Friday Report – September 28, 2018

The Friday Report

September 28, 2018

State News

Are NC High School Students Getting Undeserved Grades? New Study Finds Grade Inflation.

Photo Credit: AP file photo.

North Carolina high school students may not be doing as well academically as they think — especially if they’re attending affluent schools where a new study says grade inflation is more likely to be taking place.

A report released last week from the conservative Thomas B. Fordham Institute studied more than a decade of North Carolina high school transcripts and test results and found that a significant number of students who received high grades did poorly on state exams. The study also found that grade inflation — when grades may be higher than they should be — is happening more at affluent high schools and as a result is putting students at less affluent schools at an academic disadvantage.

…

Keith Poston, president and executive director of the Public School Forum of North Carolina, a nonpartisan advocate for better schools, says he doesn’t doubt the data. But Poston said he trusts that teachers have a better sense of how their students are doing than the results of a single test.

“Are some students getting grades higher than they deserve?” Poston said. “Probably. But I’m not sure you can completely draw a line that we have grade inflation because these tests prove it.”

To continue reading the complete article, click here.

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Excerpt from:

Hui, K. “Are NC high school students getting undeserved grades? New study finds grade inflation.” The News & Observer. 9/26/18.

Preserve Teacher Pay in Schools Closed After Florence, State Leaders Say

White Oak High School in Jacksonville, North Carolina, was battered by rain and wind from Hurricane Florence. Photo Credit: White Oak High School.

School district employees affected by Florence shouldn’t have to worry about pay and students shouldn’t have to make-up instructional days, state leaders said Monday.

Most public school students in North Carolina missed at least some school time because of the storm. Several southeastern North Carolina school systems were closed for a week or more after Florence hit. Some, including New Hanover and Robeson counties, closed school through the end of this week.

To continue reading the complete article, click here.

Excerpt from:

Specht, P. “Preserve teacher pay in schools closed after Florence, state leaders say.” The News & Observer. 9/24/18.

NC Voters Want the State to Double Funding for Early Childhood

Photo Credit: Mike Fox, Unsplash.

North Carolina voters across the political spectrum want the state to double its investment in early child development. Republicans, Independents and Democrats alike favor a wide range of state investments in young children’s healthy development beginning at birth to ensure their success in school and life. The findings are from a new poll commissioned by the North Carolina Early Childhood Foundation (NCECF) and conducted by the bipartisan polling team of Public Opinion Strategies and Hart Research.

NC voters recognize that early investments have immediate and long-term benefits that include supporting children’s cognitive and social emotional development and growing a future skilled workforce. Voters said early learning investments are very important to help children achieve their third-grade reading goals (80 percent); help children develop curiosity and a love of learning (80 percent) and help North Carolina have a larger pool of highly skilled workers in the long-term (76 percent).

To continue reading the complete article, click here.

Excerpt from:

“NC Voters Want the State to Double Funding for Early Childhood.” NC Early Childhood Foundation. 9/27/18.

Legislature-Backed ‘Schools That Lead’ Launches Three-Year School Improvement Cohort

Erin Swanson. Edgecombe County Schools’ director of innovation, shares stories of student success at the Schools That Lead launch. Photo Credit: Liz Bell, EducationNC.

Principals, teachers, and administrators from 36 schools across the state gathered in Raleigh Tuesday to start a three-year pilot program. With funds from the legislature, Schools That Lead, a nonprofit education organization that focuses on improvement science, will work with up to 60 North Carolina schools to raise graduation rates and better student outcomes.

According to the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, which Schools That Lead partners with, “Improvement science deploys rapid tests of change to guide the development, revision and continued fine-tuning of new tools, processes, work roles and relationships.”

To continue reading the complete article, click here.

Excerpt from:

Bell, L. “Legislature-backed Schools That Lead launches three-year school improvement cohort.” EducationNC. 9/26/18.

Three NC Schools Earn Recognition as Leaders in STEM Education

Photo Credit: Frank Wang, Unsplash.

The North Carolina State Board of Education recognized three public schools earlier this month for exemplary leadership and instruction in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education. These schools are the latest schools to be recognized under the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction’s STEM Recognition Program.

