Accountability Framework Background Brief

Student Performance on State Assessments 

North Carolina students in grades 3-8 and in certain high school grades take assessments each year that measure achievement in reading, mathematics and science. Student performance on these end-of-grade and end-of-course assessments are reported as four academic achievement levels:

• Achievement Level 5: Comprehensive Understanding (Career and College Readiness)    
• Achievement Level 4: Thorough Understanding (Career and College Readiness)
• Achievement Level 3: Sufficient Understanding (Grade-Level Proficiency)
• Not Proficient: Inconsistent Understanding

Achievement Level 3 identifies students who have a sufficient understanding of grade-level knowledge and skills in the tested content areas to move on to the next grade but who may need additional support to be on track for career-and-college readiness. Achievement Levels 4 and 5 indicate students are on track to be career-and-college ready by the time they graduate from high school. The percentage of students meeting Level 3 and above and meeting Level 4 and above will be reported to the SBE.

Here are the state assessments that students must take:

School Performance Grades (SPG)

Since 2013-14, student performance data have been used to assign letter grades to North Carolina public schools as required by North Carolina General Statute 115C-83.15. The grades are based on each school’s achievement score (weight of 80%) and each school’s academic growth (weight of 20%). The total school performance score is converted to a 100-point scale and then used to determine a SPG of A, B, C, D or F.

The final grade is based on a 15-point scale: 

A: 85-100
B: 70-84
C: 55-69
D: 40-54
F: Less than 40

Each public school will receive an overall letter grade and a letter grade for each student subgroup (Asian, American Indian, Black, Hispanic, Two or More Races, White, Economically Disadvantaged, Students with Disabilities, and English Learners). Subgroup performance is reported when the number of students in a particular group is at least 30 for one or more parts of the accountability model.

K-2 schools will receive letter grades earned by the schools to which they send the largest percentage of students. Schools approved to use the state’s alternative accountability model will be assigned a letter grade only for the purposes of identifying Comprehensive Support and Improvement schools and Targeted Support and Improvement schools, as required by federal statute.

The indicators for elementary and middle schools differ from the indicators for high schools as presented in the chart and explanation below:

Long-term Goals

Also required by the ESSA, North Carolina established long-term goals with yearly measures of interim progress for the following:

• Reading and mathematics assessments in grades 3-8
• Reading assessments in grade 10
• Mathematics assessments in grade 11
• 4-year cohort graduation rate
• English learner progress

The long-term goals are set with the purpose of increasing student achievement and reducing performance gaps among student subgroups. The goals were set for each school, based on the school’s starting point for each measure for each student subgroup.

For example, School A has a long-term goal of increasing the percent of Hispanic students who score Level 4 and above on the reading and mathematics assessments. This long-term goal is broken into 10 yearly interim progress targets.

The accountability reports will include the number and percentage of schools that met each interim progress target by student subgroup. If all schools met all progress targets across by the 2028-29 school year, the state-level percentage of students meeting the Level 4 and above achievement standard would increase and the performance gap among student subgroups would decrease.

Identifying State Low-Performing Schools and Districts

Per North Carolina statute, SPG and EVAAS growth data are used to determine whether a school or district is low performing.

As defined by General Statute 115C-105.37, low-performing schools are those that receive a SPG of D or F and a school accountability growth score of met expected growth or did not meet expected growth. To avoid a low-performing designation, schools must earn a SPG of C or better or exceed growth.

Schools identified as low performing must develop a plan for improvement that specifically addresses the strategies the school will implement to improve both its SPG and School Growth designation (G.S. 115C-105.37(a1)). Schools also must notify parents of the school’s low-performing status and actions it is taking to improve student performance.

Low-performing districts are those in which most schools that receive a SPG and school growth score are identified as low performing. As defined by General Statute 115C-105.39A, districts identified as low performing must develop a district plan for improving both the SPG and school growth score of each low-performing school in the district (G.S. 115C-105.39A(b2)).

School and district improvement plans are to be shared with the public, including parents, guardians and staff and made available through the districts’ website and the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction’s website. Additional strategies for reform, changes to personnel, supports and interventions may apply to schools and districts that are continually low performing.

Identifying Federal Comprehensive Support and Improvement Schools and Targeted Support and Improvement Schools

Under ESSA, North Carolina must identify schools with low performance for providing additional support. These schools are classified as Comprehensive Support and Improvement (CSI) schools and Targeted Support and Improvement (TSI) schools. There are three categories of CSI schools:

• CSI – Low Performing: Lowest performing five percent of all Title I schools
• CSI – Low Graduation Rate: High Schools with graduation rates lower than 66.7 percent.
• CSI – Additional Targeted Support: Unable to exit TSI-Additional Targeted Support status after six years and receive Title 1 funds.

These schools receive support and interventions from the state for at least three years before being eligible to exit. These schools were identified at the beginning of the 2025-26 school year and will continue to receive support until the next exit year. A new identification list will be generated at the beginning of the 2028-29 school year.

There are also two categories of TSI schools:

• TSI – Consistently Under-performing Subgroups (TSI-CU): Any school with one or more of the same subgroup receiving a grade of “F,” per SPG analysis, for the most recent and the previous two years.
• TSI – Additional Targeted Support (ATSI): Any school with one or more subgroup(s) for which the SPG score is below the highest identified CSI school’s All Students group during the identification year and the school was on the TSI-CU list for the subgroup(s) for the previous year.

These schools receive support locally to improve the subgroup performance within the school. TSI-CU schools are identified annually, and a new identification list will be available at the beginning of the 2026-27 school year.

ATSI schools were identified at the beginning of the 2025-26 school year and a new identification list will be generated at the beginning of the 2028-29 school year. Schools identified in either 2018-19 or 2022-23 and are unable to exit, will continue to receive local support. If the ATSI schools previously identified in 2022-23 fail to improve, they can be identified as a CSI school at the beginning of the 2028-29 school year.