Postsecondary success true test of readiness
 | Dr. Scott Ralls
President N.C. Community College System |
Reports sounding alarms about how America is losing its competitive edge are nothing new. Since the publication of A Nation at Risk more than 25 years ago, there's been a steady drumbeat of warnings and troubling data about the academic performance of American students. But one recent statistic in a report on education across the developed world should give all Americans pause. It's this: Young adults in the United States who have recently entered the workforce have completed less education than older workers who are nearing retirement age. In other words, sons and daughters are less likely than their parents to have earned a two- or four-year college degree. That worrisome finding was reported last month by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) in its latest Education at a Glance, an annual publication of comparable national data from around the world. While one in three of all postsecondary-educated retirees lives in the United States, the report notes, America's share of recent graduates with similar educational completion is one of every five. To be sure, the United States still claims the highest percentage of workers with postsecondary degrees, but it's the only nation among members of the G-20 - representing the world's largest and developing economies - where incoming workers have attained less education than those retiring. China now ranks second behind the U.S. in the percentage of the world's population that has completed postsecondary education.
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NCNSP wins federal grant to train new teachers
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The North Carolina New Schools Project is one of 30 organizations nationwide that have been awarded five-year grants from the U.S. Department of Education to train non-education graduates to teach in high-needs schools.
The Education Department has awarded $12.8 million for the first year of the 30 proposals under its Transition to Teaching Program, including nearly $420,000 to the N.C. New Schools Project. The total cost for the full five years of the program is $2.7 million.
NCNSP's initiative, which is subject to approval by the State Board of Education, will focus on training teachers in innovative and effective instruction of subjects considered critical for strong high school preparation in the 21st century - science, technology, engineering and math - STEM in shorthand. Candidates in the program will receive a year of on-the-job training at a non-traditional school supported by NCNSP, combined with online coursework through WIDE World, a professional development program of the Harvard Graduate School of Education.
Nearly 200 new teachers in STEM-related disciplines would be trained over the full five years of the program.
Read more ...
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Wake-NCSU Early College featured in Ed Week
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> The new Wake N.C. State University STEM Early College High School was open for just a few weeks before drawing the attention of Education Week, which focused on the innovative school for a recent story about the growing number of STEM-related schools nationwide.
The Sept. 14 front-page story emphasized the school's use of a thematic approach - based on a set of "grand challenges'' identified by the National Academy of Engineering - that is shared by all NCNSP-affiliated STEM schools. The story also cited a key difference between most of the newly conceived STEM schools and the highly selective math and science high schools developed in a previous era that primarily serve top students. Schools such as the Wake NCSU early college are intended to cast a wider net. "Our target groups are underserved, underrepresented [populations]," Principal Rob Matheson told Education Week. The paper reported that about 70 percent of the students are minorities, most of whom are black, half are girls, 43 percent would be the first in their families to attend college and 45 percent are from low-income families. Read more ... |
FutureReady: New forum for education reform
The North Carolina New Schools Project has launched a new interactive blog as a discussion space for its stakeholders.
FutureReady, making its debut this week, will focus on issues related to secondary school innovation, scaling education reform and connecting education transformation to economic and workforce development.
NCNSP President Tony Habit was the leadoff blogger with several dispatches last week from Finland, where he was a member of a statewide delegation on a study visit to learn more about that nation's highly successful public schools.
FutureReady provides an opportunity to share first-hand accounts about what's happening in North Carolina's growing number of innovative schools. You'll hear from teachers and principals at NCNSP-affiliated schools, as well as coaches and other partners working with our schools. Blog posts will also provide a space for conversations with you to discuss the impact of our changing economy on our schools.
Read the blog ...
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