CAT Scores Not Good News In Brunswick
BY MARJOK1K MKCJIVKRN
Were litis year's third graders at
Waccamav. Elementary School real
ly better at reading and language
skills than their counterparts the
year before, or did teachers do a bel
ter job?
Were Shallottc Middle School
sixth graders significantly poorer in
science than 1990-91 sixth graders?
Have Brunswick County students
learned less than the average North
Carolina student in basic skills?
This is pan of the picture to be in
ferred from tesi scores just released
from California Achievement Tests
(CAT) given this spring in third,
sixth and eighth grades. Brunswick
County school results indicate slight
improvement over the previous year,
but some backsliding in eighth grade
scores.
Tests were given in Bolivia,
Sou th per i. and Waccamaw Elemen
tary, Lincoln and Union Primary,
and I. eland, Shallottc, and South
Brunswick Middle schools.
The most contradictory set of fig
ures came from Waccamaw Ele
mentary, ihe only school thai includ
ed all three grades tested. Third and
sixth graders made the greatest gains
over the previous year of any other
county schools, while its eighth
graders fell the farthest in scores.
Among third graders, those at
Union and Lincoln Primary' fol
lowed closc behind Waccamaw in
achieving higher scores than the pre
ceding classcs. Only Southport Pri
mary lost ground. Lcland Middle
School scores were consistently the
worst in sixth and eighth grade tests,
falling behind the previous year in
Brunswick County CAT Scores
1990/91 Third Grade
CAT Science Social Studies
State 64 57 59
County 52.1 44 44
Bolivia 69 57 59
Lincoln 51 40 41
Southport 52 44 51
Union 57 44 44
Waccamaw 29 35 38
1990/91 Sixth Grade
CAT Science Social Studies
State 58 55 53
Countv 55 46.8 44.8
Lcland 46 41 43
Shallotte 53 55 52
South 49 48 46
Waccamaw 45 45 46
1990/91 Eighth Grade
CAT Science Social Studies
State 56 57 53
Countv 52.1 52.1 47.8
Leland 52 50 60
Shallotte 54 53 53
South 60 60 56
Waccamaw 63 75 73
1991/92 Third (Irade
CAT Science Social Studies
State 66 63 62
County 59 50 51
Bolivia 81 54 58
Lincoln 56 46 48
Southport 48 46 48
Union 60 50 55
Waccamaw 46 4] 44
1991/92 Sixth ( Irade
CAT Science Social Studies
State 60 56 54
County 55 49 48
Leland 47 37 39
Shallotte 56 45 45
South 56 52 51
Waccamaw 66 56 5J
1991/92 Eighth Grade
CAT Science Social Studies
State 57 61 55
Countv 52 57 48
Leland 42 44 44
Shallotte 53 52 51
South 58 68 48
Waccamaw 53 57 59
CAT, SCIENCE and social studies scores in percentiles are shown above, for the 1990-91 and 1991-92
school years. State averages are provided for comparison.
everything except sixth grade CAT
scores, where a one percentile gain
was made.
Scores for reading, language and
math, collectively callcd the CAT
score, and separate scores for sci
ence and social studies, are ex
pressed in percentiles. A score of 50,
for example, means a student has
done better than 50 percent of
his/her peers. State and county aver
ages are given for comparison with
individual schools.
Bright spots were in South Bruns
wick Middle, Bolivia Elementary
and Waccamaw Elementary, the on
ly schools where the state average
was met or surpassed.
Bolivia third graders exceeded the
state CAT average of 66 by 15 per
centile; Waccamaw sixth graders
topped the slate CAT average of 60
by six percentile and met the state
science score of 56, while its eighth
graders exceeded the stale social
studies average of 55 by four per
centile; and South Brunswick
Middle eighth graders exceeded
state averages in both CAT (by one
percentile) and science (by seven
percentile).
The CAT is a national lest de
signed to measure how well students
perform in basic skills against state
and national norms. Assistant Sup
erintendent Mosc Lewis said Bruns
wick County's scores would be bet
ter if there were more uniformity
among schools and classrooms as to
how the test is approached. "Bolivia
Elementary, for instance, is a skills
oriented school, and that is what is
evaluated by the CAT."
