AdvancED announced that the Durham Public Schools is on the road to receiving full accreditation.  As you may recall, AdvancED is the same accreditation outfit that threatened to revoke Wake County Schools accreditation for reasons that had nothing to do with the performance of schools in the district.

Speaking of performance, let’s take a look at the performance of schools in Durham last year (see table below).  Without a doubt, state test results suggest that Durham has a handful of excellent schools.  It also has 17 schools, not including Lakeview and DPL, that fail to get at least 60 percent of its students at or above grade level on state tests (see Performance Composite).  The state categorizes these schools as “Low performing” and “Priority” schools (see ABC Status).  Apparently, the AdvancED folks do not have a problem with this.  Indeed, AdvancED did not think twice about accrediting the Halifax County Schools, one of the lowest performing districts in the state.

Once again, it is proof that AdvancED accreditation does not mean much about the quality of the schools in a district.  Credit the General Assembly for creating an alternative.

Durham Public Schools: Student Performance, 2010-11

Sch Code School Name Grade Span Expected Growth High Growth Performance Composite ABC Status AYP Type
341 Lakeview School 6-12 No No 18.8 NR No Alternative
322 Durham’s Performance Learning 8-12 No No 35.1 NR No Alternative
368 Southern High 9-12 No No 46.8 LP No Regular
320 Glenn Elementary K-5 Yes No 47.2 Pri Exp No Regular
314 Chewning Middle 6-8 No No 47.4 LP No Regular
400 Y E Smith Elementary PK-5 Yes Yes 48.0 Pri Hgh No Regular
374 C C Spaulding Elementary PK-5 Yes No 50.0 Pri Exp No Regular
352 Merrick-Moore Elementary K-5 Yes No 51.8 Pri Exp No Regular
355 Neal Middle 6-8 Yes No 52.5 Pri Exp No Regular
325 Hillside High 9-12 No No 53.8 Pri No Regular
346 Lowe’s Grove Middle 6-8 Yes No 54.1 Pri Exp No Regular
328 Holt Elementary K-5 Yes No 54.7 Pri Exp No Regular
310 Eastway Elementary K-5 No No 54.8 Pri No Regular
315 Eno Valley Elementary K-5 Yes No 55.1 Pri Exp No Regular
339 Lakewood Elementary K-5 Yes Yes 55.3 Pri Hgh No Regular
344 Fayetteville Street Elementary K-5 Yes No 56.1 Pri Exp Yes Regular
366 Sherwood Githens Middle 6-8 Yes No 57.0 Pri Exp No Regular
362 Parkwood Elementary K-5 Yes No 58.0 Pri Exp No Regular
388 W G Pearson Elementary PK-5 Yes Yes 58.8 Pri Hgh No Regular
304 Bethesda Elementary K-5 Yes Yes 60.4 Pro Hgh No Regular
318 Club Boulevard Elementary K-5 Yes No 60.6 Pro Exp No Regular
363 E K Powe Elementary K-5 No No 60.6 NR No Regular
347 George Watts Elementary K-5 Yes Yes 60.8 Pro Hgh No Regular
376 Spring Valley Elementary K-5 Yes Yes 61.2 Pro Hgh Yes Regular
356 Northern High 9-12 Yes No 61.6 Pro Exp No Regular
354 Morehead Montessori PK-5 Yes Yes 62.0 Pro Hgh No Regular
372 Southwest Elementary K-5 Yes No 62.0 Pro Exp No Regular
360 Oak Grove Elementary K-5 Yes No 62.2 Pro Exp No Regular
389 WG Pearson Magnet Middle 6-8 Yes No 62.5 Pro Exp No Regular
306 Brogden Middle 6-8 Yes No 64.0 Pro Exp No Regular
308 Burton Elementary K-5 Yes Yes 64.7 Pro Hgh No Regular
327 Hope Valley Elementary K-5 Yes No 65.0 Pro Exp No Regular
701 Hillside New Tech High 9-12 No No 65.3 NR Yes Regular
338 James E Shepard Middle 6-8 Yes No 66.7 Pro Exp No Regular
342 Lakewood Montessori Middle 6-6 No No 67.7 NR No Regular
316 George L Carrington Middle 6-8 Yes No 68.6 Pro Exp No Regular
365 Riverside High 9-12 Yes No 69.6 Pro Exp No Regular
332 Forest View Elementary K-5 Yes Yes 71.2 Pro Hgh No Regular
700 Southern School of Engineering 9-12 Yes No 71.3 Pro Exp Yes Regular
312 C E Jordan High 9-12 No No 72.9 NR No Regular
319 Creekside Elementary K-5 Yes No 74.3 Pro Exp No Regular
324 Hillandale Elementary K-5 Yes No 75.0 Pro Exp No Regular
313 Easley Elementary K-5 No No 76.6 NR No Regular
348 Mangum Elementary K-5 Yes No 77.1 Pro Exp No Regular
370 Rogers-Herr Middle 6-8 Yes No 77.6 Pro Exp No Regular
367 R N Harris Elementary K-5 Yes Yes 77.8 Pro Hgh Yes Regular
340 Little River Elementary K-5 Yes Yes 77.9 Pro Hgh No Regular
364 Pearsontown Elementary K-5 Yes No 84.1 Dst Exp No Regular
323 Durham School of the Arts 6-12 Yes Yes 85.2 Dst Hgh No Regular
353 Middle College HS @ DTCC 11-12 No No 86.6 NR Yes Regular
317 City of Medicine Academy 9-12 Yes No 88.2 Dst Exp Yes Regular
309 J D Clement Early College HS 9-12 No No 88.8 NR Yes Regular