SBE HIGHLIGHTS

Sept. 30-Oct.1, 2009

Special Note:To review background materials on each item, please go to www.ncpublicschools.org/stateboard/meetings/2009/10. 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

• Honors Course Policy Revisions (GCS 1) - Recommended changes were approved to State Board Policy GCS-L-004 outlining standards for honors courses and a formal review process for all courses eligible for honors weight. The changes include adding NC Virtual Public School courses and online courses that are in accordance with the North Carolina Honors Course Implementation Guide as eligible for honors weight, arts education courses that are in the third or fourth year course component of a numerical sequence as eligible for honors weight, and Project Lead the Way courses approved for college credit as eligible for advanced placement weight.
  
  
• Supplemental Educational Services (SES) Evaluation Policy (GCS 3) - The Supplemental Educational Services Evaluation Policy was approved. Department of Public Instruction staff will use the policy to monitor the quality and effectiveness of services offered by approved Supplemental Educational Services (SES) providers. These academic services are offered to eligible students outside the regular school day to increase their academic achievement. Students can participate if they are in a Title I school that is in School Improvement Status for the second year and if they personally qualify for Title I services. The policy also outlines procedures for withdrawing approval from providers that fail to increase the academic proficiency of the students they serve for two consecutive years. Recommended providers must meet the minimal requirements as outlined by federal law. More information about SES and the No Child Left Behind law is available online at www.ncpublicschools.org/nclb.
  
  
• 2009 Institutes of Higher Education (IHE) Performance Report (TCP 2) - Board members approved the 2009 Institutes of Higher Education Performance Report. The report found that the overall Praxis II pass rate of individuals who completed teacher education programs was 98 percent, and no institution had a pass rate below 85 percent. The overall School Leaders Licensure Assessment pass rate was 99 percent, and only one institution did not have a pass rate of 100 percent. Its pass rate was 98 percent. Institutions reported an increase in the enrollment of both full-time and part-time degree-seeking students and licensure-only students in undergraduate teacher education programs.

Board members also approved:

• Middle school students receiving credit for taking high school English I if they score at or above proficiency on the end-of-course assessment. Although students would receive high school credit for the course, the grade would not be included in the high school GPA. (GCS 2)
  
  
• The adoption of instructional materials for the following curriculum areas: Mathematics Education 6-12, Second Language Education 6-12, English Language Development K-12 and Agricultural Education 7-12, and the activities of the Textbook Commission for 2009. (GCS 4)
  
  
• The Compliance Commission for Accountability's recommendation to deny the appeals submitted by four Beaufort County Schools not to participate in field tests in the 2009-10 school year. (GCS 5)
  
  
• Proposed standards for the evaluation of school psychologists that are aligned with the new teacher standards. The new standards will serve as the basis of the new evaluation instrument for school psychologists. (TCP 1)
  
  
• Learn and Serve America Program grant awards totaling $275,500 for distribution to 20 school districts for the 2009-10 school year. (TCS 1)
  
  

Consent Agenda

The following consent agenda items were approved:

• Changes to the 2008-09 ABCs/Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) results. (GCS 8)
  ABCs Status Changes:
  
  • East Bladen High went from Unresolved to School of Progress, Expected Growth
  • Long School went from Insufficient Data/No Status to School of Progress, High Growth
  • Currituck County Middle went from School of Distinction, High Growth to Honor School of Excellence, High Growth
  • KIPP: Charlotte went from No Recognition to School of Progress, High Growth
  • Candor Elementary went from Unresolved to School of Progress, High Growth
  • Green Ridge Elementary went from Unresolved to School of Progress, Expected Growth
  • Star-Biscoe Elementary went from Unresolved to School of Progress, Expected Growth
  • Blue Creek Elementary went from No Recognition to School of Progress, Expected Growth
  • North Asheboro Middle went from Priority School, Expected Growth to School of Progress, Expected Growth
  • Yadkin Early College went from School of Distinction, Expected Growth to School of Progress, Expected Growth
  AYP Status Changes:
  • East Bladen High went from Under Review to Not Met
  • Buncombe County Middle College went from Not Met to Met
  • Long School went from Not Met to Met
  • Central Davidson High went from Not Met to Met
  • Pine Lake Preparatory went from Not Met to Met
  • Jacksonville High went from Not Met to Met
  • Pembroke Middle went from Not Met to Met
  • Hyde Early College High went from Not Met to Met
  
