With state tests looming in about a month, Greenwood Superintendent Montrell Greene says the district is in an “all-out blitz” to up student scores.
At the Greenwood School Board’s Thursday work session, Greene presented the results of recent assessment exams taken by district students.
The exams are designed to gauge where students stand ahead of the state tests, which in large part determine the district’s rating on the state accountability model.
Greene said the results of the tests — which showed a number of the schools approaching the achievement goals set by the district — were encouraging.
Based on the most recent exams, Greene said he’d project the district would likely receive an overall “C” rating — though he said the model has not yet taken the struggling Greenwood High School into account. The district currently has a “D” rating from the state and Greenwood High an “F.”
Still, Greene said there are lots of areas for improvement. Teachers, district administrators and outside consultants would be making a big push to prepare students ahead of the looming exams, he said.
“We’re happy, but we’re not exactly satisfied. The projections are encouraging, but we have to finish the school year strong.”
The school board discussed implementing an incentive program for students who meet goals on the exams, though it did not discuss specifics of the program.
Last year, Greenwood hotel owner and philanthropist Dr. V.K. Chawla donated $10,000 to the district for student incentives, and another $5,000 to reward teachers and administrators.
This year, Greene recommended setting aside approximately $10,000 of district funds for student incentives as a way to help students “make the connection that good grades and working hard and achieving your goals academically equate to receiving awards in life.”
Under the state’s accountability model, schools are given points for their achievement in each state-tested subject area. Those points are awarded based on both overall achievement as well as student’s year-to-year improvement.
Greene’s projections show Davis Elementary, currently rated “C,” just 20 points shy of a “B” rating. The district’s strongest performing school, Bankston Elementary, was also just 24 points shy of another “A” rating. The district’s two other elementary schools — W.C. Williams and Threadgill — were also within striking distance of “B” ratings, falling 49 and 34 points short, respectively.
The middle and high schools, though, have been performing below their targets. The high school, according to Greene’s projections, is on track for a “D” rating while the middle school is nearly 100 points shy of its targeted “B” rating.
“We’re not quite where we want to be,” Greene said. “We have seen growth, but we would like the high school to ultimately be a ‘C’ school.”
Greene has indicated that past academic struggles at the high school have continued into the current school year.
“We have made progress, but we’re not where we need to be,” Greene said. “At the high school in particular, that has to be our greatest priority.”
In February, Greene recommended that the school board not renew the contract of current 11th- and 12th-grade Principal Percy Powell. The administrator requested a hearing to contest his termination. Last week, the district held two days of testimony, and the hearing is scheduled to resume next Tuesday.
Powell, who has served as principal at the high school beginning in 2006, was made co-principal with Dr. Lorita Harris before the current school year. In making the move, the district had cited dropping test scores and academic problems at the school.
After Thursday’s meeting, Greene didn’t discuss specific issues at the high school but said teachers, staff and students at the school need to “stay focused on the job at hand.”
“There were a lot of things that contributed to where we are at the high school, but we’re trying our best to make decisions that are going to put our school in the best possible position,” Greene said.
Earlier in the year, Greene said that more than 40 seniors, of a class of approximately 160, had not yet passed all four subject area tests required to graduate.
Thursday, Greene said that situation had improved but was “still a struggle.”
With one more round of state tests left, Greene said there were still 23 seniors who had not passed one or more of the four state tests.
Ultimately, Greene said it’s up to the district’s administrators as well as staff, teachers and students to remain focused on learning.
“For instructors, we’re measured by the success of our students. If the students aren’t doing well, that’s a reflection on us as educators, and the same thing would be true for administrators,” Greene said.
• Contact Bryn Stole at 581-7235 or bstole@gwcommonwealth.com.
