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The North Carolina New Schools Project - INNOVATOR - May 2012
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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.
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Technology as tool for teaching, learning
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 | Jim Whitehurst
President and CEO Red Hat |
Technology isn't the answer.
That may sound like heresy coming from someone who leads a company whose stock and trade is computer software. But after spending the last several weeks with a group of other technology-focused people considering the role of technology in education innovation, I believe the real answer is the same as it's always been.
It comes down to powerful teaching and learning, where students are challenged to think, to solve problems, to communicate clearly.
Technology can help that happen for more students in more schools by providing tools that allow teachers to collaborate and improve and that give students new ways to learn and access information. But it needs to be integrated as a seamless part of teaching and learning.
Technology is part of the solution to a significant challenge for our state and nation. All students must graduate from high school well prepared for further education and careers.
As part of the North Carolina New Schools Project's strategic planning effort, Vision 2015, a panel of technology experts heard from a number of educational technologists and developed a set of recommendations for the best way to harness technology for transforming education.
This effort is more than about just improving education.
We are entering an information economy. Even for the most basic businesses like agriculture, banking, furniture, textiles, the information content is increasingly the value-add. Whether it's the development of high-tech fabrics or mapping how and where we grow crops, the next generation of workers will need new information-based skills to succeed.
Read more ... See item below about the recommendations from the technology panel led by Jim Whitehurst.
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Panel: Harness technology effectively
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 As North Carolina develops a network of schools with a focus on science, technology, engineering and math (STEM), a panel of technology experts convened by Red Hat President and CEO Jim Whitehurst met earlier this year to answer two key questions about using technology to link schools in the network and as a tool for STEM teaching and learning.
The questions, posed by the NC New Schools Project as part of its Vision 2015 strategic planning effort:
- How might NCNSP best use technology to create and sustain virtual "communities of practice" among teachers in the network of STEM schools?
- How might NCNSP effectively use technology to strengthen STEM education overall and particularly the application of inquiry- and project-based learning among schools in the network.
The panel's recommendations for developing active "communities of practice" among teachers call for a "central hub" drawing on resources from a wide range of partners. Such a central hub would include lesson plans, planning tools, assessments and other resources to help teachers devote more time to inquiry-based instruction.
In addition, the panel said technology should be used as a tool to personalize professional development for teachers through such elements as online forums, formal courses, collaborative planning and content sharing.
The panel's recommendations on the question about technology as it relates directly to teaching and learning focus on integrating technology as a routine, everyday practice, preferably with a 1-to-1 model where every student has full-time access to a laptop computer.
Among the recommendations:
- Rethink instruction with technology as part of planning and implementation.
- Consider cross-curricular approaches to integrate higher level thinking, communication and collaboration into instruction.
- Maximize technology for assessments to provide more timely feedback to personalize learning for students.
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Early college graduates earn head start
 Some 900 students graduating from high school in North Carolina this spring have something extra to show for the effort: an associate degree from community college. Many of them are the first in their families to attend college.
The new graduates are among the state's growing number of students completing early college high school - a hybrid design typically on a community college campus - where students can earn an associate degree or as much as two years of college credit in addition to a high school diploma.
Nearly half the approximately 1,800 early college graduates this year did just that, with many others earning a year or more of college credit. All of which adds up to significant opportunity for low-income and first-generation college-going students who are the target population of the state's early colleges. All campuses of the University of North Carolina accept associate degrees from the state's community colleges as two full years of credit, giving graduates of early college high schools who earn them a big head start on a four-year degree.
Early college graduates with associate degrees typically enter four-year colleges and universities as freshmen, but with about the same amount of completed credit as college students beginning their junior year.
North Carolina's early colleges - which account for about a third of similar schools nationwide - are developed and operated under unique partnerships among local school districts, the State Board of Education, the Department of Public Instruction, the North Carolina Community College System and the University of North Carolina. The North Carolina New Schools Project, which helps lead the state's early college high school initiative, works with school districts and schools statewide to transform secondary education to ensure that all students graduate ready for college, careers and life.
Read more ... |
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Meet an Innovator
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 | Ashley Hinson
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As a principal, Dr. Ashley Hinson saw many capable students for whom traditional high school just wasn't the right fit. "Some students got their diplomas, but they were destined for McDonald's," he says. "And I knew they could accomplish more." Today, as superintendent of Surry County Schools in the foothills of North Carolina's Blue Ridge Mountains, Hinson is thrilled that his district offers a different opportunity for those students through Surry Early College. "An early college high school diploma gives them a more meaningful diploma because they graduate with a jump start on a college education that many of them thought they could never achieve," he says. "Whether it ends with a two-year degree or a Ph.D., it's an unbelievable opportunity for these students to have college as a part of the normal high school experience. To be able to connect these students with the community college is one of the best things I've been part of in my 35-year career." Surry Early College, currently in its sixth year, maintains a strong focus on first-generation college-going students. The school has become so popular that it has a waiting list- 135 students applied for the 80 slots available next year. "I see this as a huge part of economic development," he says. "If this county can produce students who have technology skills, teamwork, all the skills businesses are looking for, that helps our entire community." Read more ... |
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More news from New Schools ...
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