February
2009
Copyright
© 2009 Queue, Inc.
Online Version: http://www.queuenews.com/Feb08/NC_Feb08.html
IN THIS ISSUE:
Fewer NC Students Dropped Out of School in 2007-08;
Annual Dropout Rate Falls Below 5 Percent
New
Repot Finds That States Squander Opportunities with New Teachers
Quality Counts 2009 Ð North Carolina
2008 AP¨
Results: More U.S. Students Succeed on AP Exams, Predictors of Success in
College
Program
Raises Test Scores, Narrows Achievement Gap Among Middle School Students
North
Carolina Teacher of the Year is a 2009 National Finalist
North Carolina Education Report
Back Issues (http://www.queuenews.com/NCnews.html)
Education Research Report Back Issues (http://www.queuenews.com/EduResearchRpt.html)
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North Carolina high schools reported that 4.97 percent
of students dropped out of school during the 2007-08 academic year, according
to the 2007-08 Dropout Report.
This means that 1,116 fewer students across North
Carolina decided to drop out in 2007-08 than in the previous year. Overall,
22,434 students out of approximately 450,000 North Carolina high school
students dropped out of school in 2007-08.
This marks the first decrease in the state's rate since
2004-05.
The rate in 2006-07 was 5.24 percent with 23,550
students leaving before graduation.
Dropout rates fell in 66 of the state's 115 school
districts. The largest three-year decreases in rates were in Hertford, Dare,
Jones, Graham and Burke counties.
School superintendents say that a variety of
intervention strategies are important in addressing the dropout rate. These
include:
á smaller
schools such as Learn and Earn, Early College and Middle College models;
á the
use of course credit recovery systems, including opportunities offered by the
NC Virtual Public School;
á providing
ninth grade academies to help new high school students make the transition from
middle school to high school;
á alternative
learning programs for students suspended for behavior issues;
á the
driver's license law that revokes student licenses if they drop out before age
18;
á academic
intervention for students with low grades;
á opportunities
for students to make up unexcused absences or suspension absences; and
á graduation
coaches who work with students and families to ensure students are on track.
David Burleson, superintendent of Burke County Schools, said
that his school district has made high school graduation a priority. "We
realized that the dropout problem was not just a high school issue, but a
preK-12 issue. To solve the dropout problem it takes everyone working together:
schools, partners, churches and the entire community."
Burke County's strategies include an academy for
students who previously dropped out, graduation experts assigned to each high
school to work with students who show signs of being potential dropouts, early
intervention through 28 preschool classes including mobile pre-K classroom
buses that go to young students; and an emphasis on each school system employee
developing positive relationships with students to encourage them to stay in
school. These strategies have enabled Burke County to move its dropout rate
from 6.93 percent to 4.33 percent over the past three years.
Jones County Superintendent Michael Bracy and his staff
have also been successful in decreasing their dropout rate from 8.6 percent to
5.21 percent over the past three years. Bracy said that the dropout issue is
the top priority of his district and not a problem confined to high schools.
"The single most important thing that will address
this issue is the focus on adult-student relationships," Bracy said.
"I firmly believe that it is not a matter of teaching harder, it's about
reaching these students from where they are and moving them forward. The
students don't really care how much we know unless they know how much we care.
A new culture of learning is happening in Jones County and I believe we will
see great benefits in the long run."
Students report a variety of reasons for dropping out,
but attendance is the most-often reported reason (48 percent) and enrollment in
a community college program is the second most often reported reason (16
percent). Academic problems are a distant third (7.2 percent).
In North Carolina, students most frequently drop out in
ninth or 10th grades. Males accounted for 59.7 percent of dropouts. American
Indian, Hispanic and African American students were over-represented in the
2007-08 dropout rates.
Dropout data have been collected each year since
1988-89, although specific reporting methods changed in 1991 to conform to new
federal guidelines and in 1999 because of changes in the state's definition of
a dropout. For the annual dropout rate calculation, a dropout is defined as a student
who:
á was
enrolled in school at some time during the previous school year, which is the
reporting year;
á was
not enrolled on Day 20 of the current school year;
á has
not graduated from high school or completed a state or district approved
educational program; and
á does
not meet any of the following reporting exclusions:
o transferred
to another public school district, private school, home school or
state/district approved educational program;
o temporarily
absent due to suspension or school-approved illness; or
o death.
