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Welcome to INNOVATOR, an update on school and district transformation from North Carolina New Schools. Our newsletter aims to inform practitioners, policy makers, and friends of public education on innovation, workforce development, research and success stories from schools, districts and regions across the state. Please contact us to provide feedback and suggest ideas.
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Powerful practice leads to college for most
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With NC New Schools in line to receive a $20 million federal grant to scale-up rural school innovation, a new look at post-graduation outcomes of students in existing schools where powerful teaching and learning are the norm shows students are completing high school motivated and prepared to continue their education. Students graduating from North Carolina's early colleges that serve high percentages of low-income students outpace schools with similar demographic profiles nationally in terms of college enrollment in the fall immediately after high school graduation. The analysis is based on a comparison of individual graduate outcomes for NC New Schools partner schools with data from the National Student Clearinghouse to the High School Benchmarks Report issued in October 2014 by the Clearinghouse's Research Center. College enrollment rates include both 2- and 4-year institutions. Schools with both high percentages of low-income and minority students (black and Hispanic) showed the greatest difference: College enrollment from low-income, high minority schools
The National Student Clearinghouse defines low income as more than 50 percent of enrollments receiving free and reduced-price lunch; high minority, at least 40 percent black or Hispanic students.NC New Schools partner early college high schools with high percentages of low-income students and low percentages of minority students (black and Hispanic) also outpaced similar schools nationally: College enrollment from low-income, low-minority schools Note: NC New Schools rates collapse rural, suburban and urban categories examined separately in the National Student Clearinghouse report; national averages shown here reflect the highest rate among each of the three categories by income and minority enrollment.
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Four network schools win STEM recognition
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Four secondary schools that are partners with NC New Schools are among a dozen schools statewide that were the first to be recognized by the State Board of Education earlier this month under a new program highlighting schools with strong programs in STEM, shorthand for science, technology, engineering and math. The list of 12 schools selected for the NC Department of Public Instruction's STEM Recognition Program included these NC New Schools network schools:
- Brunswick Early College High School
- Elkin Middle School
- STEM Early College at NC A&T State University
- Wayne School of Engineering
A former network school, Atkins Academic & Technology High School in Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools, was also included among the schools earning STEM recognition. DPI said all of the schools exemplify keen creative thinking, reasoning and teamwork, which are the underpinnings of the 21st century skills needed to successful and competitive in today's society. "So many of the careers that await students after high school and college graduation are in STEM fields," State Superintendent June Atkinson said in congratulating the recipients. "The quality of STEM instruction provided to students today will shape their success in these careers."
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Teacher's edge: Getting students engaged
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By Catherine HartNC New Schools Instructional CoachAt a time when testing pervades schools and classrooms, educators must seek out ways to engage students and motivate them beyond grades and test scores.  | |
Catherine Hart
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A recent Gallup Poll should give us pause. The results of the 2013 poll of 600,000 students in 5th through 12th grades showed that "fifty-five percent reported being engaged in the learning process; 28 percent reported not being engaged (that is, 'mentally checked out'); and 17 percent reported being 'actively disengaged' from school and likely to spread that negativity" (Educational Leadership, September 2014).
As a coach, I work with many teachers who are frustrated by a lack of engagement and motivation in their students. They lament the fact that students often prefer to get answers from teachers rather than discover information for themselves, that they often complain about the workload when lessons become student-centered, and that they are often more concerned about a grade than about true learning.
What does your classroom look like when your students are fully engaged? Are students talking to one another? Creating models? Engaging with texts? Utilizing technology? All of the above? How do you know that they are engaged and how do you purposefully plan a lesson with student engagement in mind?
Dave Sladkey, a high school math teacher, and his colleagues at Naperville Central High School in Illinois, wondered about these questions, and so they created a tool they call the Student Engagement Wheel to find some answers. |
Caldwell principal receives national honor
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 Candis Hagaman, principal of Caldwell Early College High School, has been honored with the Terrel H. Bell Award for Outstanding School Leadership. Hagaman was one of eight principals nationally who received the award earlier this month, presented by the U.S. Department of Education, together with the National Association of Elementary School Principals, the Association of Middle-Level Education, and the National Association of Secondary School Principals. The award is named in memory of former Secretary of Education Terrel H. Bell. The award recognizes outstanding school leaders and the vital role they play in guiding students and schools to excellence, frequently under challenging circumstances. Principals nominated for this award are school leaders committed to fostering successful teaching and learning at their schools and who do "whatever it takes" to help their students meet high standards. They are committed to education as a powerful and liberating force in people's lives. Those chosen as Bell Award recipients have transformed their schools. Their vision and collaborative leadership styles have produced outstanding results for all their students, according to the U.S. Department of Education, regardless of race, language proficiency, or socioeconomic status. They have shown that with effective leadership and teaching and a firm conviction, all students can learn. Caldwell Early College was named a National Blue Ribbon School earlier this fall by the Department of Education based on the strength of its achievement in closing achievement gaps between subgroups of students. It was the only high school in the state to win recognition as an Exemplary Achievement Gap Closing School.
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Twitter convert finds world of ideas online
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Ben Owens
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Why would anyone want to waste their time with this? I mean, do I really care what my narcissistic friends had for dinner?
This sentiment describes my exact feelings a year ago regarding the social media platform Twitter. What a difference a year makes! Since the time I had this admittedly non-millennial, curmudgeon attitude, I have become a complete convert - probably to the point  where I become an annoyance to my colleagues at Tri-County Early College for all the ideas I share with them from Twitter.
The change, at least for me, was somewhat forced. As part of being in a Hope Street Group National Teacher Fellow, it was strongly suggested that I have an active presence on sites such as Linkedin, Pinterest and Twitter. So, much to my chagrin, I did some research, set-up an account, and after a few start-up disasters, became quite adept at sharing ideas and learning from others in 140 characters or less. As of this writing, I currently have almost 500 followers from every continent except Antarctica (not to mention my following twice that many) and all of whom are somehow connected to education.
The fact is that more and more teachers are using this platform as a means to get daily professional development on timely topics that can help them and their students improve. In doing so, teachers like me are using social media to establish real-time virtual PLNs from across the country and across the world!
Read more ...
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STEM conference highlights promising practices
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 This year's Scaling STEM conference will focus on how to design, create and inspire student engagement. Sessions will highlight promising practices, tools and resources to:
- Design solutions for school-based problems of practice
- Create engagement in critical thinking through the "making" movement
- Inspire through partnerships with industry, community and higher education
The conference, set for April 13-15 at the Sheraton Imperial Hotel & Convention Center in Research Triangle Park, is designed for educators, STEM advocates, education innovation leaders, industry and community leaders and policymakers. The event is co-hosted by the NC Science, Mathematics & Technology Education Center and NC New Schools.
Click here to register and learn more about the conference. |
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STEP Program open to lateral entry teachers
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 For a limited time, the NC STEM Teacher Education Program (NC STEP) is accepting new lateral-entry teachers of science, technology, engineering or math working in NC New Schools network schools. Application deadline is Dec. 12 to begin in January 2015.
NC STEP is an alternative licensure program for mid-career professionals and recent college graduates with STEM majors interested in becoming secondary science, technology, engineering or math teachers. Administered by NC New Schools and approved by the State Board of Education, this cost-free, non-traditional teacher prep program is supported by a federal Transition to Teaching grant.
Contact George Ward at gward@ncnewschools.org or 919-277-9002 for details. |
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