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S. HRG. 111–1117 

FOSTERING INNOVATION IN EDUCATION 

FIELD HEARING 

OF THE

COMMITTEE ON HEALTH, EDUCATION, 

LABOR, AND PENSIONS 

UNITED STATES SENATE 

ONE HUNDRED ELEVENTH CONGRESS 

SECOND SESSION 

ON

EXAMINING ELEMENTARY AND SECONDARY EDUCATION ACT (ESEA) 

REAUTHORIZATION, FOCUSING ON FOSTERING INNOVATION IN EDUCATION 

APRIL 19, 2010 (Charlotte, NC) 

Printed for the use of the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions 

( 

Available via the World Wide Web: http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/ 

COMMITTEE ON HEALTH, EDUCATION, LABOR, AND PENSIONS 

TOM HARKIN, Iowa, Chairman 

CHRISTOPHER J. DODD, Connecticut 

BARBARA A. MIKULSKI, Maryland 

JEFF BINGAMAN, New Mexico 

PATTY MURRAY, Washington 

JACK REED, Rhode Island 

BERNARD SANDERS (I), Vermont 

SHERROD BROWN, Ohio 

ROBERT P. CASEY, JR., Pennsylvania 

KAY R. HAGAN, North Carolina 

JEFF MERKLEY, Oregon 

AL FRANKEN, Minnesota 

MICHAEL F. BENNET, Colorado 

MICHAEL B. ENZI, Wyoming 

JUDD GREGG, New Hampshire 

LAMAR ALEXANDER, Tennessee 

RICHARD BURR, North Carolina 

JOHNNY ISAKSON, Georgia 

JOHN MCCAIN, Arizona 

ORRIN G. HATCH, Utah 

LISA MURKOWSKI, Alaska 

TOM COBURN, M.D., Oklahoma 

PAT ROBERTS, Kansas 

DANIEL SMITH, Staff Director 

FRANK MACCHIAROLA, Republican Staff Director and Chief Counsel 

(II) 

C O N T E N T S 

STATEMENTS 

MONDAY, APRIL 19, 2010 

Page 

Hagan, Hon. Kay R., a U.S. Senator from the State of North Carolina, 

opening statement ................................................................................................ 1 

Shah, Shivam Mallick, Director of Special Initiatives, Office of Innovation, 

and Improvement, U.S. Department of Education, Washington, DC .............. 4 

Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 6 

Garland, Rebecca, Ed.D, Chief Academic Officer, North Carolina Department 

of Public Instruction, Raleigh, NC ...................................................................... 8 

Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 10 

Clark, Ann Blakeney, Chief Academic Officer, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools, 

Charlotte, NC ....................................................................................................... 14 

Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 15 

Arbuckle, Margaret Bourdeaux, Ph.D., Executive Director, Guilford Education 

Alliance, Greensboro, NC .................................................................................... 17 

Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 19 

Setser, Bryan, Executive Director, North Carolina Virtual Public Schools, 

Raleigh, NC .......................................................................................................... 21 

Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 23 

Rectanus, Karl, Leader, NC Stem Community Collaborative, Durham, NC ...... 24 

Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 25 

McCray, Mary, Teacher, Community House Middle School and Local President of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Association of Educators .......................... 28 

Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 30 

(III) 

(1) 

FOSTERING INNOVATION IN EDUCATION 

MONDAY, APRIL 19, 2010 

U.S. SENATE, COMMITTEE ON HEALTH, EDUCATION, LABOR, AND PENSIONS, Charlotte, NC. 

The committee met, pursuant to notice, at 10:58 a.m., at E. E. 

Waddell High School, 7030 Nations Ford Road, Charlotte, NC, Hon. 

Kay Hagan presiding. 

Present: Senator Hagan. 

OPENING STATEMENT OF SENATOR HAGAN

Senator HAGAN. All right. The Senate Committee on Health, 

Education, Labor, and Pensions will come to order. I want to start 

by thanking the principal, Lisa Bowen, and the assistant principals, Jed Yakin and Marvin Bradley, here at E. E. Waddell High 

School for hosting our hearing today. 

I know we were talking to the principal earlier, and we would 

like the ROTC to join us to say the Pledge of Allegiance. So if we 

could go ahead and do that, that would be wonderful. 

Are they ready? 

[Pledge of Allegiance.] 

Senator HAGAN. Thank you. That was excellent. I want to thank 

our students. 