North Carolina also collects a four-year cohort
graduation rate each year. This rate indicates the percentage of first-time
ninth graders who graduated from high school four years later. The complete
dropout report and district level numbers are available online at http://www.ncpublicschools.org/research/dropout/reports.
A
new report released by the not-for-profit, non-partisan National Council on
Teacher Quality (NCTQ) finds that the laws and regulations of a majority of
states discourage promising new teachers from sticking with the profession,
while doing little to identify and move out ineffective teachers.
The
report finds that states: 1) do not require sufficient support and evaluation
of new teachers, a problem since most districts rarely opt to exceed state
requirements; 2) do not require or even allow a teacherÕs effectiveness to be
considered when granting tenure, although states control how and when tenure is
awarded; 3) cling to anachronistic compensation schemes rather than advancing
differentiated pay systems; 4) are lagging in the development of the systems
necessary for identifying effective teachers; 5) place a disproportionate
emphasis on providing pension benefits to retiring teachers at the expense of
providing benefits that would appeal to younger teachers; and 6) allow far too
many ineffective teachers to remain in the classroom and gain tenure, including
teachers who repeatedly fail to meet the stateÕs own licensing standards.
NCTQ
President Kate Walsh said, ÒThe third through fifth years of teaching represent
an opportunity lost for teacher quality. ThatÕs certainly when teachers begin
to add real value, and itÕs also when they tend to make decisions about staying
or leaving. States can help districts do much more to ensure that the right
teachers stay and the right teachers leave."
The
2008 State Teacher Policy Yearbook finds that state regulations are in need of
significant reforms in order to improve teacher quality and offers states
specific guidelines for rectifying substandard policies. Each stateÕs Yearbook,
as well as a national summary, is immediately available for free download at www.nctq.org/stpy.
North
Carolina
Report:
http://www.nctq.org/stpy08/reports/stpy_northcarolina.pdf
Quality
Counts 2009
is the 13th edition of Education WeekÕs series of annual report cards tracking state
education policies and outcomes. Drawing heavily on data from the Editorial
Projects in Education Research CenterÕs annual state policy survey, the report
once again offers a comprehensive state-by-state analysis (http://www.edweek.org/ew/qc/2009/17src.h28.html) of key indicators of
student success.
First
introduced in Quality Counts 2007, the Chance-for-Success Index (http://www.edweek.org/ew/qc/2009/17src.h28.html) combines information from
13 indicators intended to offer perspective on the role that education plays as
a person moves from childhood, through the formal K-12 school system, and into
the workforce. Among these indicators, upon which the states are graded, are
family income, parental education and employment, high school graduation rates,
and adult educational attainment, employment status, and annual income.
Transitions
and Alignment
As
in the past, this yearÕs report tracks and grades the states on 14 indicators
assessing how well the states smooth the transition through the educational
pipeline, including early-childhood education, college readiness, and the
economy and workforce
School
Finance
In
the area of school funding, this yearÕs report analyzes school spending
patterns and how equitably that funding is distributed among districts within
each state.
English-Language
Learners
Quality
Counts 2009
includes a detailed look at how states are tackling the challenge of educating
the nationÕs 5.1 million English-language learners.
NC
scores
Overall
State Grade (2009)
C
Chance
for Success (2009)
C+
Transitions
And Alignment (2009)
D+
School
Finance (2009)
D+
K-12
Achievement (2008)
D+
Standards,
Assessments, And Accountability (2008)
B+
The
Teaching Profession (2008)
B
State
Report Cards:
http://www.edweek.org/ew/qc/2009/17src.h28.html
Thousands more North Carolina students now take and
succeed on Advanced Placement (AP) exams than in 2003, according to a report
released by the College Board. In the "5th Annual AP Report to the
Nation," North Carolina is identified as one of 17 states in which the
percentage of students in the class of 2008 that scored a 3 or higher on at
least one AP exam exceeds the national average.
A total of 23,783 (28.4%) students from the North
Carolina's public high school class of 2008 took at least one AP exam during
high school, creating an increase of 6,913 students (up 4.2%) from 2003. A
total of 14,519 students (17.3%) from the class of 2008 earned a score of 3 or
higher on at least one AP exam. This number represents an increase of 4,195
students (up 2.5%) from 2003 and exceeds the national average of 15.2%.
