Achievement gaps between white, Black and Hispanic students in Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools persist, new state data show. But promising gains in early literacy spell progress.
About 38% of Hispanic CMS students tested at or above grade level last year, according to a Charlotte Observer analysis of N.C. Department of Public Instruction data. That’s around the same percentage as the 2022-23 school year. Approximately 41% of Black students in CMS tested at or above grade level, a slight improvement from the 2022-23 school year, when the figure was 39%. Meanwhile, 81% of white students in CMS scored at or above grade level last school year.
More than a dozen CMS schools had less than a quarter of their Hispanic students testing at grade level. The percentage of Hispanic students who performed at grade level declined at more than half of CMS campuses from 2022-23 to 2023-24, data show.
However, CMS has seen significant gains in early literacy – that is, reading in kindergarten through second grade – over the last two years as it makes strides toward closing these achievement gaps.
The gap between average scores for white and Black CMS students narrowed by 9 percentage points between 2022 and 2024 on the Dynamic Indicators of Basic Literacy and Skills assessment. The gap between white and Hispanic students narrowed by 8 percentage points. As a whole, CMS students outperformed the national average in all three grade levels.
“This is beyond promising,” CMS Chief of Strategy and Innovation Beth Thompson said Wednesday. “We’ve still got room to go, but this is an accomplishment.”
Thompson said the district began a new curriculum focused on early literacy in 2019. Much of the success, she says, is due to sticking with the curriculum through the pandemic as well as earmarking a significant portion of federal funding for professional development for teachers in kindergarten through second grade.
“There was a moment where we could’ve said ‘Let’s pause,’ but we said ‘We’ve got to keep going even in the face of adversity,’” Thompson said. “What we’re seeing now is a result of not stopping, and I’m proud of that.”
CMS Superintendent Crystal Hill said it was part of a push across the state to invest in early literacy.
“You’re going to continue to see that investment pay off over the long term as kids move into older grades,” Hill said.
Still, achievement gaps persisted in graduation rates in CMS this year, with a graduation rate of 83% among Black students and 75% among Hispanic students, compared to 93% among white students. The overall district graduation rate was 84% – up just over 1 percentage point from last year but still lagging behind the state average as well as similar counties.
Thompson says it’s a focus for CMS this year.
“You will see dramatic improvement this year,” she said.
Why do achievement gaps exist?
These achievement gaps don’t exist in the same measure at every school, and the schools with a high percentage of students performing below grade level tend to also be the schools with the most low-income students. Education experts say achievement gaps are due largely to inequitable access to opportunity and resources.
In North Carolina, Black and Hispanic students are disproportionately impacted by economic inequality. Despite making up only 41% of the child population, Black and Hispanic children account for 63% of North Carolina’s children in poverty.
“History tells us that there has never truly been an achievement gap, but an opportunity gap,” Deanna Townsend-Smith, director of the Dudley Flood Center for Educational Equity and Opportunity , told The Charlotte Observer. “It is an opportunity gap because students have not had the necessary access to highly trained qualified professionals who are in the classroom teaching them each and every day.”
Schools in North Carolina that have high levels of low-income students and students of color are more likely to have teacher shortages and less experienced teachers than schools that don’t. Townsend-Smith says it’s because those schools usually lack resources.
“Teachers tend to hit their stride, on average, around five to seven years into the profession, so not having experienced teachers or fully qualified teachers for students is a problem,” said Brenda Berg, president and CEO of education advocacy non-profit Best NC . “Because the single biggest in-school factor for student achievement is a high-quality teacher.”
No NC school in the highest poverty quintile received an A or a B grade in this year’s state accountability ratings. Meanwhile, no school in the highest quintile for wealth received a D or an F, and only five received a C.
“I think there is an ongoing conversation about how we calculate these grades, and by combining achievement and growth together, it doesn’t tell us much,” said Berg. “It tells us what the affluent schools are.”
Bias also plays a role, Berg says.
“There was a study in North Carolina, based on poverty, that found many poorer kids were given lower quality instructional materials,” she said. “Even with a great teacher, students may not get the same materials as a student at another school.”
What can be done?
Berg said creating pathways for professional development and pay incentives for more experienced teachers to work at high-need schools is one effective strategy.
“That way, you have a real genuine way to attract teachers to schools where they may not have considered teaching before,” Berg said. “Charlotte is actually one of the leaders in the state on this.”
About 10 years ago, CMS began building what it calls its “Teacher Leader Pathway.” As part of the program, educators with a history of high student impact get additional opportunities for professional development as well as up to $18,250 added to their salary by working at schools where they’re most needed.
Berg also says effective principals are important.
“Great teachers want to work for a great principal. Any parent can tell you that a great principal changes the whole temperature of a school,” Berg said. “You want higher performing principals moving to higher need schools.”
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