NC schools versus FL schools??? (Salisbury, Dallas: middle schools, assessment, education)

[Dallasparker]

I am having a hard time figuring out if NC elementary cirriculum is the same/better/or worse than FL elementary's. I am most interested in Davie County and Rowan County. I will have two elementary aged kids and have heard that NC is way behind FL in what level the kids are on. Any suggestions and/or info will be of great help. Thanks.

[Zoya]

Originally Posted by Dallasparker

I am having a hard time figuring out if NC elementary cirriculum is the same/better/or worse than FL elementary's. I am most interested in Davie County and Rowan County. I will have two elementary aged kids and have heard that NC is way behind FL in what level the kids are on. Any suggestions and/or info will be of great help. Thanks.

NC has some fantastic schools, but these are normally found in the urban areas....rural counties are going to be hit or miss and you will have to research each one independantly.

Also, you need to consider where you are coming from in Florida....there is a LOT of sub-par districts in that state as well.

[LLN]

You can answer this question quantitatively if you want to take the time.

This link will take you to the NC Standard Course of Study (NCSCS).

NC Standard Course of Study

Here you can click on, say, MATH, and see what the, 5th grade, for instance, is studying.

Then you can go to this link

NC School Report Cards

Enter the county and the school, as appropriate, and see how the school did on mastering the EOG test based on the NCSCS.

While a lot of factors determine the EOG tests, and there can be GREAT schools with low scores, due to a number of factors, mostly demographic, you can be assured a school with a high score is doing well.

You will have to analyze a) what the children are studying with b) how well they are learning to compare FL to NC.

In the 8th grade, I do a lot of work comparing NC EOG tests to other states and for the most part, the states, at least in the 8th grade, are testing on the same content.

lln

[Raivere]

Rowan schools suck! I should know. I am not sure about Davie or Floridian elementary schools but stay away from Rowan! Lovely place, bad schools.

[Dallasparker]

Raivere...So why do Rowan schools suck? They seem to not be popular with what I am reading. Spencer seems to be a trouble spot. Is this what makes Rowan county schools suck because of these kids? Did/do you have a child/children that attending RCSS? I know I have heard that FL schools suck too, but I really do love my child's school and have become a very active parent at his school. Thanks for your input.

LLN...Thanks for the links. I think they will be of great help to me to understand if they are learning on the same level.

[Raivere]

Because I went there and in my own oppinion...and to many others that had children that went there, believe that the schoold system has too many problems. My experience with the RCSS is that it is a sorry school system. I dygress cause there are some parents that do get involved and are satisfied with it. Plus I don't have any kids...too young to want any yet.

[LLN]

A lot has changed in the county school system since I went to Salisbury HIGH. Salisbury High offers a superb education for those committed to work and that are on the high achiever track. There is tremendous community loyality to Salisbury High and a lot of resources are earmarked there. I am not sure of the middle schools, or the elementary, but don't let the Salisbury High ABC's cause too much dismay. You should visit.

llng

[Raivere]

That sounds really nice. The pride of students working hard and achieving high standards. See the only thing you hear about SRHS is what went wrong this time and everyone knows everybody. Not to mention the dropout rate is amoung the highest in the county, probably the state.

[jaynarie]

I teach for RSSS and there are several schools I have been impressed with. There are some great teachers in some of the schools! I do not always agree with some of the county's policies, but I have observed at a few schools (as well as my own) and was very impressed by a few.

Spencer is a problem area. The northern section of Rowan county has (in general) some of the worst schools in the county. For elementary, stick with schools like Enochville, Knollwood, Faith, Landis, Shive, etc... Pretty much need to be in the southern part of the county.

[Dallasparker]

Thanks...Yey everyone seems to be on the same page about Spencer. We will be up that way in less than a month and can't wait to check out the area. Do you teach elementary? He is a straight A student here and I just want to make sure he continues to learn on his level. Do you know if they do an entrance assessment to see what level he is on and where to place him? I know these questions sound a little crazy, but the school report card thing kind of confused me and does not make a whole lot of sense to me. They give schools a grade here like A, B, C and so forth. The school he is at now got a C the first year and a B last year and I was floored because I love it so much, so I know that they can be a lot better than what is on report cards. Is there a fact/number on the school report card that I should defintely stay away from? I see a lot of the elementary's that I have looked at say "school in progress" as if a lot of the kids are not on their grade level. Thanks and sorry for the long reply..