Policies and practices that hold schools and teachers responsible for student performance. Accountability measures may serve a variety of functions for state, district and school stakeholders, including holding teachers and students accountable for performance on standardized tests, rewarding or sanctioning schools based on student performance, comparing and publicizing performance by schools in a district or across a state, and/or allocating funds based on performance.
North Carolina’s Student Accountability Standards detail the scope and requirements for students in the state:
North Carolina public school students are required to meet statewide standards for promotion from grades 3, 5 and 8 as well as high school graduation. The standards, also called gateways, ensure that students are working at grade level in reading, writing and mathematics before being promoted to the next grade. For high school graduation, students will need a passing score on an exit exam of essential skills.