Case Study: Guilford County Schools achieves significant increases in student passing rates and reduced teacher attrition with SAS EVAAS for K-12

Improving teacher effectiveness

Guilford County Schools, a 72,000-student district in central North Carolina where more than half of students qualify for free or reduced lunch, needed a fair, longitudinal way to measure teacher effectiveness and to attract top teachers to high-poverty schools. Previously evaluations were subjective—based on classroom control, parent feedback, or single-year test pass rates—so the district sought a data-driven system to identify and deploy effective teachers where they were most needed.

By adopting SAS® EVAAS™ for K–12 and launching the "Mission Possible" program, Guilford used multi-year student-growth data to recruit high-performing teachers (with bonuses up to $12,000) to low-income schools and continuously monitor effectiveness. The initiative produced measurable gains in 97% of program schools—some courses saw passing rates increase by as much as 47%—and reduced teacher attrition in participating schools from 36% to as low as 10.7%.

Guilford County Schools

Amy Holcombe

Executive Director of Talent Development