State Board of Education Vision:Every public school student in North Carolina will be empowered to accept academic challenges, prepared to pursue their chosen path after graduating high school, and encouraged to become lifelong learners with the capacity to engage in a globally-collaborative society.
State Board of Education Mission:The mission of the North Carolina State Board of Education is to use its constitutional authority to guard and maintain the right of a sound, basic education for every child in North Carolina Public Schools.
Smokey Mountain News Hannah McLeod | Nov. 9, 2022: Haywood student nominated to advise State Board of Education - Lily Seymour has been asked to join the State Board of Education as a student advisor. The Haywood County student’s appointment comes after hard work on other local and state advisory boards.
Progress continues for the advisory group of school leaders who convened again today for the third time to discuss revising the state’s unpopular A-F school performance grading model. During today’s meeting, members split into groups to consider alternative indicators, academic and non-academic, that could be included in a final model to better measure school quality.
Following a statewide survey last month that showed strong interest in overhauling the current grading approach, the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction (NCDPI) has worked to share those results and solicit deeper feedback from a broad range of audiences on additional indicators that could be used to measure school quality.
Results of the survey, conducted by the education news site EdNC in partnership with NCDPI, showed that 90% of respondents favored a school grading model that includes indicators beyond test scores. The advisory group and the education agency are now focused on engaging other education stakeholders on the work underway and seeking feedback to narrow the list of academic and non-academic indicators.
For weeks, NCDPI has been engaging education stakeholders during monthly convenings or annual conferences to discuss the work underway. During NCDPI’s “AIM” professional development conference for educators across the state in late October, teachers, principals, charter and district leaders had the opportunity to discuss the survey results and provide input on individual indicators that could be considered for the revised model. Chief Academic Officers from across the state were convened separately during the AIM conference to provide in-depth feedback on the various school performance grade indicators by ranking their preferences. This survey encouraged participants to rank their top 10 indicators, which were outlined in the EdNC-NCDPI survey disseminated in early September.
The agency also has pursued a robust stakeholder feedback process across several education groups. This strategy has involved defining the need for redesigning school performance grade models, describing the process and timeline underway, sharing with each audience the ranking survey to prioritize their top indicators, and gathering feedback on the indicators based upon each group’s perspective.
To date, the work around school performance grade redesign has been shared with the Superintendent’s Teacher Leadership Council, the Governor’s Teacher Advisory Committee, accountability directors for districts, educators, principals, charter school leaders, students, parents and more.
Over the next month, the narrowed list of top indicators will be presented to numerous stakeholders, including education leaders across the state for consideration and discussion.
When the advisory group meets again in December, it will consider implications and feedback from stakeholders on the narrowed list of indicators. This will help the advisory group formulate a final recommendation for the model.
EdNC Alex Granados | : School performance grade advisory group getting closer to a new model - The Department of Public Instruction (DPI) formed the group earlier this year to consider a change to the current school performance grade system ahead of the long session of the General Assembly in January. Lawmakers have the ultimate say on revamping the model.The current school grading system is weighted 80% by academic performance and 20% by academic growth.
A dozen North Carolina school districts and one charter school will benefit this year from a total of $800,000 in grants aimed at developing student skills in computer science through coding. The Coding and Mobile App Development Grant program, launched in 2017 with funding from the General Assembly, supports partnerships with local businesses to help schools develop computer science, coding and mobile app development programs for middle and high school students.
Applicants for this year’s round of grants indicated a primary goal of establishing strategies to implement and integrate the new NC K12 Computer Science Standardsby prioritizing professional development for teachers and introducing students to computer science in novel ways.
EdNC Staff | : Ask & Answer | Don’t have time to read the Leandro decision? Here is what you need to know - The dissenting opinion asserts the Court is taking “the astonishing step of proclaiming that ‘inherent authority’ permits the judiciary to ordain itself as super-legislators. This action is contrary to our system of government, destructive of separation of powers, and the very definition of tyranny as understood by our Founding Fathers.” Read more about the history of the Leandro case here.