I recently got back from visiting our troops in Iraq and Afghanistan and also got to go to Pakistan, and I am so incredibly proud 

of the young men and women who are serving us in our country 

today overseas and here at home to keep us safe. They are just 

doing an incredible job. These young men and women I know, too, 

are doing a great job here. So thank you very, very much. 

I know that here at E. E. Waddell, this is the only early college 

high school model in the Charlotte-Mecklenburg school system. I 

know the early college high school programs are so important in 

preparing our students to compete in the global marketplace, and 

I am happy to know that so many students are taking advantage 

of this program. 

I was actually a member of the State legislature when we first 

started forming the early colleges, and I had an intern—a young 

woman who had dropped out of high school, attended early college 

at GTCC, and then became an intern for me, she then matriculated 

to UNC-Chapel Hill and graduated. So let me tell you, our early 

college programs are a true success in North Carolina. 

I know that there is a civics and government class here attending 

the hearing this morning, and I just want to welcome the students 

here. Thank you very much for coming. It is great to see that you 

2 

are interested in how government works, and I apologize for having 

my back to you for some of this meeting. 

But as our country’s future leaders, everything we do is for you 

right here. So thank you for being here. We look to you to be the 

leaders of the future here in the United States. 

I also want to thank all of the witnesses for being here to share 

your thoughts, and insights with us. As educators and advocates 

from across the State and the U.S. Department of Education, it is 

people like you that the rest of us count on to do this very incredibly hard work and very rewarding work. 

As the Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee continues in a series of hearings like this in preparation for the reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, I 

thought it was important to hold a hearing here in North Carolina 

so that I can hear firsthand what is going on in the State and ask 

others what is important to them. 

Fostering Innovation in Education is a broad topic and one that 

can be interpreted and applied in many different ways, but it is 

certainly not a concept unfamiliar to us in North Carolina. Our 

State was first in flight when the Wright brothers first gave man 

the ability to fly. We were the first to have a public university, an 

institution that has made a commitment to providing quality education to all North Carolinians, regardless of economic background. 

When I tell people in Washington that North Carolina was the 

first public university, they say the Harvards and the Princetons 

were before us, but those are private universities. We were the first 

State to have a public higher institute of education. We also have 

one of the best community college systems in the country, and we 

have produced a program that allows high school students to enroll 

in community college classes and, in many instances, graduate 

from high school with a 2-year degree already in hand. 

We know how to leverage private-public partnership as evidenced 

by rural Bertie County, who partnered with Internet provider 

CenturyLink to provide broadband Internet in 1,500 homes of students in Bertie County for 5 years. 

We are also a leader in recruiting great teachers and leaders for 

our most struggling schools, measuring teacher effectiveness, and 

compensating teachers for their performance. Across the country, 

people look to this school district here where we are visiting today, 

Charlotte-Mecklenburg, one of the largest school districts in the 

State, as the leader and innovator in improving the performance of 

the adults in the classroom, guided by the belief that every child 

deserves a highly effective teacher. 

I just saw Jennifer Roberts come in. Jennifer is the chairman of 

the county commissioners. I really welcome and appreciate you 

being here today, too. 

In North Carolina, we understand that our economic strength as 

a country is dependent on ensuring that we have well-educated and 

highly skilled workers ready to compete in the global marketplace. 

Research and statistics already demonstrate that if we do not improve the quality of our public schools and outcomes for our children, our country is going to lag behind other developed nations. 

The longer we wait to fix this problem, the worse off we know we 

will be. 

3 

Studies show that in North Carolina, for every freshman class in 

high school, approximately 46,000 students don’t graduate 4 years 

later. Experts estimate that the lost lifetime earnings for those 

46,000 students will total over $12 billion. So be sure that we communicate to all of your friends and fellow classmates they have got 

to stay in school. That should be frightening for all of us. 

Something else frightening is that the Department of Education 

estimates that there are approximately 5,000 chronically underperforming schools in the country. That is nearly 5 percent of our Nation’s public schools. We certainly cannot afford to allow chronically 

underperforming schools to get away with improperly serving our 

students. 

Turning around these schools I know is a daunting task, but we 

in North Carolina are up to the challenge, and we are already way 

ahead of the game. We also must ensure that every child is receiving a well-rounded education. I am a strong believer that subjects 

including reading, math, and science are important. But it is also 

important to have art, music, and foreign language that keeps our 

kids coming back to school day in and day out. 

I also believe that we need to have financial literacy education. 

Just as I have done in North Carolina, the first bill that I introduced in the U.S. Senate is the Financial Literacy for Students Act, 

which will incentivize States to incorporate curriculum in grades 6 

to 12 to teach our kids about finance. I think it is a critical component to ensuring that our kids are career and college ready, and 

we must do a better job of educating students on financial literacy. 

