Brunswick County Schools Students Make Gains in 2022-2023 School Year
Yesterday, the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction presented school accountability results to the State Board of Education. Brunswick County Schools performed well in comparison to statewide results based on End-of-Grade and End-of-Course proficiency results. The district was at or above the statewide average in Elementary Reading, Elementary Math, Elementary Science, Middle School Math, High School Math, and High School Science. Most schools within the district maintained their growth status from the previous school year, while three schools improved their status.
The following schools met growth:
· Lincoln Elementary School
· Southport Elementary School
· Cedar Grove Middle School
· Leland Middle School
The following schools exceeded growth:
· Town Creek Elementary School
· Union Elementary School
· Waccamaw School
· Brunswick County Early College High School
“Brunswick County Schools will remain steadfast in our commitment to providing every student with a quality academic experience that will pave the way for future success,” stated Superintendent Dale Cole. “As we begin the 2023-2024 school year, we will focus on continuous and targeted school improvement that will lead our district to even greater achievement. We ask that our parents and community stakeholders continue to partner with us as we work to move the school district forward together.”
School Performance Grades
Nine BCS schools achieved a School Performance Grade of C, two schools earned a letter grade of B, and two schools earned a letter grade of A.
“We are continuing to experience some of the impacts from the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Tammy Howard, Senior Director of Accountability and Testing for the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction. “As we look at the data, the school performance grades, and other information from the 2022-2023 school year, it’s very important to note that while it’s informative, it is limited, and it is discouraged to make comparisons to 2018-2019, which is prior to the pandemic.”
She said 2018-2019 is provided as a reference point only, and not for the purpose of drawing linear comparisons.
School Performance Grade Formula
The A-F school performance grades that schools received for 2021-2022 and in 2022-2023 were affected by the formula used to determine those grades because student performance on the state tests far outweighs the credit schools earn for the progress students make on the same tests from one year to the next.
Eighty percent of the grade is for the percentage of tests earning a score of at least grade-level proficient; 20% is for growth, measured by a statistical model that compares each student’s predicted test score, based on past performance, against his or her actual result.
Even as most schools across the state achieved at least expected growth, the A-F performance grades of many schools were depressed by lower-than-usual percentages of students earning a score of grade-level proficiency. With the weighting of 80 percent on the test scores and other achievement data, the school performance grades have shifted downward, consistent with the impact of the pandemic on test scores. For the 2022-2023 school year, the percentage of schools with a grade of D or F decreased to 35.4% from 42.3% in 2021-2022 but remained higher than the 21.8% in 2018-2019.
Looking Ahead
The Brunswick County Board of Education will remain committed to its focus on continuous improvement and providing quality instruction to all students within our district.
Additional information about the 22-23 North Carolina Annual Testing Results can be found on the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction website. The Background Brief, which provides a detailed explanation of the 2022-2023 accountability framework, can be accessed at this link.
