NEW HANOVER COUNTY SCHOOLS
SHOW DRAMATIC IMPROVEMENT IN ABC TEST SCORES
Strategies for Success Outlined
Overall, New Hanover County
Schools’ students showed dramatic improvement in their
performance on the state’s ABCs of Public Education test scores
for the 2007/2008 academic year. All New Hanover County public
elementary schools met their ABC goals, except for four schools
and many schools achieved high growth rates. All seven NHCS
middle schools made their ABC goals as well. Most schools’
performance on the ABC test improved significantly since the
2006/2007 academic year.
The four NHCS elementary schools that did not meet the ABC goal
for the 2007/2008 academic year are: Alderman, Freeman, Gregory,
and Murrayville. Strategies to support and assist these schools
and other schools are listed below.
Isaac Bear Early College High School met its ABC goal, however
the traditional high schools did not meet ABC goals. The
situation is similar at many other high schools in urban
districts of similar size across the state. Many educators
believe there must be major high school reform in order to meet
the needs of today’s diverse student population. NHCS is taking
a pro-active approach and forming a High School Reform Task
Force to review what needs to be done to improve our high
schools. Plans are underway to bring together a team of business
and community leaders, high school principals, teachers and
graduates to explore the issues and make recommendations. Some
strategies that may be considered include more early college
high schools, career technical schools and other special model
high schools that have proven successful.
ABC/AYP
The ABCs Accountability model is the state of North Carolina
test and Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) is the federal test,
mandated by the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act of 2001. The
ABCs and AYP/NCLB reports may seem to give conflicting
information about a school’s performance. Schools can do well in
the ABCs and fail to meet standards for AYP because of the
different ways the models look at test results.
However, meeting the challenges of the state and federal tests
is only one component of a successful school system. The schools
in our district are concerned about the whole student.
“We must explore innovative ways to reach our students. NHCS is
working hard to close the achievement gap and help more students
meet high academic standards,” said Dr. Alfred Lerch,
superintendent of schools. “The district is dedicated to helping
all students, including our high academic achievers, students
with special needs, English language learners and low-income
students, meet high expectations and succeed as contributing
members of society.”
“Through a series of professional development modules, aligning
the state and the system's goals for higher student achievement,
and closely monitoring student progress by teachers and schools,
we anticipate the test scores will improve each year,” he said.
“Our school system is focused on helping students make meaning
of learning by providing deep, rich instruction to develop the
skills they need to succeed in life,” Dr. Lerch said, adding “We
are very successful with this outcome because the bottom line is
that most of our students are succeeding and we have strong
strategies in place to help those that are struggling.”
"The New Hanover Council of PTAs has full confidence in our
schools. We understand that reported statistics do not always
"tell the whole and accurate story" about our students' progress
and about our schools. We know that involved parents can and do
make a substantial difference in the academic life of their
children and in our schools and community. We need our entire
community of parents to become actively involved, in whatever
capacity they can, to support all NHCS students and all NHCS
schools," said
Mrs. Stephanie Kraybill, president of the NHC PTAs.
AYP Highlights
Even though some NHCS schools did not make AYP, many students
made significant growth during the past school year and those
accomplishments must be acknowledged. For example, DC Virgo
Middle School had three math sub-groups that did not make math
AYP in 2006-2007, but two of those sub-groups made it for
2007-2008.
Williston Middle School had five sub-groups that did not make
AYP in 2006-2007. This year, they improved and all sub-groups
made it except one.
Students at Williston Middle School and Mary C. Williams
Elementary School showed significant progress based on AYP math
results from the intensive support they received over the past
academic year. In addition, Isaac Bear Early College High School
achieved its AYP goal in math for the 2007/2008 school year.
Strategies to Increase Success
NHCS has already begun implementing action plans to improve
student academic performance in all subject areas. These efforts
include ongoing partnership with two highly-qualified
educational consultants who worked with the principals and
teachers during the 2007-2008 academic year.
Educational Consultants
Dr. Lane Mills is the former Assistant Superintendent of
Technology and Accountability for Wilson County Schools and is
principal of Learning by Numbers, an education consulting firm.
Dr. Mills’ strategies involve the use data analysis and testing
projects to help the district meet goals and improve student
success. The data is used to determine professional development
needs, program evaluation and identifying strengths and needs in
instructional programs for students.
Dr. Eddie West, a former superintendent in several NC school
districts, leads The Masonboro Group, a Wilmington-based
education consulting firm. Dr. West provides mentoring and
technical assistance to the principals as well as professional
development.
In June 2008, New Hanover County Schools held its first
Administrative Leadership Conference for all principals,
assistant principals and central office staff. During this
intensive two-day event, administrators received staff
development training and specific data which will allow them to
customize the most effective strategies for their schools. The
data allows the schools' instructional teams to identify the
interventions necessary for the sub-groups in AYP and to provide
instruction that maximizes the growth potential of students.
In addition to this major conference, Dr. Mills and Dr. West
have held various workshops with principals in specific area
needed by the individual schools over the summer to help them
prepare for the upcoming academic year.
Revised School Improvement Plans
Schools within the district are making revisions to School
Improvement Plans utilizing qualitative standards of good
practice that focus on modifications to structures and systems
to ensure that students become globally competitive learners and
that schools ensure a productive climate for learning.
Selected strategies being utilized include, but are not limited
to:
-
Organizational changes in the
ways school improvement planning occurs with a primary focus
on the analysis of multiple data bases which allows for
determining priorities for instructional improvement;
-
Modifications to school
schedules to ensure that instructional time is maximized for
teaching and learning;
-
Implementation of a broad
repertoire of research based proven classroom instructional
strategies to meet the needs of diverse learners;
-
Implementation of new
monitoring procedures to allow for the ongoing assessment of
the impact of instruction on learning; and
Community Partnerships
The schools in our district are partnering with the local
community to create exciting new learning opportunities for our
students. For example, NHCS has a strong partnership with Cape
Fear Communities in Schools which provide extra resources such
as tutoring, mentoring and a variety of other support services
for at-risk youth at designated schools.
NHCS has many other community partnerships that benefit the
schools including with the Sheriff’s Department, Wilmington
Police Department, and other faith-based and civic
organizations.
Parental Involvement
Parents can help support the schools by becoming involved in the
Parent Teacher Association, offering input to the School
Improvement Team, volunteering, and attending parent conferences
with your child’s teacher(s), making sure the children are
prepared and attend school each day along with monitoring
homework assignments.
Contact: Valita Quattlebaum
Public Relations Director
(910) 254-4221
