Summary of August State Board of Education Meeting

Wednesday & Thursday, August 4/5, 2010

The State Board of Education met on Wednesday, August 4, 2010 in committees.  They began with the Globally Competitive Students Committee, 21^st Century Professionals Committee, Leadership and Innovation Committee, and they finish with the Business/Finance and Advocacy Committee. On Thursday, they met to vote and hold a Press Conference on ABC’s/AYP results. Access to the SBE Executive Committee Summaries and documents are on the SBE website at the following link:

http://www.ncpublicschools.org/stateboard/meetings/2010/08

Wednesday, August 4, 2010

Globally Competitive Students Committee (10:00 AM)

Action and Discussion Agenda

Action on First Reading

• GCS 1 Approval of Providers for Supplemental Education Services for 2010-2011 APPROVED the providers for supplemental education services as recommended by DPI. Students attending schools in Title I School Improvement in the second year (third year of missing AYP targets) shall receive supplemental educational services provided with Title I funds. There were 99 applicants for providers. There were 75 recommended for approval. Of those 75, there were 48 For-Profits, 13 Non-Profits, 9 LEAs, and 5 other groups. There were 8 providers in District 3 (Wake) and 26 providers for all the Districts. A copy of the list is available upon request from my office.

Committee Meeting: Brief Discussion.

• GCS 2 ABC’s/AYP Report for the 2009-2010 School Year (Presented on Thursday) APPROVED the report. The report is available electronically at http://abcs.ncpublicschools.org.

Board Meeting: In 2009-2010, 88 percent of NC schools who met or exceeded growth in the ABCs model. Nearly 40 percent of NC schools are in the top three performance tiers, while last year that number was only around 25 percent. Including the retest results this year for the first time increased the percentage of students counted as proficient. For example: Algebra II students who became proficient increased by 7.7 percent. Students in Grades 9-12 had a median increase as a result of retesting of 5.8 percent more students achieving proficiency, while elementary and middle school students had a median increase of 8.9 percent. Retest results were not included in the ABC growth calculations. It will take several years of data before the retest results can be included into the growth measures. Statewide fewer schools were classified as low-performing this year. Wake has one school listed as a priority school (Wilburn Elementary), but no low-performing schools. Please see the website, listed below, for more complete details of Wake County Schools. The graduation rate for high school students graduating in four years is 74.2 percent, while the five year rate is 74.7 percent. In reviewing the subgroups statewide, Asians had the highest rate with 85.2 percent, while limited English proficiency students had the lowest with 48.3 percent. Some other numbers included males at 69.6 percent and females at 78.9 percent, while economically disadvantaged were at 66.3 percent and students with disabilities were 57.5 percent. The complete list can be viewed at http://www.ncpublicschools.org/ under the Graduation Rates Highlights.

Discussion

• GCS 3 Discussion of North Carolina’s Proposed New Accountability Model The SBE discussed the new accountability model. The ACRE Assessment and Accountability Committee drafted a proposal for a new accountability model to address both K-8 and high school accountability. Components of the proposed model include student performance, value-added performance for teachers, schools and districts, long-term Longitudinal) growth, graduation rate, Future Ready Core and postsecondary readiness. This item will continue to be a part of the SBE agenda until it is ready for Action.

