Sep 4, 2024 - Education
5 takeaways from Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools' newest student performance data
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(Right to left at near table) Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools Deputy Superintendent Melissa Balknight, Superintendent Crystal Hill and Chief Strategy and Innovation Officer Beth Thompson. Photo: Alexandria Sands/Axios
More Charlotte-Mecklenburg schools are meeting or exceeding growth than ever before in the district's history, according to North Carolina Department of Public Instruction data released today.
Why it matters: 83.4% of schools (or 146 of 175 assessed) met or exceeded growth goals, a measurement that shows how they helped students progress over the course of a year.
- But that still leaves 29 schools that are not improving.
Here are five more takeaways from the report card.
1. 19 schools made it off the state's low-performing list this year — but 17 were added.
- This is the first time more CMS schools were removed from the list than were put on it, chief strategy and innovation officer Beth Thompson said.
- 56 CMS schools now have low-performing designations — a slight improvement from last year's 58.
- Thompson said CMS needs to ensure it does not neglect schools that are at risk of falling into the low-performance designation.
- "We have an area for improvement moving forward," Thompson said. "We need to be able to support schools who are designated as low performing, but also ensure that additional schools have the support needed as well."
2. The CMS graduation rate is comparatively low at 84%.
- The statewide rate is 86.9%.
- But CMS improved from last year's 82.6%. That's still considerably low compared to 2020 and 2019 when the rate was 85.5% both years.
- "It is not where we want to be," Thompson said. "We anticipate a significant increase at the end of this year."
- To do that, CMS will offer more opportunities for students to recover credits so they can graduate on time with friends. The district also intends to expand career technical education, deputy superintendent Melissa Balknight said.
- "The research shows that when children take those courses — which is very hands-on, interactive — they're more engaged in high school and more likely to remain," Balknight said.
- Zoom in: The graduation rate for Hispanic students is 75.2%, up from 70.8% in 2022-23. Economically disadvantaged students, however, are dropping out more; the rate fell to 78.9%.
3. Wake County is outperforming CMS.
- The Wake County graduation rate is 91.3%. On top of that, public school students in the Raleigh area are scoring higher in math, science and reading.
- Take reading scores for grades 3-8, for example. 61.6% of Wake County's students are grade-level proficient, compared to CMS' 47.5%.
- "There is no reason we can't be performing where Wake is," Thompson said, "and we are going to be."
4. CMS is not progressing in reading and English.
- CMS' grade-level proficiency in English II decreased by 1.1% in this year's report.
- 52.3% of CMS students are not proficient in reading, compared to the statewide average of 49.8%.
- But, CMS is showing some growth in math and science.
5. 40% of schools in CMS are graded a D or F.
- The good news: That's a 1.8% decline in D and F schools from last year.
- Five schools improved their grade to an A, B or C.
- DPI grades schools based 80% on academic achievement and 20% on academic growth.