If nearly a third of North Carolina schools receive a D or F, what is the accountability system actually telling us? What will it take to sustain and extend early literacy gains? What separates short-term reform efforts from long-term educational improvement? 

These are a few of the questions members of the Blue Ribbon Commission on Public Education discussed at the second Commission meeting held May 18 at the Friday Institute for Educational Innovation. 

With a commitment to improving educational outcomes for all students, the Blue Ribbon Commission continued its examination of key issues in student advancement and achievement, the first charge of the Commission. 

During the meeting, the Commission examined how North Carolina currently measures student progress and what lessons can be drawn from other states’ approaches to improving literacy, math and student advancement. They identified priority questions and decision points that will guide the Commission’s first set of recommendations.

School Accountability

North Carolina’s accountability system uses an A-F school performance grading system heavily weighted in reading and math standardized test scores. 

During a presentation on school accountability from Michael Maher, chief accountability officer at the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction, he emphasized that accountability should reflect the clearest, most accurate information to the public. The current A-F accountability system heavily weighs scores in proficiency (80%) and growth (20%) and is substantially more severe, which leads to over-identifying low-performing schools. In 2024, 33.4% of public schools were identified as D and F schools. 

Following the presentation, Commission members discussed what purposes North Carolina’s accountability system should serve, the outcomes or indicators that should be considered in a modern accountability system and what additional evidence or perspectives are needed.

“As a commission, what recommendation do we want to make that says this accurately reflects schools that are struggling and the resources that we want to put towards assisting those schools, because we know what those factors are,” said Robert Taylor, superintendent of Wake County Public School System. “It is quality teachers and it is leadership. It is also the gaps that persist with students before they ever get to public schools. And so there are ways that we can mitigate those, but it is about, ‘Do we want to be in a position to develop a system that accurately measures whether or not we are doing it?’”

Commissioners continued to raise questions about what are the most effective ways to identify low-performing schools, how other states achieve their A-F grading system through their specific formulas, and how North Carolina’s system can reflect an accurate, consistent and clear message about school performance without confusing parents. 

In table discussions, Commission members discussed the need for an accessible, simplified measure of school performance that better reflects student progress and learning gains and raised concerns on the emphasis on standardized testing, especially at the elementary level, expressing interest in developmentally appropriate testing practices and broader measures of student success.

The Science of Reading and Early Literacy

Stacey Wilson-Norman, chief academic officer at NCDPI; Cynthia Barber, senior director for the Office of Early Learning; and Mary Derfel, assistant director of early literacy at NCDPI, spoke about the next chapter in early literacy for North Carolina. In 2021, North Carolina adopted a robust early literacy policy grounded in the Science of Reading through the Excellent Public Schools Act. NCDPI outlined statewide expectations for evidence-based literacy instruction through the Literacy Intervention Plan, including statewide Language Essentials for Teachers in Reading and Spelling (LETRS) training. After adopting this policy, NCDPI is now moving from adoption to sustained implementation and practice, which requires intensive, job-embedded coaching of 115 early literacy specialists—one per district. Their goal is to create a scalable model across districts and across schools in their districts. 

“The goal of the Office of Early Learning is really to build a sustainable model for improving literacy outcomes across the state, regardless of zip code, so that every teacher feels equipped and every student experiences success,” said Mary Derfel, assistant director of early literacy at NCDPI.

Using the Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills (DIBELS) assessment of the acquisition of literacy skills, the Office of Early Learning found that North Carolina students are showing strong early literacy performance, particularly in kindergarten and first grade where foundational growth is really evident. As students moved into second and third grade, they began to see a plateau in growth from reading fluency to comprehension. Second and third grade will be a priority moving forward for early literacy specialists and classroom teachers.

“North Carolina has built a strong foundation, but sustaining this work will require more than one agency, more than one initiative… the next chapter will be defined by how we sustain, strengthen and scale instructional impact for students statewide,” said Derfel.

Commissioners engaged in a question and answer session following the Science of Reading presentation to better understand the scope of implementation and teacher training, evaluation of the state rollout in North Carolina schools and policy levers including curriculum, retention practices, resource allocation and funding. Specifically, they had questions and concerns regarding curriculum coherence and the need for a state pre-approved curriculum list in K-3 reading for all North Carolina public schools, updating a policy that dictates when reading growth should start to be measured, and how to understand what works and doesn’t work in student retention to close the performance gaps in reading.

The Mississippi Marathon

Looking at other successful policies as the Commission makes its recommendations, Commissioners learned more about the successful reform of Mississippi’s education system from Rachel Canter, director of education policy at the Progressive Policy Institute. Her report, Inside the Mississippi Marathon, provides a wide-angle view of Mississippi’s educational transformation in the last 20 years. The report is told from Canter’s perspective as a person who’s deeply involved in many of the things that led to the educational transformation, including her role as an advocate for Mississippi First. Canter emphasized that Mississippi’s education system was not an overnight success.

“This is a story of persistence,” said Canter. “It was not one thing done by one person that led to some sort of overnight success. It is a long story of getting better, getting better, getting better, until finally we reach and then again start to exceed the national average.”

Mississippi moved from being last in the country in fourth grade reading and math in 2008 to at or above the national average by 2019. Controlling for demographics, Mississippi is currently leading the nation in fourth grade math and reading and eighth grade math. This was accomplished through Mississippi’s comprehensive reform agenda, including policies with a growth-focused accountability system, consequences for poor performance, evidence-informed instructional policy and support for implementation. 

Canter said this work was a case study on collective leadership. With a cohort policy agenda, careful implementation work, collective leadership and persistence, Mississippi was able to improve student outcomes. She advised the Commission to build a system, not assume the fundamentals are sound, don’t give up on comprehensive policies, think about implementation and keep going.

“At the end of the day, those of you who are in the room have to all decide this is the most important thing for the future of North Carolina: it’s whether or not kids can read…and then you have to figure out what collectively we all have to do to make that possible,” said Canter.

After Canter’s presentation, Commissioners reflected on the day’s presentations on school accountability and the Science of Reading and shared their feedback and initial thinking ahead of developing specific recommendations for student advancement and student achievement in future meetings. 

In the coming months, Commissioners will begin developing recommendations, evaluating whether initiatives that fall under the first charge, student advancement and teacher leadership, should be reinscribed, maintained or expanded. They will assess whether current practices are showing progress or gaining traction; need to be reformed, refined or improved upon to yield stronger results; or should be reimagined, where new approaches or structures may be needed.

The third meeting of the Commission will be held Monday, June 22, at the Friday Institute. It will focus on the current state of teacher training and best practices.