State Board of Education members spent time reviewing the proposed new curriculum standards for K-12 science courses during their meeting this week. The new standards are the latest deliverable in North Carolina’s Accountability and Curriculum Reform Effort (ACRE) approved by the State Board as part of its "Framework for Change." January marks the second month in which the science standards have come before Board members for discussion. Draft 4.0 of the N.C. Standard Course of Study Science Essential Standards will be posted online Jan. 18 at www.ncpublicschools.org/acre/standards/. Public feedback will continue to be reviewed and incorporated as the standards are finalized. The Board will vote for approval of the new science curriculum in the next few months so it can be implemented no later than the 2012-13 school year.
The State Board of Education has already approved the essential standards for K-12 Mathematics, English 10, the Occupational Course of Study and K-12 Information and Technology at its meeting in September and they will go into effect for the 2011-12 school year. Each new set of standards is the result of efforts of statewide writing teams comprised of classroom teachers, school administrators, content and curriculum experts from the NCDPI, university and community college faculty and national experts on curriculum design and testing. Writing teams study standards from other states and countries and meet with and receive feedback from members of the business community and the public before the revisions go before the State Board for approval.
Writing teams are currently working on essential standards for K-9 and 11-12 English Language Arts, K-12 social studies, foreign languages, healthful living and fine arts which are projected to go into effect in the 2012-13 school year. In addition, NCDPI staff members continue to develop teacher "toolkits" for each content area and are working on plans for professional development to help roll out new standards to educators across the state.
Monday, January 11, 2010
On report card: student's math achievement level
North Carolina Department of Public Instruction ADOPTS NEW MATH MEASURE TO BOOST STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT
Beginning this year, students receiving their end-of-grade and end-of-course score reports for mathematics will notice a new number beside their test grades. This new number reflects a Quantile measure and offers another way to gauge a student's math achievement level while also providing teachers and parents with an additional tool they can use to connect students with targeted instructional resources. The new number is a result of work the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction completed last year to link all statewide mathematics assessments to the Quantile Framework® for Mathematics.
The Quantile Framework was developed by MetaMetrics, an educational measurement organization based in Durham, and provides a common, developmental scale for measuring student mathematics achievement, the difficulty of mathematical skills and concepts, and the materials for teaching mathematics. By placing the curriculum, teaching materials and students on the same scale, Quantile measures enable teachers to describe which math skills and concepts a student is ready to learn and identify those that will require additional instruction so students can be matched with resources that meet their learning needs. North Carolina is one of four states currently using this framework.
Parents can use Quantile measures to support students' mathematical development by connecting them with targeted mathematics activities at home. Additional information about Quantile measures as well as resources including a math skills database, family-friendly math activities and a math textbook search tool, are available at www.quantiles.com.
Since 1996, North Carolina students in grades 3–8 have received a Lexile® measure for reading on their end-of-grade score reports. Last December, the NCDPI extended the availability of Lexile measures to ninth graders who took the English I end-of-course test. The NCDPI also joined with Gov. Bev Perdue last summer to promote the Lexile Find-a-Book online book database, available at http://www.lexile.com, to encourage students to use their Lexile scores to select books for summer reading.
Beginning this year, students receiving their end-of-grade and end-of-course score reports for mathematics will notice a new number beside their test grades. This new number reflects a Quantile measure and offers another way to gauge a student's math achievement level while also providing teachers and parents with an additional tool they can use to connect students with targeted instructional resources. The new number is a result of work the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction completed last year to link all statewide mathematics assessments to the Quantile Framework® for Mathematics.
The Quantile Framework was developed by MetaMetrics, an educational measurement organization based in Durham, and provides a common, developmental scale for measuring student mathematics achievement, the difficulty of mathematical skills and concepts, and the materials for teaching mathematics. By placing the curriculum, teaching materials and students on the same scale, Quantile measures enable teachers to describe which math skills and concepts a student is ready to learn and identify those that will require additional instruction so students can be matched with resources that meet their learning needs. North Carolina is one of four states currently using this framework.
Parents can use Quantile measures to support students' mathematical development by connecting them with targeted mathematics activities at home. Additional information about Quantile measures as well as resources including a math skills database, family-friendly math activities and a math textbook search tool, are available at www.quantiles.com.
Since 1996, North Carolina students in grades 3–8 have received a Lexile® measure for reading on their end-of-grade score reports. Last December, the NCDPI extended the availability of Lexile measures to ninth graders who took the English I end-of-course test. The NCDPI also joined with Gov. Bev Perdue last summer to promote the Lexile Find-a-Book online book database, available at http://www.lexile.com, to encourage students to use their Lexile scores to select books for summer reading.
