Which Charlotte-area school districts outperformed CMS last year? Here’s the data
Most school districts in the Charlotte area outperformed Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools in performance, recently-released data from the state show.
For the first time since 2019, the N.C. Department of Public Instruction released school performance grades and scores for public schools on Sept. 1. The data also includes whether a school met growth expectations on state exams.
Five of the seven school districts in counties surrounding Mecklenburg County had test proficiency rates higher than the statewide rate of 51.4%, and higher than the CMS rate of 50.2% during the 2021-22 school year, according to data from NCDPI:
Cabarrus County Schools: 60.2%
Kannapolis City Schools: 35.5%
Gaston County Schools: 48.4%
Lincoln County Schools: 57.9%
Union County Public Schools: 67.7%
Iredell-Statesville Schools: 55.8%
Mooresville Graded School District: 58.1%
With a performance score of 98 out of 100, Highland School of Technology in Gastonia outperformed all but two schools in CMS and tied for the third-highest score in the state, according to data from NCDPI.
Other Charlotte-area schools that ranked among the top 50 in the state all featured performance scores of 93 or above:
Gaston Early College High School: 96
Collaborative College for Technology: 96
Gaston Early College of Medical Sciences: 95
Cabarrus Kannapolis Early College: 93
Crossroads Arts & Sciences Early College: 93
Central Academy of Technology and Arts: 93
School performance scores are based 80% on each school’s achievement score and 20% on academic growth, according to NCDPI.
Performance grades for elementary and middle schools are calculated based on end of grade test scores and English language assessments for English learners, according to NCDPI. High school performance grades include indicators such as end of course test and ACT scores and four-year graduation rates.
The grades are used to determine whether a school or district is low-performing.
RELATED: NC releases first school grades since 2019. See how Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools fared.
Of the 229 schools in counties surrounding Mecklenburg County, 129 met or exceeded their growth expectations. However, 69 of the schools that did not meet growth expectations earned the state’s low-performing designation. Those include schools that scored a “D” or “F” and did not exceed their growth targets, according to NCDPI.
Here is the number of low-performing schools in each district:
Cabarrus County Schools: 7
Kannapolis City Schools: 6
Gaston County Schools: 23
Lincoln County Schools: 7
Union County Public Schools: 12
Iredell-Statesville Schools: 12
Mooresville Graded School District: 1
Charlotte Observer reporter Anna Maria Della Costa contributed to this story.
