NEW OFFICERS NAMED TO SCHOOL LEADERSHIP TEAM

The Board of Education this week named David Neter as Chief Business Officer and Donna Hargens as Chief Academic Officer, two new members of Superintendent Del Burns leadership team.

Neter is a certified public accountant who comes to the school system after 20 years of leading local corporations. He holds a BA in business and accounting from Duke University and an MBA from Duke's Fuqua School of Business. For the past three years, Neter has served as the Associate Dean for Administration, Finance and Technology in the School of Social Work at UNC-Chapel Hill.

Dr. Hargens, a Wake County leader and educator, has been named Chief Academic Officer. For most of her 15-year career at WCPSS, Hargens served as principal of Cary and Green Hope high schools. She was named Wake County PTA Outstanding Principal in 2002-03 and WCPSS Principal of the Year in 1996-97. Recently, she has served as one of the system's top instructional leaders and the manager of western Wake County schools. Hargens earned her Ed.D degree in Educational Leadership, Management and Policy from Seton Hall University.

COMMISSIONERS APPROVE SCHOOL BUDGET REQUEST

On Monday, the Wake County Board of Commissioners approved the budget request for the Wake County Public School System. It is the first time since a Republican majority took over the board in 2002 that the county budget included all the money the school board requested. Under the budget, spending to run schools will increase $21.5 million, and spending per student will rise from $2,039 to $2,087. As part of the budget, which includes increased spending for local mental health treatment and improved ambulance service, the property tax rate will go up 3 cents in July. The commissioners also took the first step toward a referendum on $970 million in proposed school bonds. If voters approve the bonds this fall, that would lead to a 4.7-cent tax hike by 2008.

The growth in student enrollment, which is driving much of the need for increased school spending, is likely to continue. Raleigh ranked sixth in the nation in numerical growth from July 2004 to July 2005. The city added nearly 14,000 new residents, more than any city on the East Coast, according to U.S. Census estimates released this week. The Census estimates put Raleigh's population at 341,530 as of July 1, 2005.

TIME TABLE SET FOR YEAR-ROUND CONVERSIONS

The Wake school board gave preliminary approval Tuesday to the guidelines that will be used to select which elementary schools will be converted to a year-round calendar. The 13 guidelines weigh factors such as whether to convert fewer large schools or more small schools to avoid overloading any one area with the year-round calendar. Even though board members rated school size as most important, they said all factors will be used. The board might switch 16 to 30 elementary schools to the year-round calendar in 2007 as a way of making room for 3,000 more students. The board also might convert enough middle schools to gain 2,000 seats.

The public may submit comments on the criteria -- which are posted online and will be in the schools -- via the school system's website or mail comments to WCPSS Growth and Planning Department, 3600 Wake Forest Road, P.O. Box 28041, Raleigh, NC 27611. Comments must be received by 5 p.m. on July 17. After reviewing community feedback, the school board will finalize the criteria on July 18. On Aug. 15, staff will present a list of schools to be converted to year-round, with preliminary Board approval expected on Aug. 22.

2006 TEACHER WORKING CONDITIONS SURVEY RESULTS ANNOUNCED

The primary concern for North Carolina teachers is the time they need to do their jobs well, according to new results from the 2006 N.C. Teacher Working Conditions Survey. Many teachers reported this as the most important factor in promoting student learning, yet it was the area with the lowest satisfaction level. Teachers also view school leadership as an essential element of school success and teacher retention. Individual school and district results are available online. With more than 75,600 teachers and administrators from across the state participating, North Carolina achieved its highest statewide response rate since the first survey was given in 2002. Eighty-five percent of North Carolina schools achieved at least a 40 percent response, which is required for an individual school to have valid data to use in improvement planning.

UNC-G TO CREATE STATE’S FIRST VIRTUAL LEARN AND EARN HIGH SCHOOL

UNC-Greensboro was recently awarded a $40,000 iSchool planning grant for the creation of the state’s first virtual Learn and Earn early college high school. The iSchool provides high school juniors and seniors the opportunity to take college courses online or in classrooms at their high school campuses and receive both high school and college credit. This school year, 888 students from 21 high schools were enrolled in 1,752 iSchool courses, and 92 percent of students reported that they successfully transferred the online courses for college credit.

GOVERNOR ANNOUNCES PLAN TO RESTRUCTURE HIGH SCHOOLS

As many as 44 N.C. high schools, including 10 in Charlotte, must start restructuring immediately if this year's test scores don't improve, Gov. Mike Easley announced last week. Easley’s plan to improve the low-performing high schools includes schools using new instructional methodologies, adopting new school designs, and, possibly, having new leadership. The new high school plan comes three months after Judge Howard Manning Jr. warned that 19 of the 44 high-priority high schools that continue to have poor performance would not be allowed to open this fall, unless they were restructured and had new leadership.

The Governor’s plan requires schools with performance below 60 percent to adopt a proven reform model that is being compiled by the State Board of Education and the Gates Foundation. Schools and districts will have the flexibility to choose the model that works best for them. If they do not, then the school will be “reconstituted and redesigned through the state’s New Schools Project.” School systems will be required to hire new principals or have the current principals complete training through the Principals Executive Program and the UNC School of Business.

