The School Connection

October 4, 2007

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION AWARDS GRANT TO WCPSS MAGNET SCHOOLS
The Magnet Programs Office of the Wake County Public School System has been awarded a three-year federal magnet school assistance grant by the U.S. Department of Education. The first year’s funding will total $3,582,151.

WCPSS is one of 41 school districts in 17 states to receive the awards, according to the U.S. Department of Education. The funds are available to help school districts establish new magnet schools or significantly revise existing magnet schools. The Magnet Schools Assistance Program is authorized under Title V, Part A of the Elementary and Secondary Act, as amended in 1994 and is administered by the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Innovation and Improvement.

The WCPSS grant for 2007-10 revises three existing magnet schools.
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As part of the grant, Southeast Raleigh High School will implement project-based learning supported by an adaptation of the New Tech High School model, as well as strengthen students’ leadership and life skills.

Garner High School will add a cultural arts program to complement the existing International Baccalaureate model and will provide students with opportunities that develop awareness and appreciation for different cultures.

East Garner Middle School will enhance its International Baccalaureate program with an electronic student portfolio and personal project, using an interdisciplinary approach to teaching through the arts and expanding intercultural awareness. Principal Cathy Williams says East Garner will build partnerships with schools in other countries to help students and staff develop international understanding.

Significant revisions in these schools will strengthen the district’s ability to attract and maintain diverse school populations, increase the achievement of students who attend the project schools, and provide students with greater access to quality programs.

WCPSS PODCAST
After four years of hard work at East Garner Middle School and Garner High School, the two schools celebrated earning authorization from the International Baccalaureate Organization for the Middle Years IB Programme today with a reception attended by Garner community leaders and WCPSS educators.

Principals Michael Holton of Garner High and Cathy Williams of East Garner Middle School talk about earning authorization, the International Baccalaureate program and the impact of their schools receiving funds from the federal Magnet Assistance Grant.

Click here to listen to WCPSS Podcast: IB Authorized in Garner This is an 11 minute mp3 file.

BOARD RECEIVES UPDATE ON CURRICULUM MANAGEMENT AUDIT
At the Sept. 19 meeting, the Board of Education heard from Chief Academic Officer Donna Hargens on the framework for the administrative response to the Curriculum Management Audit.

Hargens explained the school system is currently in pre-phase planning, analyzing the document to understand what it says. The 400-page report has eight recommendation areas and a total of 117 possible action steps to be considered.  The report suggested 47 action steps for the Wake County Board of Education in the area of policy review and development and 70 suggested actions for administrative staff in the areas of alignment, academic implementation and operations.

“From pre-planning, we need to move in our work structure to the planning phase, which is to take the action steps, prioritize them, establish which action step is dependent upon another action step and then begin to establish timelines and identify any resources needed to be able to complete an implementation plan for each recommendation,” said Dr. Hargens.

The audit team identified findings that are barriers to the school system improving to meet audit standards. The audit then identifies recommendations and action steps to address the findings.

Superintendent Burns will work with four performance goal managers including Hargens, Area Superintendent Danny Barnes, Chief Business Officer David Neter and Chief of Staff Terri Cobb. They will work with recommendation managers named to address each of the eight audit recommendations. For example, Area Superintendent Ann Hooker and Assistant Superintendent Chuck Dulaney are the recommendation managers for the audit’s number one recommendation of eliminating the achievement gap.

The recommendation managers will identify a team and the stakeholders that need to be involved in the discussions of each recommendation’s action steps. They will be looking to principals, teachers and community members to be involved.

“We will have to look at where their involvement makes the most impact and makes the most sense,” said Hargens. “In the planning phase, we need to be deciding who needs to be at the table when in order to effectively implement the recommendations.”

Hargens says that working through the recommendations will provide a better learning environment for every student in the school system. There will be more consistency across the system. For example, a third grader in one part of the county will be experiencing more of the same in a consistent curricular quality as a third grader in another part of the county.

SCHOOL CONNECTION TV
The top recommendation of the Curriculum Management Audit is the elimination of the achievement gap. We take a serious look at the significant gaps in achievement of student groups on 2006 testing results by talking with parents and teachers at two elementary schools in School Connection TV.