Earning recognition as NC STEM Schools of Distinction were Greene County Middle School, Meadowview Magnet Middle School in Surry County and Yadkin Valley Regional Career Academy in Davidson County.

To continue reading the complete press release, click here.

Excerpt from:

“Three North Carolina Schools Earn Recognition as Leaders in STEM Education.” NC Department of Public Instruction. 9/27/18.

NC’s Principal Pay Plan Does More Harm Than Good

By Justin Parmenter

When school buses start to roll across the state this month for the beginning of school year 2018-19, North Carolina principals will begin their second year of a performance-based compensation system. It’s a system that was enacted in the 2017 budget bill, deliberately avoiding committee processes allowing for public debate and modifications by members of the General Assembly that are so essential to developing good policy.

Under the new system, principals are no longer compensated based on years of experience, given longevity bonuses or paid a higher rate for advanced degrees they’ve earned. Instead, they receive a salary based on how much their students grew on standardized tests at the end of the year and how many students attend their school.

State lawmakers initiated the change after North Carolina principal pay fell to an embarrassing 50th in the nation in 2016, vowing to “give more pay to principals who could move their schools to a higher performing level.”

To continue reading the complete article, click here.

Excerpt from:

Parmenter, J. “North Carolina’s principal pay plan does more harm than good.” EducationNC. 9/10/18.

Hurricane Florence: Cooper Says Pender Among Hardest Hit

Gov. Roy Cooper greets employees and volunteers at the Pender County Emergency Operations Center in Burgaw on Thursday. Photo Credit: Tim Buckland, StarNews.

Pender County perhaps was hit harder than most areas of the state during Hurricane Florence, Gov. Roy Cooper said during a visit to the county’s emergency operations center on Thursday.

“One thing I think we know is that storm was absolutely devastating,” he said. “It was a gut punch to North Carolinians across the state and especially right here in this county.”

The visit to Burgaw was the governor’s first in Pender County since the storm roared through almost two weeks ago, dumping historic amounts of rain on the county and damaging an estimated 5,100 buildings. Most of Pender County, particularly inland areas near the Black River and Northeast Cape Fear River, saw extensive flooding that drowned homes and closed numerous roads.

To continue reading the complete article, click here.

Excerpt from:

Buckland, T. “Hurricane Florence: Cooper Says Pender Among Hardest Hit.” StarNews. 9/27/18.

‘Lead Is No Joke’ – Activists Plan to Press CMS on Contaminated School Water

Former Charlotte Mayor Jennifer Roberts talks Thursday about the need for CMS to give parents full, timely information about lead in water. Photo Credit: Ann Doss Helms, The Charlotte Observer.

Making references to water contamination in Flint, Mich., activists Thursday denounced Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools for withholding information about lead in school water and mold in classrooms.

“Charlotte-Mecklenburg, too, is Flint. That’s how serious this is,” said Corine Mack, president of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg branch of the NAACP.

About two dozen adults and teens gathered at Little Rock AME Zion Church in uptown Charlotte on Thursday to demand greater accountability from a superintendent who initially dismissed high levels of lead coming from school drinking fountains as “not noteworthy or newsworthy.”

To continue reading the complete article, click here.

Excerpt from:

Doss Helms, A. “‘Lead is no joke’ – activists plan to press CMS on contaminated school water.” The Charlotte Observer. 9/20/18.

National News

Teachers Aren’t Just Running for Office—They’re Winning

Former National Teacher of the Year recipient Jahana Hayes celebrates after winning the Democratic primary for Connecticut’s 5th Congressional District in August. Photo Credit: John Woike, Hartford Courant via AP.

It’s a trend noted by the news media, teachers’ unions, and educators themselves: Fed up with the state of public education, teachers are running for office. And now, a new Education Week analysis shows that teachers are not only running—they’re winning.

Out of the 158 current classroom teachers that Education Week confirmed were running for their state legislature, 101 have moved on to the general election. Thirty-seven of those teachers won their primaries, while 59 ran unopposed. Five are running as write-in candidates, so they didn’t have to go through a primary.

