How North Carolina is grading Cumberland County Schools
While 27 Cumberland County schools are on the state’s low-performing list, the district overall is in good standing, officials said during a board meeting recently.
The North Carolina Department of Public Instruction released its annual accountability report Sept. 6, which analyzes school districts’ end-of-course and end-of-grade test scores, graduation rates, American College Testing scores and other areas.
In Cumberland County, Superintendent Marvin Connelly said the report shows a record-breaking graduation rate including a 100% rate at four high schools, 72% of schools increasing academic performance, 13 schools increasing performance grades and 84.2% meeting or exceeding growth.
“Remarkable improvements, which are seen, are a testament to the unwavering determination of our students, educators, and staff, parents and community throughout this recovery process as we continue to recover the learning lost during the pandemic,” Connelly said.
The district is navigating learning recovery following the COVID-19 pandemic that disrupted in-person learning and led “to significant gaps in education for many students,” said Mellotta Hill, Cumberland County Schools chief academic officer,
“We have to remind ourselves that addressing learning recovery is a critical and complex and ongoing process that does in fact require collaboration and adaptability,” Hill said.
How the data is analyzed
The state DPI’s accountability model measures reading and test scores for third through eighth and science scores in fifth and eighth grades, said Kim Nash, Cumberland County Schools executive director of data and accountability.
At the high school level, English II, math and biology scores are analyzed along with high school graduation rates and American College Testing scores.
Students are graded based on whether they are proficient in the subjects, with the top tiers of the grading being categorized by having a sufficient understanding, having a thorough understanding or having a comprehensive understanding.
“Students who don’t reach proficiency … they count against the district,” Nash said.
Before the COVID-19 pandemic, 54.7% of Cumberland County students were considered proficient in test scores in the 2018-2019 academic year; during the pandemic in 2020, the proficiency level was 36.7%; in the 2021 academic year, 36.8% of students were graded as proficient, and the latest proficiency scores for the 2022-2023 school year were at 49.3%.
Nash said 60 of the district’s 83 schools improved their composite scores, and there were improvements on 14 out of 19 end-of-course tests.
According to the data, the highest composite score for elementary schools was Beaver Dam at 82.4, compared to Westarea which had the lowest at 34.7. The highest composite score for middle schools was 71st Classical at 66.9 compared to the lowest of 8.3 at Howard Learning Academy; and the highest high school composite score was 94.1 at Cumberland Polytech, compared to the lowest composite scores at Ramsey Street Alternative with 2.8 and Alger B. Wilkins with 16.4.
Graduation rates
Nash said graduation rates are “not as simple as students walking across a stage.”
When students first enter the ninth-grade year, they are placed in a cohort of students, she said.
If a student repeats ninth grade, they are still considered in their original cohort, Nash said.
There are only four ways the state recognizes removing a student from a cohort — immigrating, transferring to another district, if there is a student death or if a student is convicted of a crime and sent to a North Carolina Department of Corrections facility.
If a student is in jail awaiting judgment of a charge, they are not removed from the cohort; or if a student transfers and decides to obtain their General Educational Development certificate, they are not taken off the cohort; and if a student enrolls in a community college that is not Cumberland County School’s community college partner, Fayetteville Technical Community College, they are not taken off the cohort, meaning those students “count against” the graduation rate.
Cumberland County’s graduation cohort rate is 86.6, which is higher than the state’s rate of 86.4, and the highest it’s been, Nash said.
In 2018-2019, the rate was 83.8; in 2019-2020, it was 84.6; in 2020-2021, it was 84.2; and in 2021-2022, it was 82.8.
Cumberland County high schools below the state average this past academic year were Douglas Byrd at 75.3; E.E. Smith at 79.7; and A.B. Wilkins at 79.8.
Schools with a 100% cohort graduation rate were Cumberland County International, Reid-Ross Classical High and Cumberland Polytechnic.
Underperforming schools
Nash said that while 80% of school performance grades are based on proficiency, academic performance and graduation rates, another 20% of the grades are based on growth broken down on a 15-point scale.