ELEVEN WCPSS SCHOOLS NAMED HONOR SCHOOLS OF EXCELLENCE
Eleven Wake County Public School System schools were recognized as Honor Schools of Excellence, according to the 2006-07 state ABCs of Public Education.
 
The 11 schools include Brier Creek Elementary, Cedar Fork Elementary, Davis Drive Elementary, Green Hope Elementary, Green Hope High, Highcroft Elementary, Lufkin Road Middle, Oak Grove Elementary, Pleasant Union Elementary, Salem Elementary and Salem Middle. This includes one high school, two middle schools and eight elementary schools.

Under the ABCs of Public Education, a school earns recognition as an Honor School of Excellence when 90 percent of students are successful on state testing, the school’s state testing results show that it met or exceeded expected growth and the school met the federal No Child Left Behind standard of Annual Yearly Progress.

Cedar Fork Elementary, Davis Drive Elementary, Green Hope High, Highcroft Elementary, Lufkin Road Middle, Salem Elementary and Salem Middle made high growth; Brier Creek Elementary, Green Hope Elementary, Oak Grove Elementary, Pleasant Union Elementary made expected growth.

The WCPSS schools with the highest performance composite scores were Davis Drive Elementary with 96.3; Salem Middle with 96.1; Highcroft Elementary with 94.9; and Cedar Fork Elementary with 92.6.

Three WCPSS schools earned recognition as Schools of Excellence including Apex Middle, Davis Drive Middle and Morrisville Elementary. At these three schools, 90 percent of students are successful on state testing and the school’s state testing results show that it met or exceeded expected growth. The schools did not meet the federal No Child Left Behind standard of Annual Yearly Progress. Apex Middle and Davis Drive Middle made high growth; Morrisville Elementary made expected growth. More information is available at http://www.wcpss.net/news/2007_abcs/

WAKE EDUCAST
There are different ways to assess a child's academic progress. There's always the final exam, or the End-of-Grade or End-of-Course test, which lets you know how the child did at the end of the year or class. Teachers also regularly check students' progress during the year in order to fine-tune their instruction and better meet each child's needs. That's called a "formative assessment", and we compare it to preparing a meal in the Wake EduCast.

WAKE COUNTY STUDENTS CONTINUE TO EXCEL ON 2006-07 SAT
SAT scores for 2006-07 Wake County Public School System seniors provide the second year of the new scores for a three-section SAT with math, critical reading and writing. This year, WCPSS seniors averaged 538 on math, 519 on critical reading and 505 on writing. The combined average score is 1562.

In 2005-06, WCPSS seniors averaged 544 on math, 522 on critical reading and 510 on writing. The combined average score that year was 1576. The drop in scores between 2005-06 and 2006-07 mirrors the results at the state and national levels.  SAT scores have been dropping both in North Carolina and the nation as a whole for the past two years following a revision to the format of the test that was implemented in the spring of 2005

The College Board has maintained a scoring system of a total of 800 points per section. On the two sections of the old test, a perfect score would have been 1600. Students can now score up to 800 on each of three sections, or a perfect score of 2400.

The writing section includes an essay and multiple-choice questions on writing. The critical reading section is different from the old verbal section. The analogies section has been dropped and a new sentence completion section has been added. While the analogies section was eliminated, analogical reasoning was not; questions of this nature are imbedded in the short reading passages. In the math section, Algebra II content was added and quantitative comparisons were eliminated.

The average SAT score for Wake seniors in 2007 was 1562. WCPSS scores were significantly higher than similar large North Carolina school districts. Charlotte Mecklenburg students' scores averaged 1481; Durham, 1456; and Guilford, 1464.

WCPSS had 5,702 test takers, more than other school districts. Charlotte Mecklenburg had 4,611; Guilford, 3,089; and Durham, 1,373. WCPSS had a participation rate of 78.6 percent, higher than similar large North Carolina school districts. Charlotte Mecklenburg had 68.6 percent; Durham, 72.8 percent; and Guilford, 70.7 percent

The WCPSS average score of 1562 compares with an average score of 1511 in the U.S. and an average score of 1486 in North Carolina. The WCPSS average score is 51 points higher than the US average and 76 points higher than the North Carolina average.

WCPSS participation remained high with 79 percent of students taking the exam. The WCPSS participation is higher than the North Carolina participation rate of 71 percent and the U.S. participation rate of 48 percent.

