Public Invited to Comment on NC’s K-12 Education Plan for the Every
Student Succeeds Act
Public comment sessions begin Oct. 6
How
should North Carolina measure school quality? What measures are appropriate for
elementary, middle and high schools?
You
have an opportunity to share your thoughts on these questions with Department
of Public Instruction staff to help frame North Carolina’s federal Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) plan,
which is due to the U.S. Department of Education in March. This plan is North Carolina’s
application for federal education funding.
A second
round of ESSA public comment sessions will be held in October. Dates and
locations are noted in the table below. All sessions will be held from 5-7 p.m.
except for the Tarboro location, which will be held from 4-6 p.m. The public is
encouraged to attend.
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States
must continue to measure reading and math in grades 3-8 and in high school, but
there are other opportunities for flexibility and state decision-making,
especially around other indicators not necessarily measured through traditional
testing. NCDPI staff members are working with more than 90 associations and all
public school educators to ensure broad input into the state’s plan.
Please
keep in mind that you can provide suggestions on ESSA at any time by going to
the Department’s home page and clicking on the “Let’s
Talk” icon on the left.
38 New Charter
Applications Received
Approved schools will open for students in fall 2018
Thirty-eight
nonprofit boards submitted applications for public charter schools to open in
August 2018. A spreadsheet of applicants as well as their applications are
available on the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction (NCDPI) Office
of Charter Schools’ website.
The
Office of Charter Schools will review the applications for completeness before
forwarding them to the NC Charter Schools Advisory Board (CSAB). The CSAB will
use an established structure, including external evaluators and applicant
interviews, to review the applications. At the conclusion of this process, the
CSAB will recommend applicants to the State Board of Education for approval.
Currently,
167 public charter schools are open for students in North Carolina. An
additional eight schools received a favorable report in August from the State
Board of Education to begin their planning year for preparation to open in
August 2017. NCDPI staff will provide training for these applicant groups during
the next year as they prepare to open. These eight, along with five charters
that were scheduled to open in August but asked for a one-year delay, will
bring the state’s total number of charter schools to 180.
Charter
schools are public schools operated by nonprofit boards. The schools have open
enrollment; and no tuition is charged to attend. Public tax dollars are the
primary funding source for charter schools.
Visit
the NC Office of Charter Schools’ website for more information.
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NC’s performance increases,
while nation’s declines on SAT; More students take AP exams and do better
North
Carolina high school students saw performance gains last year on key measures
of college readiness – the SAT college admissions exam and on Advanced
Placement tests, according to results released by The College Board, which
administers the national exams.
North
Carolina’s average SAT scores for 2016 high school graduates from all schools
increased by 1 point each on the critical reading (502) and math (508) portions
of the exam. State gains on both parts of the test outpaced gains nationally,
which showed a 3-point drop on the critical reading section (494) and a 4-point
decline on the math portion (508).
The state’s participation
and performance continued to increase on Advanced Placement (AP) exams, which can
help students earn transferrable college credit and save on college costs.
Nearly 70,000 students
(69,957) took at least one AP exam in 2015-16, up from 67,451 in the previous
year, an increase of about 3.7 percent. Of those, 37,839 students achieved a
score of 3, 4 or 5 on an exam, an increase of 3.9 percent from the year before.
Students who earn a 3 or better on the exams, which are scored on a five-point
scale, can qualify for college credit, although policies vary by institution.
The numbers of tests taken
by North Carolina students also were up by similar rates, reaching nearly
130,000 (129,538) from about 125,000 in 2014-15.
State education leaders and
lawmakers in recent years have made a priority of broadening access to
college-level courses for qualified students. During the last two years,
lawmakers provided funding to pay the cost of AP exams for all students and
appropriated funding for professional development of teachers through the NC AP
Partnership.
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Recipients to travel to
Washington DC to receive award
Congratulations to the
following eight North Carolina public schools for recently being named 2016
National Blue Ribbon Schools:
- Pisgah Elementary, Buncombe County Schools;
- The Early College at Guilford, Guilford County Schools;
- Jay M. Robinson Middle, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools;
- Wrightsville Beach Elementary, New Hanover County Schools;
- Central Academy of Technology and Arts, Union County Schools;
- Davis Drive Elementary, Wake County Schools;
- Morrisville Elementary, Wake County Schools; and
- Bald Creek Elementary, Yancey County Schools.
