|
|
I N N O V A T O R | News about high school innovation
.
Nov. 12, 2010
|
|
Welcome to INNOVATOR, a bimonthly report on high school change in North Carolina from the North Carolina New Schools Project. INNOVATOR informs practitioners, policy makers, and friends of public education about high school innovation in North Carolina as well as success stories and research from across the nation.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Principals of innovative schools win district recognition
Leaders of three innovative high schools have been honored this fall as principals of the year in their districts, helping to underscore the value of educational transformation in North Carolina.
The principals receiving their district's recognition are Elizabeth "Sissy" Lee, of J.F. Webb High School of Health and Life Sciences in Granville County; Elizabeth Shearer, principal of Durham's City of Medicine Academy; and Vicky Snyder, principal of Brunswick County Early College High School. All three schools are partners with the North Carolina New Schools Project.
Both J.F. Webb School of Health and Life Sciences and Brunswick Early College are among the state's first break-the-mold, innovative high schools. City of Medicine Academy is proposed as an "anchor" school that will help lead a statewide cluster of STEM schools focused on a health and life sciences theme.
In presenting Snyder with her award last week, Brunswick Superintendent Edward Pruden pointed to the early college, where she has been principal since the school opened five years ago.
"Early College High School is a real success story," Pruden said.
A City of Medicine Academy 10th grader, who was quoted in The News & Observer, offered high praise to Shearer:
"I talk to her," said Kendra Wilson, 15. "If I need to blow off steam, she gives me advice."
The newspaper's report went on to say, "that accessibility, along with principal Elizabeth Shearer's ability to listen has students like Kendra feeling they're not just coming to school each day, but to a place that will help them launch their future."
Sissy Lee credits her staff as a key factor in her own recognition. "The biggest thing that has helped us help kids is what goes on in the classroom," she said. "My job is to monitor that and give [teachers] direction and support.
"It's a matter of setting high expectations," Lee said. "We all pull in the same direction."
The three principals now go on to compete in regional competitions, and then six regional winners will advance to the final level. One principal will be chosen as the winner of the North Carolina Wachovia Principal of the Year.
Back to top
|
Report urges greater focus on needs of black male students
The data are all too well known: lower academic achievement, higher dropout rates, lower graduation rates, less postsecondary success. Taken together, a new report concludes, those indicators and others measure a crisis that demands the nation's commitment to resolve.
The report, released this week by the Council of the Great City Schools, says that the nation lacks a concerted effort to improve the education, social and employment outcomes of black males. "This is a national catastrophe, and it deserves national attention," says the report, "A Call for Change: The Social and Educational Factors Contributing to the Outcomes of Black Males in Urban Schools." The report tracks the gaps in outcomes for black males from infancy to postsecondary experience, including an analysis of National Assessment of Educational Progress at fourth and eighth grades. "Only modest progress has been made and the achievement gaps remain wide," the report notes. In the area of college and career preparedness, the report cites gaps such as these: - Based on 2008 data, black males were more than twice as likely to drop out of high school than white males -- 9 percent compared to 5 percent.
- Average 2009 SAT scores of black males were lower than white males by 104 points in critical reading, 120 points in math and 99 points in writing.
- On the ACT in 2009, at least three times as many white students as black students twice as many for English.
- In 2007, 60 percent of black students graduated from high school in four years, compared to 80 percent for white students.
- In 2009, three of 10 black males enrolled in a four-year college, compared to four of 10 white males.
The report urges more aggressive steps, including a White House conference to develop a national strategy for improving outcomes, ensuring that black male students are taking the kind of rigorous courses needed to graduate from high school and working with colleges and universities to ensure appropriate academic and social supports for black male students in higher education. Back to top |
US lags other nations in top math performance, study finds
The good news is that North Carolina ranks among the nation's 10 highest ranking states in a new study that compares advanced math students to their peers in 56 other countries. The bad news: even the highest ranking state, Massachusetts, trails well behind places like Taiwan, Hong Kong, Korea and Finland. North Carolina is on par with Slovakia, Ireland, Lithuania and Poland.
The study, which focuses on the percentage of 2009 high school graduates who scored at the advanced level on the NAEP or Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) math test, found that Massachusetts was significantly outperformed by 14 countries, North Carolina by 27 and the U.S. as a whole by 30 nations. The study reports that while 6 percent of U.S. students scored at the advanced level in math (7.1 percent in North Carolina and 11.4 percent in Massachusetts), 28 percent of Taiwanese students and more than 20 percent of students in Finland and Korea did so. "Maintaining our productivity as a nation depends importantly on developing a highly qualified cadre of scientists, engineers, entrepreneurs and other professionals," says the study, "Teaching Math to the Talented," published in Education Next and written by researchers at Stanford, Harvard and the University of Munich. "Unfortunately," they continue, "we found that the percentage of students in the U.S. Class of 2009 who were highly accomplished in math is well below that of most countries with which the United States generally compares itself." The authors, Eric Hanushek, Paul Peterson and Ludger Woessmann, argue that even student populations that tend to achieve above-average scores -- white students and those with at least one college-educated parent -- were matched or outperformed by all students in 18 of the comparison countries. In their conclusion, the authors quote President Barack Obama: "Whether it's improving our health or harnessing clean energy, protecting our security or succeeding in the global economy, our future depends on reaffirming America's role as the world's engine of scientific discovery and technological innovation. "And that leadership tomorrow depends on how we educate our students today, especially in math, science, technology and engineering." Back to top |
Survey: Teachers and graduates differ on college readiness
A national education survey released this week shows a striking contrast between teachers and students when it comes to the question of college readiness: Slightly less than a third of the teachers in the survey feel their students are ready when they graduate, but more than two thirds of current college students think they are.
Deloitte, the audit and accounting firm that commissioned the survey, noted in its release that the students' perceptions don't square with data from The College Board that 40 percent of students need to take a remedial class in college. The survey also found other disconnects between students and teachers: - While 82 percent of students feel they were prepared with critical thinking skills upon leaving high school, only 30 percent of teachers say their students were prepared to apply critical thinking skills.
- Additionally, 68 percent of students felt prepared to apply research and analytical skills in college; the majority of teachers (70 percent) disagreed and indicated their students were not adequately prepared.
- Of the 28 percent of students surveyed who said they had to take at least one remedial course during their first year of college, the vast majority (79 percent) took remedial courses in math.
The survey also found that teachers want more data on student performance in college to help them adjust their teaching. Specifically, the survey found: - 92 percent of high school teachers feel they don't have the data they need to better understand students' needs in terms of college preparation.
- If data were available, 83 percent of teachers said they would use it to improve subject matter and 78 percent would use it to plan coursework.
- Currently, only 13 percent of teachers receive official information on how students fare after high school: the majority of teachers receive information either from former students themselves or from parents.
Back to Top
|
Look for NCNSP on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube
The latest updates from the North Carolina New Schools Project and partner schools can now be found on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. Don't wait. Join the converation now. Just click on the links above to follow NCNSP. Back to top
|
|
INNOVATOR is produced
by the North Carolina New Schools Project, an initiative of the Office of the
Governor and the Education Cabinet with the support of the Bill & Melinda
Gates Foundation and other businesses and foundations. For story suggestions or to opt out of receiving
this e-mail report, please send an e-mail to innovator@newschoolsproject.org or call Todd
Silberman at (919) 277-3760.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
