SBE HIGHLIGHTS

May 6, 2009

Special Note:To review background materials on each item, please go to http://www.ncpublicschools.org/stateboard/meetings/2009/05. 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

• 2009-2010 Writing Instruction Plan (GCS 2) – Proposed adjustments to the 2009-10 Writing Instruction Plan were approved. These included opening the electronic pilot to all interested districts, allowing flexible windows for student writing samples to be composed, allowing teachers, in consultation with students, to choose the content-specific writing assignments, and not restricting the use of word processing tools (such as spell check) on assignments.
  
  
• Changes to Policy Providing Annual Performance Standards Under the ABCs Model (GCS 3) – Proposed amendments to State Board Policy HSP-C-021 were approved. These amendments address the component for college university prep/college tech prep to give additional credit to schools with high baseline and current year performance, and revise the U.S. History prediction to use either Civics & Economics or Biology as the primary predictor in conjunction with English I as the secondary predictor. Staff will now initiate the Administrative Procedure Act (APA) process.
  
  
• Changes to North Carolina’s NCLB Consolidated State Application Accountability Workbook (GCS 4) –Based upon approval of the US Department of Education, Board members approved the following changes to North Carolina's NCLB Consolidated State Application Accountability Workbook: no longer including the Occupational Course of Study assessments in Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP), including exited Students with Disabilities (within the last two years) in the Students with Disabilities subgroup in AYP, and including the higher of the original test score or first retest scores (for grades 3 through 8) in AYP.
  
  
• Changes to Policy Delineating the Components of the ABCs Accountability Program for the 2009-10 School Year (GCS 5) – In response to the state’s budget crisis, the Grade 3 Pretests in Reading and Mathematics will be removed from the testing and accountability program for 2009-10. This will remove grade 3 from ABCs growth calculations in both reading and mathematics. Grade 3 results will be used for AYP and ABCs performance composite calculations.
  
  
• Occupational Course of Study – Proposed Temporary Waiver of Paid Employment Graduation Requirement (GCS 6) – Board members approved amending temporarily the Occupational Course of Study’s paid employment graduation requirement to allow participating students in the graduating classes of the 2008-09 and the 2009-10 school years to substitute 360 hours of additional unpaid vocational training, unpaid internships, paid employment at community rehabilitation facilities, and volunteer and/or community service hours for the 360 hours of competitive, paid employment hours if unable to secure paid employment in an integrated employment setting due to local job market conditions. Students are still required to complete a total of 900 hours of vocational training and/or employment in order to receive a North Carolina diploma.
  
  
• Temporary Policy for Flexible Furlough Leave (TCS 3) – A temporary policy addressing flexible furlough leave was approved. Full-time public school employees may take 10 hours of flexible furlough leave between May 1, 2009 and Dec. 31, 2009. The leave, which may be taken in any increment, must be coordinated through the employee’s immediate supervisor or principal. Classroom teachers, media specialists and teacher assistants who require substitutes or bus drivers may not use flexible furlough leave at any time that students are scheduled to be in attendance. The furlough is in recognition of the .5% reduction in state employees’ and school employees’ annual salary. More guidance is online at www.ncpublicschools.org/fbs.
  
  
• Emergency Flexibility for Transfers within the State Public School Fund (TCS 4) – Local districts have the flexibility to adjust all state allotment categories (except Driver Education) to offset the mandated reduction to the districts’ Non-Instructional Support Allotment.
  
  
• Principal and Teacher Evaluation Instrument State Level Ratings (TCP 1) – Board members approved identifying and adopting a process whereby a random sample of principal ratings utilizing the North Carolina Principal Evaluation Instrument and a random sample of teacher ratings utilizing the North Carolina Teacher Evaluation Instrument would be collected and analyzed. The results would allow for further validation of the implementation process of these two instruments and provide quantitative-based research data that could help improve classroom instruction and school–based leadership. Ratings are not currently collected by the state.

Board members also approved:

• 2009-10 Reading First Funding totaling $8.9 million for 37 districts and charter schools and continued funding for three full-time reading coaches for three schools (located in Columbus, Gaston and Charlotte-Mecklenburg) that were low performing in 2007-08. Board members also approved the disbursement of $1.7 million from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) to enable 62 elementary schools to participate in the USDA’s Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program for 2009-10. (TCS 1)
  
  
• Allowing McRel to begin the validation process to determine the suitability of using the principal evaluation instrument to evaluate assistant principals. (TCP 2)
  
  
• A proposed adjustment to the Physical Education Praxis II assessment qualifying score from 158 to 152. (TCP 3)
  
  
• Technology plans for 14 local districts, 18 charter schools and the Department of Health and Human Services. Approval qualifies these districts and charter schools for the School Technology Trust Fund, No Child Left Behind and federal e-Rate monies. (LFI 1)
  
