Update on LETRS training for teachers draws concerns about time demands
The State Board of Education heard a report this month about the progress of an ambitious statewide initiative to improve reading instruction in the early grades, but the report also raised concerns about the time burden the intensive training is putting on teachers.
Amy Rhyne, director of the Office of Early Learning at the Department of Public Instruction, said the state is “well on the way” with its program of intensive training based on the science of reading for thousands of teachers in the early grades across the state.
“One hundred percent of our districts are now either actively training or planning their training,” Rhyne said, “and we just started this six months ago.” In all, she said, nearly 26,000 educators in the first two of three cohorts of districts are actively participating in the program, which includes 80 hours of training this year in the first half of Language Essentials for Teachers of Reading and Spelling (LETRS) program, followed by a second half in the following year.
“While we recognize that things aren’t perfect and there are lots of things we can work on,” Rhyne told the board, “we also recognize there’s been lots positive feedback from districts in progress about the things they are learning – even the hesitancy they had in the beginning and where they are now.”
She included in her presentation to the board three slides of positive reviews from teachers and administrators in several districts about the quality and value of the training, including comments such as these:
- “Can't wait to apply what I have learned.”
- “Teachers are looking at their data differently as a result of the coursework.”
- “We are starting to have teachers talk about and apply their learning! We are seeing mindshift changes, which is very exciting!”
- “We feel the majority of teachers realize this is ‘good stuff.’ ”
- “Great course! A lot to take in amidst a difficult school year, but worth it for the sake of our kids!”
Rhyne urged patience to see positive results in student outcomes. In outlining the department’s plan for evaluation of the effort, Rhyne explained to the board that the initial focus will be on the knowledge gained by teachers and leaders followed by changes in instructional practice before student outcomes are considered.
“We have to remember this is an implementation deployment, starting with educators, and it’s a journey,” Rhyne said. Even after the first year of training, she said, measurable improvement in student reading comprehension may not be apparent because that aspect of instruction isn’t included until the second year of the LETRS training.
“This is going to take time with the deployment, and we have to recognize what are the early wins and where will we see these early wins along the way,” she said. “It’s no different than if you planted an acorn, looking for a tree in a year. You have to start with making sure that foundation is solid.”
Board member James Ford said that he’s heard from superintendents and educators in several districts about the time pressures teachers are under to complete the training. Some have suggested seeking calendar waivers to build in more time for teachers to meet the program demands.
“I’ve heard that teachers are needing to spend weekends and needing childcare – in addition to everything that’s required,” Ford said.
Board advisors Eugenia Floyd, the 2021 Burroughs Wellcome Teacher of the Year, and Kisha Clemons, the 2020 Wells Fargo Principal of the Year, also expressed similar concerns.
“Teachers are very positive about this work, but there’s a lack of time,” Clemons said. “Teachers need our help.”
Rhyne said that districts are responding in different ways to accommodate what she said are one to two hours of training each week – some incorporating it into the regular school day as much as possible and some offering bonuses ranging from $300 to $2,000 for completing the training.
She said there have been suggestions from districts to extend the timeline for training beyond two years to reduce the demands of teachers’ time, but that would only impact students who would miss the improved literacy instruction.
State Superintendent of Public Instruction Catherine Truitt agreed that proposals to slow down the effort to ease the time demands on teachers would only further handicap students who need more effective reading instruction.
“Every day we delay – what we have been doing to children – through no fault of our own since it’s how we were all teaching reading the way were taught – is education malpractice,” Truitt said. “Children suffer because of that. We have the opportunity and the funding to correct this problem. We are just going to have to make the best of this situation. It’s not ideal.”
|
Few Teachers with Limited Licenses Meet Testing Requirement Deadline, Board Told
Only a small percentage of teachers who have been granted a limited teaching license under a 2019 law intended to keep teachers in the classroom if they hadn’t satisfied state testing requirements have cleared that bar to gain a clear license within three years.
Tom Tomberlin, director of Teacher Recruitment and Support for the Department of Public Instruction, told the board that while teachers with limited licenses represent just 1.2% of early career teachers statewide, several districts have a larger share of teachers who’ve yet to meet testing requirements. Limited licenses cannot be renewed.
Tomberlin presented data showing that only one of 50 teachers statewide whose limited licenses will expire at the end of this school year had successfully met the testing requirement. Six had tried and fell short of a passing score, but the other 46 have yet to take their test.
Still, Tomberlin said, data linking student progress to their teachers show that most teachers with limited licenses demonstrate levels of effectiveness that tracks closely with teachers granted initial professional licenses for meeting all state requirements, including testing.
“This further illustrates the point that the relationship between passing this test and the effectiveness of the teacher is somewhat tenuous and unclear,” Tomberlin said.
Tomberlin also presented to the board a preview of an online dashboard tracking the progress of individual districts with their teachers with limited licenses.
“It’s not our intent that the dashboard is used to shame or to diminish the needs of districts in staffing their schools,” he said. “It is simply designed to given them an idea of how well this is serving those purposes and give them the information they need to make good choices about staffing in their schools.”
Board member Olivia Oxendine, vice-chair of the board’s Educator Standards and Practice Committee, said the data points to a need for stronger collaboration between districts and educator preparation programs.
Tomberlin said teachers with limited licenses have successfully completed all their teaching program work and just haven’t passed the state’s required teaching exam.