Thursday, December 31, 2009
New Research Examines Gen Y Teacher Views
Young Teachers Assess Old Views and Traditional Methods:
7 Out of 10 Gen Y Teachers Open to Incentive Pay, but Only 10 Percent Rate Standardized Testing as Successful Measure
A new study paints a national picture of Generation Y teachers revealing an openness to incentive pay. Seventy-one percent of Gen Y teachers are open to rewarding teachers based on incentive pay, whereas only 10 percent of Gen Y teachers think that student performance on standardized tests is an “excellent” measure of teacher success. The nationwide study, Supporting Teacher Talent: The View From Generation Y, from Public Agenda, a nonprofit research organization, and Learning Point Associates, a nonprofit education research and consulting organization, offers a comprehensive and nuanced look at the question of whether different generations bring different aspirations, concerns, and perspectives to teaching.
“Traditionally, teachers have strongly opposed differentiating pay based on student performance, but we found evidence that those attitudes may be changing among Gen Y teachers,” said Jane Coggshall, Ph.D., coprincipal investigator for the Supporting Teacher Talent study. “However, young teachers, like teachers of all ages, are concerned about using standardized test scores as the principal criterion.”
According to Sabrina Laine, Ph.D., chief program officer for educator quality at Learning Point Associates, “The study findings send a strong message to school leaders who need to recognize that to retain our best teachers, it is imperative to support teacher effectiveness through improved teaching and learning conditions because teachers, more than anything, want to make a difference for their students.”
The study explores the attitudes of all teachers toward how they wish to be compensated, examines how they view their unions, and expands on the following findings:
1.
Most Gen Y teachers support incentive pay for teachers who consistently work harder and put in more time and effort than other teachers. Seventy-one percent of Gen Y teachers favor giving financial incentives to teachers who consistently work harder, putting in more time and effort than other teachers, with 25 percent “strongly” in favor.
2.
Gen Y teachers are deeply concerned about using standardized test scores to measure their performance. Only 10 percent of Gen Y teachers think that how well students perform on standardized tests is an “excellent” measure of success as a teacher, and 72 percent of them believe it is unfair to tie teacher pay to how well students perform when so many things that affect learning are beyond their control.
Despite openness to incentive pay, it is not Gen Y’s first choice as a strategy for improving teaching. The idea of tying teacher rewards to student performance ranked last among 12 proposals, including requiring new teachers to spend more time teaching in classrooms under the supervision of experienced teachers, requiring teachers to pass tough tests of their knowledge of the subjects they are teaching, and ensuring that the latest technology is available in each classroom to aid instruction.
3.
Teachers’ concerns that unions sometimes protect seriously underperforming teachers have risen in recent years. Sixty-six percent of all teachers agreed that unions sometimes fight to protect teachers who should not be in the classroom, as compared with 48 percent of teachers who agreed with this statement in 2003.
7 Out of 10 Gen Y Teachers Open to Incentive Pay, but Only 10 Percent Rate Standardized Testing as Successful Measure
A new study paints a national picture of Generation Y teachers revealing an openness to incentive pay. Seventy-one percent of Gen Y teachers are open to rewarding teachers based on incentive pay, whereas only 10 percent of Gen Y teachers think that student performance on standardized tests is an “excellent” measure of teacher success. The nationwide study, Supporting Teacher Talent: The View From Generation Y, from Public Agenda, a nonprofit research organization, and Learning Point Associates, a nonprofit education research and consulting organization, offers a comprehensive and nuanced look at the question of whether different generations bring different aspirations, concerns, and perspectives to teaching.
“Traditionally, teachers have strongly opposed differentiating pay based on student performance, but we found evidence that those attitudes may be changing among Gen Y teachers,” said Jane Coggshall, Ph.D., coprincipal investigator for the Supporting Teacher Talent study. “However, young teachers, like teachers of all ages, are concerned about using standardized test scores as the principal criterion.”
According to Sabrina Laine, Ph.D., chief program officer for educator quality at Learning Point Associates, “The study findings send a strong message to school leaders who need to recognize that to retain our best teachers, it is imperative to support teacher effectiveness through improved teaching and learning conditions because teachers, more than anything, want to make a difference for their students.”
The study explores the attitudes of all teachers toward how they wish to be compensated, examines how they view their unions, and expands on the following findings:
1.
Most Gen Y teachers support incentive pay for teachers who consistently work harder and put in more time and effort than other teachers. Seventy-one percent of Gen Y teachers favor giving financial incentives to teachers who consistently work harder, putting in more time and effort than other teachers, with 25 percent “strongly” in favor.
2.
