Six of the 13 schools in Bladen County met their academic growth goals in 2014-15, according to the Performance and Growth of North Carolina Public Schools report released Wednesday by the state’s Department of Public Instruction. However, Bladen County’s percentage (46.2) lags the state average of 72.2 percent of schools which met or exceeded goals.
In last year’s report, eight Bladen County schools met or exceeded their academic growth goals. Two of those schools — Bladen Lakes Primary and Dublin Primary — exceeded their academic growth goals in 2013-14. No Bladen school exceeded their academic growth goals in 2014-15, the report said.
The 2014-15 report found Bladenboro Primary, Bladen Lakes Primary, Dublin Primary, East Arcadia Elementary, Elizabethtown Primary and Tar Heel Middle met academic growth goals while Booker T. Washington, Bladenboro Middle, Clarkton School of Discovery, East Bladen High, Elizabethtown Middle, Plain View Primary and West Bladen High did not meet goals.
Four of Bladen’s 13 schools received a C in the School Performance Grade, which is based 80 percent on the school’s achievement score and 20 percent on students’ academic growth. Eight schools received a D and one school, Elizabethtown Middle, received a F. Statewide, 72.2 percent of traditional public schools earned grades of C or better, according to the report.
Here are the School Performance Grades and scores for each Bladen County school:
Booker T. Washington Primary: D, 45
Bladenboro Middle: D, 43
Bladenboro Primary: C, 60
Bladen Lakes Primary: D, 54
Clarkton School of Discovery: C, 58
Dublin Primary: C, 66
East Arcadia Elementary: D, 43
East Bladen High: D, 51
Elizabethtown Middle: F, 31
Elizabethtown Primary: D, 51
Plain View Primary: D, 48
Tar Heel Middle: D, 45
West Bladen High: C, 55
Elementary and middle schools’ School Performance Grades are based only on test scores. These include end-of-grade reading and mathematics tests at the 3-8 grade levels, an end-of-grade science test at grades 5 and 8, and if applicable, end-of-course tests in Math I and Biology.
Here are Bladen’s reading grade and scores:
Booker T. Washington Primary: D, 46
Bladenboro Middle: D, 43
Bladenboro Primary: C, 61
Bladen Lakes Primary: C, 59
Clarkton School of Discovery: C, 62
Dublin Primary: C, 67
East Arcadia Elementary: D, 46
Elizabethtown Middle: F, 35
Elizabethtown Primary: D, 49
Plain View Primary: C, 55
Tar Heel Middle: D, 45
Here are Bladen’s math grade and scores:
Booker T. Washington Primary: D, 49
Bladenboro Middle: F, 30
Bladenboro Primary: C, 60
Bladen Lakes Primary: D, 50
Clarkton School of Discovery: D, 49
Dublin Primary: C, 65
East Arcadia Elementary: F, 36
Elizabethtown Middle: F, 25
Elizabethtown Primary: D, 53
Plain View Primary: D, 42
Tar Heel Middle: D, 40
High schools have more accountability measures included in their School Performance Grade calculations. High schools also are evaluated based on the percentage of 11th graders who meet the UNC System minimum admission requirement of a composite score of 17 on the ACT college readiness exam. In 2014-15, the report said that 59.7 percent of juniors statewide met the minimum 17 score, while 33.7 percent of Bladen juniors met the minimum.
Other high school measurements include ACT WorkKeys (percentage of graduates who are Career and Technical Education concentrators who earn a Silver Certificate or higher) and the percentage of students passing Math III. In 2014-15, 72.2 percent of qualifying students met the WorkKeys benchmark statewide, while 55.3 percent of Bladen students met the benchmark, according to the report. Statewide and in Bladen, more than 95 percent of students passed Math III.
Percentage of students statewide scoring at grade-level proficiency or above in reading were: third grade, 59.0; fourth grade, 58.8; fifth grade, 53.0; sixth grade, 57.2; seventh grade, 56.1; and eighth grade, 53.4.
In Bladen, percentage of students scoring at grade-level proficiency or above in reading were: third grade, 51.1; fourth grade, 52.6; fifth grade, 31.6; sixth grade, 40.9; seventh grade, 43.5; and eighth grade, 37.0.
Percentage of students statewide scoring at grade-level proficiency or above in math were: third grade, 61.7; fourth grade, 56.1; fifth grade, 57.5; sixth grade, 48.5; seventh grade, 46.9; and eighth grade, 43.2.
In Bladen, percentage of students scoring at grade-level proficiency or above in math were: third grade, 50.3; fourth grade, 48.2; fifth grade, 27.3; sixth grade, 30.7; seventh grade, 27.8; and eighth grade, 22.1.
In science, grade level proficiency statewide in grade 5 was 64.6 percent and was 40.9 percent in Bladen. In grade 8, statewide it was 72.6 percent and was 42.7 in Bladen.
On the three high school end-of-course tests, 53.6 percent of Biology students statewide and 33.6 percent of Bladen students scored at Achievement Levels 3, 4 or 5, according to the report. In English II, 59.6 percent of students statewide and 41.6 percent of Bladen students were grade-level proficient or better. In Math I, 59.8 percent of students statewide and 37.4 of Bladen students were grade-level proficient.
Graduation rates statewide increased to 85.4 percent, according to the report, while Bladen County’s graduation rate was 77.2 percent. The Bladen rate was an increase from 76 percent in last year’s report.
Data for the schools, districts and state is available at: www.ncpublicschools.org/accountability/reporting
Share on social media using short code: https://bladencounty.org/?p=24464
About Author
