NCAE SBE Review September 2017 Data for 2016-17 State, District and School Level Data Results were shared today with few surprises. Overall school grades are improving, the graduation rate is better than last year and schools with economically challenged populations still struggle to move the test score slump; even though the students are showing some growth and educators are working with fewer resources and less time to teach. Among all schools in 2016-17 that received a D or F, 92.9 percent had enrollments with at least 50 percent of students from low-income families. High school performance grades are higher due to the fact there are more indicators than the tests in grades 3-8. School Performance Grades are based 80 percent on the school’s achievement score and 20 percent on students’ academic growth. 56.5 percent of the state’s high schools earned a grade of B or better. 80.3 percent of elementary schools met or exceeded growth. Low-performing schools are identified with a School Performance Grade of D or F and do not exceed growth. Low-performing districts are districts where the majority of schools received a School Performance Grade and have been identified as low performing. For 2016-17, 11 districts have been identified as low performing and there are 468 low-performing schools statewide. NC DPI has fewer staff and resources to work with and assist schools, but will continue to serve and support low-performing districts and schools through the creation of a new division combining the Educator Effectiveness and the District and School Transformation divisions. To support student performance in consistently low-performing schools, in 2016 the North Carolina General Assembly designed and launched a new strategy a few other states have implemented (with not much success), called the Innovative School District (ISD). The ISD will launch the new ISD schools in 2018-19. This is the list of the 48 traditional public schools the SBE will use in deciding on which schools will be considered for year one. The schools will become part of a charter or education management company for at least five years to turn the schools around. Opportunities for innovation and student success hopefully are not lost on the State ESSA plan approved by the State Broad of Education in a vote that was not unanimous. The state ESSA plan is somewhat similar to the former NCLB Act using tests scores as the sole determination of a school and sub group success; even after almost two years of feedback, collaboration and hope of new strategies to address the whole child and opportunities for success using a variety of indicators. Several SBE members and advisors to the Board shared concerns over the testing mentality of the General Assembly, the status quo of moving forward based on a “theory of action”, and the lack of the educator’s voice and student success indicators sited in ESSA regulations. Statements made that ring true to NCAE core values: “this plan doubles down on testing,” “the plan leaves out the professional voice and leadership for professional development,” “disappointed with the current assessment system that we worked for two years to modify,” “please don’t say that N.C. is still in the Industrial Revolution,” and “without guidance for LEAs, I hope the leaders in locals who want to try innovative ways to assess the whole child will step up and show us how to move to forward.”
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