RFP Staff
♦ Rowan-Salisbury Schools received School Performance Grades from the NC Department of Instruction on September 1st. School Performance Grades (SPG) are figured with the use of a formula that is located on the NC DPI website, here. While RSSS has focused on the fact that some schools have shown growth, NCDPI explains that the School Performance Grade is actually “based 80 percent on the school’s achievement score and 20 percent on students’ academic growth”. Fifteen schools out of the 34 schools that sent data did not meet growth, including Rowan County Early College. That’s 44% of the schools in RSSS.
Rowan County Early College, while one of the two high-performing schools, did not make growth. The four schools located within the City of Salisbury received SPG letter grades of D:
- Overton Elementary D
- Isenberg Elementary D
- Knox Middle School D
- Salisbury High School D
Henderson High School, the alternative high school did not send any data. That means the growth and achievement of students attending the alternative high school are not going to be factored into the district’s performance grade to be released at a later date. This type of strategic withholding of student data from the state will result in a higher SPG than the school system would receive if Henderson’s data were factored in.
How the “SPG” is Calculated
To calculate the final score and grade for a school, the School Achievement Score is combined with the Growth Score. Achievement is 80% of the grade, and growth is 20%. After combining these 2 values the score is placed on a 15-point scale:
A: 85-100 points
B: 70-84 points
C: 55-69 points
D: 40-54 points
F: Less than 40 points
Here is the example for calculating a school’s performance grade provided by the State of North Carolina:
Keep in mind that North Carolina school children are graded on a 10 point scale, so the state is grading the schools and districts with a more liberal scale. For example, a school with an SPG of 42 will receive a D, while a school child would need to make a 60 to receive a D-. Overton Elementary’s SPG score of a 44, therefore is a D (as seen in the chart below).
Additional Ratings From NCDPI: (from the source material, here)
2015-16 Consistently Low Participating School: (the consequence for not meeting participation rate requirement for 2 consecutive years in the same student group)
- Henderson High School (in Salisbury)
2015-16 Missing Participation Goal Focus School (Year 3): (the consequence for not meeting participation rate requirement for 3 consecutive years and beyond in the same student group)
- North Rowan High
2015-2016 Recurring Low Performing Schools
In order to be identified as a recurring low-performing school, a school must be identified as low-performing in any two (2) of the last three (3) years. For the 2015–16 list, low-performing is defined two different ways; depending on the year. For 2013–14, a school must have had a performance composite below 50% and did not meet growth. For 2014–15 and 2015–16, a school must have received a ‘D’ or ‘F’ School Performance Grade and did not exceed growth.
- Erwin Middle
- Overton Elementary
- China Grove Elementary
- Corriher Lipe Middle
- Koontz Elementary
- Isenberg Elementary
- Hurley Elementary
- Knollwood Elementary
- Landis Elementary
- North Rowan Elementary
- North Rowan High
- Salisbury High
- Southeast Middle
- West Rowan Middle
For more information on low-performing schools please visit the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction’s District and School Transformation website at www.ncpublicschools.org/schooltransformation.
2015-16 RSSS School Performance Grade, School Performance Score and Growth Status
