SALISBURY — The Rowan-Salisbury School System (RSS) has announced the release of the school report card grades for the 2022-2023 school year, and while there are areas of improvement, the scores continue to be low throughout the county, with 23 schools receiving D or F.

The report card is provided by the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction (NCDPI). The grades serve as one measure of school performance and offer certain insights into the progress and achievements of RSS schools.

In a press release addressing the report card, school administrators said “RSS recognizes the importance and purpose of school performance grades (SPGs) in assessing educational institutions. Additionally, it is essential to acknowledge that the formula used to determine these grades is a topic of discussion within our district and across the state of North Carolina. RSS believes that while achievement is significant, growth is more vital in assessing school performance.”

The following are the school report card grades for RSS schools for the 2022-2023 school year:

• Grade A — Rowan Early College
• Grade C — Bostian, Landis, Millbridge, Morgan, Mt. Ulla, and Rockwell elementary schools; Jesse C. Carson and East Rowan high schools
• Grade D — Shive and West Rowan elementary schools; Summit K8 Virtual Academy; China Grove, and Erwin middle schools; West Rowan, North Rowan, South Rowan and Salisbury high schools
• Grade F — China Grove, Hanford Dole, Granite Quarry, Hurley, Isenberg, Knollwood, Koontz, North Rowan and Overton elementary schools; Corriher-Lipe, Knox, North Rowan, Southeast and West Rowan middle schools

The release accompanying the report card scores says “While these scores are discouraging, it’s worth highlighting that several schools have shown notable progress by growing students from their previous years.”

• Schools which “Exceeded Growth” were: Bostian and Mt. Ulla elementary schools; East Rowan high school; and Rowan County Early College.
• Schools that “Met Growth” were: Hurley, Isenberg, Koontz, Millbridge, Morgan and Shive elementary schools, Summit K8 Virtual Academy, North Rowan Middle School and Jesse C. Carson High School

The schools which improved from “Not Met Growth” to “Meets Growth,” which include Jesse C. Carson, Summit K8 Virtual Academy, North Rowan Middle School, as well as Shive and Morgan elementary schools.

Additionally, Bostian Elementary School and Rowan County Early College achieved growth which allowed them to move from “Meets Growth” to “Exceeded Growth,” while East Rowan High School progressed from “Not Met Growth” to “Exceeded Growth.”

Also of note in the report cards, in reading and math in grades 3-8, one school “exceeded growth” and 14 schools “met growth” in reading, while four schools “exceeded growth” and 14 schools “met growth” in Math. There is no breakdown of science data available at this time, which also contributes to overall growth assessment.

“While I do not agree with the calculation used to assign school performance grades, since it does not at least equally emphasize student growth, it is the formula in place currently,” said RSS Superintendent Dr. Kelly Withers. “For this reason, it is essential that our district and our schools analyze the results of the end of grade/course assessments as well as the other metrics our state uses to assess school quality. We must focus on implementing standard aligned, engaging lessons with authentic feedback that will lead to student growth and then academic proficiency.”

According to the release, the current formula for assigning report card grades, which assigns 80 percent weight to student achievement and 20 percent weight to student growth, “does not fully represent the progress Rowan-Salisbury schools are making in developing students’ potential. Growth reflects how students perform compared to historical data, which, in our view, should play a more substantial role in assessing school success.”

The state of North Carolina is currently exploring ways to realign SPGs seeking a multiple measures model. RSS believes that growing students year over year is the key to improving overall student achievement.

One accepted metric of long-term success is the graduation rate in high schools which measures the percentage of students who graduate within four years. Currently, the Rowan-Salisbury School System’s overall graduation rate for the seven high schools is at 88.4 percent (an increase from 84.5 percent in 2022-2023), broken down by school as: Jesse C. Carson High 93 percent, East Rowan High 86.4 percent, North Rowan High 90.9 percent, RCEC greater than 95 percent, Salisbury High 76.7 percent, South Rowan High 89.5 percent, West Rowan High 93.6 percent.

“I am incredibly proud of the work of our schools. Many of our schools are showing forward progress towards meeting or exceeding growth and our graduation rate is moving in a positive direction. However, we cannot be satisfied with making growth. Our schools will need to exceed growth in all measures in order to move towards academic excellence,” Withers said.

Having finalized the school system’s strategic plan, Renewal in Action 2028, in April, administrators have begun the work to collaborate with each of the schools individually.