{"id":12618,"date":"2012-08-01T13:01:29","date_gmt":"2012-08-01T17:01:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.raleighpublicrecord.org\/?p=12618"},"modified":"2012-08-01T13:01:29","modified_gmt":"2012-08-01T17:01:29","slug":"walnut-creek-sees-big-test-score-gains-but-well-below-county-average","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theraleighcommons.org\/raleighpublicrecord\/news\/2012\/08\/01\/walnut-creek-sees-big-test-score-gains-but-well-below-county-average\/","title":{"rendered":"Walnut Creek Sees Big Test Score Gains, But Well Below County Average"},"content":{"rendered":"

Much anxiety has surrounded the destiny of Wake County\u2019s newest high-poverty school, Walnut Creek Elementary<\/a>. But it seems innovative programs and a booster shot of an additional $1 million lead to significant gains in student performance.<\/p>\n

Preliminary test results show 62.9 percent of children passed the End of Grade tests for both reading and math. That\u2019s a 7 percent improvement from last year, but it\u2019s almost 20 percent below this year\u2019s district average of 82.1 percent for elementary school students.<\/p>\n

Walnut Creek only opened this year, but school system administrators were able to track the improvement by laboriously pulling each student\u2019s test grades from the year before at his or her previous school.<\/p>\n

The results are based on children who were enrolled at Walnut Creek in December of this year, so they are not exact. In fact, the number of economically disadvantaged children, who historically do not perform well on tests, rose by more than 4 percent between December and May.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe worked extremely hard,\u201d said principal Corey Moore. \u201cI wasn\u2019t necessarily shocked because I monitor the progress of students and faculty. I knew we were moving in the right direction.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cLooking at the demographics and the extra resources, I\u2019m pleased to see the results,\u201d said school board member Keith Sutton, who represents Walnut Creek\u2019s district.<\/p>\n

The school started the year with 67 percent of children receiving free-and-reduced lunch. That number has increased significantly during the school year and administrators predict that next year the school will have 82 percent F&R students.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Walnut Creek Teachers 2011-12<\/center><\/strong><\/p>\n

Total Teachers: 72<\/p>\n

By Degree at Walnut Creek:
\nBachelors: 40 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a055.56%
\nMasters: 32 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a044.44%
\nNationally Board Certified: 5 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 6.94% \u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Wake Average:
\nMasters: 32%
\nNational Board Certified: 8 per elementary school<\/p>\n

Walnut Creek Teacher Experience:
\n4 years or less: 41 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 56.94%
\n5-9 years: 17 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0 23.61%
\n10+ years: 14 \u00a0\u00a0 19.44% <\/p>\n

Wake Average Elementary Experience:
\n0-3 years: 18%
\n4-10 years: 36%
\n10+ years: 46%<\/p>\n

Walnut Creek Teacher Ethnicity:
\nAsian: 1 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a01.39%
\nBlack: 38 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a052.78%
\nCaucasian: 32 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a044.44%
\nHispanic or Latino: 1 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0 1.39%<\/p>\n

Walnut Creek Student Ethnicity:
\nAsian: \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0.5%
\nBlack: \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a067.7%
\nWhite: \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a03.2%
\nHispanic: \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a026.2%
\nMulti-racial: \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a02.3%
\nNative American: \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 .2%<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Sutton said he believes the board will seek to change those demographics over time, but he doesn\u2019t believe it will happen right away.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s definitely not the ideal environment for maximum learning,\u201d Sutton said.<\/p>\n

School board member John Tedesco said he\u2019s also very pleased with the gains at Walnut Creek, but he is suspicious of trying to change the demographics there.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think it\u2019s the most effective solution to tell those kids they have to leave that school,\u201d Tedesco said. \u201cWe\u2019ve had that in the past and it didn\u2019t produce nearly the amount of gains that it is now.\u201d<\/p>\n

The school system’s literature acknowledges that \u201chigh poverty schools\u2026 have difficulty recruiting and retaining teachers\u201d and that such schools \u201crequire more resources over time.\u201d The Record reported recently that the number of such schools was increasing under the controlled-choice plan.<\/p>\n

Teacher Demographics<\/strong>
\nThe Record requested teacher demographic information on Walnut Creek back in December of 2011. This request was filled simultaneously, last Thursday, with our request for the preliminary test scores.<\/p>\n

The demographic information shows that Walnut Creek has a significantly higher portion of young teachers than most elementary schools in Wake County.<\/p>\n

Veteran teachers often have a higher success rate teaching economically disadvantaged students than new teachers, but the phenomenon didn\u2019t seem to affect Walnut Creek.<\/p>\n

\u201cWith the necessary amount of support, young teachers can be just as effective as veteran teachers,\u201d Moore said. \u201cI have some beginning teachers \u2026 that got phenomenal growth out of students. It\u2019s not years teaching, but commitment to seeing students achieve.\u201d<\/p>\n

Another noticeable statistic in Walnut Creek\u2019s makeup involves Hispanic and Latino students and teachers. <\/p>\n

Hispanic students make up 26 percent of Walnut Creek\u2019s student body, but the school is home to just one Hispanic teacher.<\/p>\n

Also at Walnut Creek, white teachers make up 44 percent of the faculty demographic, while white children make up just 3 percent student population.<\/p>\n

Official test results will be released Thursday. <\/p>\n

Follow Will Huntsberry on twitter @willhuntsberry or #wakeschoolboard<\/em><\/p>\n

<\/br><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Walnut Creek Elementary has been a poster child for Wake County\u2019s debate about high-poverty schools. Its students recently saw big gains in test scores but are still well below the county average.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24024,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[15,23,55],"tags":[821,822,820,365],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/theraleighcommons.org\/raleighpublicrecord\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12618"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/theraleighcommons.org\/raleighpublicrecord\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/theraleighcommons.org\/raleighpublicrecord\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theraleighcommons.org\/raleighpublicrecord\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24024"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theraleighcommons.org\/raleighpublicrecord\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12618"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/theraleighcommons.org\/raleighpublicrecord\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12618\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/theraleighcommons.org\/raleighpublicrecord\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12618"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theraleighcommons.org\/raleighpublicrecord\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12618"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theraleighcommons.org\/raleighpublicrecord\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12618"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}