Teacher Pipeline Needs Boost
North Carolina’s public universities have seen a 30 percent
decline in teacher education enrollments at the undergraduate and graduate
levels since 2010, a trend that will make teacher recruitment even more
challenging in the coming years.
UNC General Administration Vice President for Academic and
University Programs Dr. Alisa Chapman presented this statistic as well as other
information during an issues session on the effectiveness of public university
teacher education programs. Chapman noted that the lower enrollment trends also
are occurring in other states, intensifying North Carolina’s recruitment
concerns.
Historically, North Carolina public schools depend on a
combination of in-state, out-of-state and lateral entry personnel to meet
annual teacher hiring needs. UNC General Administration has developed initiatives
to address this issue at the higher education level. These include launching a website
to assist in recruiting young people into teaching as a career. Other
strategies include campus education enrollment growth plans, enhanced market
research and campus recruitment plans.
Student Academic Growth Measure (Standard 6)
Discussed by
Board
Board members this month considered a package of proposed policy
changes to update the teacher license and evaluation process, including a
possible change dor Standard 6. The proposed change, if adopted, would result
in Standard 6 not being a formal stand-alone standard in the Educator
Effectiveness System. Instead, student growth would continue to be collected as
an artifact for teachers, principals and schools.
As has been the case for as long as student growth measures
have been available, principals and local superintendents and their staff may
consider growth as one of several factors used in evaluating teachers and
school quality. At the state level, student growth measures continue to make up
20 percent of the School Performance Grades for each school.
Other proposed policy changes include actions to:
• decouple licenses
from employment by removing the requirement that school districts recommend the
conversion to a clear professional license;
• streamline the
licensure process by eliminating the Standard Professional 1 to Standard
Professional 2 conversion process;
• redefine Highly
Qualified for elementary educators;
• remove yearly
coursework for clearing Standard Professional License, Provisional; and
• consolidate initial
licensure programs and Beginning Teacher Support Programs.
Annual Charter Schools Report Approved
Since the Charter School Act was passed in 1996, charter
schools have grown in popularity across the state, now numbering 158 schools.
This includes 21 of the 34 schools that were initially chartered at the
beginning of the charter school movement in North Carolina.
Since 1997 when the first charters were issued, a total of
43 have closed. Currently 77,791 students in North Carolina attend charter
schools. Approximately 1.45 million students attend traditional public schools.
Overall, the population attending charter schools is similar in terms of race
and ethnicity to students in traditional public schools, but the racial makeup
of individual charter schools tends to be more segregated than their traditional
counterparts.
Historically, charter schools have served a slightly lower
proportion of economically disadvantaged students and students with
disabilities when compared with traditional public schools’ populations. In
terms of student performance, charter schools have a higher percentage of
schools earning A, B and F grades than traditional public schools.
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Special Recognitions
Career and Technical Education
Dr. Shirley Bynum, Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools, is the 2015-16 North Carolina Career and Technical Education Administrator of the Year. Board members recognized these two educators for their accomplishments.
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Mazie Quick, a teacher at West Hoke Middle School, Hoke County Schools, is the 2015-16 North Carolina Career and Technical Education Teacher of the Year.
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