Gen Y teachers are deeply concerned about using standardized test scores to measure their performance. Only 10 percent of Gen Y teachers think that how well students perform on standardized tests is an “excellent” measure of success as a teacher, and 72 percent of them believe it is unfair to tie teacher pay to how well students perform when so many things that affect learning are beyond their control.
Despite openness to incentive pay, it is not Gen Y’s first choice as a strategy for improving teaching. The idea of tying teacher rewards to student performance ranked last among 12 proposals, including requiring new teachers to spend more time teaching in classrooms under the supervision of experienced teachers, requiring teachers to pass tough tests of their knowledge of the subjects they are teaching, and ensuring that the latest technology is available in each classroom to aid instruction.
3.
Teachers’ concerns that unions sometimes protect seriously underperforming teachers have risen in recent years. Sixty-six percent of all teachers agreed that unions sometimes fight to protect teachers who should not be in the classroom, as compared with 48 percent of teachers who agreed with this statement in 2003.
VOUCHERS WILL REDUCE DROPOUT RATES IN NC?
Review concludes that the conclusions reached by Friedman Foundation series on voucher program benefits "are not trustworthy."
A new report issued last week by the Friedman Foundation and the Georgia Public Policy Foundation is part of a series of reports asserting that dropout rates could be reduced with the implementation of private-school voucher programs, but all of these reports "cherry-pick" research authority and ignore an abundance of relevant research on high school graduation, according to a review of the first five of these reports. The review, by Professor Sherman Dorn of the University of South Florida, was published in January of 2008, and covered reports released from early 2006 through late 2007.
Find Sherman Dorn's review here.
The five reports, each specific to a given state -- Missouri, Indiana, Texas, South Carolina, and North Carolina -- are written in a parallel structure, with only "the details of the arguments chang[ing] in a formulaic manner for each state in question," according to Professor Dorn, who reviewed the reports for the Think Tank Review Project. The Georgia report follows the same formula, making the same arguments, and citing the same sources. All these reports were written by researcher Brian Gottlob.
Among their more serious flaws, Dorn finds that all the reports he reviewed:
• inadequately use existing research on dropping out and school competition;
• present a superficial calculation of the costs of dropping out;
• improperly rely on a single, imperfect 1998 article as the entire basis for their calculations on the purported impact of voucher programs on improving graduation rates; and
• ignore possible alternative approaches for raising graduation rates, instead focusing exclusively on private school voucher programs. Dorn writes: "Without a comparative analysis of alternative proposals to increase high school graduation, the reports are of little practical use to policymakers who have no means by which to gauge the value of vouchers versus other alternatives."
On their argument for vouchers as a remedy to reduce dropout rates, Dorn found that the reports "cherry-pick" a 1998 article to support the association while ignoring other, contradictory research. Moreover, these reports lack appropriate transparency in their calculations that apply that earlier article's formula to each state's dropout data. Absent the necessary statistical details, "the reports' conclusions about the benefits of school voucher programs are not trustworthy," Dorn says. The Georgia report cherry picks the same 1998 article and has precisely these same defects.
At the same time, Dorn adds, "the reports make no mention of the extensive literature exploring graduation, dropping out, and the factors that shape educational attainment." As a result, "each report obscures other program options that policy-makers could consider." These other options include preschool programs and intervention in elementary and high school grades. The Georgia report repeats these mistakes.
In addition, the reports offer only an oversimplified analysis of the costs of dropping out, both to individuals and to society. In doing so, Dorn explains, they ignore the "extensive, published debate among economists" who have found that understanding the impact of dropping out is much more complex. Dropping out is a real problem, he notes, and it deserves serious rather than superficial analysis.
Dorn notes that while dropout rates should indeed be cause for concern, the Friedman Foundation reports are not credible. He concludes by advising state policy makers who are interested in increasing graduation to bypass these reports and instead seek out "the available, well-researched scholarship on the topic," much of which he identifies in the review.
Thursday, December 17, 2009
N.C. #1: NATIONAL BOARD CERTIFIED TEACHERS
State Leads the Nation for the 14th Consecutive Year
North Carolina once again leads the nation in the total number of teachers who have earned certification by the National Board of Professional Teaching Standards with 15,695 teachers now certified. This group of teachers accounts for nearly 19 percent of all the 83,359 National Board Certified teachers in the nation. North Carolina also ranked first in the nation in the number of newly-certified teachers, as the state is home to 1,509 of the 8,874 educators nationwide who earned the recognition this year.
