As the Blue Ribbon Commission on Public Education convened its first meeting at the Friday Institute for Educational Innovation April 27, preparing every student for success was at the forefront of Commissioners’ discussions and engagement. For Commission member Matthew Bristow Smith, principal at Edgecombe Early College High School, this focus is critical. 

“Student advancement needs to be front and center in our work,” said Bristow Smith. “We need to have conversations where they’re all deeply rooted in kids, whether we’re talking about systems or personnel or curricula, children need to be the anchor that we calibrate all of our discussions around.”

Jointly authorized and appointed by executive and legislative bipartisan leadership, the Commission is charged with studying the structure and implementation of public education in North Carolina. The shared ownership of the Commission signals an intent to produce actionable policy outcomes rather than symbolic recommendations.

North Carolina has a long history of drawing on commissions to strengthen its commitment to students and teachers. To support the Commission’s work, the Friday Institute, administrative lead and strategic research partner for the Commission, will regularly prepare concise briefing documents on key issues and emerging research.

The Commission is tasked with examining teacher training and student advancement, administrative operations, educational leadership and accountability for improved outcomes. It is co-chaired by Anne Faircloth, president of Buffalo Investments & Lafayette Farms, and Don Martin, chair of the Forsyth County Commissioners and former school superintendent of Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools.

This first meeting gave Commission members an opportunity to share their thoughts on each topic, identify priorities that need to be addressed and name existing strengths to build from. Their inputs will shape the Commission’s work as it moves forward to collectively examine the evidence base around each topic and develop recommendations. 

Members were hopeful for actionable results for the Commission and trying new approaches for improved educational outcomes. They remarked on the amount of time for discussion and seeing the meeting as a co-design to identify and make recommendations rather than solely jumping to a solution.

“Our role here at the Friday Institute is really to help facilitate a lot of discussion, asking some of those questions with you, or even helping answer some of those questions,” said Emma Braaten, director of digital learning who is leading the Friday Institute’s work for the Commission.  

A Focus on Students

The meeting began with greetings from NC State Chancellor Kevin Howell and Speaker Destin Hall highlighting the importance of student success.

“This is a critical role not just for K-12 and the community colleges; it’s for all of higher education,” said Howell.

Referencing scholarship opportunities at NC State that enable students to attend the university, Howell recognized how, “One student can change their family trajectory. One student can change their community.” 

“It’s all about making sure that every student in this state, in every corner of this state, has the chance to succeed,” said Hall. 

In the afternoon, the Commission examined student advancement and the state of student achievement—the first priority the Commission is looking to address. 

During the 2024-2025 school year, North Carolina’s public school students had the highest percentage of graduates passing a college-level course and the highest number of students earning Career and Technical Education (CTE) credentials in state history, yet these historic metrics are not directly reflected in the state’s A-F school performance grades. This discrepancy is due to the narrow scope that the state uses to measure student achievement, said Michael Maher, chief accountability officer for the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction during a presentation to the Commission.

“What you measure is what you value,” said Maher. “When we talk about student achievement, there’s always this tendency to try to boil it down to a single test score or a single number. But that doesn’t capture the full picture of what happens in public buildings across the state. In North Carolina, we need to think about student achievement as being multi-dimensional. It includes not only student academic performance but also growth and readiness for career or college.”

Maher presented on the state of K-12 student achievement in North Carolina, providing an overview of North Carolina’s public school system, the ninth largest in the U.S. with over 1.5 million students, 2,650 schools and 188,000 education professionals. He discussed student test performance, the national picture and best-in-nation metrics.

“In North Carolina, we need to think about student achievement as being multi-dimensional. It includes not only student academic performance but also growth and readiness for career or college.”
-Michael Maher, Chief Accountability Officer, North Carolina Department of Public Instruction

Maher underscored that trends data over multiple years matter more than single year snapshots of individual student performance and provide a broader state-level view of student performance. He said that the context of public school matters, including who students are, their backgrounds and experiences that shape student outcomes and reflect the demographic and geographic landscape of North Carolina schools. He noted that achievement comes in many forms, and North Carolina is preparing students through multiple pathways for their post-secondary life. 

Some key accomplishments Maher highlighted included North Carolina’s 87.7% graduation rate, 72.1% of Advanced Placement exams receiving passing scores wherein many colleges will give college credit, and second best in the entire nation for number of students participating in CTE courses. Unfortunately, based on 2024-2025 statewide assessments, about 45% of public school students aren’t yet proficient in all subjects, with third grade reading, English II and NC Math I assessments showing declines compared to 2023-24 results. 

Using data from the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) assessment, which is administered nationwide to fourth- and eighth-grade students every two years, Maher shared that North Carolina is at or above the national average in mathematics and, in 2024, the state’s eighth-grade mathematics average was significantly higher than the national average. The state trends slightly below the national average in reading.

Maher emphasized that the current public school accountability system in North Carolina is heavily weighted on reading and math performance and proficiency (80%) over growth (20%).

“It is a very limited reflection of student readiness,” said Maher. “We don’t include any indicators around CTE credentials. We don’t include any indicators around student post-secondary participation. So, we’re not including any of the work that’s actually happening in high school to get students on their path. We have a chance now to modernize our assessment system, which would be one of the leaders of the nation.” 

The day concluded with a request from Governor Josh Stein for fulfilling a promise to the people of North Carolina to invest in education.

“Public education delivers real opportunity to every single child,” said Stein. “If you believe, as I do, that if you work hard, where you come from should never limit how far you can go, then we have to be committed to our public schools. That is the promise of North Carolina, and our public schools are where we deliver that promise to our people… We have to draw inspiration from our teachers’ tenacity, our principals’ passion and our students’ steadfastness because we can do better. There are children in North Carolina who are not receiving the education they deserve today. People often say that our children are our future, and if we truly believe that then we actually have to invest in their education.”

The second meeting of the Commission will be held Monday, May 18, at the Friday Institute. The meeting will focus on the current state of student achievement and best practices for student advancement.

This post was originally published in William & Ida Friday Institute for Educational Innovation News.