THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, January 13, 1995 TAG: 9501130499
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: STAFF REPORT
DATELINE: RALEIGH LENGTH: Medium: 81 lines
For the fifth year since officials began issuing ``report cards'' for all state schools, Dare County students ranked among the best in North Carolina. They took second place in two areas of study and third place in another, according to scores released this week.
Overall, Dare County ranked tops among all Albemarle-area schools.
Among Dare County students in grades 3-8, 81.3 percent performed at or above grade level on end-of-grade math tests - ranking them second in the state behind Clay County.
Dare County students also placed second statewide in end-of-course testing for high school core courses. About 58.5 percent of Dare County's pupils performed at a ``proficient level'' on Algebra I; biology; economic, legal and political systems; English I; physical science and U.S. history tests in 1994.
That's down from 60.2 percent the previous year, but still enough to place Dare County ahead of most other North Carolina schools. The Chapel Hill-Carrboro school system ranked first in core class testing, with 60.1 percent of its students demonstrating proficiency in those subjects.
``Even though the percentage of students proficient may drop, the actual number of students achieving proficiency can increase because of a higher level of participation,'' said Gene Gallelli, Dare County's assistant superintendent for curriculum and instruction.
``What that means is we've expanded that opportunity for more students, and the number who are succeeding is up. That's got to be good news for the district.''
On end-of-grade reading tests for grades 3-8, Dare County students ranked third in North Carolina. About 78.5 percent of Dare County's pupils performed at or above grade level on the reading exams. Chapel Hill-Carrboro took first in reading scores. Watauga County got second place.
``I'm just delighted,'' Dare County Schools Superintendent Dr. Leon Holleman said after hearing of his pupils' progress on the standardized tests.``It's no easy task continuing to perform well when you're coming in on the very top end of the spectrum. So I'd like the students, teachers, staff and parents to know they deserve the credit, because their hard work is continuing to pay off.''
In Pasquotank, reading proficiency was up slightly to 58.2 percent. Math proficiency was down by about a percentage point to 53.3.
Pasquotank schools suffered their worst setback in their core classes. In 1993-94, 34.4 percent of students were proficient in core classes, down from 43.5 percent the year before.
``I can't give you an answer as to why that dropped,'' said Charles White, schools-community relations director for Elizabeth City-Pasquotank Schools. ``We can't hide the fact that our numbers went down in both math and in end-of-grade core courses. What we can say is we recognize there are problems and we are taking steps.
``We've got a bunch of people out there who are not proficient at end of grade,'' White said. ``We've got to work very hard to make sure they are proficient. . . We have to be very cognizant of the fact that we have a lot of work to do. And we are doing a lot of work.''
White cautioned that the numbers in the report are already a year old and said the high school has made changes this year that he hopes will help push scores back up.
The high school has introduced a new code of conduct that White said should create a safer and more comfortable environment. He also said that Northeastern High School is reworking its scheduling system, and the whole district is working on developing staff and creating a curriculum that prepares students for the work force.
Currituck County Public Schools Superintendent William R. Capps was out of town until midday Thursday and said he had not been able to review the scores.
Reading scores for student test-takers in grades 3-8 showed a slight decline from 66.2 percent to 65.7. Math scores for the same group reflected a three-point increase to 69.9 percent.
Core classes remained the same at a 48.8 passage rate. ILLUSTRATION: Graphic
STEVE STONE/Staff
ALBEMARLE-AREA TEST SCORES
[For complete graphic, please see microfilm]
by CNB