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Presentation to USED Review Panel

August 10, 2010

North Carolina Race to the Top Proposal

R e d a c t e

d

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The North Carolina Team

Beverly Perdue Governor

June Atkinson

Chairman, State Board of EducationBill Harrison

Glenn Kleiman

Bill McNeal

Executive Director Friday Institute for Educational Innovation and Professor, College of Education, NC State University

State Superintendent of Public Instruction

Executive Director NC Association of School Administrators

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Governor Beverly PerdueEducation Reform in North Carolina:

Action and Achievement

North Carolina Race to the Top Proposal

“Every student – no matter where he or she lives in NC – must graduate from high school with what it really takes to succeed in a career, in a two or four year college, or in technical training”

- Governor Perdue, January 2010

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A Coherent Plan for Statewide Impact

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A Great Teacher for Every StudentA Great Leader for Every School

• Performance incentives for lowest-achieving schools

• Research-supported university preparation programs

• Research- and data-based recruitment and licensure programs:o Teach for America expansiono NC Teacher Corpso Regional Leadership Academies

• Strategic staffing initiatives

• Expansion of virtual and blended teaching

• Statewide professional development system

• Successful innovations in identifying, developing, and supporting effective leaders

• Statewide teacher and principal evaluation systems

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• Common Core Standards adoption

• Governing member of the SMARTER Balanced Assessment Consortium

• Alignment of standards across PK-20

• Experience in - and a plan for - successful implementation of comprehensive, balanced assessment system

Statewide Standards and Assessments

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Data-Driven Decisions at All Levels

State Longitudinal Data System

InstructionalImprovement

System

Centrally-provided, Statewide Technology Infrastructure

Statewide Student Information

System

Increasing use of data for decision-making at all levels:

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Increasing use of data for decision-making at all levels:

• Longitudinal data system

• Data access for all stakeholders

• Statewide instructional improvement systemo Daily embedded assessmentso Diagnostic assessmentso Curriculum monitoringo Summative assessmentso Growth models

Data-Driven Decisions at All Levels

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Turnaround of Lowest-Achieving Schools

• A great teacher for every student, a great leader for every school, a great school for every community

• A focus on local capacity-building

• Customized approaches to local setting and needs

• Evidence of prior success in rural and urban settings

o 34 schools moved out of low-achieving

o 85% of schools in 5 low-achieving districts raised student achievement

• Other innovative public and charter school models

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Turnaround of Lowest-Achieving Schools

• Evidence of prior success in rural and urban settings

o 34 schools moved out of low-achieving

o 85% of schools in 5 low-achieving districts raised student achievement

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Building Capacity in Rural Schools

By ensuring…

• Effective teachers and principals

• Statewide technology infrastructure and resources

• Virtual learning opportunities for students

• Engaged communities

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Innovative, Transformational Schools:An Array of Choices

• Early College high schools

• Redesigned schools

• Charter schools

• NC School of Science and Mathematics

• District-level magnet schools

• STEM-themed high schools

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Expanding STEM Opportunities

• Rigorous standards

• STEM teacher initiatives

• Virtual and blended STEM courses

• Networking of STEM-themed high schools

• Strong support from NC businesses and foundations

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Enhancing All Initiatives Through Technology

• Technology to enhance all reform areas

• Building upon technology-enabled education initiatives

• Proposed next generation technology infrastructureo PK-20 Education Network

o Cloud computing & Statewide Services Initiative

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Statewide Capacity and Commitment

• Lessons learned

• Statewide infrastructure

• Strong, collaborative leadership

• Reform & innovation

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Engagement and Collaboration

• State and local leadership

• Professional associations

• Public and private colleges and universities

• NC Network of Grantmakers

• NC education organizations

• National organizations

• Parents & communities

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Why North Carolina?

Strong, collaborative leadership

Capacity to scale initiatives and ensure statewide implementation

Overall capacity to implement and sustain initiatives

Building upon lessons from past reform efforts

Support from all stakeholders

History of implementing reform efforts statewide

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Why North Carolina?

Existing RttT-related programs

Ready to move forward quickly

Ensures reliable statewide access at a lower cost

Model for other states

Unparalleled technology infrastructure

Diverse rural and urban population, innovative schools, technology use, STEM focus

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A Coherent Plan for Statewide Impact

Great Teachers & Principals

Turnaround of Lowest-Achieving

Schools

Data Systems to Improve Instruction

• Build District & SchoolTransformationCapacity

• SupportSTEM Thematic SchoolsNetwork

• Adopt Common Core Standards

• Transition to New Standardsand Assessments

• Enhance Statewide Longitudinal Data System

• Develop Statewide InstructionalImprovement System

• ImproveTeacher and PrincipalEvaluation Processes

• InstituteRegional LeadershipAcademies

• Expand Teacher Recruitment andLicensure Programs

• Initiate Strategic Staffing

• Deliver Virtual &BlendedClasses

• Initiate Statewide Professional Development

Quality Standards and

Assessment