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Friday Report – March 30, 2018
This week in #nced: NC School Leaders Want to Crack Down on School Threats, Which Have Risen 300% in US; Should the National Guard Be Deployed to Protect NC Schools?
by Forum Admin
The Friday Report
March 30, 2018
This Week on Education Matters: Spotlight on NC School of Science and Mathematics and NC Lab Schools
One is a brand new partnership between our state university teacher prep programs and K-12 public schools, while the other started in 1980 in Durham, but is now expanding to Western NC. This week we explore NC Lab Schools and the NC School of Science & Mathematics.
Guests:
Dr. Todd Roberts, Chancellor, NC School of Science & Mathematics (pictured above, right)
Dr. Melissa Thibault, Vice Chancellor for Distance Education and Extended Programs, NCSSM (pictured above, left)
Sean Bulson, Interim Vice President for University & P-12 Partnerships, UNC System (pictured below, right)
Dr. Grant Hayes, Dean, East Carolina University College of Education (pictured below, left)
When and Where to Watch Education Matters
Saturday at 7:30 PM,
WRAL-TV (Raleigh/Durham/Fayetteville)
Sunday at 8:00 AM,
FOX 50
(Raleigh/Durham/Fayetteville)
Sunday at 6:30 AM and Wednesday at 9:30 AM, UNC-TV’s North Carolina Channel (Statewide)
The North Carolina Channel can be found on Time Warner Cable/Spectrum Channel 1277 or check your local listing and other providers here.
Teacher-Student Relationships Key to Overcoming Trauma
Phyliss Post, a UNC-C professor and director of play therapy certificate, has been working with her college students and teachers at Eliz. Duncan Koontz Elementary school on using play therapy as a tool to teach teachers on observing student behaviors and better intervening and steering them to a more positive direction. Photo Credit: Jon C. Lakey/Salisbury Post.
Sometimes, all it takes to change a child’s life is a relationship. Over the past year, Koontz Elementary School has been building a trauma-focused and resiliency program to help students who have experienced extreme difficulty in life.
One piece of that is a partnership with the Public School Forum of N.C., which is helping the school come up with strategies to combat adverse childhood experiences or ACEs. The other is a new partnership with the University of North Carolina at Charlotte’s graduate play therapy program.
Over the next three years, graduate and doctoral students from UNC-Charlotte will work to train teachers to create solid relationships with their students in a way that helps build resiliency and decrease teacher stress.
To continue reading the complete article, click here.
Would Breaking Larger School Districts into Smaller Ones Be Better? ‘We Don’t Really Know.’
Students listen to social studies teacher Ashley Austin during class at Olympic High School in Charlotte, N.C., on April 8, 2016. John D. Simmons, The Charlotte Observer.
State legislators studying how to split up North Carolina school districts were warned that there’s not enough evidence to prove that smaller school systems are better than larger ones.
A committee of state lawmakers is studying the potential issues involved with breaking up any of North Carolina’s 115 school districts into smaller ones. A pair of researchers at UNC-Chapel Hill told the committee Wednesday that there’s not much research on school district size, so there are concerns about using the “mixed bag” of data to make major decisions.
To continue reading the complete article, click here.
Do you know a leader in your community supporting our schools and making a difference in the lives of children both in and out of school? The Public School Forum is seeking nominations for individuals to be highlighted on our weekly statewide TV show, Education Matters. Click herefor an example of a recent spotlight.
Nominees could be principals, superintendents, teachers, teacher assistants, guidance counselors, parents, students, business leaders, community volunteers, afterschool providers, and the list goes on!
To nominate someone, please fill out the form here.
NC School Leaders Want to Crack Down on School Threats, Which Have Risen 300% in
Heritage High School, Heritage Middle School Heritage Elementary School were put on lockdown Tuesday, March 20, 2018, because of a threat, according to Wake County schools. Photo Credit: Travis Long, The News & Observer.
A spike in threats of school violence since last month’s mass school shooting in Florida is spurring calls to crack down on students and others who make false threats.
There has been over a 300 percent increase nationally in school threats reported each school day since 17 people were killed at a high school in Parkland, Fla., on Feb. 14, according to the Educator’s School Safety Network. North Carolina has seen a sharp increase in threats, leading school board members to urge lawmakers to make it a felony to make a threat of mass violence on school property.