LOTTERY REVENUE FOR EDUCATION PROJECTED TO FALL SHORT

The state lottery will likely miss its target of raising $425 million for education programs set by Gov. Mike Easley and legislative leaders, according to a draft of the lottery's budget. The commissioners agreed on a forecast of generating $401 million for education, about 6 percent less than what Easley and lawmakers have expected and outlined in their own budgets. Lowering the sales projections by approximately $50 million means $20.5 million less for school construction, class size and More at Four. Wake County was only slated to receive $9 million from the lottery for school construction, or less than half the cost of one elementary school. Visit The News & Observer for more information.

STUDIES REVIEW EFFECTS OF SCHOOL SIZE

The small schools movement has gained prominence in recent years thanks, in part, to significant funding of reform efforts across the country by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. North Carolina’s work to restructure high schools was recently profiled in Newsweek. Follow this link to read about how schools are changing to meet the needs of their students. Check out the links below for research on the effects of school size on academic achievement and school spending.

1. At a recent conference hosted by the Brown Center on Education Policy at The Brookings Institution, researchers discussed the current efforts to reduce the size of schools and classes. Links to nine papers and presentations from the conference are available online.
2. Ken Stevenson, professor at the College of Education at the University of South Carolina, reviewed eight school size studies and found that the results of the studies are varied and sometimes contradictory.
3. A national study by researchers from Michigan State University suggests that smaller might not be better when it comes to high school size. This conclusion is based on data from the Education Longitudinal Study of 2002, a federal survey that tracks students beginning in 10th grade. Education Week reviewed this and other studies presented at the Brookings Conference.

EDUCATION WEEK TRACKS GRADUATION DATA IN NEW REPORT

"Diplomas Count," the first in a new annual series from Education Week, finds large gaps in graduation rates across racial and ethnic groups, and by gender. The report, released this week, provides detailed data on graduation rates for the 2002-03 school year, the most recent data available, for all 50 states and the District of Columbia, and in the nation's 50 largest school districts. Graduation rates vary widely across the nation's largest districts, from a high of 82.5 percent in Fairfax County, Va., to a low of 21.7 percent in the Detroit Public Schools. Wake County ranks second among the 50 largest districts with a graduation rate of 82.2 percent. North Carolina’s rate of 66.2 percent is below the national average of 69.6 percent. Go online to read the report or to download individual state graduation reports. Critics suggest the study, which was funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, may overstate the problem -- more information available from USA Today.

MENTORING AND INDUCTION SERVE AS IMPORTANT TOOLS FOR TEACHER RETENTION

Successful teaching requires a career path of continual learning that should begin with comprehensive, high quality mentoring and induction. A recent edition of Best Teaching Quality Practices from the Center for Teaching Quality (CTQ) considers the existing research base on mentoring and induction and highlights some successful emerging practices. Although the details of the model may differ across states and districts, CTQ explains that all programs need to match new teachers with experienced educators in the same grade level or subject area. The pair needs adequate time to not only meet, but also observe each other teaching. In addition to mentoring, successful induction programs respond to the unique needs of new teachers by adjusting teaching assignments and loads, providing them with appropriate professional development, and giving them the opportunity to learn from other teachers.

TEACHER QUALITY INEQUITIES IMPACT STUDENTS

A comprehensive study by The Education Trust demonstrates the negative impact of poorly qualified teachers on student achievement. The report, Teaching Inequality: How Poor and Minority Students Are Shortchanged on Teacher Quality, includes figures for the school year 2004-05 and concludes that poor and minority students are shortchanged on the quality of teachers. The study finds that poor and minority students were far more likely to be assigned teachers who are inexperienced, unqualified or teaching out of their field. The study also shows that elementary and high school students -- even those in middle- and upper-income families -- post higher scores on state exams and are more prepared for college if they attend schools where teacher quality is ranked high. Low-income and minority children benefit the most from good teachers, the study found.

The Ed Trust report recommends a range of strategies to end the unfair distribution of teacher talent, including offering salary incentives and sabbaticals for teachers in high-poverty schools, changing the tenure process and using a “draft strategy” similar to professional sports.

STUDY FINDS INCREASED DISCIPLINE PROBLEMS AMONG STUDENTS WITH RETAINED CLASSMATES

Middle school students in classrooms with children who have been retained or who are older than their peers are more likely to have discipline problems such as substance use, fighting and classroom disruptions than students in classrooms without older or retained students, according to a study by Duke University researchers. Duke Center for Child and Family Policy sociologists studied discipline records of nearly 80,000 seventh graders in 334 North Carolina middle schools. In one of the largest studies of its kind, they included rural, urban and socially diverse schools. They found that the likelihood of discipline problems and the chances of being suspended are significantly higher among students attending schools with many retained and older students. For example, if 20 percent of children in the seventh grade are older than their peers, the chance that other students will commit an infraction or be suspended increases by 200 percent compared to students without older peers. In the 2000-2001 school year, 18 percent of North Carolina seventh graders had been previously retained or were "old-for-grade," which this study defined as older than 75 percent of their peers. The study concludes that support for older and retained students would not only benefit students who are at high risk, but also would be an investment in the achievement and climate of the entire school.

Learn more about the Partnership’s work with Skills for Life, an initiative to support middle school students in becoming healthy, productive adults.

MARK YOUR CALENDAR

Oct. 12: Annual Meeting from 7:30-9:30 a.m. at the McKimmon Center. Special Tribute and Celebration of the 30th Anniversary of the Merger of the Raleigh City and Wake County School Systems.