July 23, 2009

Test scores increase for Wake County’s public schools

Preliminary test score results for the 2008-2009 school year showed solid gains across the board for Wake County students.

District officials released results from the end-of-grade and end-of-course exams this week as part of the federal accountability program No Child Left Behind. A significant difference in this year’s test results was a requirement that all students falling just below grade level be retested.

The retest significantly boosted tests scores in general, triggering a jump of 8.5 percentage points in reading and 6.5 percentage points in math. In reading, 74.7 percent of students scored at grade level. On the math test that figure was 84.5 percent.

The scores would have increased about 1.5 percent to 2 percent if the retests had not been considered. The change dramatically increased the percentage of elementary and middle schools meeting federal standards under No Child Left Behind to almost 73 percent. Click here to see whether individual schools met federal standards.

Although elementary and middle school scores attracted much of the attention, some of the more promising results were found at the high school level where the state did not allow retests. With exception of Algebra 1, scores increased in all subject areas tested. The gap between poor students and the overall average also decreased in every case, at times dramatically.

Some increases were to be expected at all grade levels given changes in the reading tests and some high school exams two years ago that made it more difficult to score at grade level. But overall improvements in this year’s scores suggest teachers and students clearly have something to build on in the current year.

Click here to see a chart of all results broken down by race, class and other factors. Scores for individual schools won’t be available until they are formally released by the state Aug. 6.

2008-2009 high school test results for select groups

     Source: Wake County Public School System

Summer school lessons focus on politics

With the exception of children attending year-round calendar schools, most Wake County students are still rolling through summer break. The adults, however, seem to be working overtime in the real-world classroom of political science.

Fourteen candidates filed to run for four open seats on the school board, ensuring competition in each of the school board districts. Areas of the county affected include much of eastern Wake County (District 1), southeastern Wake County (District 2), west Raleigh and Morrisville (District 7) and parts of Cary (District 9).

Both major political parties, and especially Republican leaders, have been unusually active in school affairs for this early in a school board race. The election is Oct. 6 with a runoff scheduled for Nov. 3 in districts where no candidate receives a majority. Given that each district has at least three candidates, it seems likely some or even all the races will carry into November.

While the chance to be on the school board has attracted 14 people, the current board is busy filling the seats of members who have left before their terms expired. Board members will meet Aug. 5 for a full day of interviews with candidates who want to replace Rosa Gill, who was recently appointed to the seat of former Rep. Dan Blue. Gill’s seat will be barely be filled before Beverly Clark departs on Aug. 12. Clark announced her resignation this week, saying other obligations would keep her from giving the school system the time needed.

For those political science majors who just can’t get enough detail, there was also a major change at the state level this week when Bill Harrison announced he was stepping down Aug. 31 as CEO of the state Department of Public Instruction. Gov. Beverly Perdue thought she had addressed a long-running debate about whether the school board or the school superintendent was in charge of state education policy when she appointed Harrison to the new position of CEO six months ago. His new job gave him authority over the school board and the department.
But June Atkinson, the elected state superintendent, didn’t think much of the arrangement and sued the governor. Atkinson won her case in Superior Court last week. That prompted Harrison to resign as CEO, saying he didn’t come to Raleigh to litigate. But Harrison will remain in the unpaid role of school board chairman, meaning this political science experiment isn’t over yet.

Noteworthy…

… The racial achievement gap is closing nationally, but very slowly, according to a recent U.S. Department of Education report. The report released last week compared the progress of African-American students to white students during the past 15 years. North Carolina’s averages were similar to national figures.

….It is not how much technology students can access at any given time that matters. It is what they do with it. A recent article in Education Week’s Digital Directions makes the case that integrating technology into instruction is one international competition the U.S. simply can’t afford to lose. Click here to read the article. It’s about as close to a summer reading list as this newsletter is likely to generate.

… A separate report from Education Week and the Editorial Projects in Education Research Center shows high school graduation rates have improved during the past decade. But three out of 10 students in U.S. public schools still fail to earn a diploma. The method pegs Wake County’s graduation rate at 75.6 percent in 2006 – a few percentage points lower than current figures. Statistics for all school systems in the nation can be found here. 

Wake Education Partnership is a 501(c)(3) non-profit created in 1983 to support public schools, in part by educating the community on current school issues. Most of its financial support comes from local business. Send comments to Tim Simmons, VP Communications, at  tsimmons@wakeedpartnership.org