(The Center Square) – Increases have been obtained by North Carolina students in four-year cohort graduation rate, grade-level proficiency in math, and grade-level and college-and-career readiness levels in third through eighth grades.
School performance grades are also improved, according to the accountability report released Wednesday by the State Board of Education.
“This progress highlights the hard work and incredible dedication of educators and students across the state,” said Catherine Truitt, state superintendent and leader of the Department of Public Instruction. “The data in the accountability report provides us with a clear picture of what’s going well in our schools and what areas need additional support.”
The report shows “we’re headed in the right direction in most areas, but that we must remain committed to advocating for additional support for our teachers,” Truitt added.
Graduation rate, based on a four-year cohort, is 86.9%, up from 86.55 in 2022-23.
The grade-level math proficiency gain was 2.1%.
In a rating of school performance, there has been a “steady increase” in the number of schools with an A, B or C grade, according to the report. At the same time, the number of schools earning a D or F declined almost 2 percentage points over last year.
About 72.5% of schools met or exceeded growth in 2023-24, compared to 72.3% in 2022-23 and up from 69.6% in 2021-22, the report stated.
There has been significant progress over the last three years among English Language Learners, the report found.
In 2021-22, 21.1% met progress targets, which increased to 24.9% in 2022-23 and 27.3% in 2023-24, the Department of Public Instruction said. There has also been a jump in the number of students who have obtained the language skills to exit the program.
Although reading scores generally increased, there were declines among fourth- and seventh-grade students, the report said.
There was also a decline in the percentage of 11th graders who scored at least 19 on the ACT test, the minimum required for admission to the University of North Carolina System. In 2023-24, 40.2% of 11th graders scored the minimum, compared tp 41.1% in 2022-23, the state said.
“We’re headed in the right direction in most areas, but we must remain committed to advocating for additional support for our teachers,” Truitt said. “The data in the accountability report provides us with a clear picture of what’s going well in our schools and what areas need additional support.”