The state’s annual report on shifts in the teaching corps showed an overall attrition rate in 2016-17 that was down slightly from the previous year, from 9.04 percent to 8.65 percent.

In all, of the 94,792 teachers employed in the state’s 115 school districts between March 2016 and March 2017, 8,201 are no longer employed in the state’s regular public or charter schools.

In addition to those, however, 4,549 teachers changed employment from one district to another or to a charter school, meaning that some districts experienced an overall attrition rate exceeding 30 percent.

In presenting the draft report to the State Board of Education this month, DPI’s Director of District Human Resources Tom Tomberlin, said that while the statewide attrition rate remained generally unchanged from the previous year, vacancy rates for districts that struggle with teachers shortages remain a concern.

“Supply and demand is one issue,” Tomberlin said. “Equity is another. How do we get highly effective teachers to go and stay in low-performing schools?”

Some districts are able to recapture their losses due to teacher attrition by capitalizing on teacher mobility across districts, the report explains, but such “recoupment” rates vary widely, with some districts able to recover most of their departing teachers with hires from other districts to districts able to hire very few, leaving persistent vacancies.

An analysis of vacancy rates in the report comparing the first and 40th day of school shows little change in the number – about 1,500 positions not filled with an appropriately licensed teacher – though the vacancies themselves shifted during that time.

“This is an ongoing struggle for LEAs,” Tomberlin told the board. “It continues through the school year.”

The report, the final version of which will be considered by the board for approval next month, also notes that survey data from most of the state’s districts show the greatest shortage remains in areas of mathematics, elementary education and exceptional children’s programs.

North Carolina continues to lead the nation in numbers of teachers who have earned certification from the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards, with 616 additional teachers gaining the endorsement last month from the Arlington, Va., based organization.

Nearly 21,500 teachers in North Carolina have attained national certification, which is based on a rigorous performance-based assessment that typically takes from one to three years to complete and measures what accomplished teachers and counselors should know and be able to do.

Nationally, 5,470 teachers earned certification in 2016-17, raising the total among all states to more than 118,000. In addition, almost 3,957 teachers nationally achieved recertification, including 890 board-certified teachers in North Carolina.

North Carolina Superintendent Mark Johnson said the national certification is significant not only for the teachers who earn the credential but also for the students whom they teach.

“Our state’s students are the winners when their teachers invest the time and effort to meet the demanding standards of national certification,” Johnson said. “The certification process helps teachers strengthen their practice to be highly effective educators in their classrooms and able instructional leaders in their schools.”

North Carolina accounts for nearly one-fifth (18 percent) of all teachers nationally who are certified by the teaching standards organization. Florida ranks second with 13,559 (11.5 percent of national total) followed by Washington (10,018), South Carolina (9,024) and California (6,755).

Nationally certified teachers also account for a larger percentage of the total teaching force in North Carolina than any other state, with 21.6 percent having earned the credential.

North Carolina school districts also continue to rank among the top 20 districts nationally for numbers of teachers with national certification: Wake County remained first with 2,631; Charlotte-Mecklenburg is fourth with 2,033; Guilford County is ninth with 768; Buncombe County is 17th with 563; and Winston-Salem/Forsyth is 18th with 562.

Educators and their employers in North Carolina have raised concerns over the last few years about how long it takes to issue a teaching license, citing wait time of six months and longer.

To begin addressing this issue, NCDPI contracted with TNTP to review the state’s licensure process and identify opportunities for implementing current licensure law more efficiently and with greater customer satisfaction. While the TNTP audit highlighted a number of strengths, such as deep expertise among staff and intentional approaches to processing applications, it also identified a number of areas for improvement.

Among those:

• Confusion among LEA staff, educators, and licensure staff about how to implement licensure policy.
• Available reference information does not adequately prepare people to apply for and support licensure.
• Technical challenges and weak reporting capabilities of the online application system lead to inefficiency and frustration.
• NCDPI messaging around licensure policy changes quickly, often without enough communication.
• There is limited NCDPI licensure staff development and team building happening.

The audit recommends improvements in four key areas: policy development, communications with the field, licensure team culture and structure, and technology and structure. More specifically, the consultants said DPI should set a clear goal for processing applications between six to eight weeks during the busy spring and summer seasons and four weeks during the fall and winter. The audit also recommends hiring for additional leadership capacity to support implementation of recommendations, and hire or reclassify other licensure positions as needed.

The Robeson County school board voted unanimously last week to transfer Southside Ashpole Elementary in Rowland to the Innovative School District. Members of the Rowland community, including Mayor Michelle Shooter, Town Clerk David Townsend, Reverend Thomas Allen, and others expressed support for the transfer.

Southside Ashpole Elementary will be transferred into the ISD for a period of five years beginning in the 2018-19 school year. At the end of the five-year period, the school will be transferred back into the local district. 

"This is a real opportunity for Southside Ashpole, the Rowland community and the local school board to work together with the ISD and the school operator to help improve student performance," said Eric Hall, superintendent of the ISD. "The outpouring of community support for this initiative has been incredible, and I cannot thank the Rowland community enough for engaging with the ISD. To maximize student success and to ensure that the reforms the ISD will bring to the school are sustainable, that support is welcome and necessary."

Hall said the state will proceed with selecting a proven school operator to partner with Southside Ashpole and the Rowland community to develop a school improvement plan that is tailored to the specific needs of the school. Hall is expected to recommend an independent operator for the school to the State Board of Education at its next meeting in early February. Two organizations have bid for the job.

Included in the school’s improvement plan will be training for teachers and other staff; tactics for addressing academic and non-academic barriers to achievement; curriculum that meets the state’s Standard Course of Study to ensure students are prepared to move to the next grade level; as well as details related to resources, staffing needs, support networks, and supplemental programs to assist in improving student performance.

Southside Ashpole Elementary was identified as a candidate for the ISD based on recurring low student performance.