ABC Results Show Improvement for GCS

10 of the district’s schools were named Honor Schools of Excellence

Contact: Haley Miller (336) 370-3200
Created: 8/6/2009 1:22:40 PM

ABC results released today by Guilford County Schools (GCS) show that 10 of the district’s schools are 2009 Honor Schools of Excellence, the highest level a school can obtain on the ABCs, compared to only one school being named in 2008. At these schools, 90 percent or more of students scored at or above grade level, made expected or high growth and met Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP). ABC results are the state’s accountability system for measuring the academic achievement of individual schools.

Within GCS, about 75 percent of schools made expected growth. The average performance composite for GCS was up to 66.5 percent compared to only 60 percent in 2008. The performance composite is the percentage of students’ scores at or above grade level on all end-of-grade and end-of-course tests.

GCS also had an increase in the number of Schools of Distinction, from 14 last year to 17 this year. Schools in this category had 80-89 percent of students score at or above grade level. Ten GCS schools did fall in the ABCs low-performing category; last year, there were nine.

“Now that we have gathered data from ABC and AYP results, we can see that our schools did make significant improvement over the past year,” said Superintendent Maurice “Mo” Green. “Teachers and staff are moving our students in the right direction. We look forward to the seeing this progress continue over the next few years.”

Compared to the other six large school districts in the state, on ABCs, GCS had the fourth highest average performance composite. When looking at AYP, GCS had the second-highest percentage of schools that made AYP in 2009. The difference could be attributed to the way the measures are calculated. ABCs measure growth – the change in academic achievement for students from one year to the next. AYP measures proficiency goals met by schools in all subgroups of students. Since the reports measure achievement differently, it is possible for a school to have high growth on ABCs and not make AYP.

“As a district, it is good for us to examine both ABCs and AYP,” said Green. “Looking at both allows us to celebrate the amount of growth our students have experienced during the past year while also making sure we are working to increase academic achievement levels for all students and to eliminate academic achievement gaps.”

For school-by-school results and for more information, click on the link below.

http://www.gcsnc.com/abcs.htm

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About Guilford County Schools

Guilford County Schools is the third largest school district in North Carolina serving more than 71,000 students at 120 schools. With approximately 10,000 employees, the district’s mission is to graduate responsible citizens prepared to succeed in higher education or the career of their choice. 

Guilford County Schools is a national leader in providing specialized schools and instructional programs designed to meet the educational needs of a culturally diverse citizenship.  For more information, visit the district’s Web site at www.gcsnc.com.