On the scale, an A is a grade of 100-85, a B is 84-80, a C is 55-69, a D is 40-54 and a F is 0-39, she said.
Based on the grades, schools are categorized as meeting growth, exceeding growth or did not meet growth.
Nash said 84.2% of Cumberland County Schools met or exceeded growth, with 23 schools exceeding growth, and Pine Forest High School and Jack Britt High School earning a converted score for growth of 100, and 46 schools classified as meeting growth, and 13 schools listed as not having growth met.
Nash said while six schools came off the underperforming list, 17 were added to make a total of 27 on the list for the 2022-2023.
Schools with D’s but noted as “meeting growth” were:
• Lloyd Auman Elementary had a D in the 2018-2019, 2021-2022 and 2022-2023 academic years and a composite score of 38.1, which was lower than the 2021-2022 composite score of 41.6.
• Brentwood Elementary had a D in the 2021-2022 and 2022-2023 academic years and a composite score of 41, which was lower than the prior academic year of 42.5.
• Elizabeth Cashwell Elementary had a D in the 2021-2022 and 2022-2023 academic years and a composite score of 38.8, which was higher than the prior academic year of 33.1.
• College Lakes Elementary had a D in the 2021-2022 and 2022-2023 academic years and a composite score of 39.1, which was higher than the prior academic year of 30.6.
• J.W. Coon Elementary had a D in 2021-2022 and 2022-2023 academic years and a composite score of 35.6, which was lower than the prior academic year of 40.3.
• Bill Hefner Elementary had a C in the 2021-2022 academic year, a D in the 2022-2023 academic year and a composite score of 42.7, which was lower than the prior academic year of 47.6.
• Ed V. Baldwin Elementary had a D in 2018-2019, 2021-2022 and 2022-2023 academic years and has a composite score of 40, which was higher than the prior academic year of 37.7.
• Margaret Willis Elementary had an F in the 2021-2022 academic year, a D in the 2022-2023 academic year and a composite score of 37.3, which was higher than the prior academic year of 27.9.
• Montclair Elementary had a D in the 2021-2022 and 2022-2023 academic years and a composite score of 46.5, which was higher than the prior academic year of 33.
• William Owen Elementary, which had a D in the 2018-2019, 2021-2022 and 2022-2023 academic years and a composite score of 42.9, which was higher than the prior academic year of 40.4
• Benjamin J. Martin Elementary had a D in the 2018-2019, 2021-2022 and 2022-2023 academic years and a composite score of 41.2 which was higher than the prior academic year of 36.4.
• Sunnyside Elementary had a D in the 2018-2019, 2021-2022 and 2022-2023 academic years and a composite score of 44.5, which was higher than the prior academic year of 35.6.
• Warrenwood Elementary had a C in the 2021-2022 and 2022-2023 academic years and a composite score of 37.6, which was lower than the prior academic year of 46.6.
• Westarea Elementary had a D in the 2018-2019, 2021-2022 and 2022-2023 academic years and a composite score of 34.7, which was higher than the prior academic year of 33.1.
• William T. Brown Elementary had D in the prior academic year and a composite score of 36, which was lower than the prior academic year of 36.6.
• Douglas Byrd Middle had a D in the 2021-2022 and 2022-2023 academic years and a composite score of 34.5, which was higher than the prior academic year of 32.8.
• Luther Nick Jeralds Middle had a D in the 2018-2019, 2021-2022 and 2022-2023 academic years and a composite score of 38, which was higher than the prior academic year of 32.9.
• Lewis Chapel Middle had a D in the 2018-2019, 2021-2022 and 2022-2023 academic years and a composite score of 39.8, which was higher than the prior academic year of 37.9.
• South View Middle had a D in the 2018-2019, 2021-2022 and 2022-2023 academic years and a composite score of 36, which was higher than the prior academic year of 33.9.
• Douglas Byrd High had a D in the 2018-2019, 2021-2023 and 2022-2023 academic years and a composite score of 38.9, which was higher than the prior academic year of 36.6.
