REPORTS

TEACHING THE TEACHERS–INSTITUTES OF HIGHER EDUCATION ARE PREPARING TEACHERS TO CLOSE THE GAP

The responsibility for closing the achievement gap is shared by everyone. Teacher education programs are striving to train teachers who can successfully meet the demands of diverse school populations and improve the achievement for all students. Institutions of higher education across the state play an integral role in the development of teachers who are prepared to face this challenge. Activities occurring at several of these institutions are highlighted below:

Winston-Salem State University

The School of Education at Winston-Salem State University is initiating several programs that address the educational needs of children and families.

PASS - Partnership for Academic and Social Success:
The Maya Angelou Institute for the Improvement of Child and Family Education, a community based comprehensive action research center of child and family development and a unit of the School of Education at Winston-Salem State University, has received funding for the implementation of a pilot project to close the academic and social performance gap between majority and minority students. The comprehensive partnership model that will serve as a blueprint to close the academic and social performance gap for 465 Pre-Kindergarten to 5th grade students at Elementary school. The targeted school community has demonstrated success over the last three years in closing the minority academic and social development gap. Additional directed strategies and prescriptive measures are needed to maintain and enhance desired levels of success and to totally close all student achievement gaps. The Maya Angelou Institute proposes to partner with Mineral Springs Elementary School and the school community to realize the project outcomes by creating and implementing a comprehensive schoolwide parent involvement component, by developing a 1st through 5th grade academic and social expectation guide for the school community and action team to use to close the negative academic and social performance gap of minority students.

The expected outcomes for this partnership effort will be:

• Increased membership (and attendance in) the Parent Teacher Association (PTA)
• Increased parent school visits
• Increased parent participation in scheduled teacher conferences
• The university (WSSU)-community (Ashley) partners will produce and disseminate a summary document of the project results for replication

Direct Instruction: An Effective Teaching Strategy for Students Who are At-risk of School Failure:

The total resources for this project include, but are not limited to, the availability to kits, resource people which would include authors, mathematicians (within the school system, the university faculty, scientists, and other community people from SciWorks, and from various local banks). Resources will be valuable to the students involved to enhance the basic competencies identified by the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction. The Mineral Springs Elementary School has a unique population of students who are willing to learn and could benefit from a rigorous curriculum model. Mineral Springs Elementary School is the focus of a partnership with the Department of Education, Winston-Salem State University. The purpose of the partnership is to implement Direct Instruction for students in Grade 3 that will enhance their learning skills as well as their problem-solving skills. Through this model, students will begin to think critically and form higher order thinking skills in order to perform successfully, in and outside of the classroom. With this in mind, educators and administrators can help to eliminate the minority performance gap through staff development in direct instruction, revision of current curricula, and through the use of technology. Mineral Springs Elementary School will involve students, staff, and the Winston-Salem State University faculty and preservice teachers in developing shared goals and practices directed at accelerated learning of all children.

For additional information, contact:
Frankie Denise Powell, Ph.D.
Interim Director
Maya Angelou Institute for the Improvement of Child and Family Education
Winston-Salem State University
CB-19360
Winston-Salem, NC 27110
336.750.2696 (phone)
336.750.2375 (fax)

UNC-Charlotte

UNC-Charlotte faculty have been engaged in close partnership with Thomasboro Elementary School. In working with the Thomasboro staff, UNC-Charlotte faculty taught school-based college courses in literacy and mathematics education. Teachers participated in a restructuring of mathematics education, with an emphasis on math manipulatives and computer-assisted instruction. Integrated curriculum, family involvement, and a school-wide discipline policy that supports prosocial development were other aspects of the partnership. Preliminary data reflect a significant improvement in student achievement.

Partnership activities were supported, in part, by the University-School Teacher Education Partnership (U-STEP) grant from UNC General Administration.

