Ellis
NASHVILLE — Nash County Public Schools had higher marks than most other districts in the N.C. State Board of Education’s annual test results.
“We are proud that our families showed perseverance last year as evident in our high participation and graduation rates and feel strongly that our focus on high expectations for all this school year, combined with this perseverance, will result in growth for the 2021-22 academic year,” Superintendent Steve Ellis said in a news release. “The availability of student performance data will assist our team in targeting resources and supporting teaching and learning across our schools.”
Test results look a bit different this year because of a federal waiver granted due to the pandemic’s impact on teaching and learning in the 2020-21 school year.
One of the major changes is the release of participation data and the lack of School Performance Grade calculations. In its background brief in the 2021 North Carolina Annual Testing Results, the state made it clear that this year’s data release is for planning purposes only and not for comparisons.
“Given the various circumstances of the 2020-21 school year, comparisons to the 2018-19 school year, though provided as a reference point, are not recommended,” a news release states.
Nash County Public Schools saw state test participation rates higher than the North Carolina average in many areas. District WorkKeys and ACT participation were higher than the state overall.
WorkKeys participation was at or above 89% in all NCPS high schools compared to the state participation rate of 67%.
ACT participation was at or above 91% in all NCPS high schools compared to the state participation rate at 86%.
Grades 3-8 reading and math end-of-grade participation was above the state average, higher than 93% in all NCPS elementary and middle schools. Nash County Public Schools’ four-year cohort graduation rate was 89.1% higher than the state average of 86.9%.
The 2020-21 end-of-grade and end-of-course grade level proficiency rates were as follows. Nash County Public Schools grades 3-8 reading proficiency was 30.5%, grades 3-8 math proficiency was 18.7% and fifth and eighth grade science proficiency was 44.5%.
In addition, high school proficiency included English II at 42.9%, biology at 23% and Math III at 23.2%.
The Nash County Board of Education released the results at its Sept. 2 meeting.
