The North Carolina Department of Public Instruction recently released its North Carolina School Report Cards for 2013-14. The School Report Cards offer up-to-date information about student achievement and attendance, school safety, school technology and other topics. Schools will send home a cover letter and a report card snap shot summary with students. Complete Report Card information is compiled annually and is available by school, district and the state at http://www.ncpublicschools.org/src/.
Of the state’s 2,565 public schools and public charter schools, 2,424 received School Performance Grades. The 141 schools not included in the report may not have any tested grades or may have a transient or very small student population. Typically these schools are K-2 schools, special education schools, alternative schools and hospital schools. Following is the overall distribution of those grades for both public school and public charter schools.
For the first time, the state General Assembly mandated letter grades for schools based upon reading and math. The school’s performance score accounts for 80 percent of the letter grade and student “growth” accounts for 20 percent of the letter grade. For some schools that meet or exceed expected growth, the growth calculation could increase their letter grade. The state letter grade distribution and Haywood County Schools’ letter grades are listed below.
* Due to rounding, the percent of schools will not total 100%.
* Central Haywood High School is not issued a letter grade from the state.
“We are proud of our schools,” said Dr. Anne Garrett, superintendent. “Our schools continue to lead the way and out-perform most of the other schools in the state. Our students and staff work very hard to continuously improve.”
“While we did very well compared to other school districts in the state, I am disappointed the state General Assembly would legislatively mandate this narrow-minded view of one overall letter grade for labeling schools,” said Bill Nolte, associate superintendent. “Of the 816 Title I K-5 schools in North Carolina, we had one school ranked first, one ranked thirteenth and two that tied for twenty-fourth. These four schools include a National Blue Ribbon School and two National Title I Distinguished Schools honored for sustained high academic performance. Only one of these four schools received an ‘A’ from the North Carolina General Assembly.”
“I am honored to lead a district that is setting and reaching such high student achievement goals,” said Superintendent Anne Garrett. “This recognition proves that our teachers and principals are going above and beyond to give our students the best education.”
“We are working to analyze the newly released data,” said Nolte. “We know that our middle school math and overall high school performance are areas where we can make additional gains.”
For more information regarding school report cards and letter grades, please visit http://www.ncpublicschools.org/src/ or contact your child’s school.
Submitted by Dr. Bill Nolte, Associate Superintendent