.
The increase in North Carolina students' access to and
success on AP exams is especially important since nationwide research shows
that students who score a 3 or higher on AP exams typically experience greater
academic success in college and are more likely to graduate in four years or
less than non-AP students.
The latest AP report also shows that the numbers of
low-income, African American, and Hispanic students taking and succeeding on AP
exams in North Carolina have increased significantly since 2003. NCDPI has
received grant funding to help widen access for minority students, rural
students and others who are under-represented in these courses. Also, North
Carolina has used the NC Virtual Public School as a vehicle for providing
greater access to AP and other college-level coursework.
More than 15 percent of the public high
school class of 2008 achieved at least one AP¨ Exam score of 3 or higher1
Ñ the score that is predictive of college success Ñ announced Gaston Caperton,
president of the College Board. Additionally, AP students are much more likely
to earn a bachelorÕs degree in four years than their peers, thereby reducing
college costs and supporting higher educationÕs goal of on-time degree
completion.
In its fifth annual ÒAP Report to the
Nation,Ó the College Board, the not-for-profit membership association that
administers the AP Program, spotlights educatorsÕ quantifiable successes in
helping a wider, more ethnically diverse segment of students gain access to and
achieve success in college-level work. The report documents that, of the
estimated 3 million students who graduated from U.S. public schools in 2008,
more than 460,000 (15.2 percent) earned an AP Exam score of at least 3 on one
or more AP Exams during high school. This is up from 14.4 percent in 2007 and
12.2 percent in 2003.
New research shows that AP continues to
prepare students for college success in many ways, including helping offset
college costs. While the majority of students entering college today fail to
earn a bachelorÕs degree on schedule in four years,2 AP students are
much more likely to graduate within four years,3 saving the cost of
additional tuition and preventing a delay in their entry into the workforce. AP
participation and success also now helps students qualify for scholarships at
31 percent of U.S. colleges and universities.4 And studies continue
to show that students scoring at least 3 on an AP Exam experience greater
academic success in college and graduate from college at higher rates than
their comparable, non-AP peers.5
In addition to the national report,
individual reports for all 50 U.S. states and the District of Columbia provide
even more detailed information about AP in each state.
Out
of all 50 U.S. states and the District of Columbia, Maryland achieved the
highest percentage (23.4) of public school students scoring at least a 3 on an
AP Exam. Maine attained the largest single-year increase in the percentage of
high school graduates who scored a 3 or higher on an AP Exam while Vermont
realized the largest five-year gain. The report highlights the six states with
the highest five-year gains: in addition to Vermont, these include Maine,
Maryland, Arkansas, Washington and Oregon.
Additionally, Maryland, New York, Virginia, Connecticut,
Massachusetts and California all saw more than 20 percent of their students
graduate from high school earning at least one AP Exam score of 3 or higher. AP
achievements for each stateÕs class of 2003, class of 2007 and class of 2008
are detailed in the report.
North
Carolina
Report:
http://www.collegeboard.com/html/aprtn/pdf/state_reports/09_0467_St_Report_NORTHCAROLINA_X1a_081223.pdf
When
Dennis Orthner, Ph.D., professor in the School of Social Work at the University
of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, helped launch CareerStart four years ago, he
had one primary goal in mind: to keep more students in school. Orthner saw the
intervention program, which helps students connect what they are learning in
school to future career opportunities, as a way to reach those most at-risk of
failing.
What
he didnÕt expect was that this same program would amount to a possible solution
to raising academic performance and closing the achievement gap among students
statewide. But according to a recent study of student progress in one North
Carolina school system, CareerStart may hold that potential.
The
success is being touted in Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools, where Orthner,
Patrick Akos, an associate professor in UNCÕs School of Education, and Donald
Martin, county school superintendent, launched CareerStart in 2004. According
to a recent analysis, eighth-graders in the school systemÕs middle schools were
more likely than other students to achieve ÒmasteryÓ or proficiency on state
end-of-grade (EOG) math and reading tests if they were taught by seventh and
eighth-grade teachers who regularly used career examples to illustrate their
classroom lessons.