For additional information, contact:
Dr. Bob Audette
UNC-Charlotte

Elizabeth City State University

During the 1997-98 school year, Elizabeth City State University received a grant from the Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation to implement the Northeastern North Carolina Communication Skills Enhancement Program. The focus of this three-year program was to help students improve oral and written communication, as well as, provide strategies to improve test-taking skills. In collaboration with the Halifax County Schools, ECSU offered workshops for high school students to help them understand how to apply content knowledge in testing situations and provided strategies that would result in successful performance on the SAT and other standardized tests. In addition, classroom teachers in Halifax County and surrounding school districts were trained to conduct these workshops in order to reach more students. ECSU provided assistance to pre-service and classroom teachers in order to improve their ability to pass the Praxis exams. The pool of candidates entering the teaching profession will be increased as students strengthen their communication skills, improve test-taking strategies, and receive needed support.

Through this collaborative effort, strides are being made in closing the achievement gap. ECSU is seeking additional funding in order to continue this endeavor.

For additional information, contact:
Dr. Claudie Mackey, Professor of Education
Elizabeth City State University
Phone: 252.335.3479

Greensboro College

Greensboro College faculty have been extremely interested in the efforts teachers and administrators have been making to address and respond to closing the achievement gap. They have attended and participated in many conferences to explore ways to meet the needs of diverse learners. Greensboro College faculty have been gaining knowledge about the issue; learning the extent to which this gap impacts students in the Piedmont area; and acquiring information about the strategies being used by classroom teachers to be more effective with at-risk children. The Greensboro faculty are incorporating this information into their own courses so that teacher education students will be better prepared to teach the at-risk student and will become more knowledgeable about strategies for closing the achievement gap.

As part of their efforts, Greensboro College hosted the Literacy Summit 2000. In conjunction with Guilford County Schools, Greensboro College will conduct ten literacy (tutor-facilitator) training sessions for Guilford County teachers who are involved in the Literacy Program.

For more information, contact:
Dr. Rebecca Blomgren
Director of Teacher Education
Greensboro College
815 W. Market Street
Greensboro, North Carolina 27401
336.272.7102 Ext. 262
336. 271.6634

Davidson College

Davidson College hosted and sponsored "Love of Learning," an innovative program to increase the number of minority students who succeed in higher education. These students were identified with high potential but low performance. Three school systems were represented in the program: Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools, Iredell-Statesville Schools, and Rowan-Salisbury Schools. The program for students focused on five areas: (1) mastery of oral and written English, (2) mastery of mathematical skills, (3) development of skills in scientific inquiry, (4) development of test-taking skills and preparation for the SAT, (5) and personal development.

In 1987, a pilot project brought 30 rising African-American high school juniors to the Davidson campus to participate in a four-week program to enrich their academic, physical, spiritual, social, and cultural development. The comprehensive program called, "Love of Learning," focused on recruitment and retention of minority students by colleges and universities. Evaluation of the pilot project showed dramatic changes in participants' attitudes and achievement levels. These positive results encouraged Davidson and the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools to move forward with the program. "Love of Learning" has grown now to include the Rowan-Salisbury and Cabarrus School Systems, and the program serves as a model for similar programs at other colleges and universities.

For more information, contact:
Brenda Tapia, Program Director
http://www.davidson.edu/academic/LOL/index.htm

North Carolina Central University

The Historically Minority Colleges and Universities Consortium (HMCUC) received $500,000 from the General Assembly to launch their coordinated efforts to close the achievement gap of minority students in North Carolina public schools.

The Consortium, in partnership with the Department of Public Instruction, consists of eleven (11) historically black institutions: North Carolina A&T State University; North Carolina Central University; Barber Scotia College; Bennett College; Elizabeth City State University; Fayetteville State University; Johnson C. Smith University; Livingstone College; St. Augustineís College; Shaw University; Winston-Salem State University; and UNC-Pembroke, where roughly 25 percent of the students are Native Americans.

