABC scores down from last year
By Derek Hodges
Local schools fared slightly better on state-mandated tests than on federal ones, but they still have room for growth.
That’s the word Jackson County school leaders got from N.C. Department of Public Instruction officials with the release of ABC test scores for the last school year.
While only four of Jackson County’s seven schools reached required yearly progress on federal standards, five achieved the state’s expected growth.
Only Smokey Mountain Elementary and Blue Ridge School failed to reach expected levels. Both met their goals on the federal standards.
At SMES 80.9 percent of the students are performing at or above grade level. That the school could still be considered as not making expected growth shows some of the tests’ shortcomings, Superintendent Sue Nations said.
“I do think that, as you get those high numbers, it becomes a different strategy. It’s much harder to go from 90 to 100 percent than it is to go from 50 to 60 percent, in my opinion. It’s much more difficult to find those numbers,” she said.
Blue Ridge is one of only five union (K-12) schools in the state. That means its score of 65.7 is considered differently than any other school in the county, which skews its position on the scale.
Cullowhee Valley has the greatest number of students performing at or above achievement level III in Jackson County, with 90.3 percent. It has been ranked a School of Excellence, a title it also earned the previous year.
Both Fairview (87.6 percent) and Scotts Creek (87.5 percent) elementary schools were named Schools of Distinction. Fairview did not meet federal growth standards, however.
“I think that’s really telling of the differences in the federal standards and the state standards that you have this school that is honored by the state, but doesn’t meet Adequate Yearly Progress standards,” Nations said.
Smoky Mountain High School had 79 percent of its students performing at expected levels, enough to earn it School of Progress designation.
The School of Alternatives achieved its expected growth with 44.3 percent of its students performing at or above level III. That relatively low score can be considered expected while SMES’s 80.9 is not because, like Blue Ridge, the School of Alternatives is measured by a different scale, Nations said.
As a whole Jackson County’s results decreased by about four points. Last year’s systemwide average was 85.76 percent, while this year saw only 81.83 percent of students performing at grade level.
Jackson County was not alone in its decline, however, as the statewide average also dipped. For the 2003-04 school year nearly 71 percent of schools in the state achieved expected growth, while only about 56 percent of schools hit that mark this year.
“I think, overall, the schools did very well. We’re in line with state trends,” Nations said.
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