No low performing schools for seven consecutive years Johnston County Schools' Proficiency Holds High SMITHFIELD * Johnston County Schools continues to perform at high levels. The district posted no low performing schools for the seventh year in a row, while 26 of the 35 schools met expected or high growth in the state ABCs program, nine have been deemed Schools of Distinction, 13 earned the status of Schools of Excellence, and 11 of those 13 are Honor Schools of Excellence. The Honor School of Excellence recognition was created last year to identify schools meeting required goals set forth by the ABCs model while also making AYP under NCLB guidelines. (see attached chart) The ABCs of Public Education in North Carolina, which began seven years ago in 1998, is the state's primary program for measuring whether schools are providing an education that meets state standards. The program awards financial incentives to staff at those schools that meet or exceed the program benchmark. *AYP, or Adequate Yearly Progress, refers to the federal legislation No Child Left Behind. "Once again, I commend our principals, teachers, students and parents for another year of growth," said Dr. Anthony Parker, superintendent of Johnston County Schools. "We will continue to provide differentiated instruction to address the needs of all of our students." Keith Beamon, Associate Superintendent for Curriculum and Instruction, said that differentiated instruction will help all students at all levels. "Just as we did last year, we will design and monitor interventions for students in sub-groups who have been identified as having difficulty," said Keith Beamon, Associate Superintendent for Curriculum and Instruction. "Simultaneously and just as importantly, we will focus on moving students from wherever they are to the next level, including our Level 4 students. There's always room to grow and improve." *AYP measures the yearly progress toward achieving grade level performance for each student group in reading and mathematics. Schools must test at least 95 percent of students in each group and each group must meet the targeted proficiency goal in reading and mathematics in order to make AYP. Student groups are: 1) the School as a Whole; 2) White; 3) Black; 4) Hispanic; 5) Native American; 6) Asian; 7) Multiracial; 8- Economically Disadvantaged Students; 9) Limited English Proficient Students; and 10) Students With Disabilities. If just one student group in one subject at a school does not meet the targeted proficiency goal with a confidence interval applied to account for sampling error, then the school does not make AYP for that year. You can view the schools report card at the link below: http://www.4042.com/pchelpdesk/jocoschoolstatus.pdf
