Chesterfield schools raise the bar for expectations
By Greg Pearson STAFF WRITER

Though Chesterfield County Public Schools (CCPS) have a very good reputation, the School Board and school management want to keep it that way by raising student performance. Late last month, school leaders presented the board with their "Design for Excellence" plan, which maps out student achievement objectives through 2012.

"The targets are rigorous but attainable," Superintendent Marcus Newsome told the board. "[There must be] ethical treatment for all students…and for all schools in the county. It's our moral obligation."

Lin Corbin-Howerton, director of school improvement and instructional support, briefed the board on the current status of measures for success and discussed the approved goals for the future. The status report broke students out into racial and learning ability subsets and categorized some as "economically disadvantaged."

For example, only 35 percent of county students currently pass Algebra I by the end of the eighth grade. The school system will consider itself proficient when the 70 percent level has been reached with a goal of 85 percent. Today, all groups are falling short of that goal: African-American (19 percent); Hispanic (12 percent); Caucasian (43 percent); economically disadvantaged (5 percent); students with disabilities (10 percent); and limited English proficiency (13 percent).

Chesterfield students need to take more math courses, say school leaders. "The best indicator of success is a student taking math during his senior year at or above the Algebra II level," said Corbin-Howerton. Again, all groups were short of meeting the proficiency level of 75 percent with a future goal of 85 percent.

Local business leaders have insisted that 95 percent of students should be taking advanced courses, but the school's proficiency level was set at 65 percent with an eventual goal of 85 percent. All groups do not meet that level, but 55 percent of students do take at least some advanced courses.

All racial groups do exceed the proficiency levels for reading and writing while African- Americans and Hispanics are close to the proficiency level in math.

Minority teachers are also underrepresented within the county. While 36 percent of the students are non-white, only 11 percent of the teachers are. The plan calls for minority teachers to make up at least 15 percent of the teacher pool with an eventual goal of 20 percent.