Furthermore,
results show that minority and low-income students who hear these career
examples from their teachers were more likely to achieve state test scores
similar to white students, helping to narrow the achievement gap that has long
separated minority and disadvantaged children and their white peers.
ÒWe
know that students learn better if they know how they will use the
information,Ó said Orthner, the associate director for policy development and
analysis at the Jordan Institute for Families at the School of Social Work.
ÒFor many low-income kids, this is particularly true, especially if they donÕt
yet have a sense of their future.Ó
These
latest results follow an earlier CareerStart analysis, which found that
students regularly exposed to lessons with career examples had fewer unexcused
absences and school suspensions and were more likely to Òfind school exciting,
look forward to learning new things and see school as being important in their
lives.Ó
CareerStart
now serves 15,000 students in six school systems across the state, though
Orthner hopes the program will expand to others. CareerStart focuses on the
core courses of math, language arts, science and social studies in sixth,
seventh and eighth grades. The program is tailored to students in the middle
grades, an educational turning point for many children who often begin to show
a disinterest in school. According to UNC research, students who lose interest
in their education in these middle grades are less likely to succeed in high
school.
As
the name implies, CareerStart aims to get students thinking earlier about their
possible futures. Though many teachers already rely on career examples to make
learning real, CareerStart also offers mini lessons online to support a
schoolÕs curriculum. For example, math and language arts lessons enable
teachers to demonstrate why caterers need to know fractions when baking
decadent desserts or why a marketing and advertising agent needs to understand
proper grammar and the power of persuasive language.
ÒWe
want all students to feel like school has value,Ó Orthner said.
All
of the program findings are based on a study of 3,500 middle school students
whose academic performances were tracked from fifth- through eighth-grades.
Overall,
72 percent of eighth-graders who had seven to eight classes in the past two
years in which teachers used career examples achieved mastery in math compared
to 58 percent of students who took classes in which no job opportunities were
connected to their regular lessons. In reading, 52 percent of students who were
given career examples in seven to eight classes were considered proficient
compared to 47 percent of those whose teachers used no job illustrations.
Reading
scores likely didnÕt improve as much as math scores, Orthner said, because most
studies show that student performance in reading is established in earlier
grades, and changing these competencies is more difficult as children age.
More
promising, he said, were findings in math for low-income students, especially
among Hispanic and black students. According to the study, 62 percent of
Hispanic and 51 percent of black students who were exposed to career examples
in seven to eight classes achieved mastery in math compared to 30 percent of
Hispanics and 33 percent of blacks in classes that used no job illustrations.
Overall,
according to the UNC study, minority students in core classes where teachers
did not provide career examples scored about 30 percentage points lower on EOG
tests than white students. But that gap nearly closed when most of their
teachers provided career examples in their classrooms. White students,
meanwhile, scored at about the same level, regardless of whether their teachers
illustrated instruction with career examples.
ÒAlthough
this program is universal and does not single out particular students, some
seem to need to hear the career relevance message more than others,Ó Orthner
said. ÒIt appears to have the biggest impact on lower-income kids, and
particularly kids of color, all of which gets to the achievement gap issue.Ó
The
program has also shown positive effects on school attendance rates and student
behavior. For example, when most teachers offered career examples with their
lessons, the average number of annual unexcused absences among low-income
students dropped by nearly half. Similar results were achieved among some
minority students. The number of absences among Hispanic children declined, on
average, from six per year per student, down to three, while annual absences
among black children fell, on average, from nearly three per student down to
one.
Suspension
rates also declined by half, down from an average of one per student per year,
Orthner said.
ÒWhat
this tells us is if you can improve a studentÕs sense that school is really
important, their attention improves and the number of behavior incidents
decreases,Ó he added.
We already know how North Carolina students performed on
state tests last year. But student achievement is only one part of a schoolÕs
progress or success. Many of us also want to know how safe are our local
schools? What are the current graduation rates? How qualified are the teachers?
How much access do students have to new technology? How does one school or
district compare to another? Starting today, answers to these and many more
questions are just a mouse click away on the 2008 North Carolina School Report
Cards available at www.ncreportcards.org.
