Education in North Carolina

This period also saw the establishment of the North Carolina Community College System Integration and Desegregation: The Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s and 1960s brought about significant changes in education in North Carolina, including the integration of schools and the desegregation of higher education institutions Modernization and Innovation: Since the 1980s, North Carolina has continued to modernize and innovate in education, with a focus on technology, teacher training, and accountability.

The state has also implemented various reforms, such as the Read to Achieve program, to improve student outcomes Education was a low priority in the colonial era.

The first small public school opened in New Bern in 1749, designed as a charity for poor families who could not afford tuition at an academy.

According to Harlow Giles Unger, in 12 years as state superintendent of education, 1853 to 1865, Wiley overcame traditionalistic opposition among small farmers who saw no need to waste their children's time on schooling.

Wiley appealed to the Whig vision progress in establishing the South's first modern system of public education.

He founded the state education association to drum up local support; helped set up teacher training institutions; imposed standards and examining boards for teachers; mandated annual teacher certification; coordinated county school units with school superintendents and boards; and above all he crusaded for universal white education as a vehicle for ensuring the state's economic prosperity.

[7] Most schools largely closed during down during the Civil War of 1861-1865 as many teachers and students enlisted, and soaring inflation ruined private endowments.

This index combines information from 13 indicators that span a person’s life from cradle to career.

The North Carolina Superintendent of Public Instruction is the secretary of the North Carolina State Board of Education, but the board, rather than the superintendent, holds most of the legal authority for making public education policy.

[15] North Carolina Schools were segregated until the Brown v. Board of Education trial and the release of the Pearsall Plan.