North Carolina education officials released testing results for each district statewide for the 2021-22 school year earlier this month. According to the report, Macon early College scored an “A” rating and showed that 62.7 percent of students were testing proficient for their grade levels.
To determine the ratings, North Carolina combines all of a school’s test scores for 80 percent of the grade. The state also uses a complex algorithm to determine whether the school demonstrated growth and assigns that score 20 percent of the grade.
The Department of Public Instruction released full data for each district in the state, including breakdowns by race and other subgroups for every school in North Carolina. State leaders said there was an improvement from the 2020-21 school year when districts struggled to establish effective teaching habits at the onset of the pandemic.
“Schools resumed face-to-face instruction, and virtual programs continued to be available for students,” the report states. “Students and the education community continued to be affected by COVID, particularly when COVID exposures required students to be absent from school or revert to remote learning. These reports must be reviewed within that context, meaning, though instructional delivery was not as varied as in the 2020-21 school year, it continued to be an anomaly in comparison to the 2018-19 school year, which was prior to the onset of the pandemic.”
Macon Early College Principal Brian Moffitt — who is still settling into his new role as the top administrator for MEC, said he is so proud of the resilience and responsibility of his students.
“These students are essentially college students at 13 and 14 years old,” said Moffitt. “They do an incredible job balancing that responsibility and excelling in their roles.”
While Macon Early College students tested well above average the state average, many districts in the state continue to struggle post-pandemic. The report revealed that the number of low-performing schools in N.C. has nearly doubled since the start of the pandemic.
“Coming out of COVID restrictions and protocols, we are pleased with our students’ performance. It’s good to have this measuring stick back in place and we are already working to improve those results,” said Moffitt. “While they don’t define us, we want to continue improving to be one of the top-performing schools in the state.”
Across the state of North Carolina, 2,595 schools were included in the report.
Of the schools included in the report, 42.3% of the schools measured were considered ‘low-performing,’ which means they earned a School Performance Grade of ‘D’ or ‘F.’ Thirty-five percent of schools were ‘C’ schools, while 17.2% were ‘B’ schools, with only 5.6% being ‘A’ schools.
Macon Early College was on the only school in the district to receive the “A” rating. Franklin High School received a “B” rating, 5 schools, Cartoogechaye Elementary, East Franklin Elementary, Highlands School, Macon Middle School, and South Macon Elementary school received a “C” letter grade. Itola Valley Elementary, Mountain View Intermediate, and Nantahala School each received a “D” rating. Macon Virtual Academy, the county’s all-virtual option, received an “F” rating.
All schools in Macon County met their growth benchmarks with the exception of Mountain View Intermediate, South Macon Elementary, and Macon Virtual Academy.
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