Committee Discussion: Staff is recommending administering ACT and WorkKeys to all students as part of the new accountability model. The reasons they gave included: Sets the same standard for all students, gives all students options post-graduation, the results are usable and transportable, and avoids the possibility of tracking students. The rationale for using both tests is they have different uses and they use different content. It would cost $4.5 million for every 11^th grader to take both tests. The possible ways to access the funds include legislative outreach, grant funding, and reallocation of existing resources. They also discussed the PSAT test, its cost of $2.69 per test, how many students are taking the test statewide, and could these funds be used to support paying for the other tests. The timeline for implementation of the tests calls for the model to be effective 2013-2014, but the tests could be phased-in. They could also phase-in the five-year graduation rate. They also discussed using Compass and Explorer in earlier grades. Board member Tate requested a complete list of all possible tests to be administered, what grade levels, what is the purpose of the tests, and the costs for the test. One member mentioned the possibility of this requirement being viewed as over testing. Next they discussed the Future-Ready Core policy. The staff is recommending the policy count the number and percent of students who meet the Future-Ready Core mathematics sequence. The rationale for this recommendation includes; it is important to measure courses taken for achievement and graduation purposes, English, Social Studies and Science course taking requirements are part of the graduation rate, and finally the simplicity of the requirement. The final recommendation is based on the need to focus on formative assessments through the school year for the students instead of only using the end of the year assessments. Therefore, the recommendation is to update the Student Accountability polices and make the gateways a local decision and require the final grade to be 25 percent of the overall grade in 6-12 based on EOG and EOC assessments. The reason for this recommendation includes the following: Practitioners support the 25 percent policy, the gateways are not actually functioning as gates in many schools, and by eliminating the gateways this may actually reinforce the focus on performance throughout the year. The next phase of the work will involve simulations. They will begin with weighting and the use of the four quadrant model. The simulation results will be reported sometime the fall/winter of 2010. In addition they will begin getting formal feedback on the Draft Model during the 2010-2011 school year by using focus groups, having regional meetings and a structure survey. The power point presentation is available upon request from my office.

• GCS 4 K-12 Arts Education and World Languages Essential Standards and Associated Policy Amendment  The State Board discussed the Essential Standards for K-12 Arts Education and “World Languages” and discussed updating GCS-F-009 to change the wording “Second Languages” to “World Languages” in the policy.  The Standards are on their final Draft 3.0 after having been through three previous revisions. These will be on the agenda for Action in September.  These Standards can be found at http://www.ncpublicschools.org/acre/standards/phase2/.

Committee Meeting: Board members were positive about the new standards for Arts Education and World Languages. Staff noted that students will be able to take courses based on their previous education, experiences and academic performance and activities to apply to the course being taken in the arts. The new programs will provide much more rigor and individual instruction for the arts. The arts will have four separate courses of study: Dance, Music, Theater Arts, and Visual Arts.  The language standards require much more in depth study and the hope is students will gain more proficiency in the languages. The model is moving from Prerequisite to Proficiency. Examples of the standards for elementary and high school were provided. They are changing the policy to reflect the international reference of “World Languages.”They asked whether the language requirements for high school student should be revised.

21^st Century Professionals Committee (1:30 PM)

Action and Discussion Agenda

Discussion

• TCP 1 Approval of Revisioned Teacher Education and School Executive Preparation Programs Moved to ACTION on First Reading In 2008 the State Board adopted a new program approval process, and as part of the process institutions of higher education were required to revision their teacher education and school executive programs to meet the new standards and to submit their proposals for their new programs. An initial list was approved in December 2009 and the State Board reviewed an updated list.

Committee Meeting: No further discussion.

• TCP 2 State Evaluation Committee Teacher Education Program Approval Recommendations The State Board discussed the recommendations related to Montreat College and Peace College for program approval. They will vote in September.

Committee Meeting: No specific issues.

• TCP 3 Rubric for Pre-Service Superintendent Programs In the revised program approval process it was determined that the seven-year on-site review cycle will be replaced with an annual review of evidence that candidates recommended for licensure meet the NC Superintendent Standards. McRel has developed an assessment instrument, which will be used to assess both the individuals and the superintendent preparation programs and is aligned with the new evaluation instrument for superintendents. A copy of the Rubric can be viewed online in the SBE meeting packet listed at the beginning of this document. Item will be voted on in September.

Committee Meeting: No further discussion.

