North Carolina’s Academic Landscape: Progress in Student Performance and School Accountability
Recent findings from the 2023-24 state test results reveal encouraging developments in North Carolina’s education system. Presented to the State Board of Education, these results reflect notable strides in student performance across various grades and subjects.
Math achievement continues to shine, with students from third to eighth grade demonstrating improvements in both college-and-career readiness (CCR) and grade-level proficiency (GLP). These advancements extended to both NC Math 1 offerings, with a notable increase of up to 2.1 percentage points in grade-level proficiency compared to the 2022-23 school year. However, a slight decline was observed in NC Math 3 scores, which decreased from 58.3% to 57.6%.
School performance grades show a positive trend, as more schools are earning grades A, B, or C, while those receiving D or F have decreased by nearly two percentage points. Additionally, 72.5% of schools met or exceeded growth expectations in 2023-24, marking an improvement from 72.3% in the previous year and 69.6% in 2021-22.
English Language Learners (EL) have also made significant progress. Over the past three years, there has been a steady increase in the percentage of students meeting progress targets or exiting English learner status, climbing from 21.1% in 2021-22 to 27.3% in 2023-24. This year, students exiting the program grew by nearly half a percentage point, while those meeting annual progress increased by nearly two percentage points.
The state’s four-year cohort graduation rate saw a modest rise, moving up to 86.9% from 86.5% in the previous academic year.
“We are proud of the steady progress reflected in this year’s state test scores. This progress highlights the hard work and incredible dedication of educators and students across the state,” remarked State Superintendent of Public Instruction Catherine Truitt.
She further emphasized, “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. This year’s data shows us that we’re headed in the right direction in most areas, but that we must remain committed to advocating for additional support for our teachers.”
The analysis of the 2023-24 school year data encompasses all end-of-grade (EOG) and end-of-course (EOC) tests, aligned with the North Carolina Standard Course of Study in English Language Arts (Reading) and Mathematics, as well as the Essential Standards in Science. The data outlines the percentage of students scoring at Level 3 and above (grade-level proficiency) and Level 4 and above (college-and-career readiness) across four achievement levels, with Level 5 indicating the highest mastery.
Overall, the test results for 2023-24 indicate an increase in the percentage of students achieving both college-and-career readiness and grade-level proficiency. While reading scores showed gains in most areas, there were declines in fourth and seventh-grade reading, with decreases of 2.5 and 1.8 percentage points, respectively. English II scores improved to 59.5%, up from 58.3% in the previous year. Science achievements varied, with a nearly one percentage point rise in fifth-grade science but declines in eighth-grade science and biology.
Superintendent Truitt noted, “As a state, we have invested an incredible amount of time and effort into teaching our elementary students essential literacy skills using the science of reading. But many of our literacy supports fall off after third grade, and this year’s data shows us that focusing on elementary students, specifically kindergarten through third grade, is not enough. We must invest in similar, developmentally appropriate professional learning for middle and high school teachers as well.”
The accountability measures reflect progress, with 72.5% of schools meeting or exceeding growth in 2023-24. A-F School Performance grades are calculated by combining the percentage of students earning at least grade-level proficiency with growth, which is measured by a statistical model comparing predicted and actual test scores. Test scores account for 80% of the performance grade, while growth contributes 20%. Additionally, the percentage of English learners meeting progress targets is included in the school performance grade.
High schools incorporate additional factors into their performance grades, including four-year graduation cohort rates, math course rigor, and the percentage of students achieving the minimum ACT score for University of North Carolina admission or earning a silver certificate or higher on the WorkKeys assessment. The percentage of 11th graders achieving the UNC minimum of 19 was 40.2 in 2023-24, compared to 41.1 in the prior year.
Truitt emphasized, “Throughout my tenure as state superintendent, I have advocated for a new way of calculating school performance grades. The current model puts far too much emphasis on a single-day’s test scores and doesn’t take into account the many other factors, such as durable skills, post-secondary outcomes, and school climate that impact both school quality and student success.”
The number of low-performing schools, defined as those receiving a D or F performance grade without exceeding growth, decreased from 804 to 736 in 2023-24. The number of low-performing districts also declined from 25 to 23.
“We know that educators’ commitment to student growth is the cornerstone of continued progress and learning,” said Tammy Howard, senior director of accountability and testing for the N.C. Department of Public Instruction. “While test grades and letter outcomes cannot tell us everything we need to know about school and student success, North Carolina continues to see growth for most grades and subjects. This is something to be proud of.”
*** Go here for complete 2023-24 results for the state, districts and schools, under the 2023-24 “Reports” heading and the 2023-24 Annual Testing Report – Includes Performance, School Performance Grades, and Long-Term Goals under the “Documentation” heading. ***
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