Friday, August 24, 2012

Durham Public Schools Shows Great Progress in 2011-12

Durham Public Schools showed an increase in the graduation rate and great progress in overall student achievement according to official testing data released earlier today by the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction. The results of the 2011-12 End-of-Grade and End-of-Course assessments are aligned with the preliminary results released by DPS on June 28.

Superintendent Eric J. Becoats reported that the district made significant strides in its efforts to become a top performing school district. The district’s 4-year graduation rate is now 77%, an increase of 3.1% from 2010-11 (7.2% gain in two years). The 5-year graduation rate is now 79.8%.

Two schools were recognized as Honor Schools of Excellence: City of Medicine Academy and J.D. Clements Early College. Additionally, seven schools were recognized as Schools of Distinction: Easley Elementary, Little River Elementary, Mangum Elementary, Pearsontown Elementary, R.N. Harris Elementary, Rogers-Herr Middle and Durham School of the Arts. DPS has NO low performing schools.

The district End of Course composite (Algebra I, English I, and Biology) increased 6.7%.  For grades 3-8, district-wide Math proficiency increased 4%; Reading proficiency 2.7%; and Science 7.3%.

“We are definitely pleased with the results and want to thank our students, parents, teachers and volunteers for their hard work. It is clearly paying dividends,” said Superintendent Becoats. “My expectations and my energies will remain focused on continued growth and higher levels of proficiency. Our strategic plan is providing the foundation to increase academic achievement.”

Highlights of the report include:
  • 24 schools made gains of 5 or more percentage points in proficiency.
  • 4 schools made gains of 10 or more percentage points in proficiency:
    •  Holt Elementary
    •  Y.E. Smith Elementary
    • George Watts Elementary
    • Hillside High
  • 45 schools made positive gains in their proficiency composites. This is up from 26 the previous year.
  • 100% of middle schools met “expected growth” or “high growth”.
  • 9 schools achieved a composite of 80% or higher.
  • 5 schools achieved graduation rates of 90% or higher:
    • City of Medicine Academy:         100%
    • J.D. Clement Early College:         98.81%
    • Hillside New Tech High:             96.43%
    • Durham School of the Arts:        94.08%
    • Southern School of Engineering:        93.75%
Visit the ABCs Accountability Model website for more information.

No comments:

Post a Comment