To continue reading the complete article, click here.

Excerpt from:

Will, M.”Teachers Aren’t Just Running for Office—They’re Winning.” Education Week. 9/24/18.

Addiction Counselors Embed in Schools Dealing with the Opioid Crisis

Photo Credit: JJ Thompson, Unsplash.

When Maddy Nadeau was a toddler, she was often left alone until her sister got home from school.

“I remember mom was always locking herself in her room and she didn’t take care of me,” she said. “And so I was home a little child all by myself. My mom just wasn’t around at the time.” Every day when her older sister Devon came home from elementary school, she made sure she and Maddy had something to eat.

Both parents struggle with heroin addiction and for several years the sisters moved in with different relatives and foster homes. Sarah Nadeau began fostering them, and last year she adopted them. Nadeau says both girls were anxious and depressed and had a hard time focusing in school — especially Maddy, who was exposed to drugs in utero.

To continue reading the complete article, click here.

Excerpt from:

Gotbaum, R. “Addiction counselors embed in schools dealing with the opioid crisis.” The Hechinger Report. 9/23/18.

Opportunities

America to Me Screening – Charlotte, NC

Participant Media, Starz and Bank of America invite you to experience America To Me by Academy-Award Nominated Director Steve James (Hoop Dreams, Abacus: Small Enough To Jail). This event will be a pre-release screening of the critically acclaimed docu-series, with an empowering conversation between series’ subjects and local leaders moderated by Sonja Gantt, CMS Foundation Executive Director with opening remarks by Mayor Vi Lyles.

When: Wednesday, October 10, 2018 (5:30 – 9:00 PM)

Where: One Bank of America Center (1BAC), 150 N College St., Charlotte, NC 28202

Agenda: 5:30 – 6:30 P.M. RECEPTION (URBAN GARDEN, 1BAC LOBBY)

6:30 – 9:00 P.M. SCREENING + PANEL (1BAC AUDITORIUM)

RSVP HERE: https://america-to-me-charlotte.eventfarm.com

Participant is also offering a free workshop for watch group participants looking for strategies to have conversations about race and equity, on Sunday, November 18 with Janeen Bryant of Facilitate Movement.

RSVP HERE: https://america-to-me-workshop-charlotte-0180.eventfarm.com

UNC World View: K-12 Global Education Symposium

Location: The Friday Conference Center, Chapel Hill, NC

Dates: October 17-18, 2018
Cost: $175 per person, $600 for a team of four
CEU: 1.5 CEUs will be awarded upon completion of program study guide

(NEW! Earn Digital Learning Competencies CEUs!)

Join us on October 17-18 to explore global issues, learn best practices and collect resources to implement global education activities in your classroom, school and district! With six keynotes, 20 dynamic break-out sessions, action plan team meetings, CEUs and DCL renewal credits offered, exhibitors and peers to network with from across the state, the symposium offers something for everyone.

Agenda, session descriptions and registration link available at:

https://worldview.unc.edu/programs/2018-k12-symposium/.

Upcoming Professional Development at NCCAT 

North Carolina educators have plenty of opportunities throughout the fall to attend the North Carolina Center for the Advancement of Teaching (NCCAT), a recognized national leader in professional development programming for teachers. Applicants are encouraged to register as soon as possible to ensure a spot. Programs are available to North Carolina educators at the Cullowhee and Ocracoke campuses, online and with NCCAT faculty visiting school districts. NCCAT provides food, lodging and programming. Teachers and or their districts are responsible for travel to and from the center and the cost of the substitute teacher.

For a complete list of upcoming NCCAT programs, click here.

For more information on how to apply for NCCAT programs, click here.

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.

Due to the impact of Hurricane Florence on North Carolina’s public school systems across the state, the CASMT application submission deadline has been extended to October 1st, 2018. We will continue to monitor recovery efforts and provide updates based on the status of school system closings. 

For more information or to access the application, visit 

https://www.bwfund.org/grant-programs/science-education/career-awards-science-and-mathematics-teachers.

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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