The State Board has approved waivers from participating in the NC Final Exam process for

the 2014-15 school year for the following LEAs and charter schools: Alexander County

Schools, Alleghany County Schools, Ashe County Schools, Avery County Schools, Casa Es-

peranza Montessori, Caswell County Schools, Catawba County, Chapel Hill-Carrboro

Schools, Charlotte Mecklenburg Schools, Cherokee County Schools, Cornerstone Charter

Academy, Currituck County Schools, Elkin City Schools, Graham County Schools, Guil-

ford Preparatory Academy, Henderson County Schools, Hickory City Schools, Hickory

City and Piedmont Community Charter, Iredell-Statesville Schools, Jackson County

Schools, Johnston County Schools, Macon County Schools, McDowell County Schools,

Montgomery County Schools, Mooresville Graded School District, Mount Airy City

Schools, Newton-Conover Schools, Pinnacle Classical Academy, Polk County Schools, Un-

ion County Schools, Randolph County Schools, Rutherford County Schools, Stanly

County Schools, Stokes County Schools, Surry County Schools, Thomas Jefferson Classical

Academy, Union Academy Charter, Vance Charter School, Watauga County Schools,

Wilkes County Schools, and Yadkin County Schools.

Approved Waivers from NC Final Exams

NCAE SBE Review:

Instructional Policy Updates J A N U A R Y 2 0 1 5

S P E C I A L P O I N T S

O F I N T E R E S T :

Eric Davis of Charlotte

was sworn in as an At-

large State Board of

Education member.

Evelyn Bulluck of Nash/

Rocky Mount is the NC

School Boards Associa-

tion Dingman Award

winner and will be the

newest SBE advisor for

this school year.

The following 2014

National Blue Ribbon

Schools were recog-

nized:

Briarcliff Elementary in

Wake, Caldwell Early

College in Caldwell,

Raleigh Charter High

School in Wake, Shoals

Elementary School in

Surry, and West

Elementary School in

Cleveland.

Recognized Angie

Sigmon of Newton-

Conover as the 2015

Milken Award winner.

AT&T President,

Vanessa Harrison pre-

sented to the Board the

2015 Heritage Calendar.

Exemplary Alternative

Education Programs

Turning Point Day

Treatment Center pro-

vided an overview of its

program for students

with very special issues.

NCAE SBE Review January 2015

The 10-Point Grading Scale will go into effect for all high school

students beginning in the 2015-16 school year. The SBE decided, due to

grassroots efforts, that a phase-in of the new grading system would create

issues for students and teachers. The weighting of grades based on courses taken will be

phased in over time. DPI noted that Power School will be able to create formulas to en-

sure success for this change.

P A G E 2

Other SBE Action

Founding Principles Course

The SBE approved the renaming of the Civics and Economics required course, to

American History: The Founding Principles, Civics and Economics to reflect align-

ment to legislation requiring a semester course be taught covering he Founding Principles.

Currently in the NC Essential Standards, the founding principles are taught in grades 4, 5, 8,

and high school US History. These principles are not taught in isolation.

NCDPI also recommends that Local Education Agencies use the many resources available on

the NC DPI Social Studies Wiki as instructional resources to teach the Founding Principles,

including the Bill of Rights Institute, Center for Civic Education, Federal Resources for Educa-

tional Excellence (FREE), Kids Voting, Library of Congress, LEARN NC, National Humanities

Center (NHC), NC Bar Association (NCBA) – Law-Related Education, NC Civic Education

Consortium, Primary Source Documents Pertaining to Early American History, and We The

People – National Endowment for the Humanities.

1. Approved the following reports: Implementa-

tion of the ABCs and Statewide Consolidated

Assistance Program, Education of Children in

Private Psychiatric Residential Treatment Facil-

ities (PRTFs), Process for Assumption of Inad-

equately Performing Charter Schools.

2. Approved the following policy changes regard-

ing: Academic Achievement Standards (cut

scores), Textbook policies, Driver Education

policy revisions , NC Public School Personnel

State Salary Manual revisions, Career and

Technical Education credential allotment.