  
  
• Recommended final academic achievement standards (cut scores) and achievement level descriptors for the NCEXTEND1 Alternate Assessments in Reading grades 3-8 and 10; Mathematics grades 3-8 and 10; Science grades 5, 8 and 10; and Writing grade 10. (GCS 9))
  
  
• The Report to the Joint Legislative Education Oversight Committee: Implementation of the ABCs and Statewide Consolidated Assistance Program. The report includes highlights of the 13th year of the ABCs results for schools, information on the statewide system of support, AYP results and schools identified as low performing. (GCS 10)
  
  
• Changes to State Board policies addressing elimination of specific state assessments and the N.C. Checklist of Academic Standards (NCCLAS) as a result of actions by the North Carolina General Assembly and the U.S. Department of Education. (GCS 11)
  
  
• Additional requirements so that charter schools will meet the full guidelines for the care of school children with diabetes that were enhanced by Senate Bill 738. (HRS 2)
  
  
• The Annual Report on the Reasons Teachers Leave (Teacher Turnover Report). (TCP 4)
  
  
• LEA-wide calendar waivers were approved for the following districts as they met the requirement of missing eight or more days of school in four of the last 10 years due to inclement weather: Alleghany, Ashe, Avery, Haywood, Madison, Mitchell, Watauga and Yancey. (TCS 3)
  
  

Discussion Agenda

• Discussion of North Carolina's Proposed New Accountability Model (GCS 6) - Board members discussed the Department's new accountability model proposal. Components of the proposed model include student performance (end-of-grade/end-of-course assessments), longitudinal (long-term) growth, value-added measures for teachers, schools and districts (EVAAS), graduation rate (5-year cohort), Future-Ready Core (types of courses students are taking) and postsecondary readiness. Also discussed were the need for Board members' ideas for classifying schools based on performance (rewards, sanctions, incentives), the continuation of Student Accountability Standards Gateways, balancing the components in the model, and other components that should be included. The new accountability model supports the Department's Accountability and Curriculum Revision Effort (ACRE), which was implemented in response to the "Framework for Change" adopted by the Board. Staff should have a more definitive timeline for completing the accountability model by the November Board meeting.
  
  
• Revisions to HRS-A-000 and Definitions of Reportable Acts (HRS 1) - Minor changes to improve clarity and to update reporting mechanisms for the 17 acts that schools are required to report to the State Board of Education and to law enforcement were briefly discussed. Board members requested staff to continue to work on this item and bring it back for continued discussion at their November meeting.
  
  
• Establish Front-end Funding for Governor's School (TCS 2) - This item was pulled from the agenda for additional work and future discussion.
  
  

Information Agenda

• American Diploma Project (ADP) Algebra II Results for Spring 2009 and Discussion for 2009-10 (GCS 7) - Board members were provided with a summary of North Carolina's 2008-09 student performance in the ADP Algebra II initiative and 2009-10 plans for future participation. In 2008-09, 26 schools (2,551 students) in 17 school districts participated in the ADP Algebra II assessment. Of the 13 participating states, North Carolina students had the highest average scale score. Although the state had the highest average scale score, only 18.3 percent of North Carolina students are considered at or above the "prepared" level. (Only 14.6 percent of all students in the 13 participating states met this standard.) One of the reasons for this low percentage is the rigor of the assessment.
  
  
• Formative Evaluation Report North Carolina Virtual Public School, Spring 2009 (LFI 1) - Kevin Brady with N.C. State University's Friday Institute for Educational Innovation reported that the Formative Evaluation Report on the North Carolina Virtual Public School Spring 2009 found notable improvements in the operations from the 2008 survey. The Friday Institute compared responses from the 2009 survey with the exact same questions used in the 2008 survey to determine how respondents' perceptions have changed. Questions asked addressed student success, advocacy for NCVPS, course quality, teaching quality, advising quality, and student barriers to success in NCVPS courses. The report is available online at www.ncpublicschools.org/stateboard/meetings/2009/10 (scroll to LFI 1).
  
  

Report on the North Carolina e-Learning Commission

Lt. Governor Walter Dalton provided a report on the North Carolina e-Learning Commission, including its history, work and scope. Purposes of the e-Learning Commission are to recruit and direct individuals to North Carolina's e-learning opportunities, maximize efficiency across the state's K-20 learning efforts and serve as a clearinghouse for all e-learning resources in the state.