More than 84 percent of school board members who responded to a recent North Carolina School Boards Association survey said they support a bill making it a Class H felony to communicate a school threat. The bill received unanimous support from the House last year but stalled in the Senate. It’s eligible for consideration this year.
To continue reading the complete article, click here.
Report: School Boards, Counties Should Stay Out of Court
Photo Credit: JJ Thompson, Unsplash.
School districts across North Carolina will present next year’s funding requests in the coming weeks to local county commissioners, with the potential for costly and lengthy litigation if they can’t see eye-to-eye on spending.
So the General Assembly’s government watchdog agency recommended to legislators Monday that they pass a law barring school districts from suing when annual funding disagreements can’t be settled through a joint public meeting and formal mediation.
The report from the Program Evaluation Division suggested the new law create a formula upon which a county commission must fund a district when those remaining avenues to negotiate fail. The default formula would be based on the district’s student population and inflation, with funding increasing at a higher clip if the dispute lingers for three consecutive years.
To continue reading the complete article, click here.
Colorblind: North Carolina’s Teaching Force – Like the Nation’s – Fails to Match Student Demographics
Ronald Wilson (left) and Sydney Denton in class with Christina Spears, a third-year special education teacher in Apex. Photo Credit: Liz Bell, EducationNC.
It did not take many days into Jason Terrell’s teaching career for him to realize this job would be about more than the middle school English lessons he planned.
In 2012, Terrell, a fresh-out-of-college novice, came to James Martin Middle School in Charlotte through Teach For America. He became interested in teaching late in his time at Furman University. After an uncomfortable conversation with his parents, a few months later, he was instructing a classroom of eighth graders.
In addition to teaching, he helped with the football team and agreed to lead the baseball team. But far more of his coaching happened off the field, in conversations about bullying, suicide, and parents in prison.
To continue reading the complete article, click here.
Should the National Guard Be Deployed to Protect NC Schools?
National Guard soldiers monitor a peaceful march through uptown Charlotte, N.C., on Sept. 23, 2016.
Photo Credit: Jeff Siner, The Charlotte Observer.
The National Guard has been called on over the years to restore the peace after natural disasters and other emergencies, but few North Carolina school board members think it’s time to deploy soldiers at schools as a security measure.
Only 18 percent of the 292 school board members who took a recent N.C. School Boards Association survey said they’d support deploying the National Guard as a school safety option. School board members were far more supportive of other ideas in the survey, such as increasing funding for mental health services, school counselors, and school resource officers.
To continue reading the complete article, click here.
Project LIFT’s Work on CMS Schools Has Been Hailed and Heckled. Now It’s Evolving.
Superintendent Clayton Wilcox says Project LIFT has helped schools like Thomasboro Academy hire and keep strong teachers. Photo Credit: David T. Foster III, The Charlotte Observer file photo.
It looked like the end of Project LIFT.
Last week Clayton Wilcox, superintendent of Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools, released his revamped administration plan. Gone was the special zone created for the $50 million public-private partnership that set out to transform West Charlotte High and its feeder schools.
Denise Watts, who has been the face of Project LIFT since it debuted to national acclaim six years ago, would now lead one of six new geographic zones, overseeing an unspecified group of “central” schools.
To continue reading the complete article, click here.
Attention NC Educators: North Carolina Wants to Hear From You
North Carolina wants to hear from 100% of its educators through the North Carolina Teacher Working Condition survey.
The North Carolina Teacher Working Conditions Survey is a tool that gauges NC Educators’ perspectives about teaching and learning conditions while providing education stakeholders and policymakers insights on how to improve school and classroom practices.
Take the survey March 1-31. Once you have your code you can access the survey. Learn more about the TWC survey at https://www.ncteachingconditions.org.
2018 Jay Robinson Education Leadership Award Gala
Ann Goodnight has been named as the recipient of the 2018 Public School Forum of North Carolina Jay Robinson Education Leadership Award. The Forum established the award in 2000 to recognize leaders who have demonstrated innovative, creative, effective leadership for public education in North Carolina. Mrs. Goodnight will be honored at a gala event on Monday, May 21, at the Raleigh Convention Center.