BOARD APPROVES TOBACCO-FREE ENVIRONMENT POLICY
At its Sept. 19 meeting, the Board of Education gave final approval to a revision of policy 2308 creating a tobacco-free environment on all school system property. This expands the policy which had covered schools to also include school system central services buildings and bans possession of tobacco products from school system buildings and properties.

BOARD REVISES FOREIGN LANGUAGE PROFICIENCY POLICY 5536
At its Sept. 19 meeting, the Board of Education gave final approval to a revision of policy 5536
in accordance with recently adopted NC House Bill 915. The new legislation encourages schools to offer American Sign Language classes in high schools for credit as a modern foreign language. The proposed revisions include a process for students wishing to demonstrate school language proficiency in American Sign Language. In addition, the policy has included two standardized assessment instruments students may use when wishing to receive second language credit for commonly assessed second languages, the Brigham Young University Foreign Language Achievement Testing Service, or the Sign Language proficiency. The Policy Committee reviewed and approved the recommended revisions on August 28, 2007.

BOARD REVISES ATTENDANCE POLICY 6000
At its Sept. 19 meeting, the Board of Education gave final approval to recommended revisions in accordance with NC Statute. Language was added regarding allowable excused absences that now allowed excused absence for a catastrophic event or natural disaster and for a health care appointment for a child for whom the student is a custodial parent. In addition, clarifying language regarding block courses has been included. Revisions were made with input of staff. The Policy Committee reviewed and approved the recommended revisions on August 28, 2007.

BOARD REVISES SCHOOL ADMISSIONS POLICY 6201
At its Sept. 19 meeting, the Board of Education approved revisions to Policy 6201 for school admissions. These changes relate to revisions in the McKinney-Vento Act, House Bill 1074 (of the 2006 session), House Bill 150, House Bill 1357, and updates regarding Student Due Process procedures.

The McKinney-Vento Act and the North Carolina General Assembly require local school boards to develop and implement a process for parents, guardians, or unaccompanied youth who have complaints about enrollment to file an appeal with the district’s Homeless Liaison upon registering or attempting to at the school. Enrollment shall be deemed to include attending classes and participating fully in school activities. The burden shall be on the school or the Homeless Liaison to show that the student is not a homeless student or unaccompanied youth.

House Bill 150 modified admission requirements for students entering kindergarten. The legislation changes the age requirement stating that a child can be enrolled for kindergarten if the child reaches or reached the age of 5 on or before August 31, rather than October 16, of the school year. This new cut off date will become effective with the 2009-2010 school year.

House Bill 1357 states that a student who is not a domiciliary of a local school administrative unit may attend, without payment of tuition, the public schools of the unit if his or her parent or legal guardian is on active military duty and is deployed out of the local school administrative unit in which the student resides.

The Office of Student Due Process has made minor revisions to align the policy with current practices.

Revisions have been made with the input of staff, and have been reviewed by board attorney Ann Majestic. The Policy Committee reviewed and approved the recommended revisions on August 28, 2007.

BOARD GIVES PRELIMINARY APPROVAL TO DUE PROCESS POLICY 6530
At its Sept. 19 meeting, the Board of Education gave first reading approval to revisions in Due Process Policy 6530. The revisions take into account recent legislative changes included in House Bill 1739. The revised law allows students placed on short term suspensions to take their textbooks home for the duration of the short term suspension, to have access to homework assignments, and to ensure that parents receive actual notice of a student's expulsion or suspension from school. Revisions to the policy were made with the input of staff, and after review by board attorney Carolyn Waller. The Policy Committee reviewed and approved the recommended revisions on August 28, 2007.      

CALENDAR

Oct. 9   9:30 a.m., Facilities Committee Meeting - Board Conference Room; 12:30 p.m. - Policy Committee Meeting - Board Conference Room; 2:30 p.m. - Finance Committee Meeting - Board Conference Room.
Oct. 16 1 p.m., Board of Education Committee of the Whole Meeting – Board Conference Room; 3 p.m., Board of Education Meeting – Board Room
Oct. 17

9 a.m., Joint Meeting of the Wake County Board of Commissioners and Board of Education – Board Conference Room, second floor at 3600 Wake Forest Road, Raleigh
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