Columbus County Schools Mirror State Trend for Improved Academic Performance

Nearly 90 Percent of State’s Schools Show Progress, but Brunswick County Schools Fall Short

Columbus School Principals have reason to celebrate--during a banquet celebration on Aug 5 at East Columbus HS

The Columbus County School system was among numerous other North Carolina school systems showing gains on recent adequate yearly progress (AYP) reports from the NC Department of Education. According to a press release from the NCDE, “North Carolina public schools improved their performance in 2009-2010 with approximately 88 percent of schools meeting their academic growth goals. Additionally, the ABCs of Public Education accountability report approved by the State Board of Education at its August meeting, classified fewer Columbus County schools than in the previous year as “low performing.”

In Columbus County, 16 out of 19 schools met their expected growth scores. Of those, 11 were declared high growth schools. In addition, three schools, Old Dock Elementary, Williams Township, and South Columbus were classified as Schools of Distinction for achieving 80% proficiency and meeting growth targets.

“The increase in test scores were a direct result of the implementation of recent programs,” said Superintendent Dan Strickland. “Columbus County Schools have taken proactive measures to maximize student performance.” According to Strickland, a variety of initiatives has been instrumental in promoting school improvement.

Prescriptive benchmarking, a process by which students’ weaknesses are identified early in the year, has also taken place on all grade levels. This has given teachers data to refine their yearlong instruction. Strickland went on to note, “I believe the most important factor in our success has been the collaboration among all educational stakeholders through professional learning communities. When we, as an educational community, engage in meaningful collaboration, our students reap the benefit,” Strickland said. “Our faculty, administration, staff and students deserve the credit for these large gains.”

The ABCs accountability model measures school achievement in three ways: (1) the percent of students’ test scores at or above proficiency level, which is referred to as their performance composite, (2) the school’s academic growth, and (3) each school’s adequate yearly progress (AYP). Columbus County schools meeting high growth criteria include Cerro Gordo Elementary, Chadbourn Middle, East Columbus High, Evergreen Elementary, Guideway Elementary, Hallsboro Middle, Nakina Middle, South Columbus High School, Tabor City Middle, West Columbus High, and Williams Township. Schools meeting expected growth include Acme Delco Middle, Acme Delco Elementary, Chadbourn Elementary, Old Dock elementary, and Tabor City Elementary. Eight schools out of 11 exited the Department of Public Instruction status list. When a school is on that list, students can opt out of that school and request to go to another school. The three Columbus County schools still in that category are Chadbourn Elementary, Acme Delco Middle, and Hallsboro-Artesia Elementary. A representative of the Columbus County Board of Education noted that, if students choose to stay at these schools, they could receive free tutoring.

Brunswick County Schools slipped from an 82.4% (14 schools out of 17 showing adequate yearly progress in 2008-09) to a 58% AYP score (11 schools out of 19) for the 2009-2010 reporting year. Keep in mind that if any of the schools do not meet all of their goals, NCDE classifies those schools as not having met their goals.     Schools that did meet their goals include Belville Elementary, Bolivia Elementary, Brunswick Early College, Jessie Mae Monroe Elementary, Lincoln Elementary, North Brunswick High School, South Brunswick High School, Southport Elementary, Town Creek Elementary, Union Elementary, and Waccamaw Elementary. Brunswick County schools that did not achieve their AYP are; Brunswick County Academy, Cedar Grove Middle, Leland Middle, Shallotte Middle, South Brunswick Middle, Supply Elementary, Virginia Williamson Elementary, and West Brunswick High School. After speaking to Bob Grimes, Director of Secondary Education (formerly North Brunswick High School principal) he explained that one of the reasons behind the lower AYP is that with the addition of two new schools it is apparent that there were new teachers assigned to these schools and some with less than two years experience. In addition Grimes went on to say that when you have as many students changing districts this seems to disrupt their stability in learning. Grimes also said that he does not know or have not had a chance to evaluate why all the middle schools in the county did not meet their AYP but he will be evaluating this n the near future.

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