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I N N O V A T O R | News about secondary school innovation
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Dec. 17, 2010
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Welcome to INNOVATOR, a bimonthly report on secondary school change in North Carolina from the North Carolina New Schools Project. INNOVATOR informs practitioners, policy makers, and friends of public education about secondary school innovation in North Carolina as well as success stories and research from across the nation.
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Obama's visit to Forsyth Tech highlights innovation in NC
Commentary by Tony Habit, president of the North Carolina New Schools Project
 President Obama's recent visit to Forsyth Technical Community College points to the strides North Carolina has made as a community and state. To compete with the rest of the world, our workforce must master new skills in science, technology, engineering and math. This is critical to the business community and to economic development in our state.
But that has to begin before college. Forsyth Tech is a perfect example of innovation in action because is it also home to the Early College of Forsyth. There, high school students learn skills for college and careers, as they earn college credit and degrees along the way. North Carolina claims more of the mold-breaking schools than any other state and is a national leader in the pioneering approach, which aims to graduate all students ready for college, career and life.
This innovative high school is one of more than 100 NC New Schools Project schools across the state. I applaud Forsyth Technical Community College for its recognition by President Obama, but I also commend the Early College of Forsyth and the state's 70 other early college high schools for setting students on a path towards success, with the skills required in today's global economy.
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Students know when instruction is effective, research finds
The views of students about teaching quality match up with test-based measures of teaching effectiveness, according to early results from research funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. In short, effective teaching is reflected not only in the gains measured by student test scores, but also by what students say about their teachers.
The preliminary results from the $45 million Measures of Effective Teaching study help confirm the kind of thinking that underlies notions about powerful teaching and learning -- from the perspective of students. Researchers compared student perceptions of teaching effectiveness with "value-added" measures tracking test-score gains that teachers helped students achieve from year to year. Harvard researcher Ronald Ferguson, who developed the student questionnaires used in the research, was quoted in a New York Times story last week saying that "kids know effective teaching when they experience it." The views of students, Ferguson said, should be used to help inform school reform efforts. Among the early findings, the newspaper reported, are these: In classrooms where most students agreed with the statement that their class stays busy and doesn't waste time, teachers tended to have high value-added scores. Similar correlations were found when students agreed with such statements as "in this class, we learn to correct our mistakes" and "my teacher has several good ways to explain each topic that we cover in this class." The same kind of match was found at the other end of the spectrum as well, the Times story reported. "Teachers whose students agreed with the statement, 'We spend a lot of time in this class practicing for the state test,' tended to make smaller gains on those exams than other teachers." In a separate effort unrelated to the "value-added" research, nearly three dozen high schools that are partners with the North Carolina New Schools Project participated this past year with a student survey project called Youth Truth. The survey, also funded by the Gates Foundation, asked students for their opinions on a broad range of issues about their schools, including instruction. Students were asked about the degree to which they feel challenged to work hard, think critically in their classes and believe that their teachers contribute to their learning. The median NCNSP school landed at about 4.2, on a scale of 1 to 5, compared to about 4 for all 86 high schools in the survey. The highest ranking school received a score of about 4.5. Back to top |
Strong STEM exposure shapes career choices, study shows
As North Carolina prepares to launch a network of STEM high schools as part of the state's Race to the Top initiative, a new study finds that the trajectory of students may be influenced more heavily by the "dose" of science- and math-related courses and activities they receive than by special talent or ability.
This recent item from Education Week's Inside School Research blog summarizes the study, published in the November issue of the Journal of Educational Psychology. The study, which tracked top-performing students over a 25-year period, found that natural interest or talent didn't necessarily lead to success as a scientist as an adult. Instead, students who were exposed to early and strong "doses" of STEM courses and enrichment were more likely to pursue study in advanced science. While the study compared two groups of particularly high achieiving students -- 1,500 top-performing students in math against 700 high-level graduate students in STEM subjects -- the study's director told Ed Week that students at all educational levels could benefit from the same concept of educational "dose." "I certainly think this concept of educational dose could be translated to students at all educational levels," said Jonathan Wai, of Duke University. Wai led a team of researchers from Vanderbilt University who examined both the quantity and quality of STEM-related courses and activities -- the "dose" -- to which the 700 graduate students were exposed. Those included Advanced Placement and early college courses in math and science as well as participation in enrichment activities such as science fairs or independent research projects. "You don't have to have access to everything in order to have a high dose," Wai told Ed Week. "What matters is that the student is intellectually engaged and stimulated." Back to top |
Kenan Fellows Program is seeking classroom innovators
The Kenan Fellows Program is seeking innovative teachers.Kenan Fellows spend a summer with distinguished professors, research scientists and professional educators. From the summer experience Fellows develop new, inquiry-based curriculum to share with other teachers in their schools, districts and across North Carolina. Applications and nominations are now being accepted through January 31, 2011. Visit the Kenan Fellows website for the latest information on fellowships and how to nominate or apply. Public school teachers from all school districts in North Carolina are eligible to become Kenan Fellows. The Kenan Fellows Program for Curriculum and Leadership Development is a competitive fellowship offered to K-12 public school teachers. The mission of the Kenan Fellows Program is to enhance curriculum relevance for the benefit of all students; engage teachers, business, and universities through unique professional collaboration; and promote growth opportunities for teachers and the teaching profession. More information is available on the Kenan Fellows Program website under the New Fellowships link. School districts are listed there; click on the name of a district to view available fellowships. Use the All Districts link to view statewide opportunities. Back to top
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Good news from NCNSP schools, friends and supporters
Greg Townsend, principal of the School of Inquiry and Life Sciences at Asheville, has been named principal of the year for the Asheville school district. He is now the sixth principal of a school supported by NCNSP to receive their district's top principal recognition this year. Frank Sells, who served as both school superintendent and community college president before joining NCNSP as a leadership coach, has been named interim president of Brunswick Community College. Davidson Early College High School is one of 21 "Signature Schools" honored for student performance for the 2010-2011 school year by the Piedmont Triad Consortium. Back to top
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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
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The North Carolina New Schools Project wishes you and yours a happy and restful holiday season. Innovator will return in January with the latest news about secondary school transformation in North Carolina.
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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.
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