School Letter Grades

The North Carolina Department of Public Instruction released school performance data the first week of September. The state saw a slight decrease in "D" and "F" school grades this year. But even in celebrating that trend, state education officials made a point to talk about the issues with how these grades are calculated. North Carolina uses two measures: 80% of a school’s grade is based on test scores, and 20% is based on how much growth students make. But for the last two years, NCDPI has been working to change that model.

North Carolina recently got a federal waiver from some year-end testing requirements, but that doesn’t mean students can skip those exams. Students will have to take state exams in May — and they have to be taken in person.

As the 2020 school shopping season begins, narrowing the list can seem easy. A quick internet search will yield ratings from services such as Niche and…