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<< North Carolina Education News Back Issues
Great New Blog on North Carolina Education http://northcarolinaeducationreport.blogspot.com/ We’d love to hear from you! North Carolina Public Schools Get Another 'F' in School Financing Statement from NCAE President Sheri Strickland on the "Quality Counts" report published by Education Week on January 14, 2010 North Carolina sits at the bottom with the lowest grade possible, an F, in a recently released report by Education Week. The state has earned this low score for its lack of investment in public education. The report, "Quality Counts," points to low per-pupil expenditures and a low percentage of total taxable resources being spent on education in North Carolina. This is the second consecutive year that North Carolina has earned an "F" for education spending from Education Week. With the North Carolina General Assembly slated to convene in May to take action on a budget, NCAE wants to see major steps taken to improve this grade and, more importantly, improve the effort the state is making to provide a strong educational beginning for all our children. North Carolina garnered only 66.6 points out of 100 in school financing. I know we can do better -- we have to for all students in public education and for the future of our state. The Quality Counts report points to the mere 2.8 percent of total taxable resources spent on K-12 education (2007). Only two other states spend a smaller percentage of taxable resources on public schools. North Carolina also languishes near the bottom on per-pupil expenditures with only $8,345 spent on each student – 41 other states and Washington, D.C. spend more per pupil, up to a whopping $16,386. Certainly the General Assembly would agree that this paltry level of investment in our children is unacceptable. Just last year, legislators slashed the pre-K-12 budget by nearly 10 percent. NCAE will simply not accept a 2010-2011 budget that makes further cuts in public education -- and neither should any of the citizens of this state. In fact, the percentage of the general funding dedicated to pre-K-12 education has declined 15 points since 1970, while other areas of state spending have increased -- including post-secondary education. Overall, North Carolina earned a D+ for School Finance, for which "Quality Counts" factors in Equity and Spending. NCAE members across the state report that public education has been strained because of the severely and drastically reduced budget for 2009-10. K-12 education lost experienced classroom teachers, suffered the demotion of certified teachers to the role of teacher assistants, and the elimination of teacher assistant positions in grades K-3. The Association's message to the General Assembly is simple and straightforward: • Make pre-K-12 public education a priority. • Public schools cannot take another round of drastic cuts. It puts the future of North Carolina at risk. • Reform the tax structure by closing corporate tax loop holes and providing more revenue through smart tax increases on alcohol and cigarettes. As educators, it is part of our responsibility to speak out so that our children receive the best education that our state can provide. We must invest wisely in education or face the undesirable consequences of poorly funded public schools. Our urgent message to the General Assembly is "courage not cuts." Report Gives North Carolina a Grade of 'D+' for Policies That Impact Quality of Teachers A new report by the not-for-profit, non-partisan National Council on Teacher Quality (NCTQ) finds that North Carolina's teacher policies largely work against the nation's goal of improving teacher quality. While the national focus on teacher quality has never been greater, the broad range of state laws, rules and regulations that govern the teaching profession too often impede rather than promote serious reform. NCTQ's 2009 State Teacher Policy Yearbook examined state policy across five areas that include teacher preparation, evaluation, tenure and dismissal, alternative certification and compensation. North Carolina earned the following grades, resulting in an overall grade of D+: • Delivering Well Prepared Teachers: D NCTQ President Kate Walsh said, "The release of the 2009 Yearbook comes at a particularly opportune time. Race to the Top, the $4.5 billion federal discretionary grant competition, has put unprecedented focus on education reform in general, and teacher quality in particular. We believe that the Yearbook provides a road map for achieving a Race to the Top grant, identifying where states are on the right track and where they have considerable work to do. Walsh continued: “Unfortunately, states have tremendous ground to make up after years of policy neglect. There is much more North Carolina can do to ensure that all children have the effective teachers they deserve." • North Carolina makes it too difficult for districts to attempt to dismiss poor performers by failing to articulate a policy for dismissing teachers for poor performance separate from dismissal policies for criminal and morality violations. North Carolina also allows multiple appeals of dismissals. • Although North Carolina claims to offer an alternative route to certification, its burdensome requirements block talented individuals from entering the profession. • North Carolina's requirements for the preparation of elementary teachers do not ensure these teachers are well prepared to teach reading or mathematics. • North Carolina sets low expectations for what special education teachers should know, despite state and federal expectations that special education students should meet the same high standards as other students. • North Carolina fails to exercise appropriate oversight of its teacher preparation