West Charlotte High works to raise scores: Plan relies on quality teachers, student responsibility.

Byline: Ann Doss Helms

May 30--When West Charlotte High opened in August, Principal John Modest summoned each class to the auditorium. With a projector propped on a stack of textbooks, he began flashing 2005 End of Course test results onto a rippled screen. At the top: Providence High, with 86.6 percent passing. As Modest reached the middle, chuckles and comments rumbled from the freshmen. When he got to dead last, the noise was a dull roar, much of it laughter. West Charlotte: 37.1 percent. "I don't think this is funny, folks," the new principal said. "This is the last time we're going to be at the bottom of the list." Modest's pledge will be put to the test next week, when students take the EOCs again. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools hired Modest from a high-scoring Raleigh magnet school to work a turnaround.

From the 1940s to the 1960s, "Dub C," home of the Lions, was the pride of Charlotte's black community. In the 1970s it became a…