The Administration’s blueprint represents some significant improvements from No Child Left Behind. I especially appreciate the 

focus on creating college- and career-ready students and the emphasis on the creation of and continued use of innovative programs 

that work. 

As the only developed Nation with a younger generation of students that people say have a lower level of high school or equivalent education than the older generation, we have a lot of work to 

do, and the time is now. We have to make tough choices if we are 

going to accomplish our President’s goal that every child being 

career- and college-ready by 2020 and that the United States will 

lead the world in college completion by that year as well. 

I believe that the decisions that we make and the work that we 

do in Congress will undoubtedly have a major impact on future 

generations. 

Thank you for being here with us today. 

I am going to introduce the witnesses, and then we will start. 

First, Shivam Shah is the Director of Special Initiatives in the 

Office of Innovation and Improvement at the U.S. Department of 

Education. Shivam is responsible for leading the development and 

implementation of the Promise Neighborhood initiative and many 

other innovative programs at the Department of Education. 

Next, Rebecca Garland, chief academic officer for the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction. As chief academic officer, 

Dr. Garland provides leadership in all areas involving curriculum, 

instruction, accountability, and teacher quality, just to name a few. 

And following Dr. Garland is Mrs. Ann Clark, who comes from 

my hometown of Greensboro. Mrs. Clark is the chief academic offiVerDate Nov 24 2008 12:53 Mar 06, 2012 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6633 S:\DOCS\56125.TXT DENISE
4 

cer here in Charlotte for the Charlotte-Mecklenburg School District. Mrs. Clark held a variety of teaching and administrative positions at CMS since joining the district in 1983. 

Mrs. Margaret Arbuckle is the executive director of the Guilford 

Education Alliance, a county-wide nonprofit organization that supports quality education for all of Guilford County’s children. Our 

children grew up together, so Dr. Arbuckle and I go way back. 

Bryan Setser is the executive director of North Carolina’s Virtual 

Public School. He is an innovative leader who has tripled our online enrollment to over 65,000 students. 

Following Mr. Setser is Karl Rectanus. Karl leads our NC STEM 

Community Collaborative, and in this role, he works to align North 

Carolina communities to successfully structure science, technology, 

engineering, and math disciplines in their schools. 

And then last, but certainly not least, is Mrs. Mary McCray, who 

has been an elementary schoolteacher for 32 years and has taught 

in the Charlotte-Mecklenburg School District for the last 22 years. 

And if that isn’t enough, Mrs. McCray also is the president of the 

Charlotte-Mecklenburg Association of Educators, an affiliate of the 

NEA. 

Now we will begin with Ms. Shah for testimony. We will ask you 

to limit your testimony to 5 minutes. Once you have concluded your 

remarks, we will begin the question and answer portion of the 

hearing. 

Before we begin, I did want to also mention Vilma Leake. Vilma 

Leake is a country commissioner and one of my dear friends. I also 

would like to acknowledge Avery Staley from the Lieutenant Governor’s office. Thank you. 

OK, Ms. Shah. 

STATEMENT OF SHIVAM MALLICK SHAH, DIRECTOR OF SPECIAL INITIATIVES, OFFICE OF INNOVATION AND IMPROVEMENT, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION, WASHINGTON, DC 

Ms. SHAH. Good morning, everyone. 

Senator Hagan, thank you for the opportunity to address this 

committee and the students, faculty, and friends of the E. E. 

Waddell High School to discuss the ways in which the U.S. Department of Education is committed to fostering innovation in education. And thank you for your support locally here in North Carolina, as well as nationally. 

It is no secret that to keep up with the demands of a global economy, every student must graduate high school with college- and career-ready skills. But the reality is that 3 in 10 students fail to 

complete high school on time, and of those who do, only two-thirds 

enroll in a college or university. Completion rates for those who 

seek a post-secondary degree or certification do not keep pace with 

enrollment. The statistics for minority students, low-income students, and English language learners are dramatically worse. 

What many of our schools need, to ensure that every student 

achieves success, is transformational change. It is not simply tinkering around the edges. Previous Federal efforts to improve our 

education system have largely been incremental, and they have 

yielded results that were less than adequate. 

5 

Today, however, we have a tremendous opportunity to re-envision and renew what public education looks like, and three factors 

have set the stage. First, President Obama is committed to the ambitious, but attainable goal of ensuring that America will regain its 

lost ground and have the highest proportion of students graduating 

from college in the world by 2020. 