programs. The state could do more to hold programs accountable for the quality of the teachers they produce. • North Carolina's pay and benefit policies for teachers—including the state-run retirement system—offer inadequate incentives to stay in teaching. Despite these findings, North Carolina has some bright spots, including its policy of compensating teachers for related prior work experience. North Carolina’s Other Achievement Gap While NCLB is closing the gap between rich and poor and ethnic groups at the proficient level, the gap at the advanced level is widening. NAEP proficiency level and percentile data demonstrate the existence of substantial excellence gaps for Black, Hispanic, and Free and Reduced Lunch Eligible students. White students had higher average AP scores than Black students on AP tests and were more likely to make a “5” on an AP exam or take an AP exam than Black or Hispanic students. According to NAEP proficiency data, the percentage of students at the advanced level increased for FARM students in Math Grade 4 and Reading Grade 8, for non-FARM and white students in Math Grade 8, among Black students in Math Grade 4, and Hispanic students in Grade 8 (both subjects). Achievement gaps declined in Math Grade 4 and in both subjects in Reading in most cases, in part due to weak non-FARM and white performance. Hispanic students improved more rapidly than white students in Math Grade 8. NAEP scale scores at the 90th percentile increased for most groups in Math, with FARM and minority students usually improving more quickly than their peers. Student performance deteriorated in Reading Grade 4, as did white and Black students’ scores in Reading Grade 8. Smaller achievement gaps in Reading were mainly due to flat or declining scores by white and non-FARM students. The excellence gap expanded for Black students in Reading Grade 8 and for Hispanic students in Reading Grade 4. On the AP exam, there were increases in achievement gaps in mean AP scores, the percentage of tests taken receiving a 5 (weighted), and the number of tests taken. There was also an increase in the gap between white and Black students and a decrease in the gap between white and Hispanic students in the percentage of tests taken scoring a 5 (unweighted). Complete report: State’s Educational Data System Evaluated A new Data Quality Campaign (DQC) report finds that states are making impressive progress toward building longitudinal data systems and are taking the first steps to ensure that new information is used to improve student outcomes and system-wide performance. But the results, which are based on a survey of all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico, also show that most states have much work to do around key practices, such as following student progress from pre-school through college and the workforce, sharing student-level progress reports with teachers, and providing adequate training around data use. North Carolina report: New Report: Charter Schools' Political Success is a Civil Rights Failure The Civil Rights Project/Proyecto Derechos Civiles at UCLA has issued "Choice Without Equity: Charter School Segregation and the Need for Civil Rights Standards," a nationwide report based on an analysis of Federal government data and an examination of charter schools in 40 states and the District of Columbia, along with several dozen metropolitan areas with large enrollments of charters. The report found that charter schools continue to stratify students by race, class, and possibly language, and are more racially isolated than traditional public schools in virtually every state and large metropolitan area in the country. The study's key findings suggest that charter schools, particularly those in the western United States are havens for white re-segregation from public schools; requirements for providing essential equity data to the federal government go unmet across the nation; and magnet schools are overlooked, in spite of showing greater levels of integration and academic achievement than charters. North Carolina's Draft Social Studies Curriculum Expands the Time Students Will Study U.S. History North Carolina's draft revised social studies curriculum increases the amount of time students will spend studying United States history. North Carolina's social studies standards are being revised to provide students more time to study United States history by providing a full year of U.S. history in both elementary school and middle school. Currently, students do not have a full year of U.S. history in elementary school, and they do not study U.S. history in middle school. The process of revising the curriculum standards has just begun, and the current draft is expected to undergo several revisions in coming months. Students would build on that study in high school Civics and Economics and in U.S. History. The high school Civics course includes learning about our nation's development and foundation. The high school U.S. History course would begin with 1877, the end of Reconstruction, in order to give students and teachers time to study our nation's history in more depth. The years prior to reconstruction would have been covered with students three times before - in fourth grade (as part of North Carolina history) in fifth grade and in seventh grade. A wide range of elective U.S. History and other history courses also would be available to students who wish to continue history study in high school. North Carolina's current curriculum, as well as the proposed draft, are available online. • The current standards are at:
http://www.ncpublicschools.org/curriculum/socialstudies/scos/ The revised standards will continue to be refined before the N.C. State Board of Education considers them later this year. |
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