August 2014 State Board of Education Review

NCAE SBE Review REVISONS MADE FOR CALCULATING GPA August 2014

There are no changes being made for the regular Standard courses that provide credit toward a high school diploma and require the end-ofcourse test for those courses identified as such in the NC accountability program. Quality points for the GPA calculation are assigned according to the standard 4.0 scale and receive no additional quality points.

Shout outs to :

Changes in honors and AP/IB course being implemented will begin with the Freshman Class in 2015-16.

The following Guilford County Schools for being finalists Schools of Character:

North Carolina Honors Course currently use a weighting system awarding the equivalent of one (1) quality point to the grade earned in Honors courses. Beginning in school year 2015-16, the weighting for Honors courses shall be one-half (.5) of a quality point.

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Southern Guilford Middle

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Colfax Elementary

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Southwest Middle

The state weighting system awards the equivalent of two (2) quality points to the grade earned in an AP/IB course. Beginning in school year 2015-16, the weight for AP/IB courses shall be one (1) quality point.

Students currently enrolled in high school are not impacted by this new weighting system for GPA calculations.

Honorable mention:

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Southern Guilford High School

North Carolina Finalists for the Presidential Awards in Math and Science: Brain Frees, Henderson County

Race To The Top News

Julie Riggins, Forsyth County Laura Lawrence, Asheville City

All LEAs and over half of the charter schools will be using Home Base. Pearson has provided a rebate to North Carolina regarding some of the problems schools and systems encountered last year.

Over the summer, the Governor's Teacher Network created lesson plans and other relevant resources for K-12 teachers that are now housed within Home Base and are accessible for all educators.

Jeff Melbourne, NCSMS Mark Townley, Wake County

NC is ending the Regional Learning Academies.

The SBE Vice Chair has asked for a summary report of the RT3 evaluation studies that include what programs are ending and what programs are being replicated.

The North Carolina New Schools Project provided an update on the work being done in 18 LEAs. Their focus is on STEM–related projects and professional development. A standard operating procedure that strongly encourages all of their project schools K-12 to follow is a strategy that is student-centered allowing students to:

READ, Write, THINK, Talk in Every Class Every Day!

Congratulations to NCAE member Katie Slater of West Carteret High School for being a Math Presidential Finalist!

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NCAE SBE Review

New licensure exams cut scores discussed The SBE approved new licensure requirements in June for elementary and exceptional children candidates. The new assessments for earning an Elementary and Special Education: General Curriculum license begins October 1, 2014.

The current SBE approved tests for Elementary and Special Education General Curriculum licensure are: * Pearson Test 090 - Foundations of Reading * Pearson General Curriculum For North Carolina ^ Subtest 103 - Multi-subjects ^ Subtest 203 - Mathematics Praxis II Test 0543/5543 - Special Education: Core Knowledge and Mild to Moderate Applications (required for Special Education: General Curriculum licensure only).

Applicants must achieve an approved minimum passing score on the State Board approved Special Education: General Curriculum core knowledge test prior to licensure and successfully pass the Special Education: General Curriculum testing requirements before or during the second year of teaching and prior to being issued a clear SP2 license, provided all remaining SBE approved exams were taken at least once during the first year of teaching.

The proposed cut scores being discussed include the following options or combinations of options:

Option 1 based on MA benchmarks

Option 1 based on MA benchmarks

10 years

10 years

090 Foundation of Reading N=87

67

12

64

11

60

10

103 General Curriculum Multi-

32

6

32

6

29

5

24

6

25

5

22

4

Exam # for NC

Option 2 Pass- Option 2 Pass- Option 3 with Option 3 with ing Scores ing Scores a –1 Standard a –1 Standard passed on NC passed on NC Error of Error of panel panel Measure Measure

Option 4 PHASE In

Adopt a lower cut score

Cut scores and change over the next two years

Subjects N =92 203 General Curriculum— Math N = 83

MC Section

Constructed Responses

MC Section

Constructed Responses

MC Section

Constructed Responses

* Some SBE members think having the MA benchmarks is a better approach as it set s the bar high for our new

teachers. MA has been using this form of assessment more than ten years. The recommendation from NC DPI, and one NCAE supports, is to combine options and phase in benchmark scores, as this new assessment is quite different from the Praxis II assessments.

NCAE SBE Review August 2014

NCAE SBE Review NCAE members Dr. Brady Johnson , Superintendent of Iredell Statesville and James Ford, Teacher of the Year from Charlotte, officially become Advisors to the State Board of Education.

Read to Achieve Update The results of Reading 3D and Mclass in grades K-3 have shown great results with more than 68 percent of the students being proficient or above in reading. This link provides all the data charts related to the progress and results: http://goo.gl/5X3tmA During the most recent General Assembly Session, HB 230 created minor changes to the Read to Achieve program. One of the changes centers on an alternative assessment. The bill states the State Board of Education shall (i) provide several valid and reliable alternative assessments to local school administrative units upon request, (ii) approve valid and reliable alternative assessments submitted by local school administrative units, and (iii) establish achievement level ranges for each approved alternative assessment. The State Board of Education shall annually review all alternative assessments to ensure ongoing relevance, validity, and reliability."

The former Summer Reading camps are now Reading Camps. Instead of being six to eight weeks long, four or five days per week, the camps must provide at least 72 hours of reading instruction over no less than three weeks for students in schools using calendars other than year-round calendars; (ii) include at least three hours of instructional time per day; (iii) offer at least 72 hours of reading instruction to yield positive reading outcomes for participants; (ii) be taught by compensated, licensed teachers selected based on demonstrated student outcomes in reading proficiency.

Modifications were made regarding student portfolios. A committee has been established to review and create portfolio components that will best meet the needs of students and be easy to intergrade into regular instruction.

This link http://goo.gl/e2UnKq contains the members of the Portfolio Committee and the questions being sent to each LEA to collect feedback on what items should be considered in a portfolio.

Vice Chair Buddy Collins asked for data on how much time is being spent on assessing reading and has this time created an intrusion of daily instruction.

Make sure to visit NCAE’s Facebook page (http://www.facebook.com/wearencae) NCAE SBE Review August 2014