Ixwis compared their impressive
CAT results with those of South -
port, whose teachers, he said, have
incorporated the whole language ap
proach in instruction, dc-cmphasiz
ing the CAT test as a result. South
port Elementary had third grade
scores of 48 on the CAT, and only
46 and 48 in science and social stud
ies, compared with state averages of
63 and 62, respectively.
"It's not fair to say Brunswick
County schools arc doing poorly,"
Lewis said. "It might just be one
school, so it's important to look at
the breakdown of scores in each
classroom." He believed evaluation
of test scores helps teachers zero in
on their strengths and weaknesses.
Lincoln Principal Joseph Budcr
said Monday that he had not careful
ly studied the scores and that his
teachers do not try to teach to the
tcsLs. "They're aware of the kind of
thing expected," he said, "but we go
by the standard course of study and
the local curriculum."
Butler said he had never believed
the CAT scores should be the sole
determining factor in deciding how
well students are doing. "All kinds
of things can happen to a child on
the test day," he pointed out.
The end-of-gradc testing that will
replace CAT tests, beginning next
year, will be a belter reflection of
learning, according to Butler. "It
will test thinking and problem solv
ing more than just basic skills," he
explained, "and it's better if you
know how to communicate and
where to go for facts than just to
memorize a lot of facts. We should
test what has been taught, and I'm
not sure the CAT has done that."
Zclphia Grissctt, Union principal,
agreed. "The new testing will force
teachers to integrate and enrich what
children learn." she said.
She agreed, too, with Lewis that
Brunswick County schools vary in
their approach. "Ours is more holis
tic," she said. "I can attribute our
progress on CAT scores to the hard
work of our teachers. Their attitude
is that they'll do whatever it takes,
but their emphasis is on integrating
skills."
Grissctt said the CAT tests don't
rcllcct all that is taught or all that
children know, and pointed out that
exceptional children are tested along
with mainstream children, so their
scores arc averaged in.
"But we want our school to do
well on any state assessment," she
said with a smile, "because we're
very conscious of the criticism of
public schools."
Supply School Volunteer Wants 1 00 More
Helpers
BY MARJORIK MECJIVERN
If you've ever complained aboul
the school system or kids who can't
read; if you think you owe sonic
thing to your community; if you
have a few minutes of spare lime
every week, read on: Jean Gilielte
wants you.
She's a lot subtler than the U.S.
Army recruiting poster, in which
Uncle Sam glares and points directly
at YOU; however, this charming
mother of two, who has been gener
ous with her own time, hopes aboul
100 Brunswick County residents
will do the same when Supply Fle
mentary School opens its doors.
A volunteer worker at Union Pri
mary for the past three years, Ms.
Gillette recently met Carolyn Wil
liams, principal of the new Supply
school, and offered her services as
coordinator of volunteers there. Mrs.
Williams' own two girls will be
among those moving to Supply, and
she has lists of parents and others
who might transfer their allegiance
as she is doing.
"The first thing we need to do is
physically move into the school and
set it up," Gillette said. "That will
require a lot of help, especially from
men. I'll begin contacting people in
late July."
She expects to recruit a co-coordi
nator, which was her role at Union,
to help run the new volunteer pro
gram, and will send out flyers in two
different directions. "We'll send
home a flyer with all the children,
about the needs we have for volun
teers," she said. "And another kind
of flyer will go out into llie commu
nity to reach retired people and oth
ers who don't have children in
school."
Gillette outlined the volunteer
tasks performed at Union, the same
ones that will be needed in die new
school. "Volunteers listen to chil
dren read and give them one-on-one
attention that the teacher doesn't al
ways have time for," she said. "They
help first graders with their ABC's
and counting, too. Also, people with
special skills, like artistic talent, can
do things like prepare bulletin
boards and other art work that re
lieves teachers."
She said the county's literacy
council trains about 15 of its volun
teers specifically to work in the
schools, so they will be part of her
program. "They're having a training
workshop in July to coordinate their
efforts with ours," Gillette reported.
