Lenoir County Public Schools continues to make significant strides in student achievement under the state’s accountability and testing program, raising its overall grade-level proficiency score, seeing a jump in letter grades assigned its schools for overall performance and setting some of the highest marks the district has seen in reading and math in a decade or more.
Additionally, LCPS posted a four-year cohort graduation rate of 90.1 percent, its second highest in the past 10 years, third best in the Southeast Region and nearly two points better than the state average.
Results from student testing last spring, as well as other data points, were released by the State Board of Education in early September and reported publicly to the Lenoir County Board of Education as its Sept. 14 meeting.
“There is much to celebrate,” Associate Superintendent Frances Herring told the school board.
Among key points of improvement are these:
The composite score for grade-level proficiency increased by 4.2 percent points over the previous year.
The number of “B” schools increased from two to three and the number of “D” schools decreased from eight to four. The state assigns letter grades based on a formula that combines tested student proficiency (80 percent) and student academic growth (20 percent).
Fifty-three percent of schools met or exceeded growth targets. Growth among subgroups of students, such as English learners or those deemed economically disadvantaged, continued a four-year upward trend.
LCPS’s elementary schools scored big in several areas of testing for the 2025-2026 school year. Among the highlights were these:
Third grade reading proficiency increased by 8.3 percentage points, the highest composite score for the district in the past 11 years.
Third grade math proficiency increased by 3.1 percent points, contributing to the best total score in 14 years.
Fifth grade reading proficiency also set a 14-year high mark with an increase in proficiency of 3.5 percentage points.
Fifth grade math proficiency jumped by 4.4 percentage points, creating another 14-year high in the total proficiency score. (For purposes of comparison, scores are tracked from 2012, when the state implemented Common Core Standards and made wholesale changes in the testing and accountability program.)
Fifth grade science proficiency grew by 4.9 percentage points, with seven schools showing gains.
In middle school, the district increased proficiency in eighth grade science by 20 points, with all four middle schools showing gains.
In high school, the composite proficiency score for biology students showed a 4.4 percentage point gain from the previous year.