Three North Carolina school districts are among the nation's top 20 in terms of the number of teachers who achieved National Board Certification in 2009. They include: Charlotte-Mecklenburg-2nd (221), Wake County-3rd (197) and Guilford-9th (69). Five North Carolina school districts are among the nation's top 20 in terms of the number of teachers who achieved National Board Certification over time. They include: Wake County-2nd (1,702), Charlotte-Mecklenburg-5th (1,439), Guilford-11th (592), Forsyth-18th (413) and Buncombe-20th (371).
North Carolina supports teachers' efforts to achieve National Board Certification in the following ways:
• Payment up front of the $2,500 assessment fee. (Teachers are obligated to teach in the state the following year whether or not they achieve certification.)
• Three paid release days from normal teacher responsibilities to develop their portfolios.
• A 12-percent salary supplement to the teachers' regular salary, good for the 10-year life of the certification.
• 15 continuing education units (CEUs) awarded to the individual for completing the National Board Certification process.
The State Board of Education awards a North Carolina teaching license to out-of-state teachers who possess National Board Certification.
National Board Certification, the highest credential in the teaching profession, requires an extensive series of performance-based assessments including teaching portfolios, student work samples, videotapes and thorough analyses of the candidates' classroom teaching and student learning. Teachers also complete a series of written exercises that probe the depth of their subject-matter knowledge, as well as their understanding of how to teach those subjects to their students.
National Board Certification was first offered in 1994, when eight North Carolina teachers achieved this professional credential. Since then, the number of teachers in the state receiving the certification has continued to grow. North Carolina has led the nation in the number of National Board Certified teachers for 14 years. The other states in the top three this year are Florida, with 13,281 and South Carolina, with 7,293 certified teachers.
For more information on National Board Certification.
North Carolina once again leads the nation in the total number of teachers who have earned certification by the National Board of Professional Teaching Standards with 15,695 teachers now certified. This group of teachers accounts for nearly 19 percent of all the 83,359 National Board Certified teachers in the nation. North Carolina also ranked first in the nation in the number of newly-certified teachers, as the state is home to 1,509 of the 8,874 educators nationwide who earned the recognition this year.
Three North Carolina school districts are among the nation's top 20 in terms of the number of teachers who achieved National Board Certification in 2009. They include: Charlotte-Mecklenburg-2nd (221), Wake County-3rd (197) and Guilford-9th (69). Five North Carolina school districts are among the nation's top 20 in terms of the number of teachers who achieved National Board Certification over time. They include: Wake County-2nd (1,702), Charlotte-Mecklenburg-5th (1,439), Guilford-11th (592), Forsyth-18th (413) and Buncombe-20th (371).
North Carolina supports teachers' efforts to achieve National Board Certification in the following ways:
• Payment up front of the $2,500 assessment fee. (Teachers are obligated to teach in the state the following year whether or not they achieve certification.)
• Three paid release days from normal teacher responsibilities to develop their portfolios.
• A 12-percent salary supplement to the teachers' regular salary, good for the 10-year life of the certification.
• 15 continuing education units (CEUs) awarded to the individual for completing the National Board Certification process.
The State Board of Education awards a North Carolina teaching license to out-of-state teachers who possess National Board Certification.
National Board Certification, the highest credential in the teaching profession, requires an extensive series of performance-based assessments including teaching portfolios, student work samples, videotapes and thorough analyses of the candidates' classroom teaching and student learning. Teachers also complete a series of written exercises that probe the depth of their subject-matter knowledge, as well as their understanding of how to teach those subjects to their students.
National Board Certification was first offered in 1994, when eight North Carolina teachers achieved this professional credential. Since then, the number of teachers in the state receiving the certification has continued to grow. North Carolina has led the nation in the number of National Board Certified teachers for 14 years. The other states in the top three this year are Florida, with 13,281 and South Carolina, with 7,293 certified teachers.
For more information on National Board Certification.
Friday, December 11, 2009
North Carolina Educational Data Score: 8 out of 10
The 2009 Annual Progress Report on State Data Systems is a Data Quality Campaign
publication that reports on states’ progress in building the 10 Essential Elements in their statewide longitudinal data systems. States are making progress; however, many states lack critical Elements essential for addressing college and career readiness and the impact that teachers have on student achievement (Elements 5, 6 and 7).
North Carolina report
publication that reports on states’ progress in building the 10 Essential Elements in their statewide longitudinal data systems. States are making progress; however, many states lack critical Elements essential for addressing college and career readiness and the impact that teachers have on student achievement (Elements 5, 6 and 7).
North Carolina report
NC Students Learn With Video Games
Educational Video Games Positively Influence Student Attitudes toward Math
Findings Provide Compelling Evidence That the Use of Educational Video Games such as DimensionM from Tabula Digita is a Change Instructional Practice
Academic researchers at the University of North Carolina Wilmington (UNCW) have concluded that educational video games positively influence student achievement and significantly affect student attitudes and self-efficacy toward the study of mathematics.
