North Carolina
North Carolina public school students performing better on standardized tests, report says
:quality(70)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/cmg/MWNY6JETIFDS3PN6DQJ5WZR7FE.png "North Carolina public school students performing better on standardized tests, report says")
RALEIGH — North Carolina public school students performed better on standardized tests this past spring compared to the year before, according to data reviewed Wednesday by the State Board of Education. But the pupils remain below proficiency rates recorded before the COVID-19 pandemic.
The scores show that 53.6% of students were proficient on state exams during the 2022-23 school year, compared to 51.2% in 2021-22 and 45.4% in 2020-21, The News & Observer of Raleigh reported.
Fewer schools also got labeled as low-performing or received poor performance grades compared to the year before.
“We’re seeing progress back toward our pre-COVID levels,” said Tammy Howard, senior director of the Department of Public Instruction’s testing office. “We may not be 100% back to where we were, but there’s definite progress being seen here.”
Schools nationwide are still trying to catch up after learning loss brought on as students received limited in-person instruction during the 2019-20 and 2020-21 school years because of the pandemic. In the 2018-19 school year, the student proficiency rate was 58.8%.
Proficiency tests this past year improved across the board on subjects such as reading, math, science and English, WRAL-TV reported.
“Students and schools still have a way to go to catch up, but we have good reason to think that progress will continue,” Superintendent of Public Instruction Catherine Truitt said in a news release.
Along with the test scores came the annual state-mandated grades of A to F for public schools. The grades are based largely on the passing rates on exams by students, along with student growth rates on those tests.
Twenty-seven percent of schools received A or B grades, compared to 23% in the prior year. And 35% of schools had D or F grades, compared to 42% for the year before.
Truitt has tried to revise the performance grading system by seeking to add more non-testing measures. The changes would require General Assembly approval. Board Chairman Eric Davis said the grades have been wrongly used for too long to label some schools as being failures.
“But the reality is that when parents look at our schools to determine where to send their children, what they see first and foremost are the school performance grades,” Davis said.
The improved proficiency scores come as state education officials have talked in recent months about how schools are rebounding from learning losses.
A DPI report released in April showed students making academic gains in nearly every subject during the 2021-22 school year. And last month DPI presented data showing more K-3 students are on track on reading than a year ago. Truitt has given a lot of credit to new reading training instruction for the gains.
In another calculation announced Wednesday, 804 schools — or 32% statewide — were identified as low-performing, compared to 34%, or 864 schools, during the prior year.
The four-year high school graduation rate during the past year was 86.4%, which is essentially unchanged from recent previous years.
(WATCH BELOW: CMS school experiences A/C outage during one of the hottest days of year)
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North Carolina
NC has some of the most dangerous roads in the US: See how Wilmington-area counties rank
With a recent study revealing North Carolina as one of the states with the riskiest roads to travel, some may wonder how safe the roads are here in the Cape Fear region.
MarketWatch Guides, a site that provides “reviews of consumer products and services to help readers make educated purchasing decisions,” focuses in part on car insurance comparisons, vehicle safety and more.
A recent study by the site analyzed factors including annual miles driven per 100,000 system miles, percentage of rough roads and fatal injuries per 100,000 licensed drivers. States were given a rating out of 10 points, with 10 being the most dangerous.
More: Distracted driving in Wilmington: How big of a problem is it?
North Carolina’s ranking among the most dangerous
According to the study, the states with the most dangerous drivers based on the factors studied are:
- Louisiana – 7.55/10
- California – 7.21/10
- New Mexico – 6.74/10
- Hawaii – 6.73/10
- Delaware – 6.67/10
- New Jersey – 6.53/10
- Mississippi – 6.47/10
- North Carolina – 6.39/10
- Massachusetts – 6.33/10
- Maryland and Texas – 6.26/10
According to the study, North Carolina had 32.5 fatal injuries per 100,000 licensed drivers, but only 2.1% of rough roads, which was the lowest percentage out of the other ranked states.
For a more localized perspective, the North Carolina Department of Transportation releases annual traffic crash facts data. The most recent 2022 report includes a ranking of counties based on several factors, including reported crashes, crash severity, crash rates based on population, registered vehicles and estimated vehicle miles traveled.