U.S. Secretary of Education John
B. King Jr. in naming the schools said, “National Blue Ribbon Schools are proof
that we can prepare every child for college and meaningful careers.”
State Superintendent
June Atkinson congratulated educators and students at these schools for their
receipt of this prestigious award. “In my travels across the state I see first
hand how hard our principals, teachers and support staff work to ensure that
students excel in the classroom and life. It’s rewarding when those efforts are
recognized,” she said.
National Blue Ribbon
Schools are recognized in one of two performance categories, based on all
student scores, subgroup student scores and graduation rates:
* Exemplary High Performing Schools. Schools are among their state’s
highest-performing schools as measured by state assessments or nationally
normed tests. * Exemplary Achievement Gap Closing Schools. Schools are among their state’s
highest-performing schools in closing achievement gaps between a school’s
subgroups and all students over the past five years.
All eight of
North Carolina’s award winners were recognized as Exemplary High Performing
Schools.
For the past 34 years,
this coveted award has been bestowed to fewer than 8,500 of the nation’s most
successful schools. Schools selected model excellence in leadership, teaching,
curriculum, student achievement and parental involvement.
Representatives from
each of these schools will be honored at a conference and awards ceremony to be
held Nov. 7-8 in Washington, DC. They will receive a plaque and a flag
signifying their selection as a National Blue Ribbon School.
Non-profit’s mission
is to provide new books to students in need
As the 2016 Give Five – Read Five
campaign comes to a close, we want to bring to your attention another
opportunity to promote literacy for North Carolina students. First Book,
a non-profit with the mission of providing access to new books for children in
need, launched a new program they are calling “Give Big Collections.”
The First Book
team has crafted five special Give Big Collections featuring a mix of
high-quality and high-interest titles. The average price per book in each
collection is only $1.75, so schools and their community partners have the opportunity
to stock school and classroom libraries at an affordable price. In addition,
these books may be given to students to take home during school breaks to
reduce learning loss and instill a love of books and reading.
The Give Big
Collections are available in quantities of 5,000-10,000, depending on the
targeted age range. They are pre-bundled collections, so the title lists are
fixed and provide a great mix of themes, interest areas and subject matter.
If you’d like
to take a look at the full title and
quantity list for each collection, please visit the Give Big Order Form Page. This is a limited time opportunity, while inventory lasts, so please
contact Candace Radoski from First Book if you have any questions.
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Program provides scholarship opportunity
The American Red Cross is looking for community-minded high school and
college students who are interested in a leadership and scholarship
opportunity.
Leaders Save Lives is a great program for students who are
leaders at their schools, students who are looking for scholarships and
students who want to build their resumes.
Here's what
students can gain from the Leaders Save Lives program:
1. leadership experience with the American
Red Cross; 2. accomplishment of helping save lives; 3. a chance to win a scholarship; 4. an opportunity to earn a gift card; and 5. achievements for the High School Leadership Program.
Encourage
students you know to check out the Leaders Save Lives program and sign up to host a blood
drive during their winter break.
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Search Underway for Nation's Top Youth Volunteers
Students to be recognized for community service
Prudential
Financial, in partnership with the National Association of Secondary School
Principals, is sponsoring its 22nd annual Prudential
Spirit of Community Awards.
Students in grades 5-12 are invited to
apply for the awards if they have made meaningful contributions to their
communities through volunteer service within the past 12 months. Students must
complete the application by Nov. 8 and submit it for certification
to a middle or high school principal. Schools will then select the top recipients
in early November and submit those names for state-level judging.
The middle and high school recipients
for each state will be named Feb. 7. The top middle and high school candidates
in each state receive $1,000, an engraved silver medallion, and a trip to
Washington, D.C., with a parent for four days of recognition events scheduled
for May 6-9. Ten national honorees will be named and receive an additional
$5,000 in awards.
For more information, please visit the
Prudential Spirit of Community Awards website.
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