FROM THE STATE
Here's a release from Asheville City Schools in regard to the new state School Performance Grades - to be released this week. Please read!
State Issuing School
Performance Grades (SPGs) this Thursday, Feb 5th
The
North Carolina General Assembly passed legislation requiring our state to issue
A-F grades for nearly all schools in North Carolina. The grades are coming out
this week.
While
that may sound simple, it really isn’t. We don’t think the way the grades are
computed reflects the quality of education our schools are providing. In fact,
the Asheville City Board of Education passed a resolution calling for the
development of an alternative grading system that would provide a more accurate
reflection of true school performance.
The
grades are calculated using just a few numbers: 80% is based on proficiency on
state tests (high school grades include a few other measures, such as
graduation rates and ACT scores) and 20% is based on growth.
Asheville
City Schools is concerned about this because any fair evaluation of the quality
of a school requires looking at multiple measures of performance, not just one
or two numbers.
Imagine
if your child took a couple of quizzes over the course of a year and received a
letter grade based solely on those few numbers? That’s not a complete
picture, yet that’s what our schools are facing.
In
addition, good evaluation systems don’t change how high the goal post is every
year – which is currently the case in North Carolina – especially in light of
all the other changes that have recently occurred, with more still to come.
Here’s
a more concrete example. This year, the A-F grades are being calculated on a
15-point scale. That means a score of 55-69 would be a C, 70-84 a B and 85-100
an A.
But
next year, the letter grades will be on a 10-point scale, so a school could
score a 71 this year and receive a B, and improve to a 79 next year and receive
a C. That just doesn’t make sense.
Our district has a clear
roadmap to ensure student success in character, academics and all that we do.
It’s outlined in a two-page
document posted on the district web site and adapted at each school and
available on their sites. Also, this month we are launching a new
strategic planning process that will guide Asheville City Schools for the next
two years.
Our
current district priorities include:
· Excellence
with Equity
· Progression
in Literacy
· Affirmative
School Cultures
· Invested
Leaders and Staff
· Engaged
Parents and Community
We
are proud of our schools! Despite both new standards and new tests this
past year, Asheville City Schools’ students outpaced the state average in
reading, math and science. Our 86.5% graduation rate was the highest in
history. For the seventeenth year in a row, Asheville High and SILSA seniors
far outpaced the state and national averages on the 2014 SAT exam.
Please
share this information with your friends and family. We need your help to tell
our story and let the Asheville community know about the good things happening
in our small, family-friendly, safe and academically sound public school
district.
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