Lifetime Citizen Portal Access — AI Briefings, Alerts & Unlimited Follows
Wake County committee reviews promotion and retention trends, highlights ninth-grade spike
Loading...
Summary
District staff told the Student Achievement Committee that Wake County’s non-promotion rate tracks close to the state average, noted a large ninth-grade increase tied to credit accrual, and said Read to Achieve summer camps helped hundreds of third graders reach proficiency.
At a meeting of the Student Achievement Committee of Wake County Public Schools, district staff presented the district’s promotion and retention data and discussed strategies to reduce retention and smooth transitions into high school. Staff emphasized that the district is still waiting on the state’s annual retention report because of a data-system transition but shared internal breakdowns and program outcomes.
Dr. McMillan presented decade-long non-promotion (retention) trends and said the state’s non-promotion rate has generally ranged between about 2.5% and 3%, with Wake County closely tracking the state. He attributed pandemic-era spikes to the disruptions of remote learning and said rates have settled back toward historical averages. “Almost 57 percent of our third graders last year were either proficient on the beginning of grade 3 test or the end of grade 3 test,” Dr. McMillan said, describing the different pathways third graders use to meet Read to Achieve requirements.
The presentation broke out third-grade outcomes: roughly 57% met proficiency via the state tests, about 10% met the standard through an alternate district assessment (typically MClass), and roughly 25% were nonproficient at the end of the school year. Staff reported summer Read to Achieve camps helped about 900 additional students reach the standard, reducing the remaining nonproficient share to roughly 18% in the district’s internal counts.
Board members focused sustained questioning on the sharp rise in non-promotion at ninth grade. Presenters explained the difference: K–8 retention decisions are typically holistic, based on multiple measures, while high-school retention is largely credit-based. For ninth graders, failing a single required course (for example English I) or lacking a small number of credits can trigger retention. Staff noted credit-recovery and objective-recovery options can return students to cohort, but board members pressed for more proactive supports earlier in middle school.
Shavonn Stone, a district staff member, warned that retention is often a precursor to dropout and described updated guidance the district gives principals: collaborative school-based teams, multiple data sources, consideration of alternatives to retention and a clear timeline for parent outreach. “Retention is usually a precursor to dropout,” Stone said, urging careful, data-driven decision-making.
Several board members urged more disaggregated growth data (not just proficiency) and requested longitudinal tracking of students who attend summer programs to determine whether short-term gains persist during the regular year. Members asked staff to return with disaggregated retention and growth measures by subgroup and with details on transition supports to reduce the ninth-grade spike.
The committee did not take formal policy action on promotion or retention at this meeting; staff said they will share the state’s official retention report when the Department of Public Instruction releases it and will return with follow-up information on growth measures and transition programming.
