Schools Slip Slightly on Federal Standard

Friday, July 23, 2010

County AYP Results

To view all the numbers, click here.

Twelve out of 22 public schools in the Moore County school system met Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP), according to preliminary results released Wednesday by the state.

That is down from last year, when 15 schools achieved the federal standard.

AYP measures the annual progress of students based on the school, district and state levels against yearly target goals in reading/language arts and mathematics. Schools are assigned individual target goals based on student demographics.

Despite the decline, the number is still much higher than assessments in previous years. Eight schools in the system met their target goals for the 2007-2008 year. Pinckney Academy did not make AYP.

For another year, none of the county's high schools made AYP. North Moore met all of its goals last year, but Pinecrest and Union Pines fell short for the third consecutive year.

Aberdeen Primary, Aberdeen Elementary, Cameron Elementary, Sandhills Farm Life, Highfalls Elementary, Academy Heights Elementary, Pinehurst Ele-mentary, Robbins Elemen-tary, Vass-Lakeview Elemen-tary and West End Elementary made AYP, while Carthage Elementary, South-ern Pines Primary, Southern Pines Elementary and Westmoore Elementary did not.

Elise Middle School and West Pine Middle School were the two out of four middle schools that made AYP.

Southern Middle and New Century did not meet it.

Superintendent Susan Purser said she is pleased with the overall progress of the county's schools, but she disagrees with using that data as a conclusive measure of a school's performance.

"The data is important," Purser said. "I object to the fact that it is presented as a decision-making model. That is totally inappropriate. You cannot judge the schools based on this data."

Purser said that even though the data provides insight on the progress of a student based on school demographics and individual performance, it sometimes penalizes a school based on poor performance from one student within a target group.

"AYP helps us remain focused that every student is important," she said. "Looking at the subgroups has value."

Target groups, which are determined federally by each school's demographics, contain at least 40 students. A school can miss making AYP by having one target group fall short of its goal.

"You really don't get a good handle on what is happening," she said.

Six schools missed AYP distinction by one target goal.

Purser said she is still pleased to see students progress in the school system.

"I am pleased with our AYP results," Purser said. "We are never finished, so I'm not as pleased as I could be, but I think our schools are doing exceptionally well."

AYP is a part of the No Child Left Behind Act's goal of all students demonstrating proficiency at or above grade level in mathematics and reading/language arts by the 2013-2014 school year. AYP is required for all school districts receiving federal Title I funding.

A school does not receive AYP unless it reaches 100 percent of its target goals of improvement for the year.

End-of-grade tests for grades three through eight determine AYP for elementary and middle schools, while proficiency in Algebra I, English I end-of-course tests, along with the 10th-grade writing test, determine AYP for high schools.

The results won't be official until the state board approves them Aug. 5.

Contact Hannah Sharpe at hannah@thepilot.com.

More like this story

luckygrammy 1 year, 6 months ago

This doesn’t surprise me. Students in Moore County are constantly passed whether they deserve it or not. I know of 3 students at New Century that haven’t passed their EOGS or their classes in several years and they are passed each year. One is in 8th grade and hasn’t passed an EOG or his class since 5th grade. The teachers know if they flunk a student they had to have that student again the next year so they pass the students that don’t try and disrupt their classrooms just so they don’t have to deal with them next year. One parent told them to flunk their child, that he hadn’t even tried that year, hadn’t turned in his homework all year, spent more time in the principles office than the classroom, and had an average of 69.5 in all of his classes, and he failed both attempts at the EOG, and he was passed. May if the schools would “grow a pair” and start teaching these kids that they are there to learn and not to socialize then perhaps overall grades would improve.

Woody 1 year, 6 months ago

You can't blame the teachers. It is not the schools responsibility to be "parents" to the children.

luckygrammy 1 year, 6 months ago

I'm not saying its the schools responsibilty to be parents. I'm saying they shouldn't just pass kids that don't deserve it. I had 2 kids in Moore Co schools that made their grades, and passed their EOG's. They would stress out about taking the EOG's because they were told if you fail them then you fail your grade. Thats not true. One has already graduated college and the other starts college this year. The parents of these kids were told they had to pass them because of the No child left behind policy. Its not fair to the kids that study and make the grades to have kids that don't do anything just slide by, what's that teaching them? When they continue to do that then the entire system looks bad, and brings down the averages.

member 1 year, 6 months ago

@ luckygrammy- I must say your logic is flawed. I have a little experience with this...Maybe you have a Master's Degree in an Educational field as well. In my professional opinion, retaining a student has to be looked at from every point of view--educationally, socially, and psychologically. If a student is not going to make up an entire grade level in the year he/she is retained, it is not really worth it. Also retentions have been proven over and over again to be counterproductive. Talk about frustrating--especially once a student is older than first grade age--to see all your friends move on and you are stuck in the same grade feeling like you are dumb, so why even try!?!

Every year is not an EOG gateway year. EOG tests are also flawed. They put trick questions on them and flawed questions as well. I'm sorry, but I would rather my child have the tools to be an independent thinker and lifelong learner rather than memorize a bunch of stuff that will probably show up on a test!

There must be accountability for teachers, but this state needs to look at the NCSCoS (Standard Course of Study), the EOG testing itself, NCLB, and the whole idea of teaching to a test.

There are some children who just aren't "school" smart. That doesn't mean they will be less successful in life--they will probably have to be a little more creative to have great success, but it can still happen! Some children (and adults) just aren't test takers. Have you taken an EOG test lately? I strongly recommend getting on the DPI website and looking at some sample questions--even at the third grade level, they are asking very developed questions. The difficult part comes when the students have been so busy learning basic concepts for the tests that they don't know how to "think" through the questions and find the answers!!

