Archives: nc_schools

The State Board meets monthly and much of what is discussed is relevant to the work of LEARN NC.

These meetings are, for the most part, public. The agenda and other documents relevant to that month’s meeting is posted in advance on http://www.ncpublicschools.org/sbe_meetings/ so you can see what’s planned and decide if you want to participate. You may choose to attend or plan to listen to the audio stream.

Even if you don’t take in the meeting F2F or through streaming audio, you may find it is helpful to read the posted minutes and reports after the meeting or check out the Highlights or Legislative Report. These documents are posted a few weeks after the meeting so you will have to watch for them. Documents are organized according to the State Board goals (attached), so when you see cryptic headings for items like GCS1 or TPS3, those correlate to the goals related to Globally Competitive Students or 21st Century Professionals.

The annual report on teacher retention will be presented to the State Board this week.
http://www.ncpublicschools.org/sbe_meetings/0812/tcp/0812tcp05.pdf

Turnover is up, over 13.5% even when adjusted for VIF (Visiting International Faculty). Note that secondary math and science as well as EC (exceptional children) and ESL (English as a second language) continue to top the chart of hard-to-staff positions, validating anything we can do to support the recruitment and retention in those areas.

LEAs with the highest turnover are concentrated in the eastern part of the state. Weldon City lost over 40% of their teachers this year.

At the end (pages 51-53) there is a report by Eric Hirsch who works with us in the Teachers’ Working Conditions (TWC) survey indicating the role of good working conditions in retaining teachers. Trust, mutual respect, minimization of paperwork, shielding of teachers from unnecessary disruptions, and strong mentors for new teachers are all strong in the systems experiencing highest teacher retention. Further validation for the need to treat teachers as professionals and the dire need for new teacher supports.