Wake schools far short of reaching ambitious graduation, academic goals by 2028
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- Wake set 2028 targets: 98% graduation, 90% proficiency, 90% schools' growth rate.
- Current rates: 90.7% graduation, 64.4% proficiency; gaps persist by subgroup.
- Only 49% of schools exceed growth; low-performing groups show negative trends.
The Wake County school system is far short of meeting its lofty academic and graduation goals in the next three years, barring major increases.
Wake County’s strategic plan calls for reaching goals by 2028 such as having a 98% graduation rate, 90% of students passing state exams, and 90% of schools and 100% of all student groups exceeding growth targets on state exams. In an update Tuesday, school administrators said Wake is making gains in some areas but is not on target to meet the goals in the next three years.
“There’s progress, but there’s not enough progress to reach the ambitious goals that we have,” said Brad McMillen, Wake’s assistant superintendent for data, research and accountability
The school board adopted a five-year strategic plan in 2023 that included what it called at the time “bold” goals for North Carolina’s largest school district. Two years later, the gaps remain wide.
Reaching for 98% graduation rate
Wake has a goal by 2028 to annually graduate 98% of students “prepared to reach their full potential and lead productive lives.”
Wake’s graduation rate is 90.7%, which is lower than the record 91.4% set in 2024. The district would need to grow by 2.8 percentage points a year to reach 98% by 2028.
Some groups, including Asian students (95.7%) and White students (95.7%), are closest to the goal. But other groups, including Black students (88.2%), economically disadvantage students (82.3%) and Hispanic students (79.5%), are further behind.
“While we’re proud of our overall success, our work to ensure equitable outcomes is not complete,” said Clint Robinson, chief of staff and strategic planning.
Overall, Wake ranks 37th out of North Carolina’s 115 school districts in graduation rate.
A third of students not proficient
By 2028, Wake wants 90% of students to meet or exceed grade-level proficiency on state exams.
Wake’s proficiency rate is 64.4.%., which is the 6th-highest for any district in the state. Wake would need to grow by 8.5 percentage points a year to meet the 90% goal by 2028.
”Roughly two out of every three students are meeting grade level expectations,” Robinson said. “That’s a strong foundation, but it also signals the distance we must cover to reach our 90% target.”
Wake says proficiency rates for all student groups remains relatively flat. Wide gaps exist among different groups:
- Asian students (87.7%)
- White students (80.2%)
- Multiracial students: (66.8%)
- Hispanic students (41.9%)
- Black students (41.1%)
- Economically disadvantaged students (39.4%)
- English learners (27.6%)
- Students with disabilities (23.7%)
School board member Toshiba Rice pressed the district to more to close the achievement gap.
“We have children who are Black who are struggling and who are not performing well who are leaving our school district still not being able to meet the standards of society, which they need to be a productive citizen,” Rice said.
Around half of schools exceeding growth targets
By 2028, Wake wants 90% of all schools and 100% of student groups exceeding the statewide average for growth on exams.
But only 49% of schools are exceeding growth. It ranged from 45% of middle schools to 55% of high schools.
Among student groups, 92% of schools are exceeding growth with Asian students. But it drops to 56% for White students, 44% for Hispanic students, 38% for economically disadvantaged students and 34% for Black students.
There are good signs, such as how Wake is exceeding growth in elementary school math and high school end-of-course exams
Area of concerns for Wake
But Wake has a long list of areas of concern where it’s not exceeding growth in areas such as elementary school reading, 7th-grade math and 8th-grade reading.
Another source of concern is that students in kindergarten through second-grade are not only not exceeding growth but are showing negative growth in early literacy assessments.
The Wake schools with the highest passing rates on state exams often exceed growth targets. McMillen said the district’s growth is happening at a disproportionate rate at its highest performing schools.
Wake says it working to improve the results for the district’s low-performing schools
This story was originally published November 4, 2025 at 5:20 PM.