Second, thanks to leadership from President Obama and Congress, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, the 

recovery bill, provided nearly $100 billion to support education, including a $5 billion investment for Race to the Top and the Investing in Innovation Fund, the largest one-time Federal investment in 

education in history. These funds heavily invest in education, both 

as a way to provide jobs now and to lay the foundation for longterm prosperity. 

Our Nation’s economic competitiveness and the path to the 

American dream depend on providing every child with an education 

that will enable them to succeed in a global economy. That success 

is going to be predicated on both knowledge and innovation. And, 

finally, Congress is working to reauthorize the Elementary and 

Secondary Education Act of 1965, which we hope will not only fix 

the problems of No Child Left Behind, but again establish a re-envisioned Federal role in education. 

To take advantage of this unprecedented opportunity, we must 

identify, support, and evaluate new educational models—models 

that focus on improving outcomes for students, teachers, and principals. And we must acknowledge that most of the best ideas come 

from local educators and are locally grown. That is why the Department of Education is committed to investing in evidence-based innovation to enhance the programs that we know are working and 

to bring them to scale. 

I want to tell you a little bit about the Investing in Innovation 

fund, which is the program that I run. It is one of the stimuluscreated funds. It is a $650 million fund, which provides competitive 

grants to school districts and nonprofits to expand the implementation of and investment in innovative practices in four areas—supporting effective teachers and principals, improving the use of data 

to accelerate student achievement, complementing the implementation of standards and assessments that do prepare students for 

success in college and careers, and turning around the persistently 

low-performing schools you described earlier. 

Grantees will also be required to form partnerships with the private sector to obtain matching funds. Applicants will be required 

to propose projects that develop or expand innovation in critical 

areas of education reform that will benefit high-need students. We 

are requiring that practices supported by i3 grants have a demonstrated effect on improving student achievement or student academic growth, closing achievement gaps, decreasing dropout rates, 

increasing high school graduation rates, or increasing college enrollment and college completion rates. 

Through i3, we are introducing a new rigorous, three-tiered evidence framework, which will direct different levels of funding to 

programs at different levels of development. Essentially, the highest level of funding will go to those programs with the strongest 

evidence. So there are three types of grants. 

6 

There are development grants, which require a reasonable hypothesis, and those will be used to support practices that are really 

still at an earlier stage of development. More fresh ideas, not necessarily new, but less proven. 

Validation grants will require a moderate level of evidence, and 

these grants will be aimed at validating and spreading promising 

programs to a regional scale. 

And then scale-up grants, which are the largest, in which applicants can request up to $50 million, will require strong evidence 

and will be aimed at bringing proven programs to national scale. 

In an effort to support what works, the i3 program also contains 

a robust evaluation component. We want to make sure that when 

Federal dollars are supporting work in the field that we can show 

over time that these programs are working and moving the needle 

for kids. 

We are going to require grantees to conduct independent program evaluation. We will broadly share the results of that work 

and of any evaluation of any i3-funded effort. Grantees must also 

participate in a ‘‘community of practice’’ so that they can share, 

document, and disseminate to the field the best practices and lessons that they have learned. 

On March 12th, the department released a notice inviting applications for i3 applications. Since then, we have received almost 

2,500 letters of intent to apply. We have also reached out and had 

three pre-application workshops in which over 4,000 people registered. By all measures, this was an unprecedented level of interest in a competitive grant program, and our team is gearing up to 

get ready to review and find some great ideas to support. But we 

think this level of interest is indicative of the enthusiasm around 

the country to innovate and to scale up effective, local strategies. 

So we are doing a lot at the department that we are excited 

about. i3 is just one component of that innovation work. We are requesting an additional $500 million in the ESEA. But aside from 

i3, we hope to use those funds to support a range of programs, including additional things like the early college high school programs you described, from financial literacy efforts, STEM projects, 

and a whole range of different things that we see working in the 

field that we would like to help bring to scale to help more kids 

achieve. 

Thank you. 

[The prepared statement of Ms. Shah follows:] 

PREPARED STATEMENT OF SHIVAM MALLICK SHAH

Good morning, Senator Hagan. Thank you for the opportunity to address this 

committee and discuss the ways in which the U.S. Department of Education is committed to fostering innovation in education. And thank you for your support for education, both here in North Carolina and nationally. 

BACKGROUND

It’s no secret that, to keep up with the demands of a global economy, every student must graduate from high school with college- and career-ready skills. But the 

reality is that 3 in every 10 students fail to complete high school on time and, of 

those who do, only two-thirds enroll in a college or university. Completion rates for 

those who seek a post-secondary degree or certification do not keep pace with enrollment. The statistics for minority students, low-income students, and English learners are dramatically worse. 

