North Carolina Department of Public Instruction (NCDPI) is focused on improving the 5-year graduation rates for all students with disabilities. To make progress toward the state-identified measurable result (SIMR), the state recognized that a single evidence-based practice (EBP) would not address the diverse needs of all the local entities across…

States use their accountability systems to identify low-performing schools, which can receive added support and are expected to improve. Alternative schools serve students whose needs are not met in a regular school. They often serve at-risk students who are struggling academically or behaviorally. Given this unique population, the Government…

A growing number of states are interested in tracking the readiness of children entering kindergarten. In 2010, just seven states (Alaska, Connecticut, Florida, Hawaii, Maryland, Minnesota, and Vermont) collected Kindergarten Entry Assessment (KEA) data for the purposes of aggregating data at the state level. Since this time, most states report…

Since March 2020, COVID-19 has required the implementation of remote learning options in K-12 public schools across North Carolina, ranging from fully online classroom experiences to hybrid scenarios in which students attend school both in person and remotely. In some locales, students continue to attend school in person most of the time, but with…

Beginning with the 2010-2011 school year the North Carolina State Board of Education (SBE) mandated the use of the North Carolina Teacher Evaluation Process (Evaluation Process) for use in all public school systems in the state to conduct teacher observations and evaluations. The Evaluation Process replaced the Teacher Performance Appraisal…

States, programs, and schools have long focused on the inputs of teacher preparation--the rules for candidates and the preparation programs they attend--because inputs were thought to predict teacher effectiveness, and because they were often the best option available. But in the early 2000s, policymakers began trying to evaluate preparation…

Recent educational accountability efforts have married student assessments with reform mandates and sanctions. As a result, students--beginning in early elementary grades--are feeling the pressures of this new era of high-stakes accountability. This article chronicles a story of the consequences of high-stakes testing on a father and his son.…

Recently, the Northwest Evaluation Association (NWEA) completed a study to connect the scale of the North Carolina State End of Grade (EOG) Testing Program used for North Carolina's mathematics and reading assessments with NWEA's Rausch Interval Unit (RIT) scale. Information from the state assessments was used in a study to establish…

Wake County Public School System's (WCPSS) 102 elementary schools have implemented standards-based grading. This grading practice is aligned with North Carolina's Student Accountability Standards and the WCPSS Promotion/Intervention policy. Standards-based report cards were designed to reflect student mastery of state standards and provide an…

"Taking Stock and Pushing Forward" (2014) reports states' progress toward the Challenge to Lead 2020 Goals for Education. State-specific documents report on student achievement as well as essential state policies to improve it. Among the many metrics: how states are improving achievement on NAEP [National Assessment of Educational…

The manual, intended for local education agency administrators, outlines Program Quality Evaluation (PQE), North Carolina's approach to measuring special education programs. Chapter 2 establishes the rationale of evaluation and advocates the goal-based approach. Chapter 3 lists three program goal areas (determining learner gains/outcomes, locating…

The manual is intended to help local education agencies assess the overall quality of its programs and services for academically gifted students. The approach can aid in future planning by measuring the extent to which current goals are being met. Chapter 2 outlines the program goal approach and sets forth three major goals (and their related…

This document concerns performance appraisal as mandated by the North Carolina Legislature for all certified educational professionals. It notes that, in 1985, all newly certified professional education personnel, including school psychologists, came under the Initial Certification Program (ICP) requirements which issued newly certified school…

The characteristics of a state-mandated principal evaluation system are presented based on a survey of 149 principals and 121 superintendents in North Carolina. The means by which satisfaction with the evaluation process are related to the means for assessing performance, the criteria applied to principals' work, and the type and sources of…

Examines research on high stakes testing and its relationship to student outcomes, presenting data from Massachusetts and North Carolina on state trends related to high stakes testing. Findings suggest that non-white, non-Asian students, and students with special needs and English language learners, are the groups most deeply affected by high…