CHARLOTTE, N.C. — North Carolina state education leaders say students in the state's public schools have made more recovery from COVID-related losses during the 2022-23 school year, along with making gains overall.
On Tuesday, the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction released data from state test results, which it claimed showed the gains made by students in the last school year. The DPI said more than seven of every 10 schools achieved or exceeded goals for academic growth, while the proportion of schools that did not meet expectations was just a single percentage point higher than the 2018-19 school year. More than one in four of nearly 2,600 schools earned an A or B for School Performance Grade, while about every two out of three earned a C or better.
“We’ve now seen two consecutive years of gains that were greater than any of the several years preceding the pandemic losses, when year-to-year changes in average scores were generally flat, or in some cases, declining. Students and schools still have a way to go to catch up, but we have good reason to think that progress will continue,” said Catherine Truitt, State Superintendent of Public Instruction.
The NC DPI said the strongest gains were in middle and high school math, along with notable gains in third-grade reading, fourth-grade reading, eighth-grade science, and high school biology. Only high school English II remained unchanged from the 202-21 school year.
Check to see how your child's school did below in this searchable database:
How did CMS schools fare?
Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools, the state's second-largest school district, saw some of the same gains seen across the state. However, the district shared there are still several schools that didn't make the grade for the 2022-23 school year.
A data summary shared with WCNC Charlotte showed that 58 campuses in the CMS district are deemed low-performing. That's eight more than the previous school year, although it should be noted the district as a whole isn't deemed low-performing since more than 50% of the district's 171 schools were not identified as low-performing. Rather, that's about 34% of the schools within CMS.
"I've said it before, we will take a collective effort for us to move the needle to raise the bar, we are all committed," CMS Superintendent Crystal Hill said.
The data summary showed that 52.1% of all CMS students are at or above grade level proficiency, up from 50.2% last school year. State testing scores from reading in grades 3-8 also showed that 52.3% of students tested were not proficient. That percentage is down by 2% from the 2021-22 school year, indicating some improvement. That means 47.7% of CMS students test for reading in those grades are proficient.
"All of our reading and math composite scores increased in Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools," Beth Thompson, CMS's Chief Of Strategy and Innovation said. "We've increased the number of schools with an A, B, or C school performance grade. We had 40 schools improve school letter grades. It's no small feat."
There was also some improvement in state math testing scores for grades 3-8. While 46.9% of CMS students in those grades were not proficient, that percentage is a 3.1% decrease from last year's 50% rate. Thus, 53.1% of CMS students in grades 3-8 showed proficiency in math for the 2022-23 school year.
When compared to all North Carolina students, CMS was still slightly behind on testing for all subjects and in math for grades 3-8 but had greater gains in reading for grades 3-8.
"All of this happened with the instability that our district has experienced over the last couple of years, right? We don't need to go down that road and talk about what that instability is. But what I would say is if we can do this in unstable conditions, knowing that we are stabilized, we're going to blow it out of the park next year," Hill said.
Which campuses did well? Which ones fell short?
The top 10 CMS schools all made an A for the 2022-23 school year. The below list ranks them from highest score to lowest score:
- Mercanas Middle College-CPCC
- Levine Middle College High School
- Harper Middle College High School
- Cato Middle College High School
- Providence High School
- Ardrey Kell High School
- Providence Spring Elementary School
- Jay M. Robinson Middle School
- Charlotte Engineering Early College-UNC Charlotte
- Polo Ridge Elementary School
The bottom 10 schools in the district all made an F for the 2022-23 school year. The below list ranks them from highest score to lowest:
- Cochrane Collegiate Academy
- University Meadows Elementary School
- University Park Creative Arts
- Devonshire Elementary School
- James Martin Middle School
- Ashley Park PreK-8 School
- Bruns Avenue Elementary School
- Druid Hills Academy
- Martin Luther King Jr. Middle School
- Ranson Middle School
When it comes to the performance levels of schools a number of factors can contribute to lower academic achievement scores, including poverty, educational resources, and absenteeism.
Continuing coverage
This is a continuation of a series of reports by WCNC Charlotte looking into test data about CMS schools.
In Part One, WCNC Charlotte reported state data shows that Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools students saw some gains in reading and math scores since last year. However, district leaders are not celebrating the large achievement gaps in the academic success of its Black and Latino students.
According to the data, Black and Hispanic students at CMS did better in the school year 2022-23 compared to students in the same demographics in the rest of the state. However, within its own classrooms, Black and Hispanic students are not seeing the same results as white and Asian students in the district.
For example, more than 60% of Black students in CMS are testing below grade level in reading, compared to 24% of white students. The achievement gaps between Black and white students in CMS are similar to the gaps seen statewide and nationally.
"Historically we've had white and Asian students that outperform Black and Hispanic students. That is absolutely unacceptable," Crystal Hill, CMS's Superintendent said. "We have some very clear plans that we have in place to close those gaps."
There is some good news, however. Black students at CMS also saw one of the largest improvements in moving from below grade level to at or above grade level from year to year.
This suggests that the district's efforts to improve education for all students are starting to have an impact.
PART ONE: Read more on this CMS data about Black and Hispanic students making gains in state testing data
Contact Shamarria Morrison at smorrison@wcnc.com and follow her on Facebook, X and Instagram.