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CHCCS Schools Shine Bright in Latest State Performance Data
NOTE: A graphic associated with this article has been corrected to show that McDougle Middle School had the highest growth index among middle schools at 3.98. An earlier version of this article incorrectly named Culbreth Middle School as having the highest growth index among middle schools. We apologize for the error.
The State Board of Education approved the 2021-22 accountability data, and the NC Department of Public Instruction released the outcomes on Thursday, September 1. Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools is pleased to share that 100% of CHCCS schools Exceeded or Met Growth expectations. On all state exams, CHCCS schools achieved a 70.5% passing rate, the highest in the Triangle. District gains included a 94.5% graduation rate, the highest figure ever recorded in CHCCS.
“I’m pleased that our graduation rate increased to a new CHCCS record, and that 100% of our schools met growth, with 12 of 20 exceeding growth,” said CHCCS Superintendent Nyah D. Hamlett. “But we recognize that we have students and student groups that are not yet where we know they can be. This is one of the main reasons why our new strategic plan calls for us to think and act differently. Moving forward, we owe it to every student in CHCCS to provide them with high-quality, rigorous instruction and support, which we will do through our core values of engagement, social justice action, collective efficacy, wellness and joy.”
2021-22 was an atypical year for schools. While students had returned to school for in-person instruction after the mostly remote instructional year in 2020-21, there were significant staff and student absences due to illness, quarantine and isolation, staff shortages, and other stressors due to COVID.
The Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) State and Federal accountability programs were first applied to student performance in the 2017-18 school year. Since then, 2018-19 is the last year for which there has been ESSA data. No student testing occurred in 2019-20, and the testing in 2020-21 was not used to hold schools accountable due to the pandemic.
The data presented here uses 2018-19 as a benchmark for pre-COVID performance. CHCCS aims to meet and exceed that benchmark as quickly as possible, while simultaneously holding an understanding that COVID continues to have a significant impact.
Successes: The District had its highest graduation rate ever at 94.5% overall. 100% of CHCCS schools Exceeded or Met Growth expectations, with 63.2% of schools that Exceeded Growth Expectations. The number of schools identified as Technical Support & Improvement (TSI) schools for low performing groups dropped from 12 in 2018-19 to 5 in 2021-22.
Areas for Focus: The proportions of students who were proficient (levels 3, 4 and 5) and College Ready (levels 4 and 5) were down compared to 2018-19, but up compared to 2020-21.
School Performance Grades
ESSA has two separate measurement systems: School Performance Grades (SPG) and Long Term Goals and Interim Targets (LTG). School Performance Grades are a combination of achievement in levels 3, 4 or 5 (80%) and growth (20%). Grades for schools are on a 15 point scale: 85+ A, 70-84 B, 55-83 C, 40-54 D, 39 or less F.
- North Carolina (NC): In 2021-22, 22.8% of schools statewide earned A’s or B’s, as compared to 37.3% with A’s or B’s in 2018-19.
- Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools (CHCCS): In 2021-22, 83.3% of schools earned an A or B grade in 2021-22, compared to 94.4% in 2018-19.
Growth
- NC: Among NC Schools, 70.1% Met or Exceeded Expected Growth in 2021-22, as compared to 73.3% in 2018-19. Statewide, 28.8% Exceeded growth expectations in 2021-22, and 27.9% Exceeded growth expectations in 2018-19.
- CHCCS: 100% of schools Met or Exceeded Growth expectations, with 63.2% or 12 schools who Exceeded Expected Growth, and 38.8% or 7 with Met. In 2018-19, 94.4% Met or Exceeded Expected Growth, and 44.4% Exceeded Growth.
Long Term Goals
The ESSA goals were created from the 2015-16 scores; they differ by school, subject and student group. The goals increase annually by research-determined increments with lower achieving groups having larger increments than higher achieving groups. The scores used for ESSA goals are levels 4 or 5, called “College and Career Ready.”
- NC: For 2021-22, there were 24,758 academic goals for NC Schools; 691 or 2.8% were met. In 2018-19, there were 2,098 graduation rate goals statewide, with 643 or 30.6% met. For 2018-19, there were 25,990 academic goals with 3,925 or 15.1% met, and 2,109 graduation rate goals with 37.8% met.
- CHCCS: For 2021-22, there were 207 academic goals for CHCCS schools, and 6 or 2.9% were met. For graduation rate goals, there were 20 targets, and 11 or 55.0% were met. For 2018-19, there were 248 academic goals with 57 or 23.0% met. There were 16 graduation rate goals with 8 or 50% met.
TSI Statuses
TSI statuses are Federal school identifications for schools who had the same group with an F grade for three consecutive years, or whose group scored below the highest CSI-Low Performing School (TSI - Technical Support & Improvement; CSI - Comprehensive Support & Improvement).
- NC: Statewide, there was a reduction in TSI identified schools from 3,100 in 2018-19 to 1,932 in 2021-22, a reduction of 40.9%.
- CHCCS: For 2021-22, there were five schools with a TSI designation, down from 12 schools in 2018-19, a reduction of 58.3%.
Graduation Rate
- NC: The graduation rate for 2021-22 for NC was 86.2%, a decline from the 87.0% for 2020-21.
- CHCCS: The graduation rate for 2021-22 was at the highest level achieved so far at 94.5%, up 1.7 percentage points from 92.8% the previous year.
Strategic Plan Points of Emphasis for 2022-23
- Deepen the understanding and implementation of the CHCCS Instructional Framework to support universal core instruction.
- Increase leadership capacity for using the Student Success Platform as a tool for monitoring progress in the areas of academics, attendance and behavior for early intervention planning to improve student outcomes.
- Explore and expand researched practices/strategies to develop tiered support plans based on student needs.