By FULLER ROYAL

Columbus County Schools had among the lowest regional scores on the 2006 North Carolina Writing Assessment, with almost three-fourths of its fourth, seventh and 10th graders failing to pass.

Superintendent Dan Strickland said he is disappointed with the results, which were originally supposed to count this year in the North Carolina ABC’s of Education, the state’s annual assessment of how each school system is doing.

That determination may be up in the air. Strickland said that while the state hasn’t released any official statewide scores, the word is that scores across the state are very low.

That means that either the test wasn’t designed properly or that North Carolina’s pubic schools are not stressing enough writing or a combination of the two.

Strickland said that the writing scores were a major concern during a recent meeting of superintendents from across the state.

Columbus County’s best performance came from Cerro Gordo Elementary, where 52 percent of its fourth-graders passed their writing tests.

Tabor City Middle School’s seventh grades only had 11 percent of its students pass the test. None of Nakina Alternative School’s seventh-graders were proficient in writing. All of the Boys and Girls Homes seventh-graders failed the test.

In what is clearly a rebound for the school, the second highest batch of scores went to Fair Bluff Elementary School, where 46 percent of its fourth-graders passed.

In what is clearly a trend, seventh-grade scores are lower than fourth-grade scores with the exception of Evergreen and Williams Township elementary schools where the seventh graders outscored the fourth-graders.

Among the 10th grades in the county, one third of South Columbus High School’s sophomores passed the writing test. One fourth of the students at East Columbus and West Columbus high schools passed.

Strickland said he’s not sure if the state will use the scores this year. He added that the math scores are also delayed.

In 2002, the state threw out that year’s low writing scores with the explanation that the tests weren’t properly designed.

“It will be an unusual year for accountability,” Strickland said. “Our reading scores have held and some have increased.”

Strickland said that last year staff development had included additional emphasis on writing.

“We thought we were on the right track,” he said. “We already have a plan in place for next year.” Strickland spoke one-on-one with each of his principals last month to discuss changes at each school to try and bolster writing skills and scores.

Paul Pope, the county’s director of accountability, addressed the writing scores during the June 29 meeting of the Columbus County Board of Education.

Pope, in his report, said that the system’s K-12 teachers would focus on a writing improvement program developed by Thinking Maps Inc. The lead consultant on the project is Melba Johnson, who began work with the teachers on this program last year.

She initially worked with the middle and high school language arts and English teachers. That part of the training will continue through 2006-07.

Two countywide writing workshops for teachers will be held in September and October, both conducted by Johnson.
In November, the schools will administer a problem-solution prompt to students in the middle grades. Students will be given a hypothetical question and then write an answer in the form of a short essay.

In December, Johnson will conduct a teacher workshop demonstrating how to evaluate and score those essays.

In January, middle schoolers will be given another essay to write, this one based on an evaluative argument prompt or question.

In February, teachers will again attend a workshop, this one on analytical scoring. They will score the January essays of the students.

Pope reported that new English and language arts teachers will attend “Write for the Future” workshops offered by the Southeast Education Alliance at James Sprunt Community College in Kenansville in September, October and November.

Grades K-5 curriculum coordinator Agatha Brown will facilitate workshops throughout the year conducted by Thinking Maps Inc. for elementary teachers.

Strickland said that with the county’s renewed emphasis on writing, he hopes to see an increase in scores next year.

“We think we are on the right track with some things we are targeting,” he said.