“My takeaway from these data is that in an effort to support these teachers who are having trouble passing the licensure exam, the resource that has been granted to them is time – and it’s not clear to me that the exact right resource that they need,” Tomberlin said. “It may be something more in the way of more exposure to content knowledge, the ability to take a refresher course.
“But I don’t think time is solving the problem here. I think it may be some other intervention to help these teachers meet the requirement and move on.”
|
Board Revokes Charter for Torchlight Academy
The State Board of Education approved a recommendation this month from the Charter Schools Advisory Board to revoke the charter for Torchlight Academy after the Raleigh school failed to correct several non-compliance issues related to the provision of special education services.
Prior to its final action this month on Torchlight, the board had considered the school’s status several times during the last several months, including at its January meeting direction to the Charter Schools Advisory Board to further investigate deficiencies at the school.
The advisory board held a special called meeting on Feb. 28, when the Office of Charter Schools, Exceptional Children, Federal Programs, and Financial Business Services divisions of DPI all presented data related to Torchlight and the specific areas of investigation requested by the State Board. Torchlight Academy representatives presented in response. After a seven-hour hearing, the board made the following motion, which the State Board affirmed:
Motion: Recommend to the State Board of Education that the charter agreement between the State Board and Northeast Raleigh Academy d/b/a Torchlight Academy be revoked for the following reasons:
- Violations of laws and regulations including special education laws and federal conflict of interest and self-dealing regulations;
- Violations of the charter agreement including failure to provide requested documents and failure to provide adequate oversight and management of school;
- Failure to meet generally accepted standards of fiscal management, failure to retain and provide to DPI required documentation of expenditures of state and federal monies and comply with other fiscal requirements;
- Allowing the ongoing self-dealing and conflicts of interest by the EMO Torchlight LLC.
Board Approves Three New Early College High Schools
The State Board this month endorsed the establishment of three new Cooperative Innovative High Schools, which are slated to open in the fall in partnership with colleges, pending approval by the General Assembly. The new schools would join 133 similar high schools statewide that offer students the opportunity to earn as much as two years of college credit in addition to their high school diploma.
The schools gaining the State Board’s approval are:
Cabarrus Early College of Health Sciences, which will partner with the Cabarrus College of Health Sciences. The third Cooperative Innovative High School in Cabarrus County school district, it would be the second with a career-ready focus and the first focusing on careers in health care. The school’s recruitment plans are aimed at first-generation and at-risk students.
EDGE Early College of Health Sciences will partner with Edgecombe Community College to provide students with career-ready, health care focus, along with identified local health care partners. The school will emphasize career preparedness and postsecondary employment in professions with high local and regional demand. Recruitment and enrollment plans are aimed at serving all Cooperative Innovation High School target populations, including low income and underrepresented students.
Wake Early College of Information and Biotechnologies will partner with Wake Technical Community College as the seventh Cooperative Innovative High School in the Wake County school district and the first in the western part of the county. The school will focus on careers both in information technology and biotechnology and have a targeted enrollment of at least 70% first-generation college-going students.
Board Approves Renewals for 25 Charter Schools
Based on recommendations from the state’s Charter School Advisory Board, the State Board of Education approved charter renewals for 25 schools, ranging from 10 years to three years.
10-year renewals:
- The Academy of Moore County
- STARS Charter
- Phoenix Academy
- Research Triangle High School
- North East Carolina Prep
- Bear Grass
- Corvian Community School
- Cornerstone Charter Academy-CFA
- Triangle Math and Science Academy
7-year renewals
- Emereau: Blade
- Guilford Prep Academy
- College Preparatory and Leadership Academy
- Water's Edge Village School
3-year renewals
- C.E. Academy
- Charlotte Secondary
- Carter Community Charter
- Dillard Academy
- Discovery Charter School
- Haliwa-Saponi Tribal School
- Johnston Charter Academy
- Lakeside Charter Academy
- Movement School
- Reaching All Minds Academy
- Rolesville Charter Academy
- United Community
Non-renewal recommendations
- UpROAR Leadership Academy
- Three Rivers Academy
|
Business Modernization Effort Pushing Ahead After Recent Disruptions, Board Told
Progress has been revived on a statewide initiative to modernize business systems at the local and state levels after disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and the lack of a state budget for two years, according to an update to the State Board this month.
Initially funded with $28 million by the General Assembly for two years in the 2017 state budget, the business modernization effort was provided $86.5 million in the state budget adopted last year.
“The purpose of school business modernization is solely designed to improve our current systems and provide financial and information transparency,” Chief Information Officer Vanessa Wrenn told the board. “Now that we have a budget, we are in earnest back at the work of systems modernization.”
According to a new report to the General Assembly accepted this month by the State Board, key elements of the plan include modernized local systems that interact with NCDPI systems, modernized NCDPI systems that support and interact with local and other State agency systems, and modernized data integration, analytics and reporting for improved transparency and efficiency of operations and compliance monitoring. The report says that program has made significant accomplishments in several areas, including grants management, anonymous safety reporting, applicant tracking and hiring, and IT consolidation efforts.
Barry Pace, who recently joined the department as director of school business systems modernization, walked the board through progress of the effort to date and the vision for a modern, cloud-based system to replace one with some components that date back 40 years.
“A modern system would be internet-based, cloud-based,” Pace explained, “it would be secure, flexible, agile to keep up with changing times and would be easy to use from the front end.”
Ultimately, he said, “a single operational data store” is envisioned to include information from all school functions – human resources, finance, student information and operations.
|
|