The 2008 North Carolina School Report Cards provide
parents, educators and others with an up-to-date online data resource for
information about student performance and attendance, class size, school
safety, teacher quality, school technology and other topic areas. Most of the
data also can be used to make comparisons among the school, district and state
levels.
Local schools will be distributing snapshots, or
condensed versions of the report cards to parents across the state beginning
today. The snapshots also are available online at www.ncreportcards.org.
The North Carolina School Report Cards have been
produced annually since 2001 to provide the public with the most current and
comparable information about local schools, districts and overall state data.
Users of the report cards can search by school or school system name, by using
a North Carolina map, or by selecting desired school characteristics.
Cindi Rigsbee, a sixth/seventh grades reading resource
teacher at Gravelly Hill Middle School, Orange County Public Schools, today was
selected one of four finalists for the 2009 National Teacher of the Year.
Rigsbee is currently serving as North Carolina's 2008-09 AT&T North
Carolina Teacher of the Year.
Rigsbee has been a North Carolina public school teacher
since the 1979-80 school year and has taught in five different North Carolina
public school systems: Guilford County Schools, Vance County Schools, Wake
County Schools, Durham Public Schools and Orange County Schools. She is a
member of the National Education Association, the North Carolina Association of
Educators (NCAE), the Orange County Association of Educators, the Association
for Supervision and Curriculum Development, the International Reading
Association, and the North Carolina Reading Association.
In addition to her work in the classroom, Rigsbee has
made presentations at numerous education workshops, conferences and other
events. She was named the 2007-08 Orange County SchoolsÕ Teacher of the Year,
and a 2005 finalist for the Terry Sanford Award for Creativity and Innovation
in Teaching.
Rigsbee received a Bachelor of Arts in English Education
and a Master of Education/K-12 Literacy from the University of North Carolina
at Chapel Hill. In 2004, she achieved National Board Certification.
Nine Teachers
Honored as Regional Teachers of the Year; Teachers to Compete for Statewide
Honor
Nine teachers were recently selected to represent their
regions and charter schools as regional Teachers of the Year and will now
compete for the title of 2009-10 AT&T North Carolina Teacher of the Year.
The winner will succeed the 2008-09 AT&T North Carolina Teacher of the
Year, Cindi Rigsbee, a sixth/seventh grades reading resource teacher at
Gravelly Hill Middle School (Orange County Public Schools).
The regional teachers of the year are as follows:
á North
Central Region: Matthew Bristow-Smith, Tarboro High (Edgecombe County Schools);
á Northeast
Region: Gina Beaman, Creekside Elementary (Pitt County Schools);
á Northwest
Region: Robert Turner, Grandview Middle (Hickory Public Schools);
á Southeast
Region: Nicole Murray, James Kenan School of Engineering (Duplin County
Schools);
á Southwest
Region: Jessica Garner, Porter Ridge High (Union County Schools);
á Sandhills/South
Central Region: Martha Anderson, Washington Street Elementary (Richmond County
Schools);
á Piedmont-Triad/Central
Region: Phillip Little, Northwood High (Chatham County Schools);
á West
Region: Jo Peterson Gibbs, Asheville Middle (Asheville City Schools);
Eight Principals
Honored as Regional Wachovia Principals of the Year; Principals to Compete for
Statewide Honor
Eight principals were recently selected to represent
their regions as regional Wachovia Principals of the Year and will now compete
for the title of 2009 Wachovia North Carolina Principal of the Year. The winner
will succeed the 2008 Wachovia North Carolina Principal of the Year, Debra
Morris, principal of A.L. Brown High School (Kannapolis City Schools).
The regional principals of the year are as follows:
á North
Central Region: Matthew Wight, Apex High (Wake County Schools);
á Northeast
Region: Donald Sisson, Northeastern High (Elizabeth City-Pasquotank Schools);
á Northwest
Region: DeAnna Finger, Tuttle Elementary (Catawba County Schools);
á Southeast
Region: Vann Pennell, South Brunswick High (Brunswick County Schools);
á Southwest
Region: Steve Hall, Bruns Avenue Elementary (Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools);
á Sandhills/South
Central Region: Jeffrey Jernigan, Cape Fear High (Cumberland County Schools);
á Piedmont-Triad/Central
Region: Sabre Robinson, Eastlawn Elementary (Alamance-Burlington Schools); and