THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, March 31, 1996 TAG: 9603310054
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: BY ANNE SAITA, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CURRITUCK LENGTH: Medium: 76 lines
Schools' individual goals, state report card results and other educational matters will be addressed Saturday at the Second Annual School Forum sponsored by the Currituck County Board of Education.
``Basically, it's a way to bring the community leaders, as well as the community, together to review the school year and see where we need to go,'' said Mary Ellen Maxwell, chairwoman of the school board.
The session will begin at 8:30 a.m. at Knapp Junior High School's media center and focus on six topics, with roughly a half-hour devoted to each.
Among the agenda items are principals' reports on individual school goals, an update on a systemwide technology plan and on the state's ABC plan, state report card results and moving school materials and equipment during the upcoming school year.
The ABC plan gives individual schools more freedom to teach as they see fit but also holds them more accountable for successful results.
The school forum will be rounded out with a discussion on the school system's policy manual and a review of last year.
``This will be a good general overview to anyone who wants to know more of the specifics of what is happening within the schools,'' said Associate Superintendent William Dobney, who will be among the presenters.
Of the designated topics, the state report card is liable to generate a lot of discussion.
That item was requested by Currituck County Commissioner Owen Etheridge, who asked at a previous meeting that the results be explained to the public.
According to report, Currituck students did well in reading and math multiple-choice tests for grades three through eight. Reading scores ranked 27th statewide, and math scores ranked 14th among 119 school districts.
Almost half of Currituck County High School students scored at or above proficiency levels on multiple-choice, end-of-course tests in core courses, ranking their performance 34th of 119 school systems.
And advanced math and science students at the high school ranked in the top 10 for proficiency on multiple-choice tests.
But of the 18 indicators used to assess students' scholastic achievements in 1994-95, Currituck County ranked among the lowest performing school systems in seven areas.
Eighth-grade writing test scores ranked 113th in the state. That score is lower than the previous year's 108 but slightly better than the 118th ranking in 1992-93.
Though high schoolers taking advanced math classes ranked 5th in the state in proficiency, few students take the courses. The school scored 118th for participation.
In advanced science courses, students ranked 15th in proficiency but 117th in participation.
Currituck County High School also ranked near the bottom - 118th - with a 93.36 percent attendance rate last year. That's a drop from 106th in 1992-93 and 110th the next year.
The 9.4 percent of graduates completing the N.C. Scholars program, which rewards those who take certain upper-level courses beyond the basic graduation credit requirements, ranked 118th for 1994-95. The previous year the school ranked last.
About 81 percent of high school students earned five or more units toward graduation last year, a ranking higher than only 15 other school districts in the state.
The school ranked 104th among school systems with just under 41 percent of its graduates completing courses required for the University of North Carolina system's admissions.
Among those planning to attend the forum will be representatives of the group ESCORT, which plans to distribute packets of information it has collected in past months.
``We are inviting the Board of Education to work with us since we are the citizens that voted them in,'' said Chris Dailey, a leader of the Educational Support Committee and Oversight Review Team.
ESCORT's aim is to promote quality education and to hold public officials accountable for school decisions. by CNB