NC Schools 2008 Report Cards Released

Special Report - January 29, 2009
According to the North Carolina School Report Cards released Thursday, N.C. public schools did not meet Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) under No Child Left Behind (NCLB), and only 50.9 percent of students passed both reading and math scores on the state’s ABC end-of-grade tests for the 2007–2008 school year. The 50.9 percent passage rate on end-of-grade tests is down 13 percent from the 2006–2007 school year. Of the students tested, white and Asian/Pacific Islander students performed best, though both scores were well below the 2006–2007 school year’s levels. Economically-disadvantaged and limited-English-proficient students earned the lowest scores for the year.

Additionally, North Carolina did not meet its AYP graduation target under NCLB. Only 70.3 percent of students “graduated with a diploma in four years or less.” While the AYP target was not met, the number of students graduating in four years or less was up .08 percent from the 2006–2007 school year.

Students performed better across the board on the state’s ABC end-of-course tests, with 68.4 percent of students passing—a two percent increase from the previous school year. North Carolina schools also met their AYP attendance target, with more than 95 percent of students attending school. This attendance rate is up .3 percent from the 2006–2007 school year.

North Carolina schools have a high rate of fully licensed teachers (92.9 percent) as well as a high percentage of classes taught by highly qualified teachers (97.8 percent—up .6 percent from the 2006–2007 school year).

For more details, see the 2008 N.C Report Cards.

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