North Carolina students achieved a three-year high in most standardized tests at the end of the 2024-25 academic year, according to the annually released test data that was presented to the State Board of Education today.
Students scored higher in 12 of 15 math and reading assessments, with only third-grade reading, English II and NC Math I trailing the 2023-24 results. The average composite score for 11th graders taking the ACT, a college readiness test, rebounded to 18.2 in 2024-25 from a slight dip of 18.1 the previous year.
Demonstrating alignment to Pillar I of the Strategic Plan, Prepare Each Student for Their Next Phase in Life, new data shows that the four-year cohort graduation rate has also risen to 87.7%, up from 87.0% in 2023-24, and is the highest in the past 10 years.
State Superintendent Maurice “Mo” Green said these scores are a baseline for what’s to come.
“I’m proud of our students and educators who have worked hard to improve these metrics even as we acknowledge that our students are more than test scores,” he said. “While the progress and growth shown in these reports deserves praise, we must continue our work to promote excellence for all students. Our plan is to Achieve Educational Excellence – for every child in North Carolina and to have the best public schools in the nation. I am eager to see this data continue to improve as we work to implement our strategic plan.”
While students in grades 5 and 8 also take science assessments and high school students take Biology assessments, new tests aligned to the new content standards in science and Biology were implemented in the 2024-25 school year and results should not be compared to previous years.
English Language Learner Changes
English Language learners (EL) saw continued gains as well. The percentage of students meeting progress targets or exiting English Language learner status has steadily increased over the past three years – most notably the percentage of students meeting either of these increased from 27% in 2023-24 to 35% in 2024-25.
Effect of Helene
As a result of the lost instructional days in western districts due to Hurricane Helene, a waiver was granted by the U.S. Department of Education for schools that provided end-of-course fall testing. A total of 10 schools opted into this waiver.
Also, for all schools affected, the loss of instructional days will be noted on data reports, accountability reports and the NC Report Card.
School Performance Grades
School Performance grades continue to show an increase of schools earning an A, B or C, while the number of schools earning a D or F declined by nearly two percentage points. Approximately 71% of schools met or exceeded growth in 2024-25. As a result, nearly 50 fewer schools were designated as low performing in 2024-25 compared to the previous year. There were also 60 fewer schools designated continually low performing in the same span.
Districts like Cleveland County and Nash County Schools have put a significant amount of effort into elevating teaching and learning. For the first time in four years, none of Cleveland County’s four middle schools were designated as low-performing, and three of the four met or exceeded growth.
Cleveland County Schools implemented Marzano’s High Reliability Model (HRM) in each of the district’s middle schools. The district developed a unified instructional framework built on research, data and best practices; built a safe, supportive and collaborative school culture and implemented math and literacy facilitators.
These four schools are paving the way for the 15 rural middle schools across the state that were selected to participate in the five-year, $25 million Golden LEAF Schools Initiative, which is one of the key actions included under Pillar I of the Strategic Plan [P1.FA2.A2].
In Nash County Schools, Nash Early College High School earned an “A” rating while exceeding growth expectations on the 2025 accountability report, with students posting some of the highest proficiency levels in the district and a 100 percent graduation rate. The school’s six-year record of exceeding growth comes because of their data-driven approach and culture of collaboration among teachers, families, educational partners such as Nash Community College, district leadership and support staff.
Achieving Educational Excellence
Outlined in the Strategic Plan, Pillar I’s focus area is to promote excellence for all with three measures specifically tied to the accountability data release.
- Increase the percentage of students scoring levels 3, 4 or 5 on the End of Grade/End of Course (EOG/EOC) test scores. [P1.M5]
- Increase the average ACT composite score to 20 by 2030. [P1.M6]
- Increase the adjusted four-year cohort high school graduation rate to 92% by 2030. [P1.M7]
Green stressed the importance of benchmarking the 2024-25 accountability results to build and improve upon in order to make North Carolina public schools the standard of excellence.
“The goal of the Strategic Plan is that North Carolina’s public schools will be the best in the nation by 2030,” Green shared. “The measures and actions in our joint strategic plan with the State Board of Education provide us with the roadmap to build on the incredible hard work and diligence of students and educators across the state identified in these results.”
