| ABCs show continued progress by innovative high schools
The 106 secondary schools developed under North Carolina's initiative to create small, innovative schools continued to make progress in 2010-11 under the state's ABCs accountability measures.
Together, the 106 pioneering schools with a common focus on high expectations and strong supports for students achieved an overall passing rate of 83.5 percent last year on all state end-of-course exams combined, up from 81.9 percent in 2009-10 and better than the combined passing rate of 78.7 percent for traditional high schools that include ninth through twelfth grades.
The schools, which include early college and redesigned high schools, have been developed through partnerships that include the North Carolina New Schools Project, local school districts, the N.C. Department of Public Instruction and higher education. The initial group of 23 schools, which opened in 2005, achieved solid progress, with 14 of them (60 percent) meeting their goals for expected gains under the ABCs system and 10 of them (44 percent) also achieving goals for high growth. In their initial year in 2005-06, only 33 percent met their goals for expected progress and 21 percent reached their targets for high growth. Significantly, about half the nearly two dozen schools had completed their five-year NCNSP partnerships in 2009-10 and were operating independently of additional support and resources this past year. "These results show that when strong leadership and powerful teaching and learning in the classroom take hold, educational transformation can be sustained," said Tony Habit, NCNSP president. "These schools, through a valued partnership between local districts, higher ed partners and the NCNSP, have achieved remarkable progress and have created new opportunities for students who may have had few." The 23 schools had a median graduation rate in 2011 of 91.5 percent. North Carolina's average graduation rate for 2011 reached 77.7 percent, up 3.5 points from 74.2 percent in 2010. Overall, nearly 55 percent of all the 106 innovative secondary schools developed through partnerships with NCNSP made expected growth and 29 percent achieved high growth. The median passing rate on all end-of-course exams was 91.4 percent, up from 87.3 percent in 2009-10. The median passing rate for the state's traditional high schools was 79.8 percent, according to a NCNSP analysis of state data. 
Other highlights from the ABCs of Public Education accountability report included these: - About seven of every 10 innovative high schools (73.6 percent) had a performance composite greater than 80 percent, compared to 33 percent of the traditional schools that NCNSP uses as comparisons and 44.8 percent of all traditional 9-12 high schools.
- Three of every four innovative high schools (76.4 percent) achieved adequate yearly progress under the federal No Child Left Behind law, up slightly from 2009-10, when 73.6 percent did so. About a third (28.5 percent) of traditional 9-12 high schools in 2010-11 met standards for adequate yearly progress.
- Two thirds (66 percent) of innovative high schools improved their performance composites in 2010-11, and three quarters (77.4 percent) exceeded the performance composites of their comparison schools.
- The combined passing rate in early college high schools was 92.8 percent, up from 90 percent in 2009-10; 71.7 percent in redesigned high schools, unchanged from 2009-10; and 72.7 percent in STEM redesigned high schools, also unchanged from 2009-10.
- The combined 2011 graduation rate for early college high schools was 91.2 percent, for redesigned high schools, 79.8 percent and for STEM redesigned high schools, 90 percent.
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