Amid all the discussions about getting kids back into the classrooms there has been little focus of what schools will look like next fall and what students will need to recover. However, throughout the COVID-19 ordeal, there has been plenty of discussion about learning loss, lack of equity, and the social and emotional health of students.
The results from an international test of 15-year-olds show that North Carolina students are competitive with worldwide peers in reading and science, but lag significantly in mathematics. Administered every three years, the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) is a worldwide benchmark of national education systems. In the 2015 test, students from North Carolina, Massachusetts, …
PISA Results: NC Schools Perform Well, But Show Plenty of Room to Grow Read More »
The “restart” model for high-needs schools will expand to 10 more WCPSS schools next year. Last week, the state Board of Education approved the application submitted by WCPSS to restart five more elementary schools and five middle schools. All of which are schools that need to improve their test scores. The school system “relaunched” Walnut …
WCPSS Seeking to Add More ‘Charter-Like’ Schools Read More »
The path to a new formula for paying school-based administrators is proving to be hard to find. At its first meeting in October, the Joint Legislative Study Committee on School-Based Administrator Pay reviewed a proposal to eliminate the current complicated salary schedule for school principals and the insufficient salary schedule for assistant principals in favor …
The North Carolina school grading formula will be changing again because the new federal Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) requires more detailed information. ESSA was enacted by Congress at the end of 2015, and many of its regulations are being developed now. NC School Report Card grades are reported using an A-F system, and each …
ESSA Driving Changes to State School Report Card Law Read More »
At their May 6 meeting, the North Carolina State Board of Education approved a waiver that allows WCPSS to not administer NC Final Exams at the end of this school year. NC Final Exams are administered in courses that do not have a state end-of-grade or end-of-course exam. This includes elementary, middle, and high school …
On Monday, the Academic Standards Review Commission met to hear testimony from two well-known, outspoken critics of the Common Core, Dr. Sandra Stotsky and Dr. James Milgram. Testimony given by the two did not differ from what they’ve issued before. Both take issue with how the standards were developed. Stotsky believes the English Language Arts …
Academic Standards Review Commission – They Need to Hear from You Read More »
The NC State Board of Education’s Task Force on Summative Assessment met on March 13, 2015. At this meeting, the task force presented a draft framework of assessment that included two models. The first model, for grades three through eight, eliminates NC End-of-Grade tests. It replaces them with a system of periodic assessments that, “serves …
The last time you submitted assignments and received grades was likely in college or graduate school. And most colleges and graduate schools award grades on a ten-point grading scale. That same grading scale has been adopted by the State Board of Education for NC’s public high schools starting with next year’s freshman students. The current …
The Ten-Point Grading Scale – Coming to a High School Transcript Near You Read More »
It’s a standing room only kind of week. On Monday, September 22nd the commission charged with reviewing the Common Core in NC met for the first time – and nary a seat remained in the room. As expected, the commission’s first meeting drew lots of interest and media coverage. As we discussed in our last …
