The administration from the five Dark Horse facilities met with school board members this month to discuss their individual school’s achievement and to introduce methods they plan to gear towards continuous improvements.
L.C. Kerr’s principal, Vivian Maynor, took the podium first last week, presenting historical data for running records, reading and math.
According to Maynor’s data, at the end of the 2007-08 school year, Kerr had a 91 percent in running records; 90 percent in writing; and 90 percent in math.
Running records, as defined by Maynor, is a K-2 assessment performed with children on vocabulary fluency, which, she stated, basically shows where the child is at from year to year.
“It is a form of assessing the child,” Maynor commented, adding that it is required through the state Board of Education.
After the 2008-09 year, L.C. Kerr, according to Maynor, increased in all areas expect running records, which decreased to 89 percent. Math and reading, she said, increased to 93 and 92 percent, respectively.
However, Nancy Dillman, director of curriculum and instruction for Clinton City Schools, reminded board members that Kerr piggybacks off of Butler; therefore, this is an assessment of the school’s testing data because they have no end-of-grade testing.
“Plus,” Dillman added, “there is no second grade (at the school) any more and in 2007-08 there was; therefore, this is not a clean comparison.”
As for the areas that did increase, Maynor provided that the administration held conferences with teachers, hosted team learning sessions, introduced new computer software programs and held parent and teacher conferences to reach an increase in testing.
Butler Avenue’s principal, Mary Nell Darden, also addressed the board with her own good news, saying her school, which houses second and third grade, had met high growth, achieved Adequate Yearly Progress, making 17 out of 17 targets, and is currently a School of Progress.
“We worked very hard,” Darden said, “and we were able to meet our goals.”
Although Darden was pleased with Butler’s accomplishment after the 2008-09 school year, she added that there was still more to do.
“If we made 75 percent (proficiency) this year, then we think a goal of 80 percent is reasonable,” Darden voiced about next year’s scores.
In order to achieve 80 percent at the end of the 2009-10 year, Darden shared that Butler’s team is going to focus on the data and follow each student closely.
“Another thing that we find important is to have a relationship with the parents. It is very beneficial, and the parents appreciate getting a call and knowing that we aren’t big, bad guys ... We’re just trying to get their kids ahead,” Darden stressed.
At the new Sunset Avenue School things were a little different, not because of students but because of eligibility.
Because Sunset Avenue is a new school, they were not able to meet AYP, and, Dillman furthered, they were not eligible for safe harbor because the school had no previous testing data.
However, Sunset’s principal, Greg Dirks, revealed last week that Sunset did meet ABC growth.
“The test data is on our own since we are a new school,” Dirks told the board, adding that Sunset did, in his opinion, excellent, showing growth.
‘The retest now counts, which is a big benefit because it counts not only for the student, but the school as well,” Dirks added.
As for Sunset’s EOG scores, Dirks provided that fourth-grade reading was at 64 percent, a cohort growth of 18 and grade level growth of 10; math was at 80 percent, a cohort growth of 12 and grade level growth of 12.
Fifth-grade math was at 62 percent, a cohort growth of eight and grade level growth of 11; and math was at 76 percent, a cohort growth of eight and grade level growth of eight.
Dirks also provided that Sunset had less than 13 students absent a day last year; meaning, the school’s attendance rate was 97.4 percent.
For this year, Dirks revealed that Sunset is hoping to be 85 percent proficient in math and 70 percent proficient in reading.
Sampson Middle School principal Vanessa Brown was next on the agenda, presenting that in 2007-08 math proficiency for sixth grade was 63.6; seventh grade was 57.2 percent; and eighth grade was 52.8 percent.
In 2008-09, sixth grade was at 72.6 percent; seventh was at 81.7; and eighth grade was at 75.8 percent in math proficiency.
Brown further revealed that in 2007-08, reading proficiency for sixth grade was at 57 percent; seventh grade was at 40.7 percent; and eighth grade was at 45.9 percent.
At the end of 2008-09, reading proficiency in sixth grade was up to 59.4 percent; seventh was at 57.3; and eighth grade was at 55.2 percent.
As for AYP reading, SMS went from 49 percent to 57 percent; and in math, SMS went from 59 percent to 77 percent proficient.
In order to achieve the percentage growth, Brown commented that SMS hosted student and parent round tables, introduced new computer software, parent-teacher conferences and held professional learning communities, to name a few.
Clinton High School’s assistant principal, Jan Smith, was the last to present the school’s data, and, according to her reports, the high school met both AYP and ABC after the 2008-09 year.
“We met 17 out of 17 targets in AYP; had safe harbor in math for economically disadvantaged; and met growth as determined by ABCs,” Smith reported, adding that the total proficiency was 66.5 percent.
As for the next year, CHS plans to continue with fifth block, which, Smith stated, appeared to be an asset to the growth.
“We went from eight tardies a day to eight tardies per week,” Smith shared, adding that by the end of the year student’s viewed fifth block as a positive incentive rather than a punishment.
“Students were excited about it once they got past thinking about it as a negative,” Smith told, adding that the students who attend fifth block are more likely to take on responsibilities in class.
Smith concluded the presentations by confirming a 77.1 graduation rate and providing that 52 students dropped out last year.
While 52 students is not acceptable, Dillman said it was an improvement from years past.
“The teachers have done a great job,” superintendent Dr. Gene Hales said. “We were just thrilled with the outcome, but we are not where we want to be. We are always looking at what we can do to improve.”
Jessica Wagner can be contacted at (910) 592-8137 ext.122 or reached by e-mail at siphoto@myclintonnc.com
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