Many county residents who are
not necessarily parents have special
skills to share with the children or
can talk about their carecrs at the an
nual Career Day at school, Gillette
said.
"And for those people who have
small children at home and can't get
a babysitter," she noted, "we'll be
organizing a Mom's Morning Out to
give volunteers a place to leave their
children while they work at school."
Gillette, who plans to spend a
couple of mornings a week at
school, and countless hours on the
telephone at home, has already gone
into action for Supply Elementary
School.
"I've ordered a suite Hag for the
school from Rep. (David) Red
wine," she said, "and I'm going to
ask Congressman (Charlie) Rose to
gel us a U.S. flag that has flown
over the capitol."
She said Principal Williams will
have a spccial "moving- in" day on a
Saturday in July, when the whole
community will be invited to comc
to the school to move furniture,
arrange classrooms and do all the
work associated with setting up
housekeeping anywhere.
Meanwhile, Gillette is eagerly
calling on people and hopes to take
calls from equally eager volunteers.
Those who would like to be a part of
this new Supply community of
workers can call her at 842-9177.
College Freshmen Progress
Compared Among Counties |
Students living in North Carolina
who enrolled in a University of
North Carolina (UNC) institution in
the fall of 1990 have been tracked
by the UNC system since then. For
the first lime, reports on their
progress were recently sent to coun
ty school systems and individual
school principals.
Data on students from Brunswick,
Columbus, Pender and New Han
over counties shows that more high
school graduates go on to a state
university from Brunswick than the
other two rural counties. Seventy
four local freshmen entered state in
stitutions in 1990, compared with 65
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from Columbus County and 59 from
Pender County. New Hanover
County sent 369 to state schools.
The majority (30) of Brunswick
County graduates enrolled in either
East Carolina University (ECU) or
the University of North Carolina at
Wilmington (UNCW), while those
from Columbus County arc attracted
equally by ECU, Pembroke State
University (PSU), North Carolina
Central University (NCCU), North
Carolina State University (NCSU),
University of Noah Carolina at
Chapel Hill (UNC-CH) and North
Carolina Agricultural & Technical
(NCA&T).
UNCW gets the majority of grad
uates from both New Hanover and
Pender counties.
This compares with the following
statewide averages: 19,188 high
school graduates attend a state insti
tution. an equal number choosing
NCSU and UNC-CH as the most
popular schools, with ECU in third
place.
While 82.7 percent of these stu
dents statewide return for a second
year of higher education, 82.4 per
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RM
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ccnt from Brunswick County do so.
An impressive 92.3 percent of
Columbus County freshmen return
for a second year, 81.4 percent from
Pender County, and 81.8 percent
from New Hanover.
The statewide percentage of Tar
Heel freshmen making better than a
2.0 grade point average (CPA) is
72.7. There arc 66.2 percent from
Brunswick County with this GPA,
80 percent from Columbus, 49.2
percent from Pender, and 63.1 per
cent from New Hanover.
Those making better than 3.0
GPA number 25.1 percent statewide
and 17.6 percent from Brunswick
County. Columbus County had 26.2
percent will) a GPA greater than 3.0,
while Pender had 10.2 percent and
New Hanover 18.2 percent.
Some explanations arc required to
interpret this data accurately.
Freshmen, for example, at NCA&T,
NCSU and UNCC usually lake more
and higher level courses in mathe
matics than freshmen at the other
UNC institutions. Sincc math grades
lend to be lower than those in other
subjects, the GPA of these freshmen
may be lower than at other institu
tions.
Statistics from the three
Brunswick County high schools, re
garding freshmen entering state in
stitutions in 1990 arc as follows:
North South West
Attending
24
29
Returning 2nd Yr.
21
83.3%
75.9%
2.0 (JPA
51.7%
3.0 (JPA
17.2%
90.5%
75%
66.7%
20.8%
42.9%
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I
JEAN GILLETTE has three good reasons to volunteer her efforts
for the new Supply School. One of them, pictured with her, is
Marie, 5, who will start in Supply's kindergarten this fall. The oth
ers are Marie's brother George, 7, and her sister, Morgan, 8.
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