SBE HIGHLIGHTS

OCTOBER. 2-4, 2007

Special Note:To review background materials on each item, please go to http://www.ncpublicschools.org/stateboard/meetings/2007/10. Click on the appropriate agenda category: Globally Competitive Students (GCS); Twenty-First Century Professionals (TCP); Leadership for Innovation (LFI); Twenty-First Century Systems (TCS); or Healthy Responsible Students (HRS).

Action Agenda

Utilization of State Board Reserve for Innovative/Special Projects (TCS 1) - Board members approved using some of its reserves from the At-Risk Student Services/Alternative Schools allotment to fund four initiatives. This is in keeping with past practice of using these reserves to implement and support specific initiatives as pilots or program start-ups. The initiatives approved this month are as follows: $50,000 to support an innovative project in Mecklenburg County that seeks to close the achievement gap through parent involvement; $50,000 for Professional Learning Communities Coaching Academies (K-12 train-the-trainer model for between 150 and 200 participants); $24,500 for the Formative Assessment Initiative (an online tutorial for teachers based on Classroom Assessment for Student Learning: Doing it Right - Using it Well by Richard J. Stiggins, et al., 2006); and $135,817 to support the Education Insight Initiative, a joint project between NCDPI, the NC Community College System and the University of North Carolina General Administration to integrate and make useable relevant portions of data from numerous data repositories currently hosted at the agencies.

Renewal of License Renewal Requirements to Reflect Legislation (TCP 1) - Revisions to teachers' license renewal requirements to reflect recent legislative requirements for teachers to take credits in their academic subject area as part of the license renewal process were approved. The proposed revisions affect teachers renewing their licenses on or after July 1, 2009.

Recommendations for Preliminary Approval of 2007 Charter School Applications (LFI 1) - Triad Math and Science Academy in Guilford County and Endeavor Charter School in Wake County received preliminary approval to fill the remaining two openings for new charter applications. These schools will undergo a year of planning in the 2007-08 school year, with final charter approval anticipated in March 2008. This would allow the schools to open for students in the 2008-09 school year.

Action on First Reading

LEA-Wide Calendar Waiver Requests (TCS 2) - Board members approved LEA wide calendar waiver requests for the 2008-09 school year for Alleghany County, Ashe County, Avery County, Buncombe County, Asheville City, Haywood County, Madison County, Mitchell County, Watauga County and Yancey County school systems. The districts meet the criteria of missing eight or more days of school in four of the last 10 years.

Appeal Process for More at Four Expansion Slots (TCS 3) - Board members approved the proposed appeal process for More at Four Expansion Slots. The appeal process was developed to guide the Office of School Readiness in making administrative decisions with respect to granting exceptions to contracting agencies and allotting funds to pay up to 90 percent of the full cost of the additional slots. Contracting agencies may request an exception if the county is unable to increase More at Four slots due to lack of available resources necessary to provide the required local contribution.

Approval of Grant (TCS 4) - Use of Reading First Grant funds was approved to provide mandatory training in the fundamentals of reading and a reading coach in the following low-performing elementary schools that are not Reading First Grant schools: Chadbourn Elementary (Columbus County), Cook Elementary and Forest Park Elementary (Winston-Salem/Forsyth), Rhyne Elementary (Gaston County), C.H. Bynum Elementary (Lenoir County), and Thomasboro Elementary (Charlotte-Mecklenburg). Funds also were approved to provide either voluntary training and/or a reading coach to a number of schools that met one of the following two criteria: in third year of Corrective Action under NCLB and are not Reading First Grant schools, or are Title I schools in Corrective Action for the third year.

Revision of Allotment Policy for Literacy Coaches (TCS 5) - Several revisions to the allotment policy manual were approved to reflect the legislature's funding for an additional 100 literacy coaches and to allow National Board Certified teachers serving as literacy coaches to remain on the National Board teacher salary schedule. Schools accepting state literacy coach funding also will be required to abide by a memorandum of understanding, implement the 21st century literacy model designed by the NC Teacher Academy and that the individual employed as the literacy coach complete all training prescribed by the NC Teacher Academy. In addition, the policy was revised to allow the reallocation of the position to another school if the position is not filled within five weeks.

