Bessemer City High School shows the most improvement in test scores county-wide

The recent release of accountability data gathered by the N.C. State Board of Education and N.C. Department of Public Instruction showed a mixed bag of results for Gaston County Schools.

While some schools in the county will be implementing new strategies for next year’s testing, Bessemer City High School will continue to celebrate having the highest increase in proficiency scores county-wide.

Following the release of the state’s accountability results, Bessemer City High School had an academic pep rally to celebrate the 13.1% increase in their school’s proficiency scores, according to BCHS Principal Dr. Sheila Wyont.

In a press release last week, the Gaston County Board of Education said that students nationwide are recovering from learning loss caused by the pandemic, and Gaston County students are no exception.

Each year, students participate in state proficiency exams that determine if they understand course content at the level appropriate for their grade year.

The school is then given a grade for the school as a whole based on those results.

After schools were shut down and moved online for months in 2020, the results of those exams showed very low proficiency levels state-wide.

Educators have been working to rebuild proficiency in their schools, and according to Wyont, the success of BCHS can be attributed to consistency, structure, and most of all, its teachers.

“I can’t praise my teachers enough,” Wyont said. “I believe (they) made the difference.”

BCHS teachers offered day tutoring, after school tutoring, and a focus on understanding course content.

“We’ve got a pretty consistent staff at Bessemer City,” Wyont said.

The school did have a few new instructors this year, but many of the teachers at BCHS have been there as long or longer than Wyont.

Five years ago, when Wyont came to BCHS, the school began to focus on using the best teaching strategies and teaching North Carolina Standards, according to Wyont.

“The consistency has also helped because the staff has been hearing the same message for five years,” she said.

“Consistency with discipline, consistency with instruction, consistency with expectations; All of that in every class, every day equals success,” Wyont said.

According to Wyont, the celebration doesn’t end with one pep rally.

“We’re going to celebrate all year,” she said.

According to Wyont, BCHS students have requested a field day as a reward for their score improvement.

“I’ve not done that, but I plan to do that this year, because that’s something they want to do, and that’s another way we can celebrate,” Wyont said.

The school will also host another academic pep rally prior to the 2023-2024 proficiency testing to prepare the students to continue making big strides in proficiency testing, according to Wyont.

This article originally appeared on The Gaston Gazette: Bessemer City sees 13.1% increase in proficiency test scores