By Susan Dickson
Staff Writer
More Chapel Hill-Carrboro schools met state standards for growth this year than last year, according to the 2007 ABCs report released last week.
All district schools met state standards for expected growth, which is measured by tracking students’ scores on state reading and math exams. In 2006, Frank Porter Graham Elementary was the only district school to fail to meet expected growth standards.
Twelve district schools – all but Frank Porter Graham Elementary, Estes Hills Elementary and Culbreth Middle – earned “high growth†standards, denoting that a school has exceeded a growth standard set for its students. Six schools met high growth in 2006.
Four schools – Rashkis Elementary, Seawell Elementary, Glenwood Elementary and Scroggs Elementary – were designated as Honor Schools of Excellence, with more than 90 percent of students passing state reading and math tests.
Ten schools were designated as Honor Schools of Distinction, with more than 80 percent of students passing state reading and math tests. Frank Porter Graham Elementary was the only school not to receive an honor designation, with 79.6 percent of students passing state tests.
Teachers and administrators receive bonuses of up to $1,500 based on school performance.
Diane Villwock, the district’s director of testing and program evaluation, said that students of teachers who use certain methods tended to score higher in terms of growth and performance.
“There are just techniques and approaches we need folks to be using,†she said, citing, for example, that students of teachers who taught using curriculum maps scored higher than those of teachers who taught strictly from textbooks.
During redistricting hearings in the spring, some parents and teachers from Frank Porter Graham Elementary said the large number of students receiving free and reduced-cost lunches tended not to get as much support at home as other children. These students, they said, thus require more resources and attention at school, meaning other students receive less resources and attention than they would otherwise.
Frank Porter Graham Elementary teachers were the only teachers in the district not to receive state bonuses based on performance last year.
Villwock pointed out, though, that Carrboro Elementary also has a large number of students receiving free and reduced-cost lunches.
She added that all teachers’ success with students tends to vary with different students.
“How well teachers teach depends on the crew of kids they’ve been dealt,†Villwock said. “Sometimes you get a group of kids that for you is difficult.
“Part of what a successful teacher has to do these days is have a pretty deep repertoire of things that work with different kids.â€
This, she said, can be difficult: “This is a human endeavor. People kind of forget that.â€