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High schools perform poorly on tests
School board OKs
over-budget bids
for new classrooms
By TED STRONG
Staff Writer
The only reasons two of the three high schools in the county met state educational growth standards this year were nonacademic factors like attendance and drop-out rates, Beaufort County Schools Superintendent Jeff Moss told the Beaufort County Board of Education on Monday.
“We did not make growth, just looking at the end-of-grade tests,” he told the board. “We do have a lot of work to do at the high-school level.”
State end-of-course tests measure how much pupils retained from certain key academic classes. Benchmarks are set for how many individual pupils must do better academically than in previous years.
“The problem that I think we have facing us now is our high-school end-of-course testing,” he said.
Of the tests that had data from last year for comparison, Northside High School saw improvement in three subjects and deterioration in four. Southside High School saw improvement in four subjects, held even in geometry and fell off in two subjects. Washington High School improved in three subjects, held even in one subject and lost ground in three subjects.
Test scores for courses that ended during the winter were low, but not as lousy as those from the spring, Moss said.
“The spring scores, the bottom dropped out,” Moss said.
He said it is a trend he had heard about from schools across the state.
Overall, more than 70 percent of Northside High School students who were tested were proficient in only one of nine subjects tested: higher-level algebra.
Washington High School students were above 70 percent proficient in physics, chemistry and higher-level algebra.
Southside students who were tested were more than 70 percent proficient in higher-level algebra, basic English, civics and geometry.
“I’m making no excuse for our scores at the high-school level,” Assistant Superintendent Crystal Ange said.
The board also heard about already reported No Child Left Behind testing scores. Of 13 schools in the county, seven met Annual Yearly Progress standards for improvement last year.
“I’m not as concerned about Annual Yearly Progress as I am with end-of-course tests,” Moss said.
Board member Theresa Banks asked Moss what the test results for S.W. Snowden Elementary School meant.
“That our students get smarter the longer they stay there,” Moss said. “You do want to see the trend for the cohort going up, but you shouldn’t be starting that low.”
The board decided to put extra attention into reviewing the state-mandated School Improvement Plans to be developed by high-school principals this year. High-school principals will present their plans to principals of other schools this year.
The board also allocated money from its capital-projects contingency and accepted bids for work on classroom expansions at two elementary schools.
The additions at Eastern and John Cotten Tayloe elementary schools will be sheet-metal buildings because staff thinks they will provide good value and match the expected lifetimes of the existing buildings.
“We could have put trailers on these campuses cheaper, but we didn’t think we would be getting value for our money,” said Robert Belcher, the board’s chairman.
Low bids for the classrooms at Eastern totaled $287,693.82. The board allocated an extra $31,000 for construction-related expenses such as installation of the heating, ventilation and air-conditioning system and buying paint, door hardware and paying for required building permits.
Low bids for Tayloe totaled $311,585.76. The board allocated an extra $31,000 for the same purposes as at Eastern.
over-budget bids
for new classrooms
By TED STRONG
Staff Writer
The only reasons two of the three high schools in the county met state educational growth standards this year were nonacademic factors like attendance and drop-out rates, Beaufort County Schools Superintendent Jeff Moss told the Beaufort County Board of Education on Monday.
“We did not make growth, just looking at the end-of-grade tests,” he told the board. “We do have a lot of work to do at the high-school level.”
State end-of-course tests measure how much pupils retained from certain key academic classes. Benchmarks are set for how many individual pupils must do better academically than in previous years.
“The problem that I think we have facing us now is our high-school end-of-course testing,” he said.
Of the tests that had data from last year for comparison, Northside High School saw improvement in three subjects and deterioration in four. Southside High School saw improvement in four subjects, held even in geometry and fell off in two subjects. Washington High School improved in three subjects, held even in one subject and lost ground in three subjects.
Test scores for courses that ended during the winter were low, but not as lousy as those from the spring, Moss said.
“The spring scores, the bottom dropped out,” Moss said.
He said it is a trend he had heard about from schools across the state.
Overall, more than 70 percent of Northside High School students who were tested were proficient in only one of nine subjects tested: higher-level algebra.
Washington High School students were above 70 percent proficient in physics, chemistry and higher-level algebra.
Southside students who were tested were more than 70 percent proficient in higher-level algebra, basic English, civics and geometry.
“I’m making no excuse for our scores at the high-school level,” Assistant Superintendent Crystal Ange said.
The board also heard about already reported No Child Left Behind testing scores. Of 13 schools in the county, seven met Annual Yearly Progress standards for improvement last year.
“I’m not as concerned about Annual Yearly Progress as I am with end-of-course tests,” Moss said.
Board member Theresa Banks asked Moss what the test results for S.W. Snowden Elementary School meant.
“That our students get smarter the longer they stay there,” Moss said. “You do want to see the trend for the cohort going up, but you shouldn’t be starting that low.”
The board decided to put extra attention into reviewing the state-mandated School Improvement Plans to be developed by high-school principals this year. High-school principals will present their plans to principals of other schools this year.
The board also allocated money from its capital-projects contingency and accepted bids for work on classroom expansions at two elementary schools.
The additions at Eastern and John Cotten Tayloe elementary schools will be sheet-metal buildings because staff thinks they will provide good value and match the expected lifetimes of the existing buildings.
“We could have put trailers on these campuses cheaper, but we didn’t think we would be getting value for our money,” said Robert Belcher, the board’s chairman.
Low bids for the classrooms at Eastern totaled $287,693.82. The board allocated an extra $31,000 for construction-related expenses such as installation of the heating, ventilation and air-conditioning system and buying paint, door hardware and paying for required building permits.
Low bids for Tayloe totaled $311,585.76. The board allocated an extra $31,000 for the same purposes as at Eastern.
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| Washington’s city manager asked to resign | Mckeithan column |
