Friday Report – July 27, 2018

The Friday Report

July 27, 2018

It’s the First Day of School Not Just for Students, But for Mom and Dad, Too

 From left, fourth-graders Eugenio Cabrera-Lugo and Kimberly Giramldo work on a team building exercise in Ali Smith’s classroom as Eugenio’s mom, Alma Lugo, center right, looks on at Barwell Road Elementary School on Wednesday, July 25, 2018. Photo Credit: Juli Leonard, The News & Observer.

Unlike other schools, the first day of school at Barwell Road Elementary means there will be classes for both students and their parents.

Flashing lights, a “red carpet” and the songs “I’ll Be There” and “Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da” greeted hundreds of students and their parents Wednesday as they started a new school year at Barwell. Instead of dropping their children off, parents stayed all morning at the Southeast Raleigh school, both doing activities with their kids and learning how they can support them throughout the school year.

…

The unusual first day of classes is one of the ways that Barwell has taken advantage of being a “restart” school, a state program that gives lower-achieving schools the same flexibility that charter schools receive. The restart schools get additional flexibility when it comes to things such as setting calendars, spending state money and hiring teachers.

To continue reading the complete article, click here.

Excerpt from:

Hui, K. “It’s the first day of school not just for students, but for Mom and Dad, too.” The News & Observer. 7/25/18.

State Board of Education’s Bill Cobey Will Not Seek Another Term as Chairman

Superintendent Mark Johnson (left) and State Board of Education Chairman Bill Cobey (right).

Photo Credit: NC Policy Watch.

Bill Cobey, the longtime North Carolina Republican who’s clashed of late with members of his own party in the N.C. General Assembly and Superintendent Mark Johnson, will not seek another term as board chair when his term ends in September.

“I’ve done it for five and a half years,” Cobey told Policy Watch Friday. “I think that’s plenty long enough.”

Asked whether he intends to remain on the board for the duration of his term, which ends next March, Cobey declined to comment.

To continue reading the complete article, click here.

Excerpt from:

Ball, B. “State Board of Education’s Bill Cobey will not seek another term as chairman.” NC Policy Watch. 7/20/18.

CMS Needs Nearly 500 Teachers. How a New Program Is Helping Find Some of Them.

Photo Credit: Pixabay, Pexels.

About a month before students report to school, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools has more than 450 teacher vacancies posted.

This summer CMS has launched a six-week crash course for career-changers and nontraditional college graduates who want to become teachers. As it draws to a close this week, 64 of the original 82 candidates remain in the running to lead their own classrooms in August, and 30 have already been hired.

To continue reading the complete article, click here.

Excerpt from:

Doss Helms, A. “CMS needs nearly 500 teachers. How a new program is helping find some of them.” The Charlotte Observer.

ECU Selected as New Home for Teacher Support Program

The University of North Carolina Board of Governors visit North Carolina A&T’s campus. Courtesy of Twitter.

East Carolina University was selected by the University of North Carolina System to be the new home of the North Carolina New Teacher Support Program on July 16.

The NC NTSP is a university-based program designed “to promote retention and improve the effectiveness of beginning teachers,” according to a press release from ECU News Services. The program promotes research and provides support cultivated to each teacher’s needs and is due to relocate to ECU in July, but no specific date or location is available at this time.

To continue reading the complete article, click here.

Excerpt from:

“ECU selected as new home for teacher support program.” The East Carolinian. 7/24/18.

National News

School Integration Advocates Highlight Wins and Losses, Possible Capitol Hill Action

Photo Credit: Education Week.

Researchers and advocates who support school integration had a message on Capitol Hill Thursday: There are several setbacks to creating integrated schools, but new opportunities as well.

In a panel discussion on integration here hosted by the National Coalition for School Diversity, they highlighted the downside of what they characterized as the Trump administration’s recent U-turn on diversity efforts, court rulings that have undermined local desegregation efforts, as well as what they said was the resegregation of America’s schools.

To continue reading the complete article, click here.

Excerpt from:

Ujifusa, A. “School Integration Advocates Highlight Wins and Losses, Possible Capitol Hill Action.” Education Week. 7/26/18.

Anti-Test Movement Slows to a Crawl

Photo Credit: Getty Images.

Just a few short years ago, there were real questions about whether Congress would ditch annual, standardized assessments as part of a makeover of the nation’s main K-12 education law. At the same time, parents were increasingly choosing to opt their children out of standardized tests.

But the Every Student Succeeds Act ultimately kept the tests in place. And since then, at least some of the steam has gone out of the opt-out movement in states such as New Jersey and New York, considered hotbeds of anti-testing fervor.

To continue reading the complete article, click here.

Excerpt from:

Klein, A. “Anti-Test Movement Slows to a Crawl.” Education Week. 7/23/18.

Possible Key to Black Boys’ Academic Success: Hire Black Men as Elementary School Teachers

Ja’Waun Williams, 19, a student at the University of Illinois at Chicago, is enrolled in a new program designed to recruit and educate African-American and Latino men to become elementary school teachers.

Photo Credit: Zbigniew Bzdak, Chicago Tribune.

