Dubious distinction puts ABSS among 20 worst performing school systems in state
The Alamance-Burlington school system is among the 20 worst school systems in the state, based on the number of ABSS schools that received a School Performance Grade of D or F and annual academic results released Wednesday by the state Department of Public Instruction (DPI).
This year also marks the first time that the school system itself has been designated as a low-performing district since the state began using its current academic evaluation criteria in 2013-14.
ABSS has been designated by DPI as a low-performing school district after a majority of its schools – 20 out of 36, or 55.6 percent – received a School Performance Grade of D or F, based on academic performance data for the 2024-25 school year that DPI released Wednesday.
ABSS is one of 23 public school systems that are designated as low-performing for 2024-25, effectively placing the local school system’s academic performance in the bottom 20 percent of North Carolina’s 115 public school systems (see accompanying chart).
While the other 22 low-performing school districts are small in comparison, two others that have been designated as low-performing in 2024-25 are relative in size to ABSS.
Robeson County schools had 19 out of 36 schools (52.8 percent) that received a D or F for 2024-25; and Rowan-Salisbury schools had 18 out of 31 schools (58.1 percent) that received a School Performance Grade of D or F.
Twenty ABSS schools are now designated as low-performing after receiving a School Performance Grade of D or F for the 2024-25 school year. They include: 11 out of 20 elementary schools; six of the seven middle schools; two of the seven high schools; and the Alamance Virtual School that served grades six through 12 last year.
The number of ABSS schools identified as low-performing in 2024-25 represents an increase from 2023-24, when 15 schools received that designation.
Nineteen ABSS schools are now designated by DPI as “continually low-performing” after receiving a School Performance Grade of D or F for two of the past three school years (see chart). The number of schools identified as continually low-performing in 2024-25 also represents an increase from the previous year, when 16 ABSS schools were identified by DPI as continually low-performing after receiving a School Performance Grade of D or F for two of the three previous school years.
Statewide, 629 traditional K-12 public schools and 52 public charter schools have been identified as low-performing based on their academic results for 2024-25. An additional four “lab schools,” created by the General Assembly in 2016 to provide enhanced instructional support for students in low-performing schools and training for future teachers enrolled in UNC System institutions, have also been identified as low-performing.
By comparison, a statewide total of 674 traditional K-12 public schools, 54 public charter schools, and five lab schools were identified as low-performing after receiving a School Performance Grade of D or F in 2023-24, according to DPI.
One of the county’s four charter schools, Alamance Community School, a K-8 charter school in Haw River, has also been identified as low-performing in 2024-25 and continually-low performing school for failing to earn a School Performance Grade of C or better for two of the three previous school years, according to DPI.
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DPI’s latest report shows that Alamance County’s three other charter schools received the following School Performance Grades for 2024-25: Clover Garden School, C; River Mill Academy, B; and The Hawbridge School, B.
The designation as a low-performing district means that ABSS officials are statutorily required to develop a plan to improve the School Performance Grades, with specific and measurable strategies, for each low-performing school and for the school system as a whole.
Highlights of 2024-25 academic results for ABSS
Overall, the School Performance Grades improved at one school (Hawfields Middle) and declined at nine schools in 2024-25 (see accompanying chart). The letter grades remained unchanged from the previous year at 26 ABSS schools, according to DPI.
The distribution of School Performance Grades for ABSS in 2024-25 was: A (1); B (2); C (13); D (12); and F (8).
In keeping with its track record, the ABSS Early College housed on Alamance Community College’s Graham campus remains the only school to receive a School Performance Grade of A for 2024-25.
Sixteen (44.4 percent) of the 36 ABSS schools that received an A to F letter grade received a C or better, based on the latest annual student achievement data that DPI released Wednesday.
On the flip side, 20 schools (55.6 percent) received a D or an F, based on their academic results for 2024-25.
The state’s School Performance Grades are released during the first week of September each year and are intended to give parents and the public a snapshot of the percentage of K-12 public school students who were performing at grade level (i.e., grade-level proficient) by the end of the school year or, at the high school level, by the end of a course.
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At the elementary and middle school level, 80 percent of the School Performance Grade is based on the percentage of students in grades three through eight whose end-of-grade (EOG) test scores indicated that they were grade-level proficient in reading, math, and science. The School Performance Grade also reflects a “growth” component indicating whether students made expected academic progress for the school year.
The accompanying chart outlines the EOG test results for the 20 ABSS elementary and seven middle schools (as well as the combined Alamance Virtual School) and reflects the percentages of students in grades three through eight who were performing at grade level in math and reading, as well as the percentage of fifth and eighth-grade students who were performing at grade level in science by the end of the 2024-25 school year.
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At the high school level, the School Performance Graces reflect: Composite scores for English II and high school math; end-of-course (EOC) scores in biology; math course rigor, or the percentage of students proficient in advanced math courses; composite scores for ACT college admissions exams for high school juniors; English-language learner progress; the four-year graduation rate; the percentage of seniors in Career and Technical Education (CTE) pathways who earned a “Silver Certificate” or better; and a growth component for reading and math progress.
School Performance Grades aren’t issued for the Career and Technical Education Center or the alternative school, Ray Street Academy, as those students’ academic performance results are included with the results for the schools to which they are assigned based on the geographic location of their residences.
DPI assigns a numerical score for each School Performance Grade according to the following 15-point scale:
- A: 85-100
- B: 70-84
- C: 55-69
- D: 40-54
- F: 39 and below
The same numerical scale applies to subject-area test scores and other academic performance results that DPI released Wednesday.
Next steps
The state may impose additional strategies for reform – such as targeted academic support and staffing changes – on individual schools and districts identified as low-performing. The so-called school improvement plans are required to be presented to and approved by the school board and forwarded within five days of approval to the State Board of Education.
There had been a mechanism by which state education officials could take control of continually low-performing schools and districts – the Innovative School District (ISD) program created by the General Assembly in 2016 – but the program was eliminated by the biennial budget that the General Assembly passed in November 2021.
The 2024-25 academic results for ABSS have not yet been presented publicly to the school board.
Breaking with its longstanding tradition, ABSS had not yet issued a news release about the 2024-25 academic performance results by press time Wednesday.
Read our editorial page views on the state’s assessment of ABSS schools: https://alamancenews.com/abss-named-one-of-the-20-worst-school-systems-in-the-state/
