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Read. Follow. Verify.North Carolina Bill Restructures School Performance Grades and Modifies Scoring Metrics
Last action · May 5, 2025: Ref To Com On Rules and Operations of the Senate (Senate action)Sponsors: Brian Biggs and 8 others
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What This Bill Would Do
North Carolina House Bill 773 updates school performance scoring metrics and adjusts the numerical grade scale thresholds for elementary, middle, and high schools beginning with the 2025-2026 school year. The legislation alters how student achievement and college-and-career readiness are measured across grade bands, shifting point distributions and grading boundaries for letter grades A through F.
The change alters how schools earn letter grades by modifying test metrics and lowering numerical score cutoffs required for specific letter grades, directly affecting how public schools are evaluated and reported across the state starting in the 2025-2026 academic year.
- North Carolina evaluates public schools using an annual school performance grading system that combines student achievement test scores and academic growth measurements. context
- The State Board of Education administers school report cards and performance scores pursuant to Chapter 115C of the North Carolina General Statutes. context
Who It Would Affect
Groups the bill's text would affect if enacted, as described in the record. Being affected is not a position for or against it.
Public schools
Public schools are evaluated, scored, and assigned letter grades based on the modified metrics and grading scale established by the measure.
State Board of Education
The State Board of Education is tasked with calculating school scores, defining performance indicators, and publishing annual report cards according to the updated provisions.
Key Facts
- The State Board of Education must calculate overall school performance scores where school achievement accounts for eighty percent and school growth accounts for twenty percent.
- The grading scale for elementary schools is modified so that a score of at least 62 equals an A, 54 equals a B, 41 equals a C, 32 equals a D, and less than 32 equals an F.
- The grading scale for middle and high schools is modified so that a score of at least 64 equals an A, 57 equals a B, 44 equals a C, 34 equals a D, and less than 34 equals an F.
- For high school performance calculations, college and career readiness points are updated to include advanced course exams, dual enrollment courses, Career and College Promise credits, Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery scores, and industry credentials.
Show all 7 facts
- Performance grades and scores for specific student subgroups—including economically disadvantaged students, major racial and ethnic groups, children with disabilities, and English learners—must be calculated and reported separately on annual report cards.
- Annual report cards issued by local school administrative units and individual schools must display summary performance grades, growth designations, and three-year historical comparisons prominently on the Department of Public Instruction's website.
- The act applies to school performance grades and metrics based on data starting from the 2025-2026 school year.
Frequently Asked Questions
What factors make up a school's overall performance score?
How are letter grades assigned for elementary schools under the bill?
What else do you want to know?
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Votes, people, money & the original sourceWhere This Stands
Currently passed chamber. The next step in the legislative lifecycle is Law.
Procedural history
15 actions- May 5, 2025SenateRef To Com On Rules and Operations of the Senate
- May 5, 2025SenatePassed 1st Reading
- May 5, 2025SenateRegular Message Received From House
- May 1, 2025HouseRegular Message Sent To Senate
- May 1, 2025HousePassed 3rd Reading
- May 1, 2025HousePassed 2nd Reading
Show 9 earlier actions
- Apr 30, 2025HousePlaced On Cal For 05/01/2025
- Apr 30, 2025HouseCal Pursuant Rule 36(b)
- Apr 30, 2025HouseReptd Fav
- Apr 29, 2025HouseRe-ref Com On Rules, Calendar, and Operations of the House
- Apr 29, 2025HouseReptd Fav Com Substitute
- Apr 17, 2025HouseSerial Referral To State and Local Government Stricken
- Apr 7, 2025HouseRef to the Com on Education - K-12, if favorable, State and Local Government, if favorable, Rules, Calendar, and Operations of the House
- Apr 7, 2025HousePassed 1st Reading
- Apr 3, 2025HouseIntroducedFiled
Version history
Only one version on file - nothing to compare yet. As later stages (committee substitute, engrossed, enrolled) are captured, the redline appears here.
View official text →Lobbying Activity
No state lobbying filings in our records match this bill. Federal lobbying reports (LDA) cover Congress, so they are not listed on state bills.
Full breakdown
Who this bill affects and the strongest case for and against it, written only from the bill’s own text.
Sponsors
Discoveries
Patterns POLISCOPE noticed across the record. These are observations to investigate, not conclusions.
Revision of School Grading Scale and Metrics
The bill significantly adjusts the point thresholds required to achieve letter grades A through F for both elementary and middle/high schools while updating career readiness indicators.
Connected Entities
Sources
www.ncleg.gov
Analysis Score
0–100- Significance75How much this matters to a regular citizen
- Controversy40Intensity of disagreement among stakeholders
- Entertainment10Compellingness for a non-policy-wonk reader
- Buzz35Current news / social attention level
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