Changes to the 2006-07 ABCs/AYP Results (GCS 3) - The following changes to the 2006/07 ABCs/AYP results were approved. ABCs Status Changes:

Crosscreek Charter went from No Status to Priority School
Socrates Academy went from No Status to Distinction/High Growth
Davidson School (Cleveland County) went from No Recognition to Expected Growth
Acme Delco Middle (Columbus County) went from Priority/Expected Growth to Progress/Expected Growth
Kernodle Middle (Guilford County) went from Distinction/High Growth to Excellence/High Growth
Lee County High (Lee County) went from Priority/Expected Growth to Progress/Expected Growth
Chantilly Montessori (Charlotte-Mecklenburg) went from No Status to Progress/Expected Growth
Cordova Elementary (Richmond County) went from Priority to No Recognition
Kensington Elementary (Union County) went from Distinction/High Growth to Honor School of Excellence/High Growth
River Oaks Middle (Wake County) went from No Status to No Recognition

AYP Status Changes:

Gaston College Preparatory (Gaston County) went from not meeting AYP to meeting AYP
Ramsey St. High School Alternative Program (Cumberland County) went from not meeting AYP to meeting AYP

Title I School Improvement Change List:

STARS went from Improvement Status (IS) Yr. 1 Reading to Not in Improvement Status
PreEminent Charter went from Not in IS to IS Yr 1 Reading and Math
School of Biotechnology (Winston-Salem/Forsyth) went from IS Yr 1 Math to Not in IS
School of Pre-Engineering (Winston-Salem/Forsyth) went from IS Yr 1 Math to Not in IS
Kennedy Learning (Winston-Salem/Forsyth) went from IS Yr 1 Reading to Not in IS
Gentry Primary (Harnett County Schools) went from IS Yr 2 Reading and Yr 3 Math to IS Yr 2 Math
Blue Creek Elementary (Onslow) went from IS Yr 1 Math to IS Yr 1 Reading and Math
Richlands Elementary (Onslow) went from IS Yr 3 Math to IS Yr 3 Reading and Yr 1 Math
WH Knuckles (Robeson County) went from Not in IS to Exited Yr 3 Reading
Long Branch (Robeson County) went from IS Yr 1 Reading to IS Yr 1 Reading and Yr 3 Math
Millbridge Elementary (Rowan-Salisbury) went from Not in IS to IS Yr 1 Math
Swain County Middle went from Not in IS to IS Yr 1 Reading
Wendell Elementary (Wake County) went from IS Yr 1 Reading and Math to IS Yr 1 Math

LEA Change List:

Weldon City Schools went from LEA IS Yr 4 Math to Exited Math; Exited LEA Improvement Status

2007 Textbook Adoption and Textbook Commission Report (GCS 4) - Board members approved the adoption of recommended instructional materials for Social Studies, Business and IT Education 6-12, and Marketing 9-12.

Replacement of Compliance Commission Members (TCS 7) - Board members approved appointments to fill the two vacancies on the Compliance Commission for Accountability. David Jenkins, testing director, Martin County Schools, and Teresa Eason, exceptional children's director, Harnett County Schools, are the two new appointments. They represent Education Districts 1 and 4. This item was approved as Action on First Reading because the Compliance Commission will be meeting soon.

Discussion Agenda

Policies Governing Services for Children with Disabilities (GCS 1) - Board members continued discussing replacing the current "Procedures Governing Programs and Services for Children with Disabilities" with "Policies Governing Services for Children with Disabilities" to meet the requirements of Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) 2004 and the accompanying regulations (34 CFR Part 300). A separate best-practices publication would be provided to local districts. The new policies would go into effect immediately except for the one relating to class size and that would take effect in 2008. Board members were asked to forward any feedback they receive in the next month on this issue to NCDPI staff.

Council on Educational Services for Exceptional Children (TCS 6) - Board members discussed the recommended appointment of three new members (to fill current vacancies) to the Council on Educational Services for Exceptional Children: Terri Myers, a parent of a child with disabilities from District 3, to a second, four-year term; Jana Grigg, Exceptional Children Director for Buncombe County Schools, to a first, four-year term; and the nomination of a representative from an Institute of Higher Education to complete the four-year term vacated by Dr. Diane Browder. The Council advises the State Board of Education on unmet needs in the education of children with disabilities. Legislation requires that the majority of members be individuals with disabilities or parents of children with disabilities.