3. Approved the following 14 applications out of

41 that applied for an After-school Program

Quality Improvement Grant: Above and

Beyond Students, Mecklenburg; Greene

County Schools, Cabarrus County

Schools, Jackson County Schools,

Charlotte Community Services Associa-

tion, and Citizen Schools; Mecklen-

burg, Winston Salem/Forsyth County,

Northampton County Schools,

McCloud's Computer & Skills Training

Center, Inc., Communities In Schools

of Wake County, Stokes County

Schools, Mount Airy City Schools; Sur-

ry, Montgomery County Schools, Pub-

lic Schools of Robeson, Youth Devel-

opment Initiatives; Mecklenburg, Beau-

fort County Schools, and McDowell

County Schools. The total amount of

the grant for these 17 programs is $4.8

NCAE SBE Review: Instructional Policy Updates

NCAE SBE Review January 2015

Global Initiatives Impacting School Communities

P A G E 3

North Carolina continues to move

forward in supporting students,

teachers and schools to be globally

aware. The following initiatives were

approved by the SBE:

1. Revising the High School Diplo-

ma Endorsement policy, where the

student’s diploma provides recogni-

tion and indicates job-ready skills

and expanded college opportunities.

The additional endorsement in-

cludes the Global Language Endorsement, indi-

cating a high school graduate has attained literacy

in other languages and cultural knowledge of

other countries for the workplace and post-

secondary studies in our interconnected econo-

my and communities.

2. The process for designating a Global Ready

School. For a school or district to be designat-

ed a Global-Ready school, the districts provide

a process and incentives and addresses, at the

least, the following:

K-12 world language opportunities for all

students;

Pathways for teachers, leaders and admin-

istrators to achieve SBE-recognized badg-

ing;

Career-ready employer requirements;

Global school partnerships; and

Local school board resolutions and plans

on global education.

3. NC DPI has informative webinars coming

up to assist educators in understanding the

Global Education Digital Badge for

Teachers. This page http://goo.gl/jYiH4x

will direct interested educators to the

webinars as well as the Implementation

Guide.

3. Discussed necessary changes

regarding the legislative virtual

charter pilot program and pro-

posed charter changes.

4. For the first time, the SBE as a

whole interviewed charter

school applicants. The normal

process is the Charter School

Advisory Commission inter-

views applicants and brings rec-

ommendations forward. The

CSAC did interview the two

virtual charter applicants, but

there were still issues and con-

cerns. The SBE conducted

interviews on Wednesday ask-

ing questions of each applicant.

Some of the questions were not

really answered and the SBE still has

concerns on the impact a virtual

charter will have on North Carolina

students. A SBE sub-committee will

continue working on proposals and

parameters to reflect on issues and

concerns such as, how not to have

“privileged student” virtual charters,

learning coaches when the parents

work away from home, socialization

skills of K-3 students, and accounta-

bility issues. A pilot should help NC

learn how to implement best

practices without students suffering.

The SBE will discuss and vote in

February on the virtual charter pilot.

1. Approved the charter schools

that will open in 2015-16 : Char-

lotte Lab School, Excelsior Classi-

cal Academy, Ignite Innovation

Academy, KIPP Durham College

Preparatory, Winterville Charter

Academy PAVE: Southeast

Raleigh Charter School, Piedmont

Classical High School, Queen City

STEM School, Shining Rock Clas-

sical Academy: CFA, VERITAS

Community School, and

Youngsville Academy.

2. Discussed charter school grade

and enrollment expansion, as

well as charter schools that are

up for renewal next year.

Charter School News

NCAE SBE Review January 2015

The Teacher Evaluation policy/process needs revising to clarify teacher observation requirements

and policy language to ensure alignment to statutory requirements. With the elimination of teach-

ers being able to earn career status, and based on language in the current statute, proposed changes

include adding experience along with career status (as there are teachers who have careers status).

The proposed policy revisions will help administrators discern what type of cycle a new teacher,

veteran teacher and career status teacher might be placed. Teachers with fewer than three years of

experience will continue to receive three formal observations, and a peer observation as outlined in

the current statute. Teachers with more than three years of experience must be evaluated annually

in accordance with one of the existing evaluation cycles, at the discretion of the local district. This

proposed policy changed will be voted on in February.