District leaders outline ideas for improving low-performing schools

WILMINGTON, N.C. (WECT) - Six months after the department of public instruction ranked more than a dozen New Hanover County schools as low-performing, school leaders say they may have some solutions.

In September, 13 schools in New Hanover County were given a grade of D or F by the Department of Public Instruction based on their academic performance and growth. Since then, administrators have explored ways of improving those scores.

“These are some proposals that we would love to do, but we really know that those are some of the things that work when you’re talking about improving some of our low-performing schools,” said Chief Academic Officer Patrice Faison.

Administrators brought three proposals to the school board legislative committee as ways of improving those schools. They included:

• Individualized training for teachers. The training would take one to two weeks and would be created to best address the needs of each school. The district would compensate teachers for their time spent in the training.
• Specialized tutoring for students. The district would identify tutors for certain grades that would work with students on gaps they’re experiencing. The tutors would work with small groups of students multiple days a week.
• Mentorship for principals. The district would find and pay principals across the state who have been successful in improving low-performing schools to mentor principals in New Hanover County’s schools.

Now, it comes down to funding: the district will need support in Raleigh to make those ideas happen. Faison said she hopes to pitch it as a pilot program that could be used to improve schools across the state.

“If we can do it here if we can show what can be done here, this is something that we can mirror across our state,” Faison said. “So that’s the next step is trying to get in front of the right people to say this is something we would like to pilot and try.”

Above all, Faison said she wants to make sure students at all New Hanover schools have the opportunity to succeed, and that’s why programs like this are a top priority.

“By doing these things, it’s like we never, never give up,” she said. “We’re going to always look at what can we do to make sure that every student gets what they need.”

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