State releases annual report card for Gaston County Schools
The N.C. Department of Public Instruction released the State School
Report Card for Gaston County Schools for the 2013-2014 academic year.
The annual report card includes important information about student
attendance and academic
achievement, class size,
instructional technology,
teacher quality, school
safety, and other topics.
The complete report
card for Gaston County
Schools is available (in
English and Spanish)
on the North Carolina
School Report Cards
website: www.
ncpublicschools.org/src.
The website
includes report card
information for each
school, the school
district, the state, and
other North Carolina
public schools. No
individual student
information is
included. The School
Report Cards are
required by the
federal Elementary
and Secondary
Education Act
(ESEA).
Report
Card
In addition to the report card for Gaston County Schools, the state
released a report card for each school (grades 3-12).
For the first time ever, the school report card includes a School
Performance Grade. The grade is based on student achievement (test scores)
and student growth (progress over the course of one school year) information
released in September 2014.
The School Performance Grade is part of the new READY state
accountability and testing program implemented by the N.C. General
Assembly in 2012-2013. It replaces the designations (Honor School of
Excellence, School of Excellence, School of Distinction, School of Progress, No
Recognition, and Low-Performing School) that schools received in past years
under the ABCs of Public Education state program.
Superintendent of Schools W. Jeffrey Booker stated, “Assigning a letter
grade to a school is intended to make it easier for the public to understand
how the school is performing. However, it is important to point out that
only select criteria are used to determine the grade. Factors such as school
size, diverse student population, socioeconomics, teacher experience,
student learning obstacles, special programs, and parental and community
involvement have an effect on a school’s performance, but are not considered
in the School Performance Grade.”
“It is extremely important for parents and the community to consider all
factors for a school to determine how well the school is performing,” added
Booker. “When you loo