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The Report Cards provide parents and others who are interested in the public schools in North Carolina with information about school, district and state-level data in a number of areas. These include student performance on tests, teacher qualifications, school safety, class and school sizes and many others. All this information is in one easy-to-use website, NC Report Cards. Why is the state releasing Report Cards? North Carolina's legislature and the federal government require schools to issue annual reports to give parents information about important aspects of their child's school. North Carolina has combined federal and state requirements to issue one Report Card for each school, each school district, and the state. Who will receive the Report Card? Every principal in the state should print out the Report Card for his/her school and distribute it to parents. Some principals are mailing the Report Card to parents at home, others are including it in newsletters, and still others are holding meetings with parents to distribute the Report Card and to talk about questions parents may have. Of course, any parent or citizen can look at the Report Cards via the Internet at www.ncreportcards.org. Public libraries and other locations with Internet access are available if parents do not have access to the Internet at home or at work. Is there a difference between the
Report Card online and the Report Card snapshot? The information provided with the Report Card snapshot is the same as that provided in the Report Card online. The only difference in the two is the length - the Report Card available online will contain additional data and information about the indicators that were difficult to capture in a printed document. What information do the Report Cards include? School Report Card information includes the following types of information: School Identification Information (e.g. school names, address, URL for website, grade range, etc.); School Size (class sizes and course sizes, attendance); Student Performance Data (percentages of students by achievement level, SAT performance); School Safety Data (number of offenses, suspensions and expulsions); Access to Technology and Instructional Materials (students per digital learning device, number of books per student); and Teacher Quality Data (number of teachers, license status of teachers, years of teaching experience, teacher turnover rates). School district Report Cards contain additional information, like: district financial information, and principal qualifications and credentials.
The Report Card website includes guides to reading the Report Card snapshots and a Data Sources and Information Guide. These publications describe what is included in each of the sections and the source of the information. When viewing the Report Card online, use the More Information links near each data indicator to learn more about interpreting and using the data from that indicator. How were the Report Cards developed? In 2001, the Report Cards were created through a collaborative effort of the North Carolina Education Research Council, the Governor's Office, and the NC Department of Public Instruction. An advisory group of parents, teachers, school administrators, and others offered input into the Report Card development and the website. Also, each local school system and charter school has a Report Card coordinator who serves as the state's contact for review of the Report Cards at the local level. Do schools get letter grades, A-F, on their Report Cards? Starting with the report for the 2013-14 school year, schools will receive A-F letter grades which will be included in the next release of the School Report Card in late 2014. What does the Report Card tell me about my school, district, and the state? The Report Card provides nuts and bolts kind of items like the grade range, the average class size, and the number of teachers. It also provides information on the safety of the school, the quality of the teaching staff, the resources available in the media center and other statistics. It does not provide information about special programs or initiatives at a school or the unique qualifications of its staff. Can I use the Report Cards to rank schools? No, because schools can be structured quite differently from one another – in their sizes, the grades they teach, and the programs they offer – Report Cards are not a useful tool for ranking schools. It would be incorrect to determine that one school is better than another based on slight differences between data points. What should parents do with the information in the Report Card? Ask questions, advocate for additional support and generally get more involved with their local school. The Report Card should prompt parents to learn more about how teachers are assigned, schools are managed and decisions are made. Parents also might want to review their school district's Report Card, which is available online at www.ncreportcards.org. My child goes to a new school that just opened in the 2013-14 school year. Is there a Report Card for our school? No, the Report Card is for schools that were open during the 2012-13 school year. New schools this year will have Report Cards when the next Report Card is issued in the fall of 2014. Who can answer my questions about the information in the Report Card? If you have a specific question about your child's performance or the material your child is studying, consider first contacting your child's teacher. The school's main office can direct your call or provide you with additional contact information for your child's teacher. If you have general questions about the school's performance or the educational priorities at your school, please contact your school principal.
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