State releases ABC scores: Only two Buncombe schools pass

The only Buncombe County public schools that made Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) this year under the state’s ABC program are Buncombe County Early College and Pisgah Elementary. The ABC program is administered by the N.C. Department of Public Instruction. The full list of schools is below.

The ABCs of Public Education began in the 1996-97 school year as North Carolina’s school accountability program and has allowed North Carolina to target needed school improvement efforts. This year’s ABCs accountability report is online.

In 2006, the first significant changes were made in the ABCs program with the implementation of new growth formulas to measure change in student performance from one year to the next. The current ABCs formulas are different enough from the original ones that comparisons between the performance of schools from 2006 forward and prior years should be avoided.

This year, North Carolina’s target goals increased to move the state closer to the required 100 percent target by 2013-14 of Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP).

For a North Carolina public school to make AYP in 2010-11, 71.6 percent of students in each subgroup in grades 3-8 must be proficient in reading and 88.6 percent must be proficient in mathematics. For 10th graders, 69.3 percent of each subgroup must be proficient in reading and 84.2 percent must be proficient in mathematics.

In comparison, in 2009-10, the AYP targets for elementary and middle school (grades 3-8) were 43.2 percent in reading and 77.2 percent proficient in mathematics. For 10th graders (high schools), the targets were 38.5 percent proficient in reading and 68.4 percent proficient in mathematics.

The state budget no longer provides for ABCs incentive awards. This is the third year that funds have been unavailable for incentive awards.

Schools that do not meet the expected growth standard and that have a performance composite of less than 50 percent are identified as “low performing” under the ABCs model.

As low-performing schools, they are eligible to receive assistance from the NCDPI’s District and School Transformation Division. Selection of schools receiving comprehensive support is based on a variety of factors, including the school district’s capacity to address the needs of the schools and to provide the support needed to make long-term improvements. Schools can be included in comprehensive support for reasons other than ABCs performance. These include consistently low performance composites, ongoing status as a Title I School Improvement school, and others.

The program has three accountability measures:
• Performance Composite – The percentage of the test scores in the school at or above Achievement Level III (how well the students in the school did against the set standard of proficiency).
• Growth – An indication of the rate at which students in the school learned over the past year. The standard is equivalent to a year’s worth of growth for a year of instruction.
• AYP Status – Whether the students in the school as a whole and in each identified group met the performance standards set by each state following federal guidelines with the long-term goal of 100 percent proficiency by 2013-14.

Below are the scores for Buncombe County schools. If a school misses one target goal, it does not make Adequate Yearly Progress. Title I schools and districts are especially affected if they do not make Adequate Yearly Progress.

The only Buncombe County public schools that made Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) are:
Buncombe Co. Early College, which met 9 out of 9 goals, and
Pisgah Elementary, which met 13 out of 13 goals

Excluded from the report are: Buncombe Co. Middle College, a Special Evaluation School; Career Education Center, a Feeder School; and Weaverville Primary, a K-2 Feeder School.

School   /  Target Goals Met

A. C. Reynolds High     –    9 out of 15
A. C. Reynolds Middle   –  21 out of 29
Avery”s Creek Elementary   –  25 out of 29
Barnardsville Elementary   –  12 out of 13
Black Mountain Elementary   –  12 out of 13
Black Mountain Primary   –  12 out of 13
Community High School   –  2 out of 5
Candler Elementary   –  13 out of 21
Cane Creek Middle   – 15 out of 17
C. C. Bell Elementary – 11 out of 15
Charles D. Owen High – 10 out of 13
Charles D. Owen Middle – 13 out of 21
Clyde A. Erwin High – 10 out of 20
Clyde A. Erwin Middle – 19 out of 33
Emma Elementary   – 21 out of 23
Enka High – 6 out of 13
Enka Middle – 17 out of 25
Fairview Elementary – 14 out of 17
Glen Arden Elementary – 13 out of 17
Haw Creek Elementary – 12 out of 13
Hominy Valley Elementary – 11 out of 13
Johnston Elementary – 15 out of 21
Leicester Elementary – 11 out of 17
North Buncombe Elementary – 15 out of 17
North Buncombe High – 10 out of 13
North Buncombe Middle – 16 out of 21
North Windy Ridge – 19 out of 21
Oakley Elementary – 16 out of 21
Sand Hill-Venable Elementary – 24 out of 25
T. C. Roberson High – 11 out of 13
Valley Springs Middle – 27 out of 33
W. D. Williams Elementary – 12 out of 19
Weaverville Elementary – 14 out of 15
West Buncombe Elementary – 16 out of 25
Woodfin Elementary – 10 out of 13
W. W. Estes Elementary – 26 out of 29