  
• The appointment of the NCDPI’s LEA Council Director and the New Schools Project Program Director to the Joint Advisory Committee for Cooperative Innovative High School Programs. (LFI 2)
  
  
• School-based calendar waivers for educational purposes submitted by Guilford County Schools (The Academy at Smith, Johnson Street Global Studies Extended Year, Brooks Global Studies Extended Year, The Early College at Guilford, Middle College at Bennett, Middle College at NC A & T, Greensboro College Middle College, and Washington Montessori School and Bertie County Schools (Bertie Early College High). (LFI 3)
  
  

Discussion Agenda

• High School Courses Taken in Middle School (GCS 9) – Allowing middle school students the opportunity to take high school social studies courses for high school credit was discussed. To receive credit, students would have to achieve the Level III requirement on the end-of-course assessment if applicable. If the course does not have an EOC test, the course would have to be aligned to the North Carolina Standard Course of Study for grades 9-12. The student would receive high school credit for the course, but the grade would not be included in the student’s high school GPA.

Board members also discussed:

• Recommended changes to achievement level descriptors for NCEXTEND2 for the 2009-10 school year to define more clearly the performance of NCEXTEND2 students in each of the four achievement levels for reading, mathematics and science assessments. (GCS 7)
  
  
• Revising the Academic Scholars Program to align the program with the graduation requirements of the Future-Ready Core. (GCS 8)
  
  
• Routine waiver exemptions as part of the Cooperative Innovative High School Program approval process and therefore be granted automatically with program approvals. In most cases, the exemptions requested have been repeatedly approved for similar programs in past years. Members also discussed authorizing the State Board of Education Chair to approve these routine waivers for districts that are opening innovative programs not requiring Board approval. (LFI 4)
  
  

Information Agenda

• NCDPI Chief Financial Officer Philip Price introduced two teams of Duke University graduate students who then presented their graduate project research findings. The first team reported on the characteristics of effective teachers and how the State Board of Education can promote those characteristics among current North Carolina teachers. Through the use of surveys, interviews, EVAAS resources at SAS and the NCDPI, the students found that effective teachers, not surprisingly, have a strong motivation to teach and an easy rapport with students. The graduate students recommended providing teachers and administrators with classroom goal summaries for end-of-grade tests, professional development through a video-sharing Web site (post and share video content of instruction), and providing teachers with a professional networking site so that teachers can collaborate and share resources.
  
  
• The second group of graduate students addressed how North Carolina could revise its teacher salary schedule (within existing funds) in order to attract and retain high quality teachers and maximize student achievement. The graduate students analyzed current research to identify what teacher variables positively impact student achievement. They then proposed a salary schedule that would improve the recruitment and retention of teachers with those characteristics. Their recommendations included front-loading the salary schedule during a teacher’s first 10 years (when they are more likely to leave), financially rewarding teachers of math and science who hold a bachelo'sr and/or a master's degree in their subject area, financially rewarding teachers with a Praxis II score at least 1.25 standard deviations above the mean. Although the salary proposal woukd not impact the 12 percent differential for National Board Certifcation, it would eliminate master's pay for all but math and science teachers. The additional pay for Praxis II teachers and math and science teachers would be doubled for teachers working at "hard-to-staff" schools. It also was recommended that teachers with zero to five years of experience should work, and be paid for, 12 months with 180 days for classroom instruction and one month each for planning time and staff development.(TCS 2)
  
  

Special Recognition

Board members presented their outgoing student advisor Brandon Young with a plaque in recognition of his service to the Board. Young is a senior at Enloe High School (Wake County Schools).

State Superintendent’s Report

State Superintendent June Atkinson summarized the Choice Bus press conference held at the General Assembly on Tuesday. The press conference was held to focus attention on the importance of public/private partnerships in addressing the state’s dropout problem. She noted that The Choice Bus, which legislators were able to tour, would be visiting schools in central and western North Carolina and that 10,000 North Carolina students have toured the bus to date. She encouraged Board participation in obtaining grant funds under Race to the Top and noted that she had convened the first meeting of the State Superintendent’s Career-Ready Commission. Gov. Bev Perdue requested that Atkinson convene this commission to look at issues pertaining to workforce development, workforce education and economic development in North Carolina and to report back the findings.

Chairman's Remarks

State Board of Education Chairman and CEO Bill Harrison thanked AT & T for its sponsorship of The Choice Bus and the state’s Teacher of the Year program. NCDPI Chief Academic Officer Rebecca Garland in her Framework for Change update noted that the Phase I Essential Standards are available online for review and that the proposed accountability model draft is being prepared. Legislative Liaison Chris Minard noted activity in the General Assembly including bills that are currently moving and the poor revenue picture. She stated that a full recovery is not expected for five years. State Board member and State Treasurer Janet Cowell noted that the General Assembly hasn’t factored in pension fund dollars to keep the state’s retirement system healthy.