No Child Left Behind (NCLB) is a federal law
affecting every public K-12 school in the country. Key requirements of the law are:
closing achievement gaps, holding schools accountable for all students and having a
Highly Qualified teacher in every classroom. High standards are new for many states
but North Carolina has had a top-rated testing accountability program since
the implementation of the ABCs of Public Education in 1996. With the passage of NCLB
in 2001, the state also provides information about other academic indicators,
such as attendance and the Cohort Graduation Rates.
HIGH STUDENT PERFORMANCE
Every Student in School and Making Strong Progress
Target: NC will be one of the top
10 states on National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP)
assessments
Percentage of students scoring proficient
or higher on NAEP assessments
Latest NC Score
Prior NC Score
Change
NC Rank
US Average
Target Score
First
Grade 4 Reading
28%
30%
Tied for 22nd
31%
34%
46% (CT)
Grade 4 Math
28%
21%
Tied for 8th
25%
28%
34% (MN)
Grade 4 Science
24%
N/A
N/A
Tied for 27th
28%
32%
43% (MA)
Grade 8 Reading
31%
N/A
N/A
Tied for 12th
31%
34%
42% (CT,ME)
Grade 8 Writing
27%
N/A
N/A
Tied for 6th
27%
27%
44% (CT)
Grade 8 Math
30%
20%
13th
26%
32%
40% (MN)
Grade 8 Science
27%
24%
23rd
30%
35%
46% (MT)
Target: Nine of 10 NC students will
score at or above grade level on End-of-Grade (EOG) and End-of-Course
(EOC) examinations
Percentage of students scoring at or above
grade level on NC's EOG and EOC examinations
NC EOG: Grades 3 - 8
Latest NC Score
Prior NC Score
Change
Reading
80%
77%
Mathematics
84%
82%
Both
75%
72%
NC EOC
Latest NC Score
Prior NC Score
Change
Algebra I
79%
76%
Algebra II
77%
73%
Geometry
67%
64%
Physical Science
61%
60%
Biology
69%
61%
Chemistry
71%
66%
Physics
84%
74%
ELPS
70%
70%
English I
70%
69%
US History
50%
51%
Target: North Carolina will eliminate
achievement gaps
Gap in percent proficient on NAEP and percent
at or above grade level on NC EOG and EOC examinations
Female
Male
Black
Hispanic
Amer.
Indian
Asian/Pacific
Multi-Racial
White
E.D.
N.E.D.
NAEP
31%
26%
10%
16%
21%
36%
N/A
38%
13%
38%
NC EOG
& EOC
72%
71%
52%
60%
59%
78%
76%
81%
59%
85%
L.E.P.
Other
Migrant
Students
Other
Students
w/Disabilities
Other
NAEP
N/A
29%
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
NC EOG
& EOC
46%
75%
55%
75%
41%
75%
• E.D.
= Economically Disadvantaged Students
• N.E.D.
= Not Economically Disadvantaged Students
• L.E.P.
