Angela Hinson Quick

Angela Hinson Quick
Senior Vice President
Talent Development
North Carolina New Schools

When it comes to stemming the exodus of good teachers from the classroom, the issue of compensation can't be ignored. A report in December on teacher turnover from the N.C. Department of Public Instruction suggests as much. The report showed a 16 percent increase from the previous year in the number of teachers leaving because of job dissatisfaction, career change or another teaching job out of state. No doubt stagnant pay was a factor.

Yet, every educator knows that's not the whole story. Pay alone could never be enough to keep all teachers in the classroom. Teachers need to feel valued, beyond the size of their paycheck, but they also must feel that they're able to do the very best to reach all their students, and that they're advancing in their skills and in their careers.

Even before joining North Carolina New Schools last year, I knew that it was highly regarded by educators for its effectiveness and focus. Teachers in schools that are partners with NC New Schools share an understanding about good instruction that is grounded in what we know about how students learn best: Students need to be engaged, challenged and held to high expectations while given the support needed to reach them.

Now that I'm helping lead the organization, I've come to understand how that kind of student-centered focus is also perhaps the strongest strategy for retaining high quality teachers. By embracing a clear and ambitious mission - that all students graduate well prepared for college, careers and life - teachers can't help but be engaged as full participants in schools that can deliver on that promise. Teachers in these partner schools collaborate closely to learn from each other and to address the needs of all students. They work together to design lessons that cross disciplines. They help set the direction of their schools. Simply put, they have the opportunity to continue to grow as professional educators.

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Nearly 600 educators, policymakers and leaders in business and government will gather Feb. 17-18 at the Sheraton Imperial Hotel & Conference Center for an annual two-day conference devoted to new and innovative approaches to STEM education, shorthand for science, technology, engineering and math.

The focus of this year's event will be cutting-edge developments that are already beginning to transform teaching and learning through technology, real-time assessment and field based learning. Experts helping to design new approaches to teaching and learning will open the conference with a forecast of the kind of changes already underway.

Innovative schools and districts will host sessions highlighting aspects of the future forecast they have pioneered in the areas of applied learning,  integrated content and authentic, competency-based assessment, meaningful use of technology, and purposeful partnerships with industry, community and higher education.

Among the featured speakers are Sajan George, who leads a national non-profit school turnaround management organization, and Vivian Howard, a Kinston chef and restaurant owner featured in the PBS series, A Chef's Life. She will speak about her passions for sustainable farming and rural and urban revitalization. George's organization, Matchbook Learning, focuses on the nation's low-performing public schools with a unique blended model of school that leverages both online technology and turnaround management skills.

Howard will speak during a networking reception between 5 p.m. and 7 p.m. Feb. 17; George will speak at the end of the conference on Feb. 18, between 2:30 p.m. and 4 p.m.

Among other presenters is Rose Colby, a New Hampshire educator and author who will teach a short course on competency-based learning, which allows students to progress as they demonstrate mastery of academic content, regardless of time, place, or pace of learning. Competency-based strategies provide flexibility in the way that credit can be earned or awarded. New Hampshire is initiating high school redesign that replaces the conventional time-based system with a competency-based system focused on personalized learning, strong teacher-student relationships, flexible supports, and development of 21st century skills.

Nearly 20 concurrent sessions will feature a diverse range of topics from competency-based learning and assessment to developing sustainable partnerships to career academies. During an industry roundtable portion of the conference Tuesday, experts from the field will host discussions with conference participants to deepen their understanding of issues and current research that can assist them in connecting content learned in school with real world STEM applications.

The conference runs from 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Feb. 17, followed by the networking reception between 5 p.m. and 7 p.m., and from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Feb. 18. For more detailed information about the agenda, presenters and participating schools, visit the conference website at scalingstem.org

The presenting sponsor of the Scaling STEM conference is GSK. Other sponsors include Lenovo, Quintiles, Red Hat, Duke Energy, BASF, Biogen Idec and the Lego Foundation.

The Sheraton Imperial Hotel & Conference Center is located at 4700 Emperor Blvd. (I-40 at Exit 282 - Page Rd.) Durham.

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