SALISBURY — When report cards came out for the Rowan-Salisbury Schools System last week, things did not look great, with several schools receiving Ds and Fs from the Department of Instruction.

RSS Superintendent Dr. Kelly Withers acknowledged that the school system has “work to do” but also pointed out that growth trends included in that report reflect that students are making progress even if they are not meeting the proficiency standards set forth by the state.

Like many other districts throughout the state, RSS administrators are at odds with the weight that school metrics put on proficiency versus growth.

“This controversy is not unique to RSS,” Wither said. “You could walk into any district in the state, ask that question and hear the same thing.”

According to the N.C. Department of Public Instruction’s website, students are considered proficient if they score a Level III on their end-of-grade or end-of-course assessments.

On the other hand, growth is less a measure of standardization and more year-over-year personal achievement. In theory, a student could make considerable gains, but depending on where they started, they still fall short of meeting proficiency.

That is the issue RSS leaders have taken with the current rubric for school report cards. While Withers is not suggesting that proficiency metrics be removed from the formula, she believes that striking a fairer balance between the two would reflect the school and students’ performance more accurately.

“The growth metric is designed to analyze the students’ growth and not just reaching grade level,” Withers said. “The issue when we have an accountability formula that says we emphasize 80 percent being on grade level, you are penalizing students from districts or schools who may be starting behind.”

Rowan-Salisbury Schools is one such district. According to Withers, far more students enter kindergarten in RSS without the educational toolkits to begin learning concepts at that grade level than those who come prepared.

“We start out stepping back,” Withers said. “We are already having to play catch up. That catchup does not happen overnight. It continues as you build (toward each successive learning level).”

Withers pointed to the district’s strategic plan to try and offset those setbacks.

“Our strategic plan has an action plan linked to a kindergarten readiness campaign,” Withers said.

So, what does it mean to be kindergarten-ready?

“Reading is not kindergarten readiness,” Withers said. “It’s really about colors, numbers and letter recognition.”

According to the superintendent, it also has a lot to do with sociability and being able to follow multi-step directions.

Those skill sets can be honed in preschool and traditional daycare and through simple games like I Spy, which teaches color recognition and sounds.

Why do some schools continue to underperform while others receive positive results?

Withers explained it has a lot to do with teacher turnover. In schools where seasoned staff has years of shared experience, results are often better than those places where teachers do not stay for several years.

“That churn is more apparent in higher-need schools and higher-need districts,” Withers said. “Some of our schools that are seeing growth have seasoned staff that have been able to collaborate well when looking at standards alignment.”

One area where RSS did perform well was in graduation rates throughout its high schools.

“The graduation rate does indicate a mastery of the journey from K-12,” Withers said. “There has been a huge emphasis has been placed in our district.”

RSS Communications and Marketing Director Michelle Shue added, “(Graduation) is a metric that matters to every school system in the state. Districts know that there comes a point when kids are either going to graduate or they will drop out. The goal is to get them to a level where they can graduate.”

Shue and Withers acknowledged the need to provide students the chance to meet proficiency in alignment with the state standards but pointed out that learning is as much about inspiring as it is about informing.

“There are amazing things happening in our classrooms every day,” Shue said. “We are using the word experience and impact a lot. What impact will those experiences have on students and learning?”

Emphasizing student experiences designed to stimulate curiosity and an eagerness to learn has been in the works for the school district since Withers took over last year.

“We have been in preparation for where we are going this fall as far as last school year,” Withers said. “I am confident about what is going on in the building. We will make missteps, everyone will, but I am confident that we will learn from them and continue to grow.”

If there is a school out there that aligns with Rowan-Salisbury Schools System demographics and is excelling at growth and proficiency, Withers said they want to find it so they can find out what that school is doing right, but she also explained that every school is different and features their own advantages and disadvantages.

Withers does want any parents of school-aged children in Rowan County who may have concerns or questions about sending their children to an RSS campus to come and take a tour, meet the teachers and talk to the families of students who attend. She is confident that if they do, they will see the level of passion RSS educators are bringing to the table and the efforts being taken to provide every student with every opportunity they need to succeed.

Multiple attempts to contact RSS board members were made in the writing of this report. Those attempts were unsuccessful.