Carbon Career & Technical Institute in Jim Thorpe is proving its students are advanced on two national assessments.

Ninety-six percent of CCTI's Class of 2014 attained an overall score of advanced or competent on this year's National Occupational Competency Testing Institute and National Institute for Metalworking Skills exams.NOCTI and NIMS are end-of-program assessments that measure achievement in the students' career and technical programs.Brent Borzak, principal, said the CCTI administration and Joint Operating Committee are proud to announce the scores.He noted that of those scores 85 percent scored advanced, which is 19 percentage points higher than last year's 66 percent advanced."A 96 percent success rate is great," Borzak said. "According to recent data, the state expectation is 72 percent and the state average is in the 83 percent range."The exams have both a written and performance component. All of the students scored advanced or proficient on the written portion.David Reinbold, administrative director, said, "Our students, parents, staff, Joint Operating Committee, and all of our volunteers and partners contribute to our success. We have a gifted and caring staff that is committed to teaching our students the skills they need to be successful."We commend our students for their efforts and dedication to high achievement," he added. "We challenge our students to meet CCTI's goals and expectations, and they continue to do so. Our stated goal was 100 percent overall advanced or competent, and we almost made it."Our JOC and Occupational Advisory Committee fully endorse the activities and curricula we employ to ensure high student achievement," Reinbold continued."Both groups are key to our accomplishments. We appreciate everyone who made our NOCTI and NIMS testing a success. Congratulations to the Class of 2014."Students who scored competent or advanced on the NOCTI exams are recognized on CCTI's website at

www.carboncti.org.