“Ann Goodnight’s commitment to North Carolina’s children and to serving our state in so many meaningful ways made her an ideal choice for this honor,” said Michael Priddy, Chairman of the Public School Forum of North Carolina. “Her deep commitment to the entire education continuum, from early childhood to K-12 to higher education, really sets her apart – a commitment she backs up with both her time and investments. She’s a model for what giving back and servant leadership looks like.”
Join the Conversation About Education and Economic Opportunity in Your Community
Image Credit: EducationNC.
The myFutureNC Commission—comprised of state leaders in education, business, philanthropy, government, and faith‐based and nonprofit communities—is reimagining the ways our communities, our regions, and our state support an individual’s attainment journey, from pre-Kindergarten through postsecondary and into the workforce.
To help them in this task, the myFutureNC Listening Tour is collecting ideas and feedback from people all over the state. We want to hear from everyone: educators, parents, service providers, faith leaders, employees, employers, government representatives, and students.
Please join our team at one of our Listening Sessions this spring and summer to share your thoughts and ideas about strengthening educational and economic opportunities for your community. Drop in at any time: We will share information on our work at 2:30 pm, meet in small groups for discussion at 3:00 pm and host community conversations with local education thought leaders at 4:15 pm.
School Segregation in America Is as Bad Today as It Was in the 1960s
Image Credit: Gluekit, Getty [4]; AP Photo [3].
American schools are as racially divided today as they were in the 1960s. Case in point: Charlotte, North Carolina.
Ronald Reagan came to North Carolina on October 8, 1984, a month before American voters would decide whether to give him another four years in the White House. In 1980, running against Jimmy Carter, he’d won the state by only 39,000 votes, but it was now morning in America again, and the president was in an appropriately sunny mood as his rally began, shortly after noon, in downtown Charlotte.
As is customary in politics, Reagan praised his audience, then himself. Soon, he turned to attacking the Democrats, whom he accused of keeping people “in bondage as wards of the state.” They wanted dependents, not citizens. And instead of listening to Americans, liberals would tell Americans what to do.To illustrate his point, Reagan alluded to a matter of fierce contention across the South: the court-ordered integration of public schools and the yellow buses that frequently made that integration happen, carrying white children to predominantly black schools and black children to white ones.
To continue reading the complete article, click here.
Why Are Teachers More Likely Than Others to Work Second Jobs?
Photo Credit: Element5 Digital, Unsplash.
You might not think of teachers as players in our growing “gig economy.” After all, a teaching job seems like the ultimate form of guaranteed employment. Turns out, a significant number of teachers do work second jobs. In fact, teachers are more likely than others to work a second job. It’s a summer thing, right? Apparently not, but we’ll get to that below.
We know a fair amount about the extent to which teachers take second jobs. We know less about why they take jobs and not too much at all about the consequences of second jobs. A teacher with a second job raises their income, of course. Does outside work distract from teaching, or does it enrich what the teacher brings to class? Is a second job a path to leaving teaching altogether, or does a second job bring in enough extra income to allow an underpaid teacher to keep teaching as their main gig? The data shared here establishes that second jobs for teachers are an issue that deserves more attention. For some of the “whys” and “consequences,” it would be awfully interesting to hear from teachers.
To continue reading the complete article, click here.
Join the UNCW Watson College of Education for the “Making Innovation a Priority in NC Schools: Exploring Innovative Practices” conference on Monday, April 30, 2018.
Explore innovative programs and practices (personalized learning, 1:1 technology, problem-based learning, STEAM) and other unique initiatives.
Learn how innovative programs and schools can help engage students in meaningful and challenging learning.
Help identify the opportunities and obstacles to making innovation a priority in our public schools.
DATE & LOCATION
Monday, April 30, 2018 from 8:30am-3:00pm
UNCW Watson College of Education – Room 162
Keynote
Dr. Buddy Berry, Eminence Independent Schools, KY
Special Guest
Mark Johnson, North Carolina Superintendent of Public Instruction
Burroughs Wellcome Fund Accepting Applications for
Student STEM Enrichment Program
The Burroughs Wellcome Fund has opened its application for the 2018 Student STEM Enrichment Program (SSEP) grant awards. SSEP supports diverse programs with a common goal: to enable primary and secondary students to participate in creative, hands-on STEM activities for K-12 students and pursue inquiry-based exploration in BWF’s home state of North Carolina. These awards provide up to $60,000 per year for three years. The application deadline is April 18, 2018.
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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