Innovative school honored as good place to teach and learn

Stanly Early College High School was recognized Thursday as one of 15 schools statewide for achieving strong results last year with both student performance and working conditions for teachers.

Stanly ECHS was honored with a REAL D.E.A.L. Award (Dedicated Educators, Administrators and Learners), established in 2004 by Governor Mike Easley to honor schools that have excelled in pairing better learning for students and positive working conditions for teachers.

Results from the 2008 Teacher Working Conditions Survey found that teachers in North Carolina's 86 innovative high schools last year were more likely to report that their schools are "good places to teach and learn." Just less than half of the nearly 1,100 teachers in those schools (49.5 percent) gave their schools the highest mark -- strong agreement -- on that critical, overarching survey question.  By contrast, only a third of educators in comparison traditional high schools with similar demographic profiles (34 percent) said they were in strong agreement with the statement that their schools were "good places to teach and learn."  At Stanly ECHS, two-thirds (67 percent) of teachers strongly agreed that their school was "a good place to work and learn."  
 
Stanly ECHS had significantly higher scores on the 2008 Teacher Working Conditions Survey than both the state and district average. It also an Honor School of Excellence last year under the state's ABCs accountability system achieving high growth, posting an overall passing rate of more than 90 percent on state exams and also making adequate yearly progress under the federal No Child Left Behind law.
 
"At Stanly Early College High School, relationships matter and that is what has made the difference in our teacher working conditions," Principal John Balls said.  "As a school, we are dedicated to building strong, supportive relationships between students and teachers, teachers and teachers and our staff and our partners."

Teachers at the school have 45 minutes every day to plan collaboratively, and the school's relationship with both the community college and district is tremendously strong, Balls said.
 
"If there is something we need or an issue we are facing as a staff, the community college and district will figure out how to fix it," he said.  "Because of this collaboration, our teachers feel fully supported in what they are doing."
 
Stanly ECHS, which is located on the campus of Stanly Community College, is in its third year of operation with 117 students this year.  The school provides under-represented students with the opportunity to earn both a high school diploma and an associates degree or two years of college transfer credit within five years.  Four out of every five students (81 percent) at the school are first-generation college-goers and nearly two-thirds (65 percent) are students from low-income families.

Guide helps states set policies for college, career readiness

North Carolina is among a growing number of states trying to retool educational standards that are more in synch with the expectations students face in college and the workplace.

The state's innovative high schools are one example of the effort to ensure that all students graduate ready for college, careers and life. Students in all high schools will soon be required to pass Algebra II and complete a research project as proof of readiness. Earlier this fall, the State Board of Education endorsed plans for a sweeping overhaul of the state's assessment and accountability system to better match the demands of a fast-changing world.

With most states facing similar challenges, two education groups pushing for higher standards nationally have issued a guide intended to help states set policies focusing on the goal of graduating all students with skills to succeed. Achieve and The Education Trust have jointly issued the guide, Making College and Career Readiness the Mission for High Schools: A Guide for State Policymakers, which calls on state leaders to commit to key changes. Among them:

• Align high school standards with the demands of college and careers: State standards must refelct necessary content and skills students need to succeed in college and on the job.
• Ensure that all students enroll in a college- and career-ready course of study: All students must have access to rigorous courses.
• Provide high-quality curriculum and teacher-support materials: States must to more to make sure that all courses are taught to the same high standards.
• Build better assessments to measure student learning: Tests should be anchored in the expectations of colleges and employers and measure real-world knowledge and skills. Postsecondary institutions should tie incentives to assessments, such as admissions or placement decisions, as a means of encouraging students to take and succeed in rigorous courses. Testing should also help support good teaching.
• Establish accountability systems that both support and measure progress: Standards must reflect the necessary content and skills students need to succeed in college and on the job. Standards must be clear, focused and easy for educators to teach. States need to set "stretch goals" along with short-term progress targets.

Nation's Report Card may measure readiness of 12th graders

As states take steps to make their own assessments more accurate yardsticks of readiness beyond high school, the board that oversees the National Assessment of Educational Progress -- often called the Nation's Report Card -- is considering doing the same.

The National Assessment Governing Board, which sets policy for NAEP, voted last month to consider detailed studies of how to link the assessment of 12th graders as a measure of preparation for college and the workplace, according to Education Week. The studies will likely compare the content of NAEP with other commonly used assessments, including the ACT and the SAT, along with workplace-placement exams such as WorkKeys.

Including a measurement of postsecondary preparedness in NAEP could allow the public to better understand the link between the average 12th grade score in reading and math and preparation for college and specific jobs.  The tests could include such measures of student preparation in place for next year's NAEP, allowing for results to be reported in 2010.