ABCs Results and Graduation Rates for Asheville City Schools

Staff Reports

All eight Asheville City schools met, and five of them exceeded, expected growth standards for 2011-12, the 16th year of North Carolina’s statewide accountability testing for all public and charter schools. “High-growth” status at Asheville High School, the School of Inquiry and Life Sciences at Asheville (SILSA), Hall Fletcher, Ira B. Jones, and Vance schools means students at those schools exceeded expected growth by at least 10%.

“Just like a year ago, we are pleased to again report that district students across all grade levels are meeting or exceeding the state’s rigorous academic growth standards,” Superintendent Allen Johnson said when the results were released Thursday morning. “Our classroom teachers and those who support them are motivated, well-prepared, and dedicated to student success.”

SILSA earned Honor School of Excellence status for the third time in the past four years. Only 278 of 2,482 North Carolina public schools received this honor. Honor Schools of Excellence must meet or exceed a 90% proficiency composite rate on ABCs testing, make expected or high-growth status, and meet all their AMO targets. SILSA serves 240 students in a Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation “small school model” and is housed on the bottom floor of Asheville High School.

The three schools serving students in grades K-5 – Claxton, Isaac Dickson, and Vance – must meet or exceed expected growth plus post a student proficiency composite in the 80-89% range.

In addition to solid academic growth numbers, Asheville High School achieved an 86.7% four-year graduation rate in 2012 [196 of 226 students], a five point gain from the previous year and the highest rate since the new state graduation model was implemented six years ago. AHS’s numbers include four 2012 students from the Randolph School, an alternative school that is proudly producing local graduates. North Carolina’s graduation rate also increased, by 2.3 percentage points, to 80.2%.

SILSA posted a near-perfect graduation rate, as 40 of 41 (97.6%) seniors graduated in four years. “We’re very proud of our graduation rate”, said principal Greg Townsend. “To us, it validates the school culture we’ve created at SILSA with an emphasis on meaningful, positive relationships to support students as they grow and develop.”

“For several years now we have supported a renewed focus on keeping the young men and women we serve in school,” Superintendent Johnson added. “We’ll roll out one of those initiatives on the very first day of school this year when several of our community leaders and all of our staff participate in promoting a ‘college-going culture’ during what we call ‘Graduation Awareness Day’.”

Since the fall of 2002, local school districts have been tracking each ninth grader as he or she moves through high school. This record-keeping provides the state with an accurate count of four- and five-year graduation rates.

“Our Student Success Council, which is made up of a broad spectrum of educators and community supporters, has met monthly and developed and implemented a number of strategies to help keep students engaged”, stated Tanya Presha, the district’s School Success Coordinator. “Their work in concert with several other personalized initiatives is making a significant difference.”

The state’s rules for calculating graduation rates meet federal requirements and the National Governor’s Association’s definition. In North Carolina, students who leave high school for a community college GED or adult high school program are counted as dropouts under state policy. In addition, school officials identify a student as a transfer to another high school only when the receiving school requests the student’s records. If the transfer is not confirmed, the student is counted as a dropout.

Based on the same end-of-grade and end-of-course tests that were administered in May and June, 2012 for the state ABCs, two of eight (25%) district schools met all of their Annual Measurable Objectives (AMOs).

AMOs (designed by the state) have replaced the Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) measures previously required by the U.S. Department of Education. The AMO targets are set with the goal of reducing the percentage of non-proficient students by one-half within six years. Under AMOs, separate and more realistic proficiency targets are set for each student subgroup; before AMOs were allowed, there was only one proficiency target for all student subgroups. Across North Carolina, 46.2 percent (1,165 schools) met all of their AMOs.

Asheville High School earned School of Progress status for a fourth consecutive year. AHS students met 16 of 20 AMO targets for 2011-12. The diverse school added four targets this year under the state AMO standards.