NC student test scores continue to rise, but some still lag pre-pandemic levels

More North Carolina students are testing proficiently across all subject areas, new data from the state Department of Public Instruction shows.

2026-09-02

The data, released Wednesday, shows progress since the COVID-19 pandemic and associated remote learning tanked test scores in 2022. At the same time, many students affected by the pandemic are no longer students, with hundreds of thousands of them graduating over the past several years.

The state’s graduation rate has continued to rise during that time, hitting 88.8% this spring, the state’s highest rate ever, according to DPI.

►Look it up: See how your NC school performed on state tests in 2026

“These academic achievement results are a testament to the incredible work happening across North Carolina’s public schools,” North Carolina Superintendent of Public Instruction Mo Green said in a statement. “While I am pleased to see these results trending positively, including our highest graduation rate ever, I look forward to continued progress as we aim to achieve educational excellence for all North Carolina public school students and become the best public education system in the nation.”

Reading proficiency rose by multiple percentage points at every grade level except for fourth grade, where it remained about the same as last year, at roughly 57%.

Math proficiency rose by multiple percentage points at every grade level.

For third through eighth grade students, about 56% were proficient in reading, up 3.2 points from last year. In math, 59.6% were proficient, up 2.9 points from last year.

About two-thirds of fifth and eighth grade science students and high school Math 3 students tested proficiently in those subject areas. Roughly two-thirds — 64.3% — were proficient in high school English II — the highest level seen in years, the data shows, up from 59.4% last year.

About 59% of biology students tested proficiently, an 11-point increase from the year before and close to prepandemic levels.

The state changed its science standards and tests during the 2024-25 school year, and scores dipped that year but rose this spring.

In recent years, the state has overhauled how it teachers elementary school students to read. The last teachers to complete that training did so in 2024, and leaders have been cautious about how quickly the state can begin to see the results of that overhaul, which primarily affects kindergarten, first and second graders. Those grades don’t take standardized tests.

The state is also exploring ways to improve math instruction. It’s done grant-funded work with several schools. DPI is working to make changes statewide with new math standards designed to help students better engage with math and understand how to apply it.

• In third- through eighth-grade reading, proficiency rose from last year for all but fourth grade. The overall proficiency rate was 55.7%, behind a rate of about 57% before the pandemic but up from 52.5% in 2025. Proficiency rates ranged from 54.6% to 57.4%, by grade.
• In third- through eighth-grade math, proficiency rose across all grade levels from last year, with an overall proficiency rate of 59.6%, up from 56.7% in 2025 and surpassing prepandemic rates at every grade level. Passage rates ranged from 52.8% to 66.1%, by grade level, with much higher passage rates for younger grades.
• In fifth-grade science, the proficiency rate was 67.7%, up from 62% in 2024. In eighth-grade science, the proficiency rate was 68.4%, up from 60% in 2025.
• In biology, the proficiency rate was 58.5%, up from 53.4% in 2025.
• In English II, proficiency rose to 64.3% from 59.4% in 2025 and surpassed pre-pandemic levels by several percentage points.
• In Math 3, for high schoolers, proficiency was 68.9% this spring, up from 66.4% in 2025.

Proficiency rates improved among all student groups, too, Green said. That includes students of all races and ethnicities, students with disabilities and English learners, among others.

Going forward, DPI wants to not just get more students on grade level, but also get more students "career and college ready." That's a step above grade-level proficient but not one schools are explicitly measured on, said Michael Maher, DPI's chief accountability officer.

State Board of Education members said they were glad to see the improvements and asked how to make even more, looking at the share of students still not testing proficiently.

"What are we going to do for those students?" asked Board Member Wendell Hall. "We know who they are."

They encouraged leaders to highlight success stories and to work to make sure everyone is on the same page with efforts to improve. That includes making sure plans, training, resources and standards are all aligned, said Board Member Catty Moore, a former teacher, administrator and superintendent in Wake County. That "coherence" is something DPI leaders said they are working on. It's also working more closely with districts that are low-performing to provide expertise and planning.

DPI leaders noted some goals for further improvement. One major theme: Making sure remedial learning doesn't take the place of grade-level learning when a students is behind in that subject area.

During their presentation to the State Board of Education and a news conference afterward, multiple DPI leaders said students who are behind in a subject area still need to get all of their grade-level lessons in that subject along with their peers, rather than missing any of that time for remedial learning in that subject.

When asked if there was a problem statewide in some students missing core instruction for remedial work, Green said it's an issue the state is working on.

"Those are conversations that chief academic officers across the state will be having with our chief academic officer here, and then can be shared across our public school units," Green said.

The state wants to help schools find the right balance between giving every student full access to instruction but also any support they need in those subject areas.

It's part of another theme from DPI that emerged Wednesday: the importance of setting high expectations for all students. That includes showing every student grade-level instruction, said Stacey Wilson-Norman, DPI's chief academic officer.

Schools should not forget the students who didn't end up on grade level, Wilson-Norman said.

"We're very proud of the progress which we made," she said. "Every student needs to experience the momentum. Averages do not tell the whole story."

DPI isn't the only actor in improving test scores and academic performance.

While it provides guidance, school districts ultimately decide curriculum, principals decide schedules and teachers decide lessons. Educators on the ground told WRAL News they improved their school's tests scores by using more data to drive their decision-making and spending more one-on-one and small group time with students who need extra help.

At a higher level, state lawmakers provide the resources for schools to educate students, and they set many of the rules those districts must abide by.

The new state budget adds several new requirements for literacy and math support for students and triples funding for teacher leadership positions, by $30 million. It provides $13.8 million for literacy training for middle school teachers, who currently don't receive it.

"I do think that those investments, over time, will have the opportunity to see we'll see some improved student outcomes as those things are implemented," Green said. He added that the increased teacher helps teachers and urged lawmakers to consider even higher pay for veteran teachers in the future.