NC School Report Cards, Part 1: Chapel Hill-Carrboro District

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North Carolina schools have received their 2015-2016 School Report Cards, which provide school performance grades and data on student achievement, school safety and technology, teacher quality, and more.

This is the first in a series of blog posts Real Estate Experts will publish covering School Report Card results for school districts throughout Triangle.

The Chapel Hill-Carrboro district operates three high schools, four middle schools, ten elementary schools.  These schools serve more than 12,000 students.  According to the Chapel Hill-Carrboro schools’ Report Card data, 76.6 percent of students tested proficient in grade-level work last year, compared with 77 percent in 2014-15. The four-year graduation rate held steady this year at 90.1 percent, and around 70 percent were reported to be college and career-ready in 2015-2016.

According to Interim Superintendent Jim Causby, the district is satisfied with the results. “This is a wonderful testament to the great work of our teachers and the tremendous support of our parents and community,” he said. “However, the data shows that we still have plenty of room for improvement. We will come back to work tomorrow, and the next day, striving to help every student reach maximum potential.”

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The state also assigned each school a letter grade, A through F, based upon its overall achievement score and for a year of student academic growth. A score of 85 or better is an A (see chart). Just two Chapel Hill-Carrboro schools–East Chapel Hill High and Glenwood Elementary–earned an A+, down from three schools in 2014-15. What this means is that they earned an A and did not have significant achievement nor graduation gaps between student groups.

Carrboro High School fell from an A+ to a B this year, joining 13 other city schools. Carrboro Elementary rose from a C in 2014-15, joining 10 other district schools with a B last year.

Northside and Frank Porter Graham Elementary were the only two schools to earn a grade of C last year, and Northside was also among three schools (including Seawell and Estes Hills Elementary Schools), that did not meet their goals for student growth. Also reported for 2015-16, slightly more than 65 percent of Northside students tested proficient for their grade level, while 73.5 percent of Estes Hills students tested proficient for their grade level.

The Chapel Hill-Carrboro district reported higher proficiency for white and economically disadvantaged students taking end-of-grade and end-of-course exams. Almost 90 percent of white Chapel Hill-Carrboro students were proficient in grade level work this year, compared with 40.9 percent of black students and 40.2 percent of economically disadvantaged students.

Stay tuned for our next post in this series, which will cover the Orange County School District School Report Cards.

You can also search the comprehensive database provided on our website to see the grades schools received over the last three years and whether the school exceeded, met or did not meet its expected academic growth.