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Superintendent Message
As a part of our continued effort to be transparent regarding
our school system results, I wanted to share the following information with you.
We acknowledge that we still have much work to do, and not all of our efforts will
reap rewards immediately. Adapting processes and procedures takes time, perseverance, and determination. But, no matter how lengthy or how involved the
investment becomes, there is no greater dividend than seeing a child's face when a new concept has been discovered and understood. At that moment, a lifetime of
possibility opens. That – seeing that mental "light bulb" come on – is really what this is all about. That is the reason we are continuing to
identify areas that need improvement. Our teachers are engaged in ongoing professional learning and teamwork focused on inventing better ways to teach our students
the difficult skills they need and more effective ways to meet the standards that our schools are expected to meet.
I am pleased to report that our school system
has achieved outstanding results in several areas. For example:
• During this past school year Barrow County Schools met all academic goals at the system
level for Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP), even in mathematics. This is the first time the system has accomplished this since 2005. But there is still work to
do, as our school system did not meet the state benchmark for graduation rate;
• Based on the preliminary final AYP results that we anticipate being able to
release next week, we believe the data will show that each of our schools will have met or exceeded the state AYP benchmarks in the "all student" category in each and
every academic goal area. But, we still have work to do, as we expect to have two schools that will have not met the benchmark for a single subgroup in one academic
area;
• We are working to create the expectation in every student that they will graduate from high school. We begin as early as Pre-K to establish
that our students will be a part of the "Graduation Class of …." (Our current Pre-K students are the Graduating Class of 2025.) Given that graduation
rates encompass multiple years of education, it can be very difficult to raise a sagging percentage. Nonetheless, we expect the final graduation rate data to show a
2% increase from 2010 to 2011 in Barrow County. More importantly, we expect to see that the dropout rate has been cut nearly in half;
• Four years
(2008) ago, the overall pass rate for all students in mathematics on the Grade 3-8 CRCT was only 65.5%. The pass rate was lower than 111 school districts in Georgia
(surpassing only 39% of total systems). In 2011 the pass rate for all Barrow Students on the Grade 3-8 CRCT mathematics was 84.8% which was a higher pass rate than
60% of Georgia School Districts. In those four years, the district moved up 21 percentage places;
• The overall pass rate for each section of the CRCT
(Reading, Math, ELA, Science, and Social Studies) has increased every year for the past five years;
• During 2010-2011 the combined pass rate on the Grade
5, 8, and 11 Writing Assessment was 90.2%. This was the 11th highest pass rate for a school district in Georgia, surpassing 93% of all Georgia school
systems;
• During 2010-2011 Barrow County performed in the top third of Georgia districts on the Grade 3-8 CRCT Science assessment, Grade 5 Writing Test,
Grade 8 Writing Test, and the American Literature, Economics, and U.S. History EOCT's at the High School level; and
• Despite being below the State average
Barrow County's average SAT score was higher than 71 percent of all Georgia school districts. Were it not for the size and overwhelming participation rates of
students in the Gwinnett, Fulton, and Cobb County School Districts, our performance would have been even better.
In addition to these academic achievements, I would
also like to report the following accomplishments:
• The District obtained System Charter status;
• We were awarded Best Overall
in Georgia for utilizing eBOARD as a communication tool for strategic planning, balanced scorecard, posting of meetings and meeting minutes, and self-assessment and
evaluation tools;
• We were one of five organizations that received the Governor's Race to the Top grant, allowing us to enhance our Direct to Discovery
program. This program will provide us with enhanced technological options - such as video conferencing in each of our schools - to incorporate outside experts into
our classroom teaching, iPADS for teachers and students that are directly involved with the project, and the capacity to build a video library of teaching and learning
resources.
I maintain that the Barrow County School System is committed to providing
the highest quality education possible for each student. We have some incredible educators that are dedicated to increasing achievement and creating high-performing
students. These educators give 100% of their heart, soul, and energy to their students.
We are a team – students, parents, educators, and the
community. We all want our students to be competitive locally, nationally and internationally so they will lead successful, productive lives and become contributing
citizens to our community. We at the School District are working collectively to reach these common goals, and we invite the community to be a part of that
work. If anyone has questions or concerns, I encourage you to attend one of our school community days, email, call, or come by the central office. We have a
great story to tell, and I welcome the opportunity to share that story with you. I believe that together we can move Barrow County Schools to the next level of
performance.
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