Near the end of his freshman year at the University of Illinois at Chicago, Ja’Waun Williams heard that a dean there had been a member of the fraternity Williams was pledging.

After bonding over their shared affection for Alpha Phi Alpha, Dean Alfred Tatum persuaded Williams to shift his academic focus. Instead of preparing to teach high school math, Tatum suggested, why not major in urban elementary education?

To continue reading the complete article, click here.

Excerpt from:

Gregory, T. “Possible key to black boys’ academic success: Hire black men as elementary school teachers.” Chicago Tribune. 7/25/18.

‘Those Kids:’ Understanding Trauma-Informed Education

Photo Credit: Pixabay, Pexels.

Recently, I’ve been trying to rebuild my online education PLN (personal learning network). This past year was my first year at a new school, and in the transition, I rarely found myself online with time to deeply reflect on my practice.

It’s been wonderful– particularly now that I’m at a place where I can really sink into topics that are brought up. The online space has the opportunity to get flooded with buzzwords and the “newest trend,” and while it’s easy to jump onto an idea that sounds good, I’ve realized I don’t always take the time to internalize and evaluate what it actually means.

I felt this way recently when seeing the term “Trauma-Informed Education.” I had an idea of what it meant, and the concept sounded great, but I realized that I hadn’t really thought about what that really looked like. What are the concepts and understandings that are gained and used in trauma-informed education?

To continue reading the complete article, click here.

Excerpt from:

Torres, C. “‘Those Kids:’ Understanding Trauma-Informed Education.” Education Week. 7/24/18.

Opportunities

Registration Open for 2018 Candidate Education Policy Briefings

Applications Open for 2018-19 NC Education Policy Fellowship Program (EPFP)

The Public School Forum is accepting applications for the 2018-19 cohort of the North Carolina Education Policy Fellowship Program (EPFP).

The North Carolina Education Policy Fellowship Program is the only statewide program of its kind that focuses on leadership and professional development in the context of education policy. Fellows come from public schools, higher education, community colleges, and a diverse array of education organizations across North Carolina. Each class includes a cohort of fellows who focus on education policy issues and the wide range of factors that influence education in North Carolina. Fellows will increase their awareness of how public policy is made, learn whom the key players are in the formation of this policy, and become more confident and involved in the policy-making process.

EPFP Application information can be found online at https://www.ncforum.org/education-policy-fellowship-program/. Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis. Contact Lauren Bock, Public School Forum Director of Policy & Programs, at [email protected] with questions.

Burroughs Wellcome Fund Career Awards for Science and Mathematics Teachers

The Burroughs Wellcome Fund Career Award for Science and Math Teachers (CASMT) application is now available online. The Career Award for Science and Mathematics Teachers is a five-year award available to outstanding science and/or mathematics teachers in the North Carolina public primary and secondary schools. The purpose of this award is to recognize teachers who have demonstrated solid knowledge of science and/or mathematics content and have outstanding performance records in educating children. The deadline for submission is September 24th, 2018. For more information or to access the application, visit https://www.bwfund.org/grant-programs/science-education/career-awards-science-and-mathematics-teachers.

A Twitter Chat with two Burroughs Wellcome Fund Career Award for Science Teachers (CASMT) will take place on August 2nd at 7:00 pm. The Twitter hashtag for the session will be #bwfcasmtchat.

CASMT Awardees Andi Webb and Michelle Ellis will be participating in a Twitter Chat session to share their experiences and perspectives on the CASMT Award to include general information about applying.

For more information about the chat session, email [email protected] or [email protected].

2018 NCVPS Virtual Open House

The North Carolina Virtual Public School invites you to its 2018 Virtual Open House.

When: Tuesday, August 14, 11 AM – 12 PM or Thursday, August 16, 7 PM to 8 PM.
This year we are offering two opportunities to attend the Annual Virtual Open House. Please choose the date that works best for your schedule.

Where: The event will be hosted in an NCVPS online classroom. Details will be sent following registration.

Presenters: NCVPS staff, teachers, and students.

Topics: The presentation will include Who is NCVPS?, Teaching and Learning with NCVPS, Meet the Teacher, See the Classroom, Support All Around, and Q & As.

Audience: The NCVPS Open House is open to the public. While our presentations are geared toward parents and students in public schools, private schools, and home-schools, we have something for everyone. Educators will learn about the NCVPS teaching and learning process. The general public will discover what online learning is.

To register, click here. To learn more about NCVPS, click here.

Women in Educational Leadership Symposium

Registration is open for the third annual Women in Educational Leadership Symposium (WIELS). The purpose of WIELS is to bring women together to share, learn, and grow in leadership. This conference aims to provide personalized learning and mentoring opportunities for those who aspire to become or currently serve as educational leaders.

The symposium will be held October 5 through October 6, 2018 at Appalachian State University in Boone, NC. This year’s conference theme is Advancing the Leader Within: Building Capacity.

Registration for the conference is online at https://wiels.appstate.edu/about-us/registration. Additional information can be found at https://wiels.appstate.edu/.

The Friday Report is published weekly by the Public School Forum of NC and is distributed to Forum members, policymakers, donors, media, and Forum subscribers. Archived editions can be found at www.ncforum.org.

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