Every two years, the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) administers rigorous math and reading tests to a representative sample of fourth- and eighth-grade students from each state and Washington, D.C. NAEP occasionally administers assessments covering other subjects, grade-levels...
Published: Wednesday, October 28th, 2015 @ 3:47 pm
By: John Locke Foundation
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Last week, the N.C. Department of Public Instruction released the state's annual teacher turnover report. The overall turnover rate for the 2014-15 school year was 14.8 percent, a 0.7 percentage point increase from a year prior. While the actual rate of teacher turnover is an important metric...
Published: Sunday, October 25th, 2015 @ 3:25 am
By: John Locke Foundation
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Last year, 42 percent of recent high school graduates enrolled in one or more remedial or "developmental" math and/or English courses at a North Carolina community college.
Published: Monday, October 19th, 2015 @ 12:20 pm
By: John Locke Foundation
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The truth is that education school enrollment is dropping nationwide. According to the latest Title II reports published by the U.S. Department of Education, there was a 30 percent drop in education school enrollment between the 2008-09 and 2012-13 school years. Nearly 110,000 fewer students...
Published: Thursday, October 15th, 2015 @ 4:39 am
By: John Locke Foundation
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Nora Carr is the Guilford County Schools Chief of Staff to Superintendent Mo Green and writes columns on communications and messaging for the American School Board Journal.
Published: Saturday, October 10th, 2015 @ 10:36 pm
By: John Locke Foundation
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Last week, the NC Department of Public Instruction (DPI) released the state's annual teacher turnover report. The overall turnover rate for the 2014-2015 school year climbed to 14.84 percent, a 0.7 percent increase from a year prior. The release of the report generated extensive media coverage, a...
Published: Thursday, October 8th, 2015 @ 7:14 pm
By: John Locke Foundation
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No report is more controversial, misunderstood, and misread than the Annual Report on Teachers Leaving the Profession.
Published: Tuesday, October 6th, 2015 @ 2:23 am
By: John Locke Foundation
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Republican legislative leaders finally unveiled their proposed biennial state budget. (Geez, it's about time, folks.) The budget is now subject to votes by each legislative chamber and action by Governor McCrory.
Published: Friday, October 2nd, 2015 @ 4:34 am
By: John Locke Foundation
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Last week, the N.C. Department of Public Instruction released student performance data for all schools and school districts in the state. The release included school performance grades, end-of-course and end-of-grade achievement level results, school accountability growth data, the 4-year and...
Published: Wednesday, September 30th, 2015 @ 3:44 am
By: John Locke Foundation
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Before you read the remainder of this column, estimate 1) how much North Carolina spends per student and 2) the average pay for a North Carolina teacher. Keep both figures in mind and proceed.
Published: Wednesday, September 30th, 2015 @ 3:14 am
By: John Locke Foundation
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The State Board of Education's decision to intervene in the affairs of the Halifax County Schools is hardly surprising. Decades of mismanagement and dysfunction have led to high teacher turnover rates and appalling student achievement outcomes.
Published: Tuesday, September 29th, 2015 @ 6:07 am
By: John Locke Foundation
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David Terry, Jr., age 70, a resident of Robersonville, NC passed away peacefully on September 13, 2015 at his home surrounded by friends, family, and loved ones.
Published: Tuesday, September 15th, 2015 @ 12:49 pm
By: Announcements
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In a 4-3 decision, the NC Supreme Court ruled that the Opportunity Scholarship Program, which provides vouchers to low-income families, is constitutional. Obviously I am pleased with the outcome, but I am even happier about the timing. The expected release date for the next batch of Supreme Court...
Published: Friday, September 11th, 2015 @ 3:20 am
By: John Locke Foundation
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It is back-to-school time, which means that the mainstream media and public school advocacy groups are busy telling folks that Republicans are jeopardizing the welfare of North Carolina's public schools. What do the facts say?
Published: Saturday, September 5th, 2015 @ 10:11 pm
By: John Locke Foundation
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Late last month, Chief of School Nutrition Services for the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction Dr. Lynn Harvey appeared before the Subcommittee on Early Childhood, Elementary, and Secondary Education of the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Education and the Workforce...
Published: Saturday, September 5th, 2015 @ 5:56 pm
By: John Locke Foundation
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Today, the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) released Indicators of School Crime and Safety: 2014, a report that assembles data from a variety of sources to assess the relative safety of public schools in each state.
Published: Friday, September 4th, 2015 @ 12:47 pm
By: John Locke Foundation
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The N.C. Division of Non-Public Education is the state agency responsible for home and private school oversight and data collection. This week, the agency published annual private and home school statistics for the 2014-15 school year.