• TCP 4 Proposed Qualifying Score for Dual Licensure Health and Physical Education Praxis II Test The State Board discussed the requirements for dual licensure in health and physical education. The recommendation is in response to a provision approved by the Board to allow the Licensure Section to issue a health and physical education license to a physical education teacher who meets certain requirements (as determined by the Board). The licensure provision expires on June 30, 2012. The qualifying scale score of 149 on the Praxis Health and Physical Education: Content Knowledge is recommended. This will be presented for Action in September and will become effective September 2012 upon approval.

Committee Meeting: This will be back for a vote in September.

• TCP 5 Superintendent Licensure-Policy Language Change and Clarification REMOVED from the Agenda The State Board did not review Policy TCP-A-001 to clarify requirements to obtain a Superintendent’s license, and the requirements to serve as a Superintendent without having direct experience or certification as an educator. The revised policy is posted online and is available upon request from my office.

Leadership for Innovation Committee (2:30 PM)

Action and Discussion Agenda

Action

• LFI 1 Recommendations for Preliminary Approval of 2010 Charter School Applications APPROVED Union Independent School, for a preliminary charter. The State Board conducted interviews in July, with seven applicants who were chosen as finalists, for the one remaining charter school slot available. These were Bear Grass Charter School, Leadership Learning Academy, Piedmont IT Academy, Richard Milburn Academy (Wake), Spruce Pine Montessori, Union Independent School, and Water’s Edge Village Academy.

Board Meeting: The Board voted to approve Union. Bear Grass was the other charter school that received votes for approval, but did not have enough votes.

Business/Finance and Advocacy Committee Meeting (3:10 PM)

Action and Discussion Agenda

Action on First Reading

• TCS 1 Approval of Grants: APPROVED GRANTS
  • 21^st Century Community Learning Center Grants There are five grant recipients listed in Wake. They include: About Face II, CONCERT, J.T. Locke Resource Center, Inc., Kreepers and Krawlers Learning Center, and O.A.S.I.S Foundation, Inc.
  • Approval of Carl D. Perkins College Tech Prep Grant There are seven Tier I schools/consortia that were not funded previously and who are approved for funding in 2010-2013. In addition, there are 26 schools/consortia in Tier II recommended for funding in 2010-2013, who were funded in the past eight years. WCPSS is not included in any of these grants.
  • K-2 Reading Diagnostic Assessment Funds for Halifax County and Current Reading First Schools Transferring to Pilot The State Board approved the allocation of the Reading First funds to be transferred to Halifax and all the Reading First Schools who will become part of the reading pilot. There are seven elementary schools in Halifax that are part of the reading diagnostic pilot this year, using technology and assessment to track student progress. Two other elementary schools were Reading First Schools in Halifax and will become part of the reading pilot in 2010-2011. USED has given permission to use the Reading First funds to purchase the K-2 assessment system with technology that exists in the pilot schools and become part of the pilot. The funds may be used to purchase licenses, platforms, training and benchmarking kits. Every Reading First School was contacted and given the chance to be part of the pilot. The costs to extend the program in the Reading First Schools, who have decided to make the transition, including Halifax are $975,000.

Committee Meeting: The Board received an updated list of 21^st Century Learning Centers that were funded in 2009-2010 and not recommended for funding in 2010-2011. There were no centers listed for Wake that were funded last year and not funded this year.

• TCS 2 Legislation Requiring Immediate State Board Attention APPROVED Required Actions related to the State Budget and Legislation signed into law this year. The staff reviewed Senate Bill 897, Appropriations Act of 2010, including the special provisions and to act on these so funds may be redirected or used. SBE will also act to adopt rules for implementation of furloughs for public schools, and act to appoint a task force of members of DPI to create the Comprehensive Arts Education Development Plan for public schools. They reviewed the required Studies as outlined in House Bill 900 and the budget changes as authorized by the General Assembly, and the impact of those adjustments. Finally they will discuss a listing of non-budget bills ratified during the session that impact public schools. DPI is presenting clarification and rules for the Furlough legislation enacted in the State Budget. Recommendations are as follows: #1: Define Salary-Four specifications including the salary from all  funding sources and all positions worked shall be combined in determining annual salary, #2: Minimum Furlough-Not less than half a day, #3 Days Excluded from the Furlough: No employees can be furloughed on an instructional day in traditional calendar, #4 Definition of Bonus Pay-Defines as compensation over and above the amount of pay as a base salary or hourly rate of pay and is not based on performing additional work (if an administrator is compensated in the from other than salary, this shall not be considered bonus unless it is contingent on a performance measure, #4 Reporting Requirements-LEAs shall report within 10 days of local board approval of the furlough and no later than September 10, 2010.

