The North Carolina New Schools Project - INNOVATOR - February 2012
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February 14, 2012

Welcome to INNOVATOR, an update on secondary school change from the North Carolina New Schools Project. Our newsletter is designed to inform practitioners, policy makers, and friends of public education on innovation, research and success stories from secondary schools. Please feel free to contact us, provide feedback and suggest article ideas.

Revisit dropout age; focus on innovation 
Maurice Green
Maurice O. Green
Superintendent 
Guilford County Schools 
President Barack Obama, in his recent State of the Union address, urged every state to set the dropout age at 18. The administration recognizes that allowing students as young as 16 to make that life-compromising decision is a policy that makes little sense. In a globally competitive world, pursuing advanced training beyond high school is no longer optional as it was for previous generations.

North Carolina education leaders have sought to increase the dropout age from 16 before, and should try again. It would send another signal to students, parents and others about the critical importance of staying in school and graduating. While this effort is significant, no one should believe that simply changing the state's compulsory attendance age is sufficient.

Far more important than requiring students by law to stay in school is ensuring that school is a place they want to be, and helping young people understand that education is something they need. Schools must be engaging and challenging at the same time that they are supportive and personalized. In a word, they must be excellent.

Students must see the relevance in what they're being asked to learn, and they must have opportunities to make connections with the real world they enter upon graduation.

Read more ... 

Dropouts fall in NCNSP-partner schools

dropout snapshotNorth Carolina's growing number of innovative secondary schools continue to demonstrate strong results by ensuring that students want to stay in school.


The latest dropout data released earlier this month by the State Board of Education show that schools developed in partnerships with the North Carolina New Schools Project lost comparatively few students last school year. More than a third of the 106 schools affiliated with NCNSP had no dropouts from any grade, and nearly three quarters of the schools had no dropouts from 9th grade, when students are most susceptible to quitting school.

Key findings in the state data include: 
  • 37 NCNSP-affiliated schools lost no students to dropping out
  • 73 of the schools lost no more than two students as dropouts
  • The 106 schools had a combined dropout rate of 2 percent, compared to 3.43 percent for the state as a whole.

 Read more ... 

 

STEM teacher program seeks applicants

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SI 2011 teachersCandidates are sought for an innovative new teacher-preparation program focused on developing strong instruction in STEM subjects.

The North Carolina New Schools Project is launching NCNSP STEP (STEM Teacher Education Program) - it's a new lateral entry teacher certification program for mid-career professionals and recent college graduates interested in becoming high school science, math and technology teachers.  To be eligible, applicants must have a college degree in a science, technology, engineering or mathematics (STEM) related field and have an interest in becoming a teacher of STEM courses in a NC high school.

The cost-free program is designed to be completed in 15 months and includes a 10-month school-based internship, concurrent participation in four online courses through the WIDE World at Harvard Graduate School of Education, and participation in aligned seminars through the North Carolina New Schools Project's Integrated System of School Supports. The teacher training programs will be conducted at the NCNSP Learning Laboratory demonstration high schools: Caldwell Early College in Hudson; Cross Creek Early College in Fayetteville; Hillside New Tech High School in Durham; and the Wayne School of Engineering in Goldsboro.

The deadline for applications is April 1.

Find out more ... 

NCNSP in national drive for STEM teachers 

The NC New Schools Project is one of two North Carolina organizations selected as partners in a national campaign, 100K in 10, to increase the number of STEM teachers by 100,000 during the next 10 years. The Kenan Fellows Program at N.C. State University has also been chosen as a partner.

The initiative, launched in response to a call to action by President Obama last year, is supported by a number of national foundations and organizations and led by Carnegie Corporation of New York and Opportunity Equation. The 100K in 10 partnership announced last week an initial $22 million fund to help support the efforts by the more than 115 members to increase the numbers of STEM teachers in classrooms across the nation.

NCNSP has committed to training 200 STEM teachers during the next five years through its STEP lateral entry initiative.

Learn more ... 
New website focuses on STEM resources

NCNSP has launched a new website designed to highlight the state's growing networks of innovative STEM-themed secondary schools and to provide resources about STEM-focused education.

Visit the website to learn about the four distinct networks of STEM-focused schools, each with a career orientation linked to North Carolina's evolving economy, and to learn more about STEM education -- what it is and why it's now so important.

Take a look ... 
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In This Issue
Fewer students drop out
STEM teachers wanted
NCNSP in US campaign
Quick Links
Focus on Innovation

NYC students gain

 

A new report on New York City's innovative high schools shows higher graduation rates, particularly among student groups who tend to underperform in traditional schools. The research follows an experimental model, comparing students who all wanted to attend the innovative schools.  

 

Low-income students 

mdrc nyc low income grads 

Black male students 

mdrc nyc black male grads 

Source:MDRC

STEM Conference Logo Join educators, students, innovators and leaders from business and government at the Scaling STEM: Transforming Education Matters Conference, April 16-18, 2012, at the Sheraton Imperial Hotel & Convention Center.
 
Register by Feb. 28 for a discounted cost. 
Meet an Innovator
Angela Quick
Angela Hinson Quick
"Accountability" and "standards" might not be the first words that come to mind when thinking about innovation. But for Angela Hinson Quick, they can make a powerful combination.

As deputy chief academic officer for the N.C. Department of Public Instruction, Quick oversees the development and implementation of the state's sweeping initiative to redefine curriculum, student assessments and the accountability model for schools.

"In moving toward implementation of Common Core State Standards in math and language arts, we're applying 21st century skills and global standards to bring innovation into our process," Quick says.

Read more ...
More News from New Schools ...

The Herald-Sun reports that Southern High School will merge in 2012-13 with Southern School of Engineering for a schoolwide emphasis on project-based learning in four specialized academies.

Beaufort County Early College highlighted for successful results with diverse enrollment
The Washington Daily News explores the factors underlying the strong outcomes being achieved by students at the innovative school on the campus of Beaufort County Community College.

New studies point to increasing achievement gap between rich and poor students A growing body of research shows that the gap has widened over the last few decades, The New York Times reports, even as the racial achievment gap has narrowed.

This recent column from Thomas Friedman of The New York Times povides some good explanation and concrete examples. "Everyone needs to find their extra," he says. "Average is over."