ASHEVILLE - Asheville City Schools outperformed the state in several key metrics, with ACT scores and a graduation rate well above the state average, according to a report from the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction.
The department recently released school performance grade letters for the 2024-25 school year, something the state's education department has been doing annually since 2013. The letter grades are based on student performance in certain subjects and are calculated from testing data.
Among the grades:
- Asheville High School and the School of Inquiry and Life Sciences both received B scores.
- The other six schools in the district -- Asheville Middle School, Claxton Elementary School, Hall Fletcher Elementary School, Ira B. Jones Elementary School, Isaac Dickson Elementary School, and Lucy S. Herring Elementary School -- all received C scores.
- All schools except for Claxton Elementary School, Asheville Middle School and Isaac Dickson Elementary School, demonstrated academic growth, according to the report.
Superintendent Maggie Fehrman told the Citizen Times Sept. 9 that the high level of academic rigor at Asheville High School has contributed to a respectable student performance on the ACT, while individualized support for students
has helped keep the school's graduation rate up.
In Asheville City Schools, 72.5% of students scored a 17 or above out of 36 on the ACT, compared to 53.8% of students statewide.
The graduation rate for Asheville City Schools was 93.2%, compared to the state's rate of 87.8%.
"When we see students that we maybe anticipate wouldn't graduate in four years, we start laying in our student support services, social work services," Fehrman said. Reading scores were also slightly above the state average, with 58% students proficient in reading, compared to 52% across North Carolina.
The district provides teachers with coaching and support in completing state mandated training, and a reading specialist meets frequently with instructional coaches, Fehrman said.
"She does observations of our reading program and teachers implementing the reading curriculum and provides a lot of individualized coaching and support," she said.
The district had also used a tutoring program, which is no longer funded, "so we're looking for other tutors to come in and fill that, who are able to pull students in small groups," Fehrman said.
Fehrman believes the district's report card this year doesn't reflect lingering impacts of Tropical Storm Helene, which struck Western North Carolina on Sept. 27, 2024.
State report on Asheville test scores shows racial gap
One area where the district falls short is a staggering achievement gap between Black and white students.
Less than 20% of Black students are proficient in reading and math, compared to 78% of white students in reading and 73% of white students in math.
The district also was slightly below the state in math proficiency, with 54% of the students proficient, compared to the state average of 56%.
"Asheville has struggled with the achievement gap for many, many years," Fehrman said. "And when you have such a large achievement gap that has been so historic in a community, it's hard to take yourself out of it."
The district is working to address the achievement gap using a framework for school improvement that teaches students the concept of metacognition, or thinking about how one thinks. While the achievement gap is still large, Black students improved overall in grade level proficiency by 6 points, Fehrman said.
"We've made a lot of great progress, but we have to keep our focus on closing the achievement gap. That is our first and foremost biggest priority," Fehrman said.
"What is critical is … every single student group, whatever the demographic is, improved overall achievement from the previous year to this just current past year," Fehrman said. "So that is a big celebration for Asheville City Schools."
Kara Fohner is the Public Safety Reporter for the Asheville Citizen Times. Email her at kfohner@usatodayco.com.
This article originally appeared on Asheville Citizen Times: Asheville schools beat state averages, despite racial gaps
