Sam Nichols wants to take the Dothan City Schools from a C to an A.
With the exception of Northview High School and Dothan High School, last year all city schools met federal No Child Left Behind goals. A portion of the goals required a percentage of each school’s students to score at level three or above on the Alabama Reading and Math Test or the Alabama High School Graduation Exam.
On Thursday, the city schools released a report compiled by the Public Affairs Research Council of Alabama detailing how Dothan’s schools stack up in terms of how many students score at level four, the test’s advanced level.
The Wiregrass Foundation funded the report, and education director Thomas Harrison said its purpose was to raise the bar for the city schools.
Allyson Morgan, Dothan City Schools secondary curriculum director, said getting students to score at an advanced level is important, because state tests are not as rigorous as other assessments, such as the National Assessment of Educational Progress.
“That’s what this report is about, trying to raise the bar, raise expectations and judge whether we’re making progress,” Dothan City School Superintendent Sam Nichols said.
The report reveals that some city schools are doing well at getting students to score above just passing on state exams, while others are struggling.
Harrison said the city’s two magnet schools stack up well on the report, as expected, but a surprisingly good sign is the performance of some of the system’s most economically and ethnically diverse schools.
Grandview Elementary School, one of the city’s highest poverty, highest minority population schools ranks among the best performing schools in terms of getting students to score at an advanced level on exams. In contrast, Highlands Elementary School, which has a much lower minority and poverty population, ranked near the bottom.
Betty Peters, an Alabama state school board member, said she has concerns that the report is an inaccurate reflection of school performance. Peters said she doesn’t think the report takes into consideration the ability level of students at each school, such as special education students.
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