= Limited English Proficient Students
Target: Nine of 10 NC students will
be promoted to the next grade having met state standards
Percentage of students promoted having
met state grade level standards in reading and mathematics
Latest NC Score
Prior NC Score
Change
Grade 3
90%
N/A
N/A
Grade 5
92%
92%
Grade 8
92%
N/A
N/A
Target: NC will be 1st in the nation
in the percentage of students taking advanced courses
Percentage of students taking advanced
courses in math and science
Latest NC Score
Prior NC Score
Change
NC Rank
US Average
Target Score
First
% of 8th graders taking Algebra
25%
27%
5th
20%
53%
53% (UT)
% of high school students taking upper level
math courses
61%
59%
1st
46%
61%
61% (NC)
% of high school students taking upper level
science courses
30%
31%
Tied for 13th
28%
42%
42% (MS)
Target: NC will be among the top 10
states in high school completion
Latest NC Score
Prior NC Score
Change
NC Rank
US Average
Target Score
First
% of teens age 16 - 19 who are high school
dropouts*
11%
11%
Tied for 35th
10%
7%
3% (ND)
% of students completing high school or GED
85%
86%
Tied for 31st
85%
91%
98% (CT)
% of exceptional students age 14 or older
who successfully complete their special education program
46%
46%
Tied for 24th
48%
52%
77% (TX)
• A graduation rate reflecting the requirements
of the No Child Left Behind Act will be available Fall 2003
Every Graduate Ready for College and Work
Target: NC will be one of the top
10 states in SAT scores
Average SAT scores and adjusted SAT scores
for NC students
Latest NC Score
Prior NC Score
Change
NC Rank
US Average
Target Score
First
Average SAT scores
998
992
Tied for 45th
1,020
1,130
1,207 (ND)
SAT scores adjusted for participation rates
1,035
1,035
Tied for 31st
1,014
1,076
1,115 (ND)
• 67% of NC 12th graders took the SAT
Target: NC will be among the top 5
states in the number of Advanced Placement (AP) exams scored at
or above level 3
Latest NC Score
Prior NC Score
Change
NC Rank
US Average
Target Score
First
Number of AP exams scored at or above level
3 for every 1,000 11th and 12th graders
179
150
11th
134
206
237 (DC)
• 3% of all NC high school course enrollments
were in Advanced College Prep courses, including AP, IB, community college
and university courses
Target: NC will be one of the top
10 states in the percentage of 18- to 24-year-olds attending college
Latest NC Score
Prior NC Score
Change
NC Rank
US Average
Target Score
First
Percentage of 18- to 24-year-olds enrolled
in two- and four-year programs of higher education
33%
31%
Tied for 34th
36%
41%
46% (CT)
Target: Nine of 10 NC students who
complete a vocational course of study will be highly rated by their
employer
Latest NC Score
Prior NC Score
Change
Percentage of vocational graduates ranked
above average when compared to other new employees
72%
71%
• 15% of all NC high school course enrollments
were in vocational courses at a high school or community college
Every School Accountable for Student Learning
Target: NC's system of standards,
assessments, and accountability will be consistently ranked among
the best in the nation
External evaluations of standards, assessments,
and accountability systems
Latest NC Score
Prior NC Score
Change
NC Rank
US Average
Target Score
First
Education Week
B-/81%
B/83%
Tied for 22nd
N/A
B+/88%
A/97% (NY)
Fordham Foundation
B-/2.8 GPA
C/2.0 GPA
Tied for 5th
C-/1.7 GPA
C+/2.4 GPA
A-/3.6 GPA (CA)
Target: Nine of 10 NC schools will
be recognized as Schools of Excellence or Schools of Distinction
by the ABCs program
Number and percentage of schools receiving
each ABCs designation
Latest NC Score
Prior NC Score
Change
Schools of Excellence
299 (14%)
171 (8%)
Schools of Distinction
648 (30%)
640 (30%)
Schools of Progress
521 (24%)
N/A
N/A
No Recognition*
465 (21%)
833 (39%)
Priority Schools*
132 (6%)
N/A
N/A
Low Performing Schools*
18 (1%)
31 (1%)
Schools Making High Growth
779 (36%)
521 (24%)
Schools Making Expected Growth
862 (39%)
771 (36%)
LEGEND
*
On this indicator a lower score is better,
a higher score is worse.
Latest NC Score:
This is the average score for North Carolina
taken from the most recent data collection available. Most recent
data collection dates range from 1996 to 2003.
Prior NC Score:
This is the average score for North Carolina
taken from the preceding data collection.
Change:
Change arrows show North Carolina's progress
from the prior data collection to the most recent data collection.
NC Rank:
North Carolina's rank among states for which
data are available. States are ranked from best to worst.
US Average:
This is the average score for the United States
taken from the most recent data collection available.
Target Score:
This is the score North Carolina currently
needs to achieve to reach the First in America target.
First:
The score and state abbreviation are listed
for the state receiving the best reported score.
