TEACHERS' MESSAGES 2004
TEACHERS' MESSAGES 2004MARCH 26, 2004
Next Wednesday, the State Board of Education and I will travel by bus to Washington, D.C., for a special meeting with North Carolina's Congressional delegation. Our goal is to relay the concerns and issues raised by No Child Left Behind with our national lawmakers. This event is being held instead of the ordinary Wednesday format of the State Board's April meeting because Board members and I believe that many of these issues are too important to wait for chance opportunities for discussion. The Board's regular April meeting will be held in Raleigh on Thursday, April 1. Among the issues we plan to raise are: funding, the all-or-nothing designations of Adequate Yearly Progress and the needs of students with disabilities and students who have limited English proficiency. I will keep you posted on progress in these areas.
Regards,
Mike Ward
The State Board of Education will hold its April meeting next week, beginning with a bus trip on March 31 to Washington, D.C., to meet with North Carolina's Congressional delegation on issues related to No Child Left Behind. A draft agenda for that meeting is posted at http://www.ncpublicschools.org under In the News. It is the first item listed: March 31, 2004, SBE Washington, D.C., Meeting. The agenda includes several background documents available for downloading. Also, the Board will hold its regular monthly meeting on April 1 in the Education Building, 7th Floor Board Room, 301 N. Wilmington St., Raleigh. The agenda for that meeting is available at /sbe_meetings/
Highlights of the North Carolina Public School Budget Online
Highlights of the North Carolina Public School Budget presents charts and tables that describe how state and federal funds are distributed to North Carolina's public schools. It also reviews the growth in average daily membership (ADM), the ABCs Financial Flexibility, and the effect of Charter Schools. Visit http://www.ncpublicschools.org/fbs/highlights/ to learn more.
A Project Bright IDEA teacher fair and dissemination conference will be held April 27 at the Brownstone Hotel, Raleigh. This one-day conference will provide a comprehensive overview of Project Bright IDEA and student assessment results. Teachers and administrators from the five school systems participating in the project over the past three years will present their efforts to raise academic expectations and close the achievement gap among young under-represented students with potential academic gifts. The conference is a collaborative endeavor among the Exceptional Children Division, Closing the Achievement Gap Section of the School Improvement Division, and the American Association for Gifted Children at Duke University. For registration details, contact either Margaret Gayle 919.783.6152; megayle@aol.com) or Valorie Hargett 919.807.3987; vhargett@dpi.state.nc.us.
National Board Study Confirms Effectiveness of Certification
An independent, multi-year study of more than 600,000 North Carolina student records found that children learn more from National Board Certified teachers (NBCTs). The study, which was funded by the U.S. Dept. of Education, found that students of NBCTs improved an average of 7 percent more on their year-end math and reading tests that students whose teachers attempted but failed to gain certification. Gains were more pronounced for younger and lower-income students whose scores improved up to 15 percent. To read more, please go to the Center on Reinventing Public Education's Web site at http://www.crpe.org and click on the appropriate link.
Lemelson-MIT InvenTeams provides "a unique opportunity for high school students to gain hands-on experience in the exciting and rewarding world of invention." This nationwide initiative has available 15 grants of up to $10,000 for an in-class or extracurricular/club invention project. Initial applications are due May 7 and must be submitted by a high school science, mathematics or technology teacher. Final applications are due Sept. 22. Full information and application instructions are available online at http://www.inventeams.org/
LEARN NC's March Update Online
LEARN NC's March update takes a look at professional development for excellence in teaching, a newly published lesson plan collection, helping students choose the right books for independent reading and teaching the 2004 elections. Check these articles out and more by going online to http://www.learnnc.org and clicking on the appropriate link.
PI's Online Calendar Links Educators to the Future
re you curious about upcoming conferences and professional development seminars? Looking for an educational job fair? DPI's Events and Conferences page links school personnel to statewide training and other professional development opportunities. Visit our online Events and Conferences page at http://www.ncpublicschools.org/calendar/ and click on the appropriate link to learn more.