Bessemer Elementary Schools State Letter Grades

Okay. So, each year, the Alabama Department of Education releases school letter grades to the public regarding how schools are performing. Some would liken this moment to the same anxiety students feel when report cards come home. Of course, you have those students who can’t wait to share their performance with their parents, and then there are those who aren’t as proud of their results and need that extra support.

Let’s just say the elementary schools in the city of Bessemer and a few surrounding areas definitely share those same "grows" and "glows" of our students during report card time.

Without further ado, below are the rankings of our Bessemer elementary schools according to 2023 State-released report cards at https://reportcard.alsde.edu/selectschool.aspx. 

I challenge you to see OUR schools' scores and ask yourself, “What can I do to support OUR schools?” #NoJudgement 

School	Letter Grade	Score
Abrams	C	74
Empower	C	73
West Hills	C	70
Jonesboro	D	61
Hard	D	65
Greenwood	F	59

So, what does all of this mean? In a nutshell, elementary schools are graded based on 4 indicators. They are academic achievement, academic growth, progress in English learning proficiency, and chronic absenteeism. The State has a 2023 Accountability Guide https://www.alabamaachieves.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/RD_SP_20231213_Fall-2023-State-Technical-Guide_v1.0.pdf)that may be helpful for a deeper dive into the indications.

However, the 2 indicators that resonate mostly with parents are Academic Achievement and Academic Growth.  Academic Growth is determined based on individual students who demonstrate improvement within the growth categories in English Language Arts (ELA) (reading/English prior to the fall of 2021) and math utilizing assessments in tested grades. However, Academic Achievement is determined based on the number of students scoring within each of the achievement levels in the areas of English Language Arts (ELA) (reading/English prior to the fall of 2021) and math utilizing summative and alternate assessments in tested grades.

In a nutshell, a school can have 100% of its students show academic growth, but have only 3% of those students be recognized as proficient or on grade level. Huh? That's right! Growth does NOT mean performing at grade level. It just simply means "some" level of improvement. I know... Scary right. 

A big indicator with educators is Chronic Absenteeism. Chronic absenteeism is determined based on the percentage of students in grades K-12 who missed a total of 18 or more days (excused or unexcused) of the time they enrolled. 

https://statereportcard.alsde.edu/SelectSchool.aspx

In all fairness let’s rank some of the surrounding schools as well. For years, several Bessemer natives flee to the schools on the outskirts of Bessemer in hopes of giving their little ones a better education. So here’s how they did.

School	Letter Grade	Score
McAdory	B	82
Hueytown Intermediate	C	78
Hueytown Primary	C	75
Pleasant Grove	C	73
Brighton	D	67

According to the State department, State Superintendent, Dr. Eric Mackey, said that “He hopes the Report Card will be used to jumpstart conversations about what is working in public schools as well as identifying areas that may need support and/or additional resources.”

As a parent advocate, I truly believe that our schools and teachers need parent support. Even though I’ll be the first to admit that bridging a relationship beyond the surface of grades and behavior conferences can be a challenge.

So now what? Well, are you on the PTO or PTA? Are you a part of other parent groups? Do you enforce digital learning tools at home even when teachers don’t send homework?

Have you educated yourself on the difference between your child’s report card grades and being proficient?

Do you attend local council meetings or board of education meetings?

Let’s be honest, most of us don’t have the time to do it all, including myself. But I encourage each reader to pick just one thing you aren’t doing and start there. Each one teach one.