There are 2,353 public schools in North Carolina that will be included in the full ABCs report for the 2005-06 school year. These will include regular public schools spanning combinations of grades K-12, charter schools, alternative schools, and charter schools evaluated as alternative schools. The statewide results appear in Table 1. Forty schools were not assigned an ABCs status because they were special education schools, vocational/career schools, or hospital schools that participated in the ABCs on the basis of the schools they served, and two schools were in violation of the participation rule.

The 2005-06 ABCs program also reported the adequate yearly progress (AYP) of 2,310 of the state’s schools during the fourth year’s implementation of No Child Left Behind (NCLB). Table 2 shows the number and percent of the state’s schools that met and did not meet AYP.

AYP results are presented by ABCs categories in Table 3. Schools must have both an ABCs status and an AYP status to appear in this table. Schools that did not receive an ABCs status (i.e., special education schools, vocational/career schools, hospital schools, and schools with unresolved data issues) are not reflected here.

There are links to Special Conditions and Technical Notes documents that explain ABCs adjustments and ABCs technical information. Technical Notes include a summary of standard conventions used in the analyses, a history of the ABCs, a table of constants and parameters used in the ABCs computations and the End-of-Course prediction formulas.

The State Board of Education (SBE) developed the ABCs of Public Education in response to the School-Based Management and Accountability Program enacted by the General Assembly in June 1996. The program focuses on strong Accountability, teaching the Basics with an emphasis on high educational standards, and maximum local Control.

In 2002-03, the ABCs program was expanded to incorporate the new statutory accountability requirements of No Child Left Behind (NCLB). This federal legislation sets a proficiency goal of 100% for all schools by 2013-14. The SBE adopted AYP as a "closing the achievement gap component" of the ABCs in response to General Statute 115C-105.35.

The ABCs accountability program sets growth and performance standards for each elementary, middle, and high school in the state. End-of-Grade (EOG) and End-of-Course (EOC) test results and other selected components are used to measure a school’s growth and performance. Schools that attain the standards are eligible for incentive awards or other recognition, i.e., Honor Schools of Excellence, Schools of Excellence, Schools of Distinction and Schools of Progress. Priority Schools may request assistance from the Department of Public Instruction. Schools where growth and performance fall below specified levels are designated as low-performing, and may receive mandated assistance based on action by the SBE.

The implementation of new growth formulas for the 2005-06 school year make comparisons to previous years inappropriate. Multiple changes were implemented in this year including:

In the 2005-06 first round of ABCs status reporting, every high school that contained grades 9-12 that submitted appropriate data participated in the ABCs. The second round will consist of both 9-12 high schools and all other schools. High school data include EOC test results, change in the percent of students completing courses of study (College University Prep/College Tech Prep), change in the ABCs dropout rate, and change in competency passing rates.

Special education schools, vocational/career schools, and hospital schools did not receive an ABCs status, but they received prorated ABCs incentive awards, based on the schools they served. They also received an AYP status that was determined by the performance of the schools they served. They made AYP if at least half of the schools they served made AYP.

ABCs Growth and Performance

A school’s ABCs status is determined by average growth, the change ratio (a measure of the percent of students meeting their individual growth targets) and a performance composite. A school’s grade span and/or courses determined the composition of these measures, as described below.

The average growth for a school may include:

The schools whose average growth is equal to the growth expectation (shown by an average difference of 0.00 or better) are said to have met expected growth.

The change ratio used to determine the attainment of high growth may include:

The factors are arranged such that the number of students meeting their individual growth standards is in the numerator along with the change in competency pass rate and college/university prep and college tech prep courses of study. Students not meeting their individual growth standard are in the denominator and the decrease in dropout rate is subtracted from the denominator. Schools that have an average growth of 0.00 or better (met expected growth) and have a change ratio of 1.50 or better are said to have met high growth.

The performance composite is the school’s percentage of test scores in the school at or above Achievement Level III in reading and mathematics (from the EOG and alternate assessments), and EOC tests: Algebra I and II, Biology, Chemistry, Civics & Economics, English I, Geometry, Physical Science, Physics, and U.S. History. Algebra I scores of students in grade 9 who took Algebra I prior to ninth grade are included in the high school’s performance composite. For schools with an 8^th grade, the percent of 8^th grade students who passed the Computer Skills Test prior to the first day of spring testing is included as well.

Schools Making High Growth attained their high growth standard. Certified staff members each receive up to $1,500 and teacher assistants up to $500.

Schools Making Expected Growth attained their expected growth standard (but not their high growth standard). Certified staff members each receive up to $750 and teacher assistants up to $375.

Honor Schools of Excellence are schools that made at least expected growth, had at least 90% of their students’ scores at or above Achievement Level III, and made AYP. These schools receive banners and certificates. They receive incentive awards for expected or high growth.

Schools of Excellence are schools that made at least expected growth and had at least 90% of their students’ scores at or above Achievement Level III but did not make AYP. These schools receive banners, certificates, and incentive awards for expected or high growth.

Schools of Distinction are schools that made at least expected growth and had at least 80 percent of their students’ scores at or above Achievement Level III (but were not Honor Schools of Excellence or Schools of Excellence). They receive plaques, certificates, and incentive awards for expected or high growth.

Schools of Progress are schools that made at least expected growth and had at least 60% of their students’ scores at or above Achievement Level III (but were not Honor Schools of Excellence or Schools of Excellence or Distinction). They receive certificates and incentive awards for expected or high growth.

Schools Receiving No Recognition did not make their expected growth standards but have at least 60% of their students’ scores at or above Achievement Level III.

Priority Schools are schools that have less than 60% of their students’ scores at or above Achievement Level III, irrespective of making their expected growth standards, and are not Low-Performing Schools.

Low-Performing Schools are those that failed to meet their expected growth standards and have significantly less than 50% of their students’ scores at or above Achievement Level III.

Schools that violate the testing requirements are assigned a violation status and cannot receive financial awards or any ABCs status, except low-performing. Low-performing schools that violate testing requirements are assigned the low-performing status in addition to the violation status. The State Board of Education may designate schools that violate testing requirements for two consecutive years as low-performing.