7 

What many of our schools need to ensure that every student achieves success is 

transformational change, not simply tinkering around the edges. Previous Federal 

efforts to improve our education system have largely been incremental and yielded 

results that were less than adequate. 

Today, however, we have a tremendous opportunity to re-envision and renew 

what public education looks like, and three factors have set the stage. First, President Obama is committed to the ambitious but attainable goal of ensuring that 

America will regain its lost ground and have the highest proportion of students 

graduating from college in the world by 2020. Second, thanks to leadership from 

President Obama and Congress, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 

2009 (Recovery Act) provided nearly $100 billion to support education, including a 

$5 billion investment for Race to the Top and the Investing in Innovation Fund, the 

largest one-time Federal investment in education in history. These funds invest 

heavily in education both as a way to provide jobs now and to lay the foundation 

for long-term prosperity. Our Nation’s economic competitiveness and the path to the 

American Dream depend on providing every child with an education that will enable 

them to succeed in a global economy that is predicated on knowledge and innovation. And, finally, Congress is working to reauthorize the Elementary and Secondary 

Education Act of 1965, which we hope will not only fix the problems of the No Child 

Left Behind Act, but also establish a re-envisioned Federal role in education. 

To take advantage of this unprecedented opportunity, we must identify, support, 

and evaluate new educational models—models that focus on improving outcomes for 

students, teachers, and principals. And we must acknowledge that most of the best 

ideas, policies, and practices are locally grown. That is why the Department of Education is committed to investing in evidence-based innovative practices to enhance 

these programs and bring them to scale. 

INVESTING IN INNOVATION

One program designed to do just that is the Investing in Innovation program, or i3. i3 provides for $650 million in competitive grants to school districts and nonprofit organizations to expand the implementation of, and investment in, innovative 

practices in the following four areas: 

1. Supporting effective teachers and principals; 

2. Improving the use of data to accelerate student achievement; 

3. Complementing the implementation of standards and assessments that prepare 

students for success in college and careers; and 

4. Turning around persistently low-performing schools. 

Grantees will also be required to form partnerships with the private sector to obtain matching funds. Applicants will be required to propose projects that develop or 

expand innovations in critical areas of education reform that will benefit high-need 

and other students. We are requiring that practices supported by an i3 grant have 

a demonstrated effect on: 

1. Improving student achievement or student academic growth; 

2. Closing achievement gaps; 

3. Decreasing dropout rates; 

4. Increasing high school graduation rates; or 

5. Increasing college enrollment and completion rates. 

Through i3, we are introducing a new rigorous, three-tiered evidence framework 

that will direct different levels of funding to programs at three different stages of 

development, with the highest level of funding going to programs with the strongest 

evidence: 

1. Development grants will require a reasonable hypothesis that the practice or 

strategy will result in significantly improved outcomes. The purpose of these grants 

will be to develop fresh ideas; 

2. Validation grants will require moderate evidence of effectiveness. These grants 

will be aimed at validating and spreading promising programs to a regional scale; 

and 

3. Scale Up grants will require strong evidence and will be aimed at bringing 

proven programs to national scale. 

In an effort to support what works, the i3 program also contains a robust evaluation component. We will require grantees to conduct an independent program evaluation and we will broadly share the results of any evaluations of i3 funded efforts. 

Grantees must also participate in a ‘‘community of practice’’ to share, document, and 

disseminate to the field best practices and lessons learned. 

On March 12, the Department released the notice inviting i3 applications. Since 

then, more than 2,400 letters of intent to apply have been submitted to the DepartVerDate Nov 24 2008 12:53 Mar 06, 2012 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6621 S:\DOCS\56125.TXT DENISE
8 

ment and approximately 4,000 people have participated in the three pre-application 

workshops and webinars. Interest in the i3 grant program has been tremendous, 

and is indicative of the enthusiasm that exists around the country to innovate and 

to scale up effective, local strategies. 

To help i3 applicants and to serve the larger purpose of creating an innovation 

community, the Department of Education has launched an online community, called 

the Open Innovation Portal. Though not a formal part of the i3 grant process, the 

portal is the first national forum that connects entrepreneurs, education stakeholders of all types, and funders for the purpose of partnering and developing and 

funding innovative ideas in the education sector. Through this portal, the Department hopes to provide a forum for like-minded individuals, who may choose to work 

in partnership, to accelerate the development, identification, and broad use of innovative products, practices, and processes to improve education in schools. 

