NC has released 2020-21 school test scores. See how your child’s school did.
New state test results and high school graduation rates are out for public schools in the Triangle and all of North Carolina.
The statewide test results released on Wednesday show that 45.4% of elementary, middle and high school students passed state exams given during the 2020-21 school year in the midst of the COVID pandemic.
Some Triangle school districts, such as Chapel Hill-Carrboro and Wake County, fared better than the state average. But overall, many students did not do as well as they have in the past.
In letters sent home with the individual student test results, Wake told parents they may see the impact of the pandemic. The district urged parents to contact their child’s teachers if they’re concerned about the test scores.
“The circumstances around the COVID-19 pandemic affected students’ opportunities to learn in some unusual ways, and in turn that likely impacted the test performance of many students,” Wake said in the informational letter. “Standardized tests are not always the best indicator of what students know and are able to do.
“For your student’s results this past year, this point is even more true. “
The results can be found online at https://bit.ly/3yAXYL5.
District level scores
▪ Chapel HIll-Carrboro had the highest passing rate in the Triangle at 61.8% for all state exams. It was 64.1% in elementary and middle school and 48.4% in high school.
▪ Wake County was the next highest in the Triangle with 55.4% passing rate on state exams. It was 56.1% in elementary and middle schools and 53% in high school.
▪ In Chatham County, the proficiency rate was 47.9% on all state exams. It was 48.6% in elementary and middle schools and 45.3% in high schools.
▪ In Johnston County, the proficiency rate was 42.7% on all state exams. It was 43.4% in elementary and middle schools and 40.4% in high schools.
▪ In Orange County, the proficiency rate was 40.3% on all state exams. It was 38.5% in elementary and middle schools and 46.6% in high schools.
▪ In Durham the proficiency rate was 33.8% on all state exams. It was 34.3% in elementary and middle schools and 32.5% in high schools.
The graduation rate news was more upbeat, ranging as high as 92.8% in Chapel Hill-Carrboro, 91.1% in Johnston County and 90.3% in Wake County. The statewide graduation rate is 86.9%.
“Our district is focused on ensuring that we use the pandemic as an opportunity to grow and provide each student with high-quality deeper learning experiences,” Chapel Hill-Carrboro superintendent Nyah Hamlett said in a news release.. “These data points will certainly help to inform our instructional practices and coherence in our decision making moving forward.”
Urging caution on school results
The new report also lists the test scores and graduation rates for individual public schools. Unlike most years, the state isn’t giving each school an A through F letter grade that’s largely based on student performance on the tests.
But even without the school performance grades, the scores for individual schools might still surprise some parents.
One of the reasons Wake is cautioning parents about individual school scores is that more students than normal skipped the exams, which can throw off the results.
Durham, Wake and Chapel Hill-Carrboro led the state with the lowest percent of elementary and middle students taking the state tests at 69%, 79% and 83% respectively. The state required the exams to be taken in-person, which was a concern for some families who were only taking online courses during the pandemic.
“While we do pay attention to state test score results, the disruptions of the pandemic will make it difficult to make meaningful conclusions about schools,” Wake said in the letter to families. “These results provide some additional information about students to help improve instruction and guide students’ learning needs, when taken into consideration with the work your child produced throughout the year.”
This story was originally published September 1, 2021 at 3:29 PM with the headline "NC has released 2020-21 school test scores. See how your child’s school did.."