Committee Meeting: The Board got into a lengthy debate over the decision made on which schools/LEAs to fund with the Child and Family Support Teams. The funding was cut 21.4 percent and had provided funding for a social worker and a school nurse in 100 schools. Of the remaining $9.2 million the SBE will allocate the reduction by eliminating funding to those schools it deems to be implementing the program ineffectively. Staff is recommending the elimination of one Child and Family Support Team from each of the following 21 LEAs. The list of LEAs being reduced is available upon request from my office, but does not include Wake. The Board also discussed the NCVPS funding formula and that they are projecting 46,000 students for 2010-2011 with revenues estimated at $20 million that will come from reducing the funding to the LEAs. They can only take 15 percent or $3 million to administer the program and that funding may not be sufficient. Many of the LEAs and specifically the Superintendent’s are concerned about the loss of their funding for NCVPS and using a projected number for funding the program rather than an actual number. The law restricted NCVPS course and disallowed those being taken in Physical Education. Staff presented information on 132 students who took courses in Healthful Living in the Spring of 2010 and told the Board they have notified those schools with students enrolled in these course for the Fall that NCVPS can no longer provide these courses. Staff reviewed over 16 pages of summarized legislative information for the board members. Several other key areas discussed including the Type I transfer of the Schools for the Deaf and Blind to DPI. This will occur over the next few weeks. This will add over 590 employees to the DPI workforce because of the teachers, administrators etc… involved in managing these schools as well as the fact that they must hire a Superintendent by October 1, 2010. Mr. Price was asked several times if this meant the SBE was the Board of these schools and that DPI will soon be their Central Office. I don’t believe the question was answered, but I do believe the answer is yes.  One of the last issues discussed was the furlough provision and the guidelines to be adopted by the SBE for implementation of the furloughs. According to staff Winston-Salem Forsyth is the only school system to submit a request to use furlough and that the furlough will be needed to cover $1.8 million of the discretionary reduction for 2010-2011. There are three LEAs to report, but Wake was not one of them. There was much discussion about the furlough and how the base pay guidelines were decided and were they fair to teachers. The Board also reviewed whether the possible 1 percent additional cut in January would allow LEAs to use the furloughs since they are applicable until June 30, 2011. Mr. Price was not sure about that flexibility, but had gotten word as many did about the US Senate moving to pass the funding ($343 million for NC) a portion of what is needed by NC and will not require the 1 percent cut to public schools in January. After a lengthy discussion about the language related to salaries, DPI provided an updated document containing the emergency rules governing furloughs of employees of local boards of education with minor changes. A copy of this document is available upon request from my office.  The Board was also updated on the Comprehensive Arts Education Plan task force, which they are to appoint. The list includes several people from Wake County: Barbara Greer (Discipline Representative-retired), Catherine Demcio (A+ Schools Teacher), Martin Lancaster (Former President of Community Colleges, and Genevieve Farmer (Wake Schools-retired). There are 24 members on the Task Force. A complete list is available upon request from my office.

• TCS 3 Requests for Repayment Waivers of the National Board Certification Fee The appeals of 24 teachers who failed to complete the process were considered by the Appeals Panel and the Panel’s recommendations will be presented to the State Board for approval. One individual of the 24 was recommended for a waiver of the $2,500 and all other waiver requests are recommended for denial. Closed Session item.