INNOVATION IN ESEA

The reauthorization of the ESEA provides an opportunity to continue the i3 program. Our reauthorization proposal would build on the current i3 program, and provide additional competitive grants to expand the implementation of, and investment 

in, innovative and evidence-based practices, programs, and strategies that significantly improve student outcomes. The Secretary would continue to use a rigorous 

three-tiered evidence framework that directs the highest levels of funding to programs with the strongest evidence. 

The Secretary could also give preference to applications that propose to develop 

or expand innovations in specific pressing needs, such as improving the teaching 

and learning of science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) subjects, improving early-learning outcomes, addressing the learning needs of English learners and 

students with disabilities, and serving schools in rural areas. The Secretary could 

also reserve funds for inducement prizes to drive breakthrough innovations in education or for dramatic and innovative approaches to improving educational outcomes. 

In addition to developing and scaling up programs through i3 that have demonstrated success and working to discover the next generation of innovative solutions, we want the reauthorized ESEA to support many effective strategies that are 

already in broad use. Those include innovative strategies such as charter schools, 

full-service community schools, Promise Neighborhoods, virtual schools, magnet 

schools, and early college high schools—of which I know you are a strong supporter, 

as well as whole school reforms such as lengthening the school day or year, and 

transforming school culture. 

CONCLUSION

Innovation in education is more than just trying something new. It’s about implementing and expanding strategies that improve outcomes. To help drive innovation 

in education, the Department of Education will look to the field for the best ideas, 

ideas that typically come from local educators. And we will offer incentives to 

States, districts, and nonprofit organizations to work together on efforts to implement and share effective strategies, evaluate and enhance them, ensure their longterm sustainability, and bring them to scale. 

Senator HAGAN. Thank you. 

Ms. Garland. 

STATEMENT OF REBECCA GARLAND, CHIEF ACADEMIC OFFICER, NORTH CAROLINA DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC INSTRUCTION, RALEIGH, NC 

Ms. GARLAND. Thank you, Senator Hagan, for inviting me here 

today to talk about innovation in North Carolina, and I also thank 

you for your continued support of the public school students in 

North Carolina with your work in the General Assembly and in the 

U.S. Senate. 

In August 2006, the State Board of Education adopted a visionary, ambitious strategic plan for improving public education in our 

State, and that plan continues to be in action today. The plan itself 

outlines efforts within five goal categories. 

9 

The first, globally competitive students, which involves the State 

boards working with standards and assessments. Twenty-first century professionals are working at improving effectiveness among 

teachers, school leaders, and the preparation programs at higher 

education and making sure that we have healthy students and students who are able to develop responsibility in child nutrition and 

financial literacy and civic engagement and in environmental literacy, that we have innovative programs that are seamless for 

post-secondary and that we improve our data systems. 

It is ironic that four of our five goals showed up in the Race to 

the Top four pillars. The primary author of that strategic plan was 

at that time Lieutenant Governor Beverly Perdue and since being 

elected as the Governor of the State has continued the initiatives 

started in that strategic plan and has enhanced them through her 

Ready, Set, Go agenda. 

While North Carolina has many innovative programs, I will focus 

on education programs and policy that is innovative and has a 

State-wide impact. Even before the Common Core discussions 

among the various States, North Carolina made a commitment to 

rewrite its entire standard course of study and to rewrite all of the 

end-of-course and end-of-grade assessments. We plan to replace 

those assessments with a balanced assessment system that will be 

delivered electronically through a learner management system. 

The balanced assessment program will include diagnostic measures that are engaged to allow teachers to be able to target at the 

individual student level where that student needs to improve, but 

also informative benchmark assessments so that the teacher knows 

how to restructure instruction in that classroom to meet the needs 

of all of the students and ensure that every student continues to 

move forward. 

The second area is in the area of effective teachers, leaders, and 

preparation programs. In addition to new content standards for 

students, we have new professional practice standards for all educators. What is innovative about this is that the same rubrics are 

applied at the practice teaching level—all the way from teachers, 

through principals, through sitting superintendents—get master’s 

in school administration programs so that everyone has come to a 

common understanding about what effective classroom instruction 

looks like and how an effective school is run. 

Students today are not the same students that came to school 50 

years ago. These students are not content to ‘‘sit and get.’’ They 

want to be engaged, and everybody in the educational system needs 

to understand how to impact those students. In addition to having 

the same standards, these folks will enjoy the same evaluation tool 

that we delivered electronically and also allow us at the State level 

to collect the data that the Federal Government now requires in 

terms of effective leaders and teachers. 

