August 2015 State Board of Education Review

NCAE State Board of Education Review A U G U S T

Assessment Issues:

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Piloting a new format!

The following schools (except Ransom Middle and Westerly Hills Academy in Charlotte) representing 52 LEAs and 15 charter schools will participate in the statewide Proof of Concept Study; which is not a field-test.

The purpose of the through-course assessment model typically consisting of three to four assessments administered throughout the school year, is to provide teachers and parents with immediate feedback for guiding instruction. This study being conducted in grade 5 for Math and grade 6 for ELA will help address the feasibility of designing a statewide system.

Both the State Board and assessment staff of NC DPI RECOMMEND that locals participating DO NOT have the teachers and students involved in the study participate in ANY of the LOCAL BENCHMARK assessments in the subject areas to ensure a valid study of the concept. Time to teach is one of the reasons for this specific type of through-course assessment. The classes involved in this study will not be part of the NC Accountability Program for 2015-16.

Resources of support can be found at https://center.ncsu.edu/ncaccount Teachers who miss any of the Professional Development webinars will find relevant information on the resource site. ELA webinars: August 19th, August 20, and date TBD in October. Math Professional Development sessions are face to face: East; August 4th, Central; August 7th, West; August 11th.

NCAE State Board of Education August 2015

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Charter Schools Updates 1. Three new schools have been granted a charter; Cape Fear Preparatory Academy in New Hanover, Pine Springs Preparatory Academy, in Wake County, and Unity Classical School in Mecklenburg County.

2. Children’s Village Academy has been granted another year of operation under specific parameters.

3. An overview of the new Charter Schools Performance Framework was shared.

4. There was not an update on the NC Virtual Charter Schools and the SBE asked that each month there must be updates on the NC Virtual Charter schools.

5. Funding ADM for charter schools was held, as there is not a state budget to provide the correct allocation for the beginning of the year; which is 34% of total ADM allotment.

Update on policies governing services for children with disabilities Discussion continues on how best to implement services for all students, particularly students who have special learning needs. Since May the SBE has received updates on MTSS, Multiple Tired Support System, that is replacing RtI and using only the IQ score discrepancy model to place students into specific programs. Under MTSS all staff and students will be part of the multi-tired system of support. MTSS utilizes a systematic problem-solving model to analyze multiple practices and evidence to determine the type of support a student needs.

Tier I Core Instruction

Tier II Supplemental Instruction

Tier III Intensive Instruction

Who

All students

Students who need supplemental supports in addition to core instruction (20% of population)

Students who need intensive supports in addition to supplemental and core instruction (5% of population)

What

Evidence-based practices & programs that impact good academic & behavior outcomes for the majority of students

Evidence-based practices & programs that impact academic & behavior performance in core (Tier I)

Evidence-based practices & programs that impact academic & behavior performance in identified skills

Effectiveness

If at least 80% of all students, in all subgroups, are meeting the benchmarks with core support alone

If at least 70%-80% of students improve academic and behavior performance toward Core (Tier I) benchmarks

If students improve academic and behavior performance in identified skill areas

NCAE STATE BOARD

R A C E T O T H E T O P E VA L UA T I O N R E P O R T S The Distribution of Highly Effective Teachers in North Carolina using Race to the Top funding and programs is a power point presentation providing an overview of the distribution of highly effective teachers during the Race to the Top funding period.

Charlotte and Guilford had the most improved distribution of highly effective value added-teachers throughout the RT3 funding cycle while, Union and Wake increased highly effective value addedteachers in schools over the last few years.

Dr. Henry noted that EVAAS data tells one where to look but not how to improve instruction.

There must be objective measures that compliment test scores; multiple measures are needed.

Questions and comments connected to the presentation brought out ideas such as differentiated local policies, salaries and class size.

Race to the Top Evaluation Report: Turning Around Lowest-Achieving Schools Is another power point presentation that demonstrates sustained support in schools with the greatest needs can make positive changes. The quantitative data shows that in 2014 2,156 students were proficient due to the extra support and 5 more students graduated than they would have without support. Of the 118 lowest performing schools 60 percent of the schools out performed schools that were similar, but with out the extra support.

The impact of smaller class size and the TALAS (Turn Around Lowest-Achieving Schools) are similar in outcomes/results. TALAS is less expensive and more comprehensive in support. Every school that had a literacy plan made more progress. Teacher turnover was 10% less in TALAS schools than similar schools. The District coaches impacted the overall school value-added scores.

A key finding, embedded professional development and local flexibility had more impact than a single instructional coach.

Again, questions and comments connected to the presentation brought out ideas such as differentiated local policies, salaries and class size and the needed for continued support.

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NC Teacher of the Year begins her term on the State Board of Education

Superintendent June Atkinson, presented the NC Teacher of the Year plaque to NCAE member Keana Triplett of Ashe County , with SBE Chairman Cobey and SBE Vice Chair Collins

NCAE State Board