North Carolina Central University serves as the lead institution for the consortium and its projects. Consortium officers are: Chair, Dr. Alexander Erwin of Barber Scotia College; Vice Chair, Dr. Lenora Brogdan-Wyatt of Bennett College, and Executive Director; and Dr. Beverly W. Jones of North Carolina Central University.

The HMCUC is governed by an advisory council, which is comprised of the HMCUC member institutions, parents, public school representatives, public and private sector businesses and organizations with interests in closing the minority student achievement gap. The Advisory Council will engage in meaningful discussions and trainings with participants regarding academic, economic, social, and technological demands of both domestic and global markets. The guiding principle of the HMCUC is to develop programs that will positively impact minority and disadvantaged student performance as defined through stakeholder discussions, recommendations, and training.

The consortium will assist in the identification of barriers affecting K-12 public education for minority students who fail to meet grade level proficiencies on end-of-grade and end-of-course tests; and develop appropriate responses to identified barriers of students in grades K-12 who demonstrate academic achievement and social development weaknesses. Programs implemented by the HMCUC will eliminate or prevent the consistent pattern of low achievement among minority students in the state of North Carolina.

For more information, contact:
Dr. Beverly Jones
North Carolina Central University
919.530.5015

UNC-Wilmington

At UNC-Wilmington, The Watson School of Educationís Endowed Chair and a graduate student worked extensively with several local elementary schools that were characterized as high-risk. These schools serve an economically disadvantaged, transient population. The project was designed to address three specific needs: 1) to intervene early in the school careers of children at risk for failure; 2) to increase teachersí skills in instruction, evaluation, collaboration, and school reform; and 3) to develop a model of within-school and district-wide reform that is data-driven, gradual, and reshapes features of school organization to support effective instruction. In addition, this faculty member worked with the district to successfully obtain grant funding to work with six high-risk elementary schools in this region. The grant provided a network of these six schools to ensure continuity in program and support for students.

For more information, contact:
Dr. Martin Kozloff
UNC-Wilmington
910.962.7286

UNC-Pembroke

The Public Schools of Robeson County is experiencing an increase in the number of students who do not complete high school. The HighSchool.com project was developed as an innovative approach to add new initiatives for the Public Schools of Robeson County. Students attending HighSchool.com will work in a supervised computer lab each day to complete basic academic requirements and will have the opportunity to work in one of several academies (a description of the academies is listed below). In HighSchool.com, students will engage in meaningful hands-on learning activities, integrate basic and advanced mathematical and scientific concepts, have the opportunity to take additional advanced placement courses, and participate in classes that meet their career interests and needs. As a result of completing the program, students will utilize these skills to graduate from high school, continue their education, and/or secure a place in the workforce.

Sources for project funding include: local and state funding; grants; and public and private support from local businesses, industry, and institutions of higher education. The goal of the local Board of Education is for the HighSchool.com project to become a technology magnet high school within the next three years.

Phase I

• The Web Academy
  The Academy offers opportunities for students to take advanced placement courses that would not ordinarily be offered in regular high school. This initiative offers opportunities for at-risk students to enhance their basic and advanced academic skills.
  
  
• The Cisco Academy
  These courses teach students how to design, install, and maintain networks. Upon completing both levels, students will be able to achieve CCNA Certification, which would allow them to directly enter the workforce.
  
  
• Studio One Academy
  Students will have an opportunity to explore the world of electronic journalism. Opportunities will be made available to research topics and to produce documentaries.

• Computer Repair Control Academy
  These courses teach students how to build, repair, and maintain computers Upon completion, they can receive A+ Certification and directly enter the workforce.
  
  
• Microsoft Academy
  These courses teach students how to install and maintain Microsoft network operating systems. Upon completing both levels of this course, students can receive MCP certification, which will allow them to directly enter the workforce.

Phase III

• Motor Sports Academy
  Students will have an opportunity to explore the work of motor sports. Hands on experiences with real racecars will allow students to study design construction end geometry components enabling them to build actual models.

For more information, contact:
Dr. Zoe Locklear
Dean, UNC-Pembroke
910.521.6221