Schools not meeting growth and given D grades were:
• C. Wayne Collier Elementary had a D in the 2021-2022 and 2022-2023 academic years and a composite score of 42.7, which was higher than the prior academic year of 38.1.
• Cumberland Mills Elementary had a C in the 2021-2022 academic year, a D in the 2022-203 academic year and a composite score of 38.1, which was lower than the prior academic year of 46.2.
• Lucille Sounders Elementary had a D in the 2021-2022 and 2022-2023 academic years and a composite score of 38.8, which was lower than the prior academic year of 38.9.
• Cumberland Academy K-5, which had an F in the 2021-2022 academic year a D in the 2022-2023 academic year and a composite score of 38.8. which was higher than the prior academic year of 30.4.
• Anne Chesnutt Middle had a D in the 2018-2019, 2021-2022 and 2022-2023 academic years and a composite score of 38.5, which was lower than the prior academic year of 42.1
• Mac Williams Middle, which had a C in the 2021-2022 academic year, a D in the 2022-2023 academic year and a composite score of 52.4, which was lower than the prior academic year of 55.7.
The only school earning an F was Ferguson-Easley Elementary School, which had a D in the 2021-2022 academic year and a composite score of 30.8, which was higher than the prior academic year of 29.8.
As expected, pandemic drives down tests scores for students in Cumberland County Schools
More than 89% of schools in Cumberland County met or exceeded growth measures last year
Flawed system?
Connelly said while the accountability data validates educational initiatives and identifies student needs, he shares concerns with other educators, parents and stakeholders about the fairness of the current accountability model, in particular the A-F ranking system.
“This model does not fully acknowledge the dedicated efforts of our teachers and students, nor does it account for the significant progress we’re witnessing across the district,” he said.
Nash described the system as “broken,” and said measuring growth at 20% “doesn’t capture everything,” and that even with the current system, several schools shifted to improve performance letter grades.
“It’s not an accurate reflection of school quality. It’s not an accurate reflection of student success,” she said.
What others are saying
During the Sept. 23 board meeting, student advocate Carmela McKeller-Smith said that while the district has a high graduation rate, scores indicate 54% of high school students were proficient in biology, 57% were proficient in English II, 34% were proficient in math and 52% were proficient in math III.
She compared the data presentation to the “Wizard of Oz.”
“Pay no attention to the data behind the curtain,” McKeller-Smith said.
McKeller-Smith said she is also concerned about the district’s low-performing schools that are recurring low-performing schools.
“Our children deserve better,” she said.
Former board member Charles McKeller said performance levels still remain below pre-pandemic levels and that only four of the district’s high schools — Cross Creek Early College, Massey Hill Classical, Cumberland Pyrotechnical and Cumberland International College — were given an A.
“Terry Sanford has a C,” McKeller said. “I remember when Terry Sanford was a premiere school. Douglas Byrd and E.E. Smith have Ds. I cannot understand why the E.E. Smith (Alumni) Association isn’t raising some ruckus over that school being a low-performing school.”
What’s next
Nash said that despite the need for changes to the accountability system, no one “wanted to see 27 schools on the low-performing school list.”
“It’s going to take a while to get more of those schools back to pre-pandemic efforts, and obviously it’s not happening as quickly as we would like, but we are sustaining those improvements,” she said.
Curriculum specialists, school support and student services continue to work with the schools along with instructional teams.
“We’re not where we need to be. We've all admitted that, but I do believe that we are on the right path to that, and it is going to take some time to continue to sustain that growth and that movement,” she said.
Hill, the district's chief academic officer, said a plan will be brought back to the board’s next academic committee meeting.
Board member Judy Musgrave said she’d like to see more in-depth data about how Cumberland County compares to other districts in the state, along with data about performance according to race and ethnicity.
Staff writer Rachael Riley can be reached at rriley@fayobserver.com or 910-486-3528.
This article originally appeared on The Fayetteville Observer: State releases Cumberland County Schools accountability data