Discussion

• TCS 4 Membership for the State Advisory Council on Indian Education The State Board is requested to replace and approve an individual whose term, on the Advisory Council on Indian Education, expired in June 2010. This person, if approved shall serve for two years. The three current members of the Council are also recommended to serve a second term. Angela Lynch is the new member who is replacing an outgoing member. The three recommended for reappointment include; Audrey Hunt, Velina Ebert, and Teresa Jones.

Committee Discussion: No Further discussion.

Update on Contracts

Contracts over $25,000 – 27 contracts totaling more than $7 million.

Contracts under $25,000 – 23 contracts totaling more than $270,000.

New Business

• Update on Timeline for 2011-13 Biennial Budget
• Intern Update-Presentation of Projects/Reports (presented at lunch)
  • The Evolution and use of Growth Models
  • An Introduction to Through-Course Assessment
  • The Effectiveness of State Assistance in Low-Performing High Schools
  • Evaluation Programs for North Carolina’s Gifted Children

Thursday, August 5, 2010

State Board of Education Meeting, (9:00 AM) Dr. William Harrison, Chairman

Call to Order

Pledge of Allegiance: Ms. Shirley Harris

Approval of Minutes

Special Recognition

• Ms. Jennifer Facciolini, Sampson County Schools, 2011 NC AT&T Teacher of the Year
• Ms. Jan King, Henderson County Schools, NC Wachovia Principal of the Year

Key Initiatives Reports and Discussion

• ACRE Update- Dr. Angela Quick informed members that the resource instructional toolkits for teachers are being completed. Social Studies Revision 2.0 will be reviewed. The writing system implemented by the State is moving forward with focus on Grades 4 & 7; on-demand and content-specific writing prompts throughout the year. Audits are being conducted through the web.
• CEDARS Update: Mr. Adam Levinson told the SBE that the unique ID system is fully operational and will cover the entire school year. Work is underway with the employment security system to link student UID system with their follow-up of NC employees.

Information Agenda

Globally Competitive Students

• GCS 5 Field Testing and Special Studies for the 2010-2011 School Year DELAYED until September The State Board received information on the proposed field tests for 2010-2011. They include the following: NCEXTEND 2 EOGs-Math, Reading Science, NCEXTEND 2 EOCs-Math, English II, Biology, EOGs-Science (Grades 5 & 8), Enhanced Assessment Grant-Grade 7-Math, Algebra I,  American Diploma-Algebra II, EOCs-English II, Biology, US History, Civics & Economics, and Lexile Linking Study EOCs-Physical Science, English I, Algebra I, II, Civics & Econ., US History, Biology, LEP-Listening, Reading, Writing, NAEP/TIMSS Linking Study-Math, Science (Grades: 4 and 8).
• GCS 6 Online Course as a Graduation Requirement REMOVED from the Agenda The State Board will hear information on a plan to require all entering ninth grade students in 2010-2011 to take a virtual on-line course to meet graduation requirements. North Carolina is the State with the second largest enrollment (33,699) in online courses, but does not have a policy requiring an online learning requirement.

Board Meeting and Committee Chair Reports

Action and Discussion Agenda

Superintendent’s Report

• Dr. June Atkinson: Dr. Atkinson reported on NC Thomasville Primary School for their Gold Award earned through the healthier US School Challenge. The Superintendents held their quarterly meeting and reviewed NC FALCON, NC Virtual schools, Digital textbooks, State Budget and legislation and DPI initiative underway. A grant proposal was submitted to USED in collaboration with NC Communities in Schools. The title is “Back on Track, PR.” The grant is for $12.4 million over five years and provides graduation coaches for eight high schools.  DPI will have another reduction in force and the legislation requires 30 positions, 10 of which must be state-paid and all state-paid positions must be from Technology Services.

Chairman’s Remarks

• Dr. Bill Harrison, Chairman noted that The Race to the Top team is heading to Washington on Tuesday, August 10, 2010 to be interviewed. It is the same team that went in Round 1.

New Business

• Approval of the 2011 SBE Meeting Schedule

Adjourn