NCAE SBE Review February 2014
Read to Achieve Update The State Board of Education discussed various issues surrounding the Read to Achieve program. Communication of how the legislative program was to be implemented was not clear to all LEAs and has been implemented in non-consistent formats. The following issues were clarified:
THE PORTFOLIO – is one component of the law. It is not a mandate for every third grader to complete a portfolio! R2A was not created to become a TESTING REGIME!
Reading instruction should not be stopped to test all students at once. Teachers should use differentiation, each child needing to participate in the portfolio passage assessment may be on a different passage – every child may not be on the same level and other students could work on other tasks while some are completing the reading passages. The passages are optional and one may not complete all 36, if a portfolio is being created for an “at-risk” student who may attend the summer reading camp. There is no mandate that all 36 passages are completed successfully by EOG time. It was also noted that the reading passages should not follow the same high-stakes test security of the EOG. Third-grade teachers can read the passages prior to conducting assessment, selecting the best for the standard, and the teacher can review the assessment once the child is complete to provide feedback.
This year, and this year only, students who are taking the EXTEND II are EXEMPT from the R2A requirement!
Reading for comprehension and information has 12 standards on the third grade EOG. The legislation mandates that the student portfolio be a compilation of student work, in an organized manner and contains evidence that is assessed by state standardized tests for third grade students. For the benchmark/standards, there SHALL be 3 examples of student work demonstrating mastery of at least 70 percent. The 36 reading passages were created to support the legislation noted above regarding benchmarks for students needing to complete the portfolio for a just cause exemption.
Clarification provided on the difference between 80 percent on a passage and 70 percent on portfolio were explained: each passage has five questions, three passages total 15 questions so an average of 70 percent is acceptable. 3 passages = # correct responses/15 questions = % success
The SBE approves the requests of LEAs using alternative assessments. Each local school board must approve the alternative assessments that are valid and reliable, and will demonstrate proficiency beyond the regular EOG and provide documentation to the SBE and NCDPI. The approved assessments can be used by other LEAs requesting the use of alternative assessments instead of the portfolio process. The approved assessments can be found here: http://goo.gl/B9zlZp The following changes are being recommended to the General Assembly: 1. Reduce the number of required passages for the completion of the portfolio. 2. Allow flexibility in LEAs on how Summer Reading Camps are implemented. 3. Allow LEAs to create a balanced calendar. 4. Allow students who attend summer camp and who still are not proficient to move to the fourth grade without an “F” label and continue to receive needed intervention.
5. Allow Traditional Public Schools the same flexibility as the Charter Schools in implementing R2A .
February 2014
Center for Instructional Advocacy, Membership Organizing and Communication
Testing in NC now and in the future For the last two months, members of the State Board of Education have been discussing testing options available to North Carolina beginning in 2014-15. The options include, the U.S. Department of Education funded assessment consortia (Smarter Balanced for NC), as well as the currently administered EOGs and EOCs, or a vendor-developed assessment. All of these options are aligned to the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) in English Language Arts and Mathematics. To provide a thorough review of all of the options, the SBE approved to convene an advisory group comprised of superintendents, principals, and teachers to make recommendations on which assessments the state should implement beginning in 201617. The SBE also approved the use of current state assessments through 2015-16, enabling a possible transition to a new assessment and assuring time to secure funding and approval, as required by the General Assembly. The continuation of the current assessments through 2015-16 will allow students and teachers to have consistency with respect to assessments and the content standards for a period of four years. The field test for Smarter Balanced will be part of the state assessments this year.
Student Achievement Academic Levels Discussions
The SBE was presented a proposal to add a new level for the College Career and Readiness academic achievement levels. With much input on the importance of having more definitive discrimination for the Level 2 and Level 1 range, a methodology to add an achievement level below college and career readiness has been determined. This additional achievement level identifies students who are prepared for the next grade, enabling more accurate identification of students who need additional instruction and assistance. With this additional achievement level, effective for the 2013 school year, the State would report five levels as follows: (1) Level 5 denotes Superior Command and College and Career Readiness. (2) Level 4 denotes Solid Command and College and Career Readiness. (3) Level 3 denotes Sufficient Command. (4) Level 2 denotes Partial Command. (5) Level 1 denotes Limited Command.
February 2014
Center for Instructional Advocacy, Membership Organizing and Communication
Other Actions & Items Discussed 1. In December 2012, the State Board of Education adopted the Foundations of Reading and General Curriculum for North Carolina exams (formerly referred to as MTEL) as an Elementary and Special Education General Curriculum licensure requirement effective July 1, 2014. This exam will be required of both new teacher education graduates and out-of-state teachers seeking a NC license. Based on the timeline, the recommendations for passing scores will be presented to the State Board in October 2014 instead of August 2014. 2. The Corporal Pruitt Rainey Brass to Class Act was passed on July 10, 2013. The law affects credit for salary purposes for members of the military serving in leadership and instructional roles during military service, transitioning to teacher, principal or assistant principal positions in the public schools. This applies to military veterans initially employed by a NC LEA starting July 1, 2014. The policy reads: One full year of experience credit shall be awarded for every two years of full –time instructional duties performed while on active military duty in the Armed Forces of the United States, regardless of academic degree held while serving in instructional roles. This applies to military veterans initially employed by an NC LEA starting July 1, 2014, as a professional educator and shall be awarded one year for every two years of military service in an instructor role. 3. As part of the Race to The Top grant, NC must conduct research and evaluation on the professional development being provided to teachers. The roles of the research consortium CERE-NC are to (1) document the activities of the RT3 initiatives; (2) provide timely formative data, analyses, and recommendations to help the initiative teams improve their on-going work; and (3) provide summative evaluation results toward the end of the grant to determine whether the RT3 initiatives met their goals and to inform future policy and program decisions to sustain, modify, or discontinue initiatives after the grant-funded period. In this third year report, participants reported that the professional development activities were well-designed and implemented and provided valuable learning opportunities. Surprising facts from this report; 31 percent of the principals are in the same school and 51 percent of the teachers are in the same school since RT3 began. 4. Public hearing on the Model Contract based on legislative action ended up being more about the legislation than the actual model contract. Transcripts http://goo.gl/hLrq2i and written http://goo.gl/YadjUX comments demonstrate the frustration both educators and non-educators (in and out-of-state) have over the 25% contract issue, as well as a one, two or four year contract. The SBE made no changes to their model contract for local school boards.
Charter School News Regarding Renewals: The following two schools will not receive renewals and will close at the end of this school year: Coastal Academy for Technology and Science (Carteret County) and PACE Academy in Orange County. These schools received 10-year charter renewals: Carolina International School (Cabarrus County), Community School of Davidson (Mecklenburg County), Crossnore Academy (Avery County), Sugar Creek
(Mecklenburg County) and Torchlight Academy (Wake County). These schools received a five-year charter renewal; Carter Community (Durham County), Dillard Academy (Wayne County), and Research Triangle Academy (Durham County). These schools received three-year charter renewals: Guilford Prepartoary (Guilford County) Kestrel Heights (Durham County).
February 2014
Center for Instructional Advocacy, Membership Organizing and Communication