ABC Report Card: School of Alternatives receives 'Exemplary' status

By Rose Hooper

Individually, the scores may not rank high, but overall, Superintendent Mack McCary "feels good" about Jackson County's ABC results.

"We have much to celebrate in Jackson County," he said.

The Report Card revealed Oct. 4 by the state Department of Public Instruction provides school-by-school performance results for the state's 2,158 public schools eligible to participate in the program.

Status by School

Both Blue Ridge and Scotts Creek went from "No Recognition" to "Expected Status." Schools that make 100 percent of their expected growth goals achieve "Expected Growth Status."

Cullowhee Valley maintained its "Expected Growth" and "School of Distinction" status. Fairview, "Exemplary" in years past, received "No Recognition," but maintained its "School of Distinction." Schools where at least 80 percent of students are performing at or above Achievement Level II are recognized as "Schools of Distinction."

Smokey Mountain Elementary and Smoky Mountain High schools both received "No Recognition" status.

Only Jackson County's new School of Alternatives, in operation since January 2000, received "Exemplary" status. Certified staff at the School of Alternatives will receive cash awards of $1,500 and teacher assistants will receive $500.

A K-8 school that achieves approximately 10 percent above its expected growth goal, a high school that achieves approximately 103 percent above its expected growth in selected courses while student growth is approximately 10 percent above expected growth in reading and math is recognized as a school achieving "Exemplary" growth.

"The School of Alternatives' percentage at grade level is not good (21 percent composite), but they have met their goal in growth," said McCary. "Their model looks at behavior, too, including attendance and redirection of student motivation. For some of the students, it's a big hurdle just getting them to come to class."

Reason to Celebrate

McCary said Jackson County can celebrate because "historically, we are above the state average in every category of achievement: end-of-grade scores in reading and math grades 3-8, fourth- and seventh-grade writing scores, high school end-of-course tests results, and SAT."

The ABC tests don't measure everything, McCary is quick to point out.

"Like being a contributing student and giving back to the community," he said. "In Jackson County, we are committed to a balanced education, and that includes character education and values." Using a future orientation to look at the test results, McCary said the point of the results is to prepare students to be successful after they leave high school.

"While state tests are limited in what they can tell us, hardly anyone would argue the basic skills and competencies they represent are not essential. The trouble is they are necessary, but not sufficient. That is, they don't directly measure some of the outcome that are most valuable," McCary said.

ABCs Explained

The State Board of Education developed the ABCs of Public Eduction in response to the School-Based Management and Accountability Program enacted by the N.C. General Assembly in June 1996.

ABCs recognize both growth in student achievement (by pre-test and post-test) and percentage of students performing at grade level as measured by the state's end-of-grade tests. The ABC uses end-of-grade tests in reading and math to measure student achievement in grades 3-8 for growth. It uses tests in reading, writing, math and computer skills for the performance composite.

At the high school level, the accountability measures are more numerous and include student performance on 10 mandatory end-of-course tests: Algebra I, Algebra II, biology, chemistry, economic, legal and political systems, English I, geometry, physical science, physics, U.S. history and results on the English II writing test.

Another reason Jackson County can celebrate, McCary said, is because "our computer skills are among the best in the state. Almost every one of our eighth-graders is achieving this graduation competency."

Also, he noted, most Jackson County students are achieving at or above grade-level proficiency, from 71 to 86 percent in grades 3-8 and more than 60 percent in high school.

"Fuzzy Math"

Earlier this year, testing officials learned the passing scores they established for end-of-grade math tests were too low. Nearly all the students in grades 3-8 passed.

Some teachers, on the other hand, said privately they felt the reason the scores had to be reconfigured was because the state didn't have enough money to pay the bonuses.

But here's the official explanation, going back to May of 1998, when the state board adopted a new K-12 mathematics curriculum: A transitional curriculum was implemented in 1999-2000, teaching both the old and new math curricula. This was to accommodate both operational testing and the development of new math tests.

Using the math field test data from spring 2000, the new (second edition) math tests were administered for the first time in the spring of 2001.

In the ABCs, growth is calculated from year to year, so it was necessary to conduct a special equating study during summer 2001 to convert the second edition math scale scores to equivalent scores on the old math scale.

Two groups of analysts worked independently on the equating studies this past summer for the math tests, state Board of Education officials said. Because the interim achievement levels were set too low, they contend, on May 24, 2001, the SBE formed an ad hoc committee to audit the N.C. Testing and Accountability Program. On Sept. 7 they agreed the technical process used to compute school-by-school performance for the ABCs was sound.

With that approval, the second edition math scores were converted onto the old math scale, and the existing ABC growth formulas were used to calculate ABC status.

Check's in the Mail

School performance under the ABCs means incentive bonuses will be paid over the next few weeks to many teachers and other certified personnel and teacher assistants.

Teachers and other certified personnel at schools classified as making "Exemplary Growth" will receive gross pay bonuses of $1,500; teacher assistants will receive $500 bonuses. Eligible personnel at schools that met "Expected Growth" will receive gross pay bonuses of $750 for teachers and other certified personnel and $375 for teacher assistants.

A total of 56,313 certified personnel and 16,422 teacher assistants will receive awards totaling $75.5 million statewide. Bonuses are expected to be mailed over the next few weeks, according to SBE officials.

Where do we go from here?

First, we have to realize there is no "quick fix," McCary said. The next step is to analyze the data.

"Every school must do a thorough job of using data to support their reasons for celebration and analyzing how to continue the patterns that are making them successful," he said. "The major emphasis of this needs to be on student achievement. We need to concentrate on how to grow students... at least a year or more."

All of this takes total involvement, he said, "not just teachers, students and parents, but the whole community."

ABC categories defined

Schools of Distinction: Schools where at least 80 percent of students are performing at or above Achievement Level III are recognized as Schools of Distinction. It is possible for a School of Distinction not to make expected growth. These schools receive a plaque and a certificate of recognition.

Most Improved Schools: The 25 K-8 schools and 10 high schools that most exceed their exemplary growth standards are recognized under the ABCSD of Public Education as Most Improved. These schools receive a banner for display and a certificate of recognition.

Schools Making Exemplary Growth: This recognitions is given to K-8 schools that achieves approximately 10 percent above their expected growth goal; and to high schools that achieve approximately 103 percent above their expected growth in selected courses with student growth is approximately 10 percent above expected growth in reading and mathematics, based on the N.C. High School Comprehensive Test. Schools that achieve this status receive a certificate of recognition and incentive awards of $1,500 for certified staff and $500 for teacher assistants.

Schools Making Expected Growth: Schools that make 100 percent of their expected growth goals achieve Expected Growth. In addition to receiving a certificate of recognition, certified staff at these schools receive incentive awards of $750 with teacher assistants receiving $375.

Schools Receiving No Recognition: Schools that fail to reach their expected growth goals but have 50 percent or more of their students performing at or above Achievement Level Ill receive a No Recognition status.

Low-Performing Schools: Schools that fail to make their expected growth goals and have less than 50 percent of their students at or above Achievement Level III are considered Low-Performing Schools.

Low-Performing Schools/Assigned Assistance Teams: Schools that fall far below their expected growth goals and have a majority of their students below Achievement Level III are assigned an assistance team by the state Board of Education to help the school's staff devise ways to help students achieve at higher levels.

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