GUILFORD COUNTY - A report on school performance grades were presented to the State Board of Education Wednesday. While Guilford County Schools has made great strides in some areas, there's others that need major improvement.

For the seventh consecutive year, GCS set a new record in terms of its high school graduation rate, making the district a leader across the state.

"We were at 88.5 in 2014 and we are up to 89.3 this year almost, just an inch away, from that 90-percent mark," said GCS’s Accountability and Research  Executive Director Dr. Judy Penny.

Penny said nearly 37-percent of those students left high school with some college credit.

"That's a pretty remarkable statistic."

The district also saw improved eleventh grade ACT performance, and it added more value to its overall schooling. The superintendent said while these improvements are good news, there are areas that need work.

"Our end of grade and end of course examinations,if you are comparing 2014-2015 to 2013-2014 you will see we are essentially flat,” said Superintendent Maurice Green. “Coupled with that we have pretty significant gaps in regards to performance." 

Especially between race and ethnicity.

"African American males for example,” said Green. “If you were to drill down into the data even further you would see the gaps are even larger if you look at African American males."

Data shows there's also a performance gap for Hispanic students.

"This is where we know our focus needs to continue to be that we've got to make continued improvement in regards to students performance,” said Green.  

Literacy skills are another area the district plans to focus on. The school's chief academic officer, Nakia Hardy,  said this is where parents come in.

"Some things that parents can do is read to their students every single day, talk to them about what they are doing in their job,” said Hardy. “Even simple things like reading labels when we are at the grocery store to reinforce those opportunities, or having them write when they are at the dinner table"

Compared to other large districts across the state, Guilford County's overall performance falls behind both Wake County and Charlotte Mecklenburg Schools. It surpasses Durham Public Schools and falls right in line with Winston-Salem Forsyth County.