Committees' New Business

Globally Competitive Students

Personal Financial Literacy Update - NCDPI staff reviewed a variety of Personal Financial Literacy assessments and recommended the one produced by the National Endowment for Financial Education. This assessment provides a pre-evaluation, a post-evaluation, a database of different options for teacher customization in designing the evaluation, and the option of using pre-developed questions from the database or creating their own. Evaluators found it to be a more robust assessment than others that were considered. Also, there is interest on the part of the State Employees Credit Union to provide this to classroom teachers at no charge. The National Endowment's assessment is endorsed by the Secretary of Treasurer's Office and the State Employees Credit Union. Because of this cost savings, Board members and Department staff discussed the possibility of seeking permission to extend the Financial Literacy activities into the middle grades.

Math EOC Testing Requirements - When students take the traditional sequence of high school mathematics and then switch over to Integrated Mathematics, it can raise issues of what end-of-course tests are then appropriate. For example, if a student takes Algebra I in eighth grade and passes the end-of-course test, proceeds to ninth grade and takes Integrated Mathematics II, which generally uses the Algebra I EOC, should the student take the Algebra I EOC again? Should their eighth grade Algebra I EOC score follow them and be used as part of their Integrated Mathematics II grade because current State Board policy requires the EOC assessment to count as 25 percent of the student's final grade in the course? Should students be given the option of taking the Algebra I EOC test again and then be given the higher score of the two? These issues will continue to be discussed at future meetings.

Twenty-First Century Professionals

Update on the IHE Performance Report - Board members received updated information concerning lateral entry teachers being produced by IHEs and hired by local school districts. In 2006-07, 20 percent of new hires were lateral entry or 9,843 of 97,259 teachers overall.

Chairman's Remarks

Because the State Board of Education held its October meeting at the Ocracoke facility of the NC Center for the Advancement of Teaching, representatives of the NCCAT board and staff highlighted the programs of NCCAT. NCCAT's mission is to provide classroom teachers the opportunity for a respite and a weeklong rejuvenation filled with learning and first-class hospitality. NCCAT's original campus is in Cullowhee. Teachers who attend a program at an NCCAT campus spend a week in a special topic multi-disciplinary seminar. Each seminar provides opportunities for different styles of learning. For example, one seminar, called Salty Dogs, focuses on the culture of North Carolina's barrier islands, the commercial fishing industry, sea lore and literature and other elements. At NCCAT, teachers are provided with excellent meals and hospitality. To participate, teachers fill out a simple application. Teachers who go to NCCAT are less likely to leave the profession because of this enrichment experience. So far, more than 60,000 teachers have had the opportunity to attend NCCAT, which began as an idea of one of North Carolina's Teachers of the Year.

State Board Chairman Howard Lee noted that the Board will hold its annual retreat in Greensboro at the O.Henry Hotel on Oct. 28-29 followed by its regular November meeting on Oct. 30-Nov. 1 in Raleigh. He added that some Board members and staff would be traveling to Philadelphia on Oct. 11-13 to attend the National Association of State Boards of Education's Annual Fall Conference. At the meeting, Chairman Lee will be presented with the Distinguished Service award.

Work is underway for five regional education summits across the state. The first is scheduled for Nov. 5 in Greenville. Teams of educators and community members are being invited from each district. The expectation is for each team to go back to their counties and plan their own summits to extend this work into the community. Gov. Mike Easley has agreed to kick-off the first summit in Greenville.

State Board member Melissa Bartlett announced that the Center for 21st Century Schools is partnering with NC State University and the NCDPI to create a virtual center for professional development. This will kick-off on Oct. 16.

State Board of Education Executive Director Rebecca Garland in her report to the Board stated that she attended the Competitive Workforce Conference in Washington, D.C., where North Carolina was highlighted as a leader in linking education to the creation of a competitive workforce. Durham was highlighted for its work in this area. The legislative book based on the 2007 session has been printed and is being distributed. New offices are under construction on the State Board hall, and interviews are being conducted for the Board's new legislative liaison and attorney.

State Superintendent's Report

State Superintendent June Atkinson announced that the Public Schools of North Carolina's Web site was recently selected as a "2007 Best of the Web" award winner for the K-12 state Web sites category by The Center for Digital Education. She highlighted a number of events at which she has presented or presided, including the opening of the Zoo School in Asheboro. Also, her recent blog entry, "The Three Little Pigs and the Graduation Project," was shared with Board members.