The most dangerous county for drivers, ranked at No. 1 for the past five years, was Robeson County. The county had 60 fatal crashes in 2022 with 1,136 non-fatal injury crashes. The rest of the total 4,056 crashes were property-damage-only. The county with the best ranking was Hyde County, coming in at No. 100. The county had one fatal crash in 2022 and 10 non-fatal injury crashes. The county had a total of 45 crashes, the rest of which were property damage only.
More: MyReporter: Which intersections see the most red-light camera violations in Wilmington?
Here’s where the Cape Fear region counties ranked.
Brunswick County
Ranked No. 76 in 2022, Brunswick County had 25 fatal crashes and 715 non-fatal injury crashes. The total crashes for that year were 3,146. The remainder of the crashes were property damage only.
New Hanover County
Ranked No. 58, New Hanover had 19 fatal crashes and 1,313 non-fatal injury crashes, both of which went down from 2021. The total crashes in New Hanover were 5,617. The remainder of the crashes were property damage only.
Pender County
Ranked No. 47, Pender County had the worst ranking despite having the lowest number of crashes. The county had 12 fatal crashes and 374 non-fatal injury crashes, and a total of 1,156 crashes. The rest of the crashes were property damage only.
Iris Seaton, USA Today Network, contributed to this report.
Tropical Storm Debby already has parts of Florida under tropical storm warnings. The Florida Big Bend is currently under a Hurricane Warning. Debby is forecast to briefly strengthen into a category 1 hurricane as it moves over the Gulf of Mexico where water temperatures are near 90 degrees.
As it continues its path over land it is expected to dial back to tropical storm strength as it reaches the Carolinas mid to late next week. Moderate rainfall is possible for northeast North Carolina and southern Virginia by the end of the week.
Higher amounts of rain are possible for southernmost portions of the Outer Banks but generally models show 2-4 inches for northeast North Carolina and 1-2 inches for southern Virginia through Thursday.
Stay with News 3’s First Warning Weather Team for the latest updates as the storm develops.
The National Hurricane Center continues to monitor a tropical depression over Cuba. It’s expected to become a tropical storm later Saturday, bringing impacts to the Carolinas around the middle of next week.
Heavy rainfall and flooding are the primary impacts expected, according to the National Weather Service in Wilmington.
“Gusty winds are also possible, but it is too early to predict specific impacts in great detail at this time,” the weather service said.
At the same time, there is the potential for heavy rainfall and some flooding associated with front expected to stall inland this weekend.
As of 11 a.m. Saturday, the center of the tropical depression, which would be name Debby if it becomes a tropical storm, was over Cuba and moving west-northwest near 15 mph. The hurricane center said a turn toward the northwest is forecast for Saturday, followed by a northward motion on Sunday and then a slower northeastwardmotion Sunday night and Monday.
Maximum sustained winds were near 35 mph. Slow strengthening is expected throughout the day Saturday. Faster strengthening is possible Sunday, with the storm nearing hurricane strength when it reaches the Florida Gulf Coast, the hurricane center said.
STORM TRACKER: Monitor the latest tropical developments here.
Here’s a look at what we can expect in the Wilmington area, according to the latest briefing from the National Weather Service in Wilmington.
Wind
The probability of tropical storm force winds has increased, especially for the South Carolina coast. The most likely time of arrival of for northeast South Carolina is Tuesday night into Wednesday morning, and for Southeastern North Carolina is during Wednesday morning.
Rain
The potential for significant rainfall exists with 8 to 12 inches possible from near Cape Fear to portions of thenortheast South Carolina coast. Flash flooding and urban flooding are possible. Some rivers, including the North Cape Fear River and the Waccamaw River, could exceed flood stage next week.
INTERACTIVE MAP: Enter your address to see hurricanes, tropical storms that have passed nearby
Marine impacts
Rough surf, including dangerous rip currents, and hazardous marine conditions are expected this weekend and will persist into the upcoming week.
Are you prepared for a hurricane?
Hurricane season runs from June 1 to Nov. 30. Even if this system won’t pose a threat to the NC coast, it’s never too early to be prepared.
GET READY: Are you prepared for a hurricane? Here’s what to know if you live in the Wilmington area.
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