Revisit dropout age; focus on innovation
| 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.
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Dropouts fall in NCNSP-partner schools
North 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.
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STEM teacher program seeks applicants
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Candidates 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.
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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.
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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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