Most public school districts in the Border Belt saw academic gains last school year, but they continued to fall below pre-pandemic and statewide scores.
Three districts in the region — Columbus County Schools, Public Schools of Robeson County and Scotland County Schools — saw an uptick in the percentage of students who were proficient in statewide tests during the 2024-2025 school year. Scotland County had the biggest increase, nearly two percentage points, with 37.5% of students proficient.
Bladen County Schools and Whiteville City Schools saw 3-point drops in student proficiency compared to the prior school year.
The scores were released Wednesday during a State Board of Education meeting. Statewide, 55% of students were proficient. The figure shows continued academic gains: 54.2% of students were proficient in 2023-2024.
But the scores are still below those seen prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2018-2019, 58.8% of North Carolina students were proficient.
State schools Superintendent Mo Green said during Wednesday’s meeting that the latest results should serve as a benchmark for scores moving forward.
Bladen County Schools
- 38.8% of students were proficient on statewide tests in 2024-2025, down from 41.9% the year before.
- The district has seen an 11.5-point increase in student proficiency since 2020-2021, when the figure was 27.3%
- But the percentage of students who were proficient last school year still lagged behind 2018-2019, when 47.5% of students passed state exams.
- Most schools received D or F grades. Bladen Early College got a B; 77.3% of students tested at or above grade level.
- Most schools met growth standards for academic performance. Elizabethtown Middle was the only school in the district that exceeded standards.
Columbus County Schools
- 43.1% of students were proficient on statewide tests in 2024-2025, up from 42.7% the year before.
- The district has seen 7.7-point increase in proficiency since 2020-2021, when the figure was 35.4%.
- But the percentage of students who were proficient last school year still lagged behind 2018-2019, when 51.9% of students passed state exams.
- Most schools received C or D grades. Two got a B: Old Dock Elementary and Columbus Career and College Academy.
- More than half of schools met growth standards for academic performance. Two schools did not meet standards: East Columbus Junior-Senior High School and South Columbus School. One school exceeded standards: Old Dock Elementary.
Public Schools of Robeson County
- 37.5% of students were proficient on statewide tests in 2024-205, up from 36.3% the previous year.
- The district has seen a 16.2-point increase since 2020-2021, when 21.3% of students were proficient.
- But the percentage of students who were proficient last school year still lagged behind 2018-2019, when more than 45% of students passed state exams.
- Most schools received C, D or F grades.
- Thirteen schools exceeded academic growth standards. Ten met the standards. Thirteen did not meet the standards.
Scotland County Schools
- 37.5% of students were proficient on statewide tests in 2024-2025, up from 35.7% the previous year.
- The district has seen a 9.7-point increase since 2020-2021, when 27.8% of students were proficient.
- But the percentage of students who were proficient last school year still lagged behind 2018-2019, when 45% of students passed state exams.
- Most schools received C or D grades. One got an A: Scotland Early College High School.
- Three schools exceeded academic growth standards: South Johnson Elementary, Scotland High School and Scotland Early College High School. Two schools met standards, and four did not.
Whiteville City Schools
- 50.2% of students were proficient on statewide tests in 2024-2025, down from 53.8% the previous year.
- In 2020-2021, 47% of students were proficient.
- The percentage of students who were proficient last school year still lagged behind 2018-2019, when 63% of students passed state exams.
- Four schools in the district got a C grade.
- Two schools met growth standards: Edgewood Elementary and Central Middle. Whiteville High did not meet growth standards.
To see how individual schools performed, see charts from The News & Observer and WRAL.