Published: Thursday, August 27th, 2015 @ 11:06 am
By: John Locke Foundation
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There are concerns that students who pursue careers in education represent the least capable of those students who pursue college degrees. As Thomas Sowell observed in Inside American Education, "Consistently, for decades, those college students who have majored in education have been among the...
Published: Sunday, July 5th, 2015 @ 8:12 pm
By: John Locke Foundation
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Currently, state law mandates that school board elections be non-partisan contests, but there are exceptions to the rule. According to a guide (PDF) published by the N.C. State Board of Elections, 17 of the state's 115 school boards elect and/or appoint members by political party. They include...
Published: Wednesday, July 1st, 2015 @ 12:50 am
By: John Locke Foundation
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Parents are used to report cards for their school-aged kids. Now, in North Carolina, public schools themselves receive letter grades, A through F.
Published: Tuesday, June 23rd, 2015 @ 5:38 pm
By: John Locke Foundation
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The N.C. Senate's budget plan would increase state funding for public schools by $450 million over the next two years.
Published: Tuesday, June 23rd, 2015 @ 12:00 am
By: John Locke Foundation
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Wednesday marked the five-year anniversary of the adoption of the Common Core State Standards in North Carolina. How did you celebrate?
Published: Saturday, June 20th, 2015 @ 12:06 am
By: John Locke Foundation
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For years, the N.C. State Board of Education has focused on producing "globally engaged" public school students. Admittedly, I have only a vague idea what "globally engaged" or similar terms mean, but I hear a lot about it in education circles. Sophisticated-sounding terms with the word...
Published: Wednesday, June 17th, 2015 @ 3:59 am
By: John Locke Foundation
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Although I agree that other parts of the House budget are problematic, their K-12 education budget includes additional funding for a number of promising initiatives and research-based programs. Clearly, the Republican leadership recognizes that boosting student performance requires targeted...
Published: Monday, June 15th, 2015 @ 4:18 am
By: John Locke Foundation
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Earlier this month, Dr. Alisa Chapman, Vice President for Academic and University Programs for the University of North Carolina System, briefed members of the NC State Board of Education on the background, demographics, and qualifications of the state's teaching profession.
Published: Sunday, May 31st, 2015 @ 6:36 pm
By: John Locke Foundation
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N.C. House Republicans are voting this week on their 2015-17 biennial budget proposal. School-based personnel are among the big winners.
Published: Monday, May 25th, 2015 @ 9:36 pm
By: John Locke Foundation
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The end of the school year is in sight, which means that North Carolinians will be subjected to a slew of "take this job and shove it" missives from the state's public school teachers. As usual, the attention given to them will be overblown.
Published: Monday, May 25th, 2015 @ 1:09 am
By: John Locke Foundation
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Results from the 2014 U.S. History, Geography, and Civics at Grade 8 tests were released this week.
Published: Wednesday, May 6th, 2015 @ 2:33 am
By: John Locke Foundation
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The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), a project of the U.S. Department of Education, administers U.S. history, geography, and civics assessments once every four years. In 2014, a representative sample of over 29,000 eighth-grade students from across the nation took one of the...
Published: Wednesday, April 29th, 2015 @ 6:28 pm
By: John Locke Foundation
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Fewer students are enrolled in teacher education programs in North Carolina and in nearly every other state in the nation. What is driving this nationwide trend, and what can we do about it?
Published: Tuesday, April 14th, 2015 @ 12:04 am
By: John Locke Foundation
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Those who pay attention to state politics have heard it again and again. Enrollment in teacher education programs has dropped because Governor McCrory and evil state legislators do not "respect" the teaching profession.
Published: Sunday, April 12th, 2015 @ 2:16 pm
By: John Locke Foundation
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The annual Collaborative Conference for Student Achievement allows public school employees to hear from practitioners, experts, and advocates who share the goal of ensuring that all public school students are successful. I enjoy reviewing the presentations from the conference because they are...
Published: Saturday, April 4th, 2015 @ 7:28 pm
By: John Locke Foundation
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Public school superintendents have been in the news lately, and it's not been flattering. Desperate to move on from the contentious tenure of Superintendent Katie McGee, the Brunswick County Board of Education hired Edward Pruden in 2010 at a salary of $159,400 a year. Late last year, the school...
Published: Thursday, March 26th, 2015 @ 4:06 am
By: John Locke Foundation
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When folks talk about poverty in schools, they typically reference the number of students who receive a free or reduced price lunch (FRL), which means that I often need to consult FRL statistics published annually by the N.C. Department of Public Instruction (DPI). But reviewing last year's data...
Published: Wednesday, March 25th, 2015 @ 4:20 am
By: John Locke Foundation
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