Schools, district get low marks on report cards

Staff Writer

Union County schools continue to improve academically but not fast enough to keep up with state and federal standards.

The district and seven of its 12 schools failed to make the adequate yearly progress (AYP) mandated by federal No Child Left Behind Act. The AYP results are included in the annual school report cards issued Wednesday by the state Department of Education.

Created by the Education Accountability Act of 1998, the report card rates districts and schools as excellent, good, average, below average or unsatisfactory based on the performance of its students. Each district and school receives a rating for absolute performance and one for improvement. Union County's absolute and improvement ratings were both below average.

Dale Goff, assistant superintendent for instruction, said that while the district and the schools are improving academically, they are not doing so at the pace demanded by the state.

“First, we want our community to know that our schools are improving,” Mrs. Goff said. “At our elementary schools almost 90 percent of our students are meeting standard in ELA (English/Language Arts). At Buffalo Elementary, 75 percent of our students were proficient or advanced on social studies. At third grade, 88.5 percent of our students met standard in ELA with 52.6 percent scoring proficient or advanced. Across the district, 88.1 percent of third-graders met standard in social studies with 75 percent meeting proficient or advanced at Buffalo.

“The disheartening piece is that we have not improved at the level of rigor the state is requiring,” she said. “There are several factors that influence our shortfall: the percentage required of students in all subgroups scoring proficient or advanced on PACT rises each year (this year it is 35 percent) which makes it a moving target; science, which counts equal in weight now to ELA and math, continues to be an area in which our students are struggling; and particular student subgroups are not meeting standard in one or more subject areas.

Cindy Langley, director of secondary education, pointed out that the NCLB requires student performance to be analyzed by categories that includes ethnicity, special education, poverty and limited ability with English. Though the number of categories varies according to the demographics of each school or district, all must score proficient or advanced in testing for the district or school to meet AYP. If even one fails to do so, the school or district does not make AYP regardless of any other progress it has made.

Mrs. Langley added that even if a school or district improves academically from one year to the next, its report card status can remain the same. She attributed this to the increasing rigor of the state's performance criteria which she said schools throughout the state are struggling to keep up with.

“We know that the state accountability system was designed to require continuous improvement and that the rigor of the performance criteria increases yearly,” she said. “That means that a school's absolute index can improve, but the school will still remain in the same category.

“Locally, the district index as well as the index at Buffalo Elementary School, Jonesville Elementary School and Sims Junior High School increased, yet the improvement was not sufficient to move them into a higher category,” she said. “It can also mean that a school can move down a category if the school's absolute index does not increase. Excelsior Middle School, Jonesville Middle School and Union High School were caught in the rigor increase.”

Mrs. Goff and Mrs. Langley said the district will use the data generated by the report cards to address any and all academic deficiencies.

“At Union County High School, we have introduced the freshman academy to create a small learning community for students entering high school,” Mrs. Langley said. “Make sure that students graduate on time with the skills necessary to advance to post secondary education begins in ninth grade.

“Teachers, counselors and administrators are committed to personalizing the learning experience for each student and providing interventions to ensure student success,” she said. “Some of those interventions include homework assistance before and after school, advisor/advisee programs, online unit recovery programs, and a literacy program for students needing additional support to increase reading comprehension and fluency.”

Good news

The report cards didn't present a completely bleak picture as Buffalo Elementary, Foster Park Elementary and Jonesville High met their AYP objectives.

Lockhart High School's absolute rating (excellent) and improvement rating (excellent) qualified it to receive the Palmetto Gold Award. Foster Park Elementary and Jonesville Elementary met the criteria to receive the Palmetto Silver Award.

The awards recognize and reward schools for attaining high levels of absolute performance and high rates of improvement. Winning schools receive a cash prize with their award.

Also, the district's 2007 graduation rate was 73.9 percent, exceeding comparable districts by 1.5 percent and the state by 3 percent. The district's dropout rate of 2.7 percent is lower than that of comparable districts (3.3 percent) and the state (3.5 percent).