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Dr. Grenita Lathan, Principal, Washington Elementary School |
Guilford County Schools students move multiple times during the school year. In fact, Grenita Latham, Principal of Washington Elementary cites that only five students remained in the same school from K to 5th grade. She acknowledges, "That was it. Five students."
According to Guilford County School former Superintendent Terry Grier's statement in the 2006-07 GCS Progress Report, research indicates approximately 41 percent of students who change schools during the school year can fall four to six months behind in the classroom. Additionally, students who move more than three times in a six-year period can fall behind one full academic year.
High student turnover makes it difficult to measure school academic growth when you cannot compare the same student population across multiple years. |
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Dr. Grenita Lathan, Principal, Washington Elementary School |
That's why Guilford County Schools runs Home Field Advantage, a program that operates in nine elementary schools, one middle school, and one K-8 school with high mobility rates. The program allows elementary and middle school students whose families move to other parts of Guilford County to stay at their original school.
Transportation is included. To achieve this, buses run on a two-track bus system getting kids to school at staggered school start times. About 40,000 kids travel on buses to their original schools.
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Dr. Grenita Lathan, Principal, Washington Elementary School |
Dr. Grenita Lathan now boasts about these same students. "Their achievements, their growth is phenomenal. One thing has been stable for them in spite of everything going on outside of the school or home situation. The school is stable for them."
"For the first time in five years, we made Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP)* and ABCs**, which is North Carolina's accountability program," Dr. Lathan declares. School administrators credit Washington Elementary's success to the Home Field Advantage and the Mission Possible programs.
Former Superintendent Grier declares, "Our results speak for themselves. 78 percent of our high schools made AYP this year. And, that was significantly above almost double the state average."
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Definitions
**ABCs. The ABCs is North Carolina's comprehensive plan to improve public schools that is based on three goals: strong local accountability, an emphasis on student mastery of basic skills, and as much local control as possible. The ABCs has been in operation in all schools since 1997-8. The model focuses on schools meeting growth expectations for student achievement as well as on the overall percentage of students who scored at or above grade level. The model uses end-of-grade tests in grades 3-8 in reading and mathematics to measure growth at the elementary and middle school levels and end-of-course tests to measure growth at the high school level and at the middle school level where appropriate. Certified staff members receive bonuses based on student growth and schools receive recognition based on the percentage of students's scores at or above grade level.
*AYP. Adequate Yearly Progress is the Federal measurement for No Child Left Behind. Required under the federal No Child Left Behind law, AYP provides another way to measure school performance. To meet AYP, a school must meet target goals for each group of students that numbers 40 or more. Target goals are set annually by the state for reading and mathematics at grades 3-8 and 10, and for attendance rates or graduation rates as well. AYP is an all-or-nothing model. If a school misses one target, it does not make AYP. The long-term goal of AYP is to have every school at 100 percent student proficiency by 2013-14. |
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