Participants in the evaluation included 250 middle school students, 10 middle school mathematics teachers, and two computer resource teachers from four schools in Southeastern North Carolina. Participating schools were West Pender and Cape Fear middle schools in Pender County and Trask and D.C. Virgo middle schools in New Hanover County.
“We hoped our research would explain how playing serious, high quality, interactive video games such as DimensionM influences student achievement and self-efficacy in mathematics,” said Albert Ritzhaupt, assistant professor in the Watson School of Education and lead researcher of the study. “It not only demonstrated the impact of gaming on students, but we likewise learned a great deal about educators’ responses to and interactions with this new method of learning.”
Student evaluation of DimensionM was positive: More than 90 percent indicated that some or most of the activities were fun; approximately 67 percent felt the activities were just right in their level of complexity, and about 89 percent believed DimensionM allowed them to demonstrate some or most of their mathematics skills and knowledge. The broad evaluation examined student attitudes toward mathematics, mathematics self-efficacy and mathematics achievement before and after the research study was conducted. Mathematics achievement was measured by student performance on a low-stakes assessment linked to North Carolina middle grades standards.
Ritzhaupt added, “During our post-research focus group, teachers were asked if they thought the relationship had changed between them and their students as a result of integrating the educational game. All teachers, 100 percent, answered that the relationship had changed, indicating that many felt that the students now saw them in a different way.”
The teachers described a closer, more personal connection to their students. One teacher stated that, “Students find gaming exciting and the mere fact that I was offering it in my classroom made a connection. It made me ‘more cool’ to them.”
“The use of modern educational games in formal K-12 settings is at a tipping point,” said Ntiedo Etuk, chief executive officer of Tabula Digita. “Research has shown that 97 percent of teenagers play video games, and that the amount of time gamers devote to playing video games is three times greater than what they devote to any other activities. So imagine what could be accomplished in a classroom where serious educational video games are readily available – the sky’s the limit.”
Ritzhaupt was joined in the research endeavor by assistant professor Heidi Higgins and technology coordinator/lecturer Beth Allred, both in the Watson School of Education.
Findings Provide Compelling Evidence That the Use of Educational Video Games such as DimensionM from Tabula Digita is a Change Instructional Practice
Academic researchers at the University of North Carolina Wilmington (UNCW) have concluded that educational video games positively influence student achievement and significantly affect student attitudes and self-efficacy toward the study of mathematics.
Participants in the evaluation included 250 middle school students, 10 middle school mathematics teachers, and two computer resource teachers from four schools in Southeastern North Carolina. Participating schools were West Pender and Cape Fear middle schools in Pender County and Trask and D.C. Virgo middle schools in New Hanover County.
“We hoped our research would explain how playing serious, high quality, interactive video games such as DimensionM influences student achievement and self-efficacy in mathematics,” said Albert Ritzhaupt, assistant professor in the Watson School of Education and lead researcher of the study. “It not only demonstrated the impact of gaming on students, but we likewise learned a great deal about educators’ responses to and interactions with this new method of learning.”
Student evaluation of DimensionM was positive: More than 90 percent indicated that some or most of the activities were fun; approximately 67 percent felt the activities were just right in their level of complexity, and about 89 percent believed DimensionM allowed them to demonstrate some or most of their mathematics skills and knowledge. The broad evaluation examined student attitudes toward mathematics, mathematics self-efficacy and mathematics achievement before and after the research study was conducted. Mathematics achievement was measured by student performance on a low-stakes assessment linked to North Carolina middle grades standards.
Ritzhaupt added, “During our post-research focus group, teachers were asked if they thought the relationship had changed between them and their students as a result of integrating the educational game. All teachers, 100 percent, answered that the relationship had changed, indicating that many felt that the students now saw them in a different way.”
The teachers described a closer, more personal connection to their students. One teacher stated that, “Students find gaming exciting and the mere fact that I was offering it in my classroom made a connection. It made me ‘more cool’ to them.”
“The use of modern educational games in formal K-12 settings is at a tipping point,” said Ntiedo Etuk, chief executive officer of Tabula Digita. “Research has shown that 97 percent of teenagers play video games, and that the amount of time gamers devote to playing video games is three times greater than what they devote to any other activities. So imagine what could be accomplished in a classroom where serious educational video games are readily available – the sky’s the limit.”
Ritzhaupt was joined in the research endeavor by assistant professor Heidi Higgins and technology coordinator/lecturer Beth Allred, both in the Watson School of Education.
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