JoeGarrison 1 year, 6 months ago

Folks this just shows the absolute ineptitude of government education. With the amount of money that is paid in by federal, state, and local government we should not only have a great education but we should come to expect it. Why is it that private, and home school students are not only better taught but they do it without the ransom paid by the taxpayers. Susan Purser makes at least six figures a year and good benefits, she has assistants out the wazoo and more central office help then you can shake a stick at and yet almost less than half of Moore County Schools are not progressing. Its time to realize that it's not a pay issue for teachers, or a funding issue but rather a what are we teaching issue and standards issue. Anything less than 100% efficiency in education is an utter failure, but the victims here is not me or you but rather our kids and grandkids because our system is failing them. It's pathetic.

luckygrammy 1 year, 6 months ago

@ Member: I think we are going to have to agree to disagree. I agree with kids not being graded on just memorizing facts and figures. I am old school, I feel that kids shouldn’t be “given” a free pass. If they don’t earn an A they don’t get an A. If they try their hardest and get a C, I’m just as happy with that C as the A the other child brought home. This teaches a child life lessons. Work hard and do your best. Deciding not to hold a child back because you are concerned that you are going to hurt their feelings and make them “feel stupid” teaches them nothing when they enter the real world. I’m sure my boss doesn’t give me a raise and allow me to continue working each day because they are concerned about hurting my feelings and making me feel stupid. We have gotten off subject here and I will try to redirect our path. I have spoken with several teachers at several different schools, and I discovered that it is easier for them to pass a student than to retain one. They have stated they are so bogged down with the paperwork that their original goal of educating children is now 2nd. As someone who has an education background I understand how frustrating it is when this happens. I understand how difficult it is when you have one or two children whose parents treat the school system as a free daycare. That if the teacher is doing their job, their kid is going to pass, and that boys will be boys and that putting glue in a kids hair or shooting spit balls in class is all in good fun. I’m not downing the teachers. They have tough jobs and deserve better pay and respect. I’m saying that the system needs to support them more by making it easier for them to teach, and not be administrative assistants. It shouldn’t take filling out 20+ papers to retain a failing, not trying, student and only 5 to send them on. I’m saying the system needs to allow these unsung heroes’s to do their jobs and educate children. Reward the good teachers and weed out the ones that are only drawing a check.
As far as some students not being “school smart” I also had one of those. She had ADHD and a learning disability. She would know every bit of the information, until she sat at her desk. Then the hours of studying would go out the window. Thank God for the awesome set of teachers that worked with us. They took the time and we sat down together and found the right plan for her. She graduated in the top 25% of her class. We also had some teachers that just didn’t care. I also have 2 step children, and a foster child. The youngest in now is private high school on scholarship. 2 of these kids graduated, however they can’t even complete a job application. They were simply passed on and slipped through the cracks. One is a laborer making minimum wage and the other draws public assistance.
@JoeGarrison: Amen!

FaithinUSA 1 year, 6 months ago

so we are paying more and more each year and failing the children...that doesn't sound like the American way. We are putting kids out on the street who can't read and write after 13 yrs of school. They can't even make change at the McDonald's if the power goes out. Now the school system wants to spend millions for computers so the kids can learn how to social network wth thy on lnguge. What a joke the government schools are.....all they are creating is kids who can't function in society and can't get a job so they will resort to criminal activity.

This country is going bass aackwords....

kamawi 1 year, 6 months ago

JoeG- I believe you are having a knee-jerk reaction to a headline that sounds worse than it is. It is complicated to explain thoroughly, but if a school does not meet EVERY SINGLE ONE of its AYP target goals then the entire school does not make AYP. Another way of putting it, a school that meets 95 percent of its AYP goals is statistically the same as another school that only meets 10 percent of its goals.

If you better understood the ever-increasing proficiency target goals you could see that Moore County Schools continue to make progress, and when the final results are known, I'm sure Moore County Schools will compare very favorably with others in the state.

To use this story to make your generalization that our school system is pathetic reveals your lack of understanding.

You claim that private and home-schooled children are taught better. Please explain what measure you base this on.

I will agree with you that we can do better, and our schools continually strive towards improvement.

You may or may not know that by the 2013-14 school year the target proficiency for each group is set for 100 percent. This means that EVERY CHILD must pass every standardized test in Reading and Math. This also means that if 99% of students pass, then the school will have failed.

I will also agree partially with something you said about government schools being inept. With government systems there always seems to be a bloated bureacratic apparatus, and primarily that is where ineptitude lies. People who are clueless about education shouldn't be the high paid decision makers.

The term "government schools" is one favored by Neal Boortz who seems to love to get folks riled up. If he is your primary source of information about the health of our schools, I'm sorry.

Personally, I wish the federal government weren't even involved with our schools. I favor local control. By the way, Dr. Purser is definitely NOT one of the clueless bureacrats.

When I think of public housing, public transportation, public swimming pools, public health care, I do get a mental image of poor quality in my mind. But we are fortunate that our public schools overall are very high quality.

JoeGarrison 1 year, 6 months ago

Look we can read the results differently but the I think the message here is the same, we pay too much in taxes to the education system to somehow expect a subpar result.In this state education is one the biggest even with cuts expenditures we have, even at the county level with cuts one of the biggest expenditures. I don't think it is wrong or an error to expect more than we are getting. Education can be fixed if we cut out the middleman ie government hoops, central offices and bureaucrats, and get the money to the kids for a change. Lets pay teacher based not on some arbitrary figure but based on results of students learning. Lets let parents have school choice and more say in what their kids learn. All of this can be done with less money and better results. Win win right?:)