Opinion
Cooper’s blunder still holds us back
Student achievement in North Carolina remains almost half of a grade level below pre-COVID scores in math and three quarters of a grade level below in reading.
News
NC students perform above national average, but pandemic impact lingers
North Carolina students have performed at or above the national average on a key assessment on math and reading, but the lingering effects of the COVID-19 pandemic continue to pose challenges in closing achievement gaps, according to new data from the United States Department of Education.
News
NC students surpass national literacy averages for 3rd year in a row
For the third consecutive year, North Carolina’s kindergarten through third-grade students have outperformed the national average on end-of-year literacy assessments. That’s according to data presented to the State Board of Education on Thursday. The number of NC students meeting or exceeding the benchmark for the Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills—or DIBELS 8—assessment increased...
Video
Carolina Journal’s Donna King analyzes debate over Leandro education funding
Donna King, Carolina Journal editor-in-chief, discusses the debate over funding the Leandro education spending plan in North Carolina. King offered these comments during the Jan. 27, 2023, edition of PBS North Carolina’s “State Lines.”
Video
Carolina Journal’s Donna King questions state superintendent about post-COVID education
Donna King, Carolina Journal editor-in-chief, asks State Superintendent of Public Instruction Catherine Truitt about getting N.C. students back on track after the COVID-19 pandemic. This exchange took place during the Dec. 9, 2022, edition of PBS North Carolina’s “Front Row with Marc Rotterman.”
Opinion
Test scores show huge learning loss
In 2019, 28% of North Carolina eighth-graders lacked even basic reading skills and 29% lacked basic skills in math. Only about a third were proficient in these core subjects. Regardless of region, sector, party, or ideology, no one was satisfied with the 2019 results from the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), the gold standard...
Video
Carolina Journal’s Donna King analyzes N.C. public school test scores
Donna King, Carolina Journal editor-in-chief, discusses North Carolina’s latest public school test scores. King offered these comments during the Sept. 9, 2022, edition of PBS North Carolina’s “Front Row with Marc Rotterman.”
News
DPI report paints dire portrait of K-12 learning loss during pandemic
“’Learning loss’ is a false construct.” Those words came from the Twitter account of Tamika Walker Kelly, president of the N.C. Association of Educators, on March 3, 2021. The NCAE is the state chapter of the national teacher’s union. That sentiment hasn’t aged well a year later, to judge by the results of a new...
News
Poor test scores show the effects of school closures, remote learning on students
Test results in reading, math, and science for the 2020-21 school year show the effects school closures and remote learning have had on public school students in North Carolina. According to data released by the N.C. State Board of Education on Wednesday, Sept. 1, student performance was lower in all content areas and grades and...
Opinion
Learning loss education savings accounts: an idea whose time has come
After almost a year of being out of school, in a different school, or in no school at all, children and parents are embracing the opportunity to return to in-person instruction full time. Underneath all that enthusiasm, however, is an important yet unanswered question: how much learning have students lost because of the pandemic? Results...
News
It could be years before students recover from learning loss
Epidemiologists and infectious disease experts have consistently maintained that the risk of spread of the COVID-19 virus among young children is low. But that hasn’t stopped policymakers like N.C. Gov. Roy Cooper from — for most of the past year — keeping in-person instruction closed for all K-12 students. Many families have suffered as a result. Rachel and Troy Ackerman of...
News
Cooper signs measures to address effects of pandemic on students
Gov. Roy Cooper on Friday, April 9, signed two bills into law designed to help students who lost more than a year of in-person learning because of the pandemic and subsequent lockdowns. House Bill 82, Summer Learning Choice for NC Families, establishes learning recovery and enrichment programs districts to mitigate the effects of COVID-19 on...
