NHCS students who were White had a proficiency score of 76%, Hispanic students were at 40%, and Black students, 30%.
For a ‘college and career readiness’ score, measured by achieving a certain level beyond just being ‘proficient’, all grades scored at 42%. White students were at 57%, followed by 24% of Hispanic students, and only 14% of Black students.
North Carolina school report card grades are measured by 80% proficiency (what NHC students achieve on those tests), and 20% growth (meaning year-over-year improvement). That’s determined by the Education Value-Added Assessment System (EVAAS), which is a proprietary algorithm owned by SAS, a software company. The program essentially measures educator impact through where students start at the beginning of the year – compared to how well they do by the end.
This model of 80% proficiency, 20% growth has come under fire from some academics who say these letter grades unfairly stigmatize schools. NCDPI has since signaled that they are looking into changing the evaluation model.
In New Hanover County, there are five schools with A grades (Isaac Bear Early College High School, SEA Tech High School, Masonboro Elementary, Ogden Elementary, and Wrightsville Beach Elementary), 11 with Bs, and 14 with Cs. [Note: You can view the full report at the end of this article.]
For the low-performing schools, which are ones that have a ‘D’ school designation along with a growth rate of ‘meets' or ‘does not meet expectations,’ or an ‘F’, that list grew from last year’s six to ten. Those schools are the Career Readiness Academy at Mosley, Williston Middle, and Alderman, College Park, Forest Hills, Blair, Freeman, Sunset Park, Snipes, and Wrightsboro Elementaries. Freeman and Williston were the two schools with a failing grade — they also didn’t meet growth metrics.
Only five schools exceeded growth. They were SEA-Tech High School and Wrightsville Beach, Winter Park, Masonboro, and Ogden Elementaries. 18 schools met growth metrics, and 17 schools did not meet standards for student growth.
As for statewide results, NCDPI Superintendent Mo Green touted in a statement that, “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,” he said. “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 as continually low performing in the same span.”
Green also said North Carolina students are graduating at higher rates. That also goes for New Hanover County with an 88.7% rate, up from .8 percentage points from last year.
WHQR reached out to NHCS Superintendent Dr. Christopher Barnes for comment. He said they’re working on presenting something to the public soon. We will update this article with additional information from the district when it becomes available.
- District Proficiency Rates
- School Performance Grades
- Graduation Rates
- WUNC's How to read a NC School Report Card for your school
- WHQR’s report on last year’s results
- Link to last article on NHCS Turnaround Task Force (links to prior reporting on NHCS lower performing schools at bottom)
Below is a spreadsheet of school and demographic scores.
Index:
- All - All students
- AMIN - American Indian
- ASIA - Asian
- BLCK - Black
- HISP - Hispanic
- MULT - Two or more races
- WHTE - White
- EDS - Economically Disadvantaged Students
- ELS - English Learners
- SWD - Students with Disabilities