Paired with this is a huge effort on the part of the university system that now ranks its schools of education so that their information is on the table for all to see so that we can determine where 

the weaknesses are and begin to improve them. Also they are releasing data that compares their preparation programs to others, 

such as Teach for America, teachers from out of State, so that we 

can learn best practices from anyone who is preparing educators. 

10 

We also have an initiative in our State for college and career 

readiness that Senator Hagan alluded to. We have 70 early college 

high schools with 2 in planning and will be effective next year. 

That is more than any other State in the country and, in fact, at 

one time, we had more than all the other States combined. 

The purpose of those early college high schools is for students to 

graduate either with an associate’s degree or with transferable 

credit. In addition to having the brick and mortar early college 

high schools, students are able to access those programs through 

learn and earn online so that every student in the State had the 

opportunity to take advantage of higher education courses while 

they are in high school. 

We also have 44 redesign high schools in our State that are focused on the Bill and Melinda Gates small schools philosophy. You 

will hear something about STEM this morning from Karl Rectanus, 

who is here. 

The General Assembly in our State has been very proactive in 

funding the District and School Transformation Division at the department. The purpose of that division is to work with over 150 

schools across our State that are low performing. We work with 

them in terms of needs assessment and coaching so that we can 

build local capacity so that when department staff leave, the improvements do not regress. 

Also, we have a new North Carolina Virtual Public School that 

Dr. Setser is going to talk about this morning. It has been in effect 

now for the past 3 years and is ranked as one of the best in the 

country. Paired with that is a connectivity initiative that was funded by the General Assembly to make sure that broadband Internet 

service went to the schoolhouse door so that all students— 

Senator HAGAN. Ms. Garland, just a few more minutes. 

Ms. GARLAND [continuing]. OK. Would be able to take advantage. 

And finally, we have efforts underway to improve our data system in the State. We at the department now place our targets and 

goals online through a performance navigator so that the public 

will be able to judge for themselves the progress made from the 

public schools, as well as the Department of Public Instruction. 

We feel like there is a mountain of data that we have accumulated in North Carolina over 15 years with our accountability 

model, that we have the data to make good decisions. And if we 

will have the courage to make those hard decisions, we know how 

to improve outcomes for North Carolina students. 

[The prepared statement of Ms. Garland follows:] 

PREPARED STATEMENT OF REBECCA GARLAND, ED.D. 

Good morning, Senator Hagan. Thank you for inviting me to testify about educational innovation in North Carolina. On behalf of our 1.5 million North Carolina public school students, I would like to thank you for your support of public education in the U.S. Senate as well as your previous support while you were a member 

of our North Carolina General Assembly. 

In August 2006, the North Carolina State Board of Education adopted a visionary, 

ambitious strategic plan for changing public education. That plan continues to serve 

as the framework for major efforts in five broad areas—Globally Competitive Students (standards and assessments), 21st Century Professionals (effective teachers, 

leaders, and preparation programs), Healthy and Responsible Students, (child nutrition and healthy life style), Innovation in Schools (seamless education to post-secondary, charter schools, and redesign high schools) and 21st Century Systems (data 

11 

systems, turnaround processes for low-performing schools, and virtual education). 

See Attachment—Future-Ready Students for the 21st Century. 

Each of the four required pillars found in the components of the Race to the Top 

proposal were already identified in 2006 by the NC State Board of Education as 

areas in which North Carolina needed major overhaul and innovative practices. 

Using the Board’s vision as a foundation, the North Carolina Department of Public 

Instruction, the University of North Carolina System, and the North Carolina Community College System have worked seamlessly to introduce new initiatives that 

will ultimately result in improved outcomes for North Carolina students. Governor 

Beverly Perdue, who was a member of the State Board of Education in 2006 by virtue of her role as Lieutenant Governor, was the impetus for the Board’s strategic 

plan. Then Lieutenant Governor Perdue spearheaded the creation of the North 

Carolina Virtual Public School. Since assuming her current position, Governor 

Perdue endorsed continuation of the major programs initiated under the strategic 

plan. She has also enhanced those reform efforts with her Ready, Set, Go agenda, 

focusing efforts to ensure that all North Carolina students graduate from high 

school, college and career ready. 

While North Carolina has many innovative programs underway, I will focus on 

a few. We like to think of most of our programs as Second Generation. For the past 

15 years, North Carolina has led the Nation in accountability, support for lowperforming schools, and National Board certification for teachers. By using lessons 

learned from earlier work, we feel that our next generation of work allows us to 

stand on the foundation of solid evidence of what does and doesn’t work in our 

State. 

