August 6, 2009 - The Wake County Public School System saw an increasing number of schools achieve School of Excellence and School of Distinction in 2008-09, according to the ABCs of Public Education released today by the NC State Board of Education.

In 2008-09, WCPSS had 12 schools named School of Excellence or Honor School of Excellence and 50 named School of Distinction. That compares with four Honor Schools of Excellence and 26 Schools of Distinction for 2007-08.

Honor Schools of Excellence in 2008-09 include:

•Adams Elementary,

•Apex Middle,

•Davis Drive Elementary,

•Davis Drive Middle,

•Highcroft Elementary,

•Lufkin Road Middle,

•Mills Park Elementary,

•Morrisville Elementary,

•Salem Middle and

•Turner Creek Elementary.

Schools of Excellence in 2008-09 include:

•Apex High and

•Green Hope High

WCPSS had 8 percent of its schools achieve School of Excellence in 2008-09 compared with 5.1 percent statewide. WCPSS had 33 percent of its schools achieve School of Distinction in 2008-09 compared with 20.4 percent statewide.

Under the state ABCs of Public Education, a school earns recognition as an Honor School of Excellence when 90 percent of students are successful on state testing, the school’s state testing results show that it met or exceeded expected growth and the school met the federal No Child Left Behind standard of Adequate Yearly Progress.

Schools are recognized as Schools of Excellence when 90 percent of students are successful on state testing, the school’s state testing results show that it met or exceeded expected growth, but the school does not achieve Adequate Yearly Progress.

Schools of Distinction have more than 80 percent of students scoring proficient on state assessments and meeting growth standards.

Other state recognitions

This year, WCPSS had 68 schools named School of Progress and 12 Priority Schools. Last year, WCPSS had 89 schools named School of Progress and 19 Priority Schools.

The state ABCs of Public Education recognizes schools that have more than 60 percent of students successful on state testing and meeting growth standards as Schools of Progress. WCPSS had 43 percent of its schools named School of Progress compared with the state’s 43 percent.

Priority Schools have more than 50 percent of students successful on state testing. This year, WCPSS had 7.7 percent of its schools named Priority Schools compared with the state’s 14.7 percent.

Performance Composite Measure and Retesting

The performance composite measure indicates the percentage of students who scored proficient on End-of-Grade or End-of-Course tests.

Student retest results were included in the performance composite portion of the state ABCs model for the first time in 2008-09 in response to recommendations of the NC Blue Ribbon Commission on Testing and Accountability - a representative group of educators, legislators, business leaders and other citizens who advised the State Board of Education on needed changes to the state's accountability program in 2007. This year, students who earned a Level II grade on the End-of-Grade tests were retested and the students' highest scores were used in the accountability model. Students must earn a Level III or IV to earn a proficient score on End-of-Grade tests. Students earning a Level I score were given the option to retest, but were not required to retest.

As a result, percent of students proficient comparisons are not truly comparable with previous years. Therefore, caution should be exercised when making comparisons across years.

WCPSS and Growth Standards

WCPSS had 138 of 156 schools make high growth or expected growth during the 2008-09 school year compared with 127 of 151 schools make high growth or expected growth for 2007-08.

Growth is calculated by averaging the academic growth of all the students in a school and comparing it to the growth students were expected to make. If the average gain is equal to or greater than the expectation, then the school is said to have “met its growth target.” If 60 percent of the students in the school meet their individual growth targets, then the school is deemed to have met “high growth.”

Retest results were not included in the growth calculations. State education officials need several years' worth of performance data that includes retest results before retesting can be incorporated into academic growth measures.