State Superintendent June Atkinson honored 11 school districts and 60 high schools earlier this month for having the highest four-year cohort graduation rates among all districts and schools in the state in 2014-15. Fifty-two of these schools earned graduation rates of 100 percent. To receive an award, schools must have been open for at least four years. See the complete list of winners here. The full report on the state's cohort graduation rates, as well as previous years' reports, is available online.

In addition to the school's honored this month, 82 high schools that earned a graduation rate of 95% or greater in 2014-15 have received a letter of recognition and certificate of achievement from Atkinson to celebrate this accomplishment. A list of those schools is available here.

For the 10th year in a row, North Carolina’s four-year cohort graduation rate has reached an all-time high. Last year, 85.6 of the 9th graders who entered high school four years prior earned their high school diploma. The four-year cohort graduation rate has increased 17.3 percentage points since North Carolina first started calculating this rate in 2005-06.

Seventy-six percent (89,906 students) of North Carolina third graders met the reading proficiency standards under North Carolina’s Read to Achieve program according to a report approved by the State Board of Education earlier this month. This figure is down from the 79 percent reported in 2013-14.

These third graders demonstrated reading proficiency through one of the following options:

• passing the Beginning-of-Grade 3 English Language Arts/Reading assessment;
• passing the End-of-Grade 3 English Language Arts/Reading assessment;
• passing the End-of-Grade 3 English Language Arts/Reading assessment retest;
• passing the Read to Achieve Alternative Test;
• passing an alternative assessment for reading; or
• successfully completing the reading portfolio.

The North Carolina Read to Achieve Program is a component of the Excellent Public Schools Act passed by the NC General Assembly in 2012. The goal of the program is to ensure that every third grade student is reading at or above grade level by the end of the school year. Students who are not reading at grade level receive extra support, including reading camps, guaranteed uninterrupted blocks of reading time, and intensive reading interventions. Of the 20,240 students eligible to attend a reading camp held by local districts in 2014-15, 12,586 (62.2 percent) students attended. In 2013-14, 12,827 or 69.8 percent of eligible students attended reading camps. To view the full report, visit the NCDPI K-3 Literacy Read to Achieve website. 

Chatham Central High (Chatham County Schools) Science Teacher Eric Patin got the surprise of a lifetime on Oct. 15 when he found out he was North Carolina’s latest Milken Educator Award recipient and the new owner of an unrestricted check in the amount of $25,000. Patin was recognized during a schoolwide assembly. He is among 40 educators nationwide to receive the award this year.

Patin earned an associate’s degree in science from Grand Rapids Community College, a bachelor's degree in microbiology from the University of Michigan, and his secondary teaching certification in April 2004 from Eastern Michigan University. He achieved National Board Certification in 2013. He is chair of Chatham Central High’s Science Department, a member of the School Improvement Team and a Teacher-Leader Cohort. He also is head coach of the men’s tennis team and an assistant coach for the varsity football team. Patin has taught for eight years, seven at Chatham Central High.

Called the “Oscars of Teaching” by Teacher magazine, the Milken National Educator Awards were first presented in 1987 to reward, retain and attract the highest caliber professionals for the nation's schools. The award alternates each year between elementary and secondary educators. For additional information, visit the Milken Educator Awards’ website.

The number of teachers leaving North Carolina public school classrooms increased slightly from last year according to the 2014-15 Annual Report on Teachers Leaving the Profession. In 2014-15, 14,255 teachers left their local school districts resulting in an overall state turnover rate of 14.84 percent. This percentage is slightly up from the 14.12 percent reported in 2013-14.

Local district turnover rates ranged from a high of 33.55 percent in Northampton County to a low of 5.75 percent in Graham County. All local district figures are included in the full report.

The turnover report reflects the time period from March 2014 to March 2015. During this time frame, 96,081 teachers were employed in North Carolina public schools. This report does not include charter schools’ teacher turnover data.