STANDARDS AND ASSESSMENTS

Even before the Common Core Content standards work began, the North Carolina 

Department of Public Instruction began rewriting the entire North Carolina Standard Course of Study with an eye toward fewer and more transparent standards 

based on 21st century knowledge and skills. Along with a new Standard Course of 

Study, North Carolina is rewriting its whole series of End-of-Grade and End-ofCourse assessments, paired with a balanced assessment system that will include diagnostic measures for the individual student as well as formative and benchmark 

tools for the teacher to adjust instruction. The assessments will be delivered online 

through a Learner Management System that will house curriculum and instructional tools for the teacher and learning activities and resources for the student. The 

assessments will include scenario-based performance tasks as well as more traditional items. North Carolina had a timeline in place for such a tool before the multistate assessment consortia were formed and before the economic decline. By joining 

in a multi-state group, North Carolina hopes to be able to move toward such a system in a shorter timeframe with the benefit of Federal grant resources. 

EFFECTIVE TEACHERS, LEADERS, AND PREPARATION PROGRAMS

In addition to new content standards, North Carolina educators have new professional practice standards written to address 21st century knowledge and skills and 

a new generation of students who expect schooling to be more than ‘‘sit and get.’’ 

The new Educator Evaluation System, required for all teachers and principals in the 

State, includes evaluation instruments for superintendents and central office staff, 

principals, teachers, and participants in teacher and school leader preparation programs. All of the instruments are aligned so that teachers in pre-service through 

sitting superintendents have the same expectations of what makes effective instruction and schooling. As a result of new standards, all of the pre-service programs at 

the public and private institutions of higher education are being revised and will 

be submitted to the North Carolina State Board of Education for approval. 

In addition to revising educational programs at all levels, the University of North 

Carolina System has undertaken an ambitious effort to evaluate and improve its 

preparation programs. In one recent study UNC ranked its teacher preparation programs in terms of student performance in public school classrooms. Another study 

using public school student performance data compared graduates from UNC programs with teachers prepared from other sources such as out-of-state, Teach for 

America, and private institutions. The UNC System is committed to using data to 

improve its preparation of education professionals. 

Both the evaluation system and the redesign of preparation programs are targeted 

at improved student performance. North Carolina has also approved alternative 

pathways to teacher and principal licensure and is currently investigating additional alternative programs. In North Carolina, educational leaders in K–12 and 

post-secondary are tightly focused on providing every student in our State with an 

12 

effective teacher and school leader regardless of the zip code in which the student 

resides. 

COLLEGE AND CAREER READY

North Carolina is committed to high school reform and to increasing the number 

of students who attend post-secondary school. In order to encourage first generation 

college attendance, North Carolina funds 70 Early College High Schools, with two 

more funded and in planning—the most of any other State. The Early Colleges are 

a cooperative effort between K–12 public school systems and the University of North 

Carolina campuses, the Community College campuses, and the Independent Colleges and Universities in North Carolina. The goal for the students is to graduate 

from high school in 5 years with a high school diploma, as well as an Associate’s 

Degree or transferable college credit that will be accepted by the University of North 

Carolina System and by many of the private institutions. Tuition and textbooks are 

provided by the State. Preference for entrance is given to first-generation college 

students. Early data indicate higher graduation rates at the Early Colleges—typically in the 90 percent range, as well as students who report favorably on their experiences on the campuses. 

North Carolina also has 44 redesign high schools that have been restructured 

around the small schools model. Many of the schools have adopted a STEM (Science, 

Technology, Engineering, and Math) focus. All students are enrolled in rigorous college preparatory courses. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has been instrumental in this initiative. 

EFFECTIVE SCHOOLS

The North Carolina General Assembly funds the District and School Transformation Division at the Department of Public Instruction in order to ensure that 

students in all North Carolina public schools get a sound education. Currently the 

Division works with over 150 schools. Schools are selected based on several directives—the NC Court System through the Leandro Hearings, the Governor’s List for 

high schools targeting those under 60 percent proficiency, Title 1 Improvement sanctions, the ABCs of Public Education sanctions, five DPI–LEA partnerships for comprehensive improvement, and one school system takeover initiative. In all of the 

schools, teachers receive additional support from ongoing instructional facilitators, 

principals receive assistance through ongoing coaching and needs assessments, and 

in six systems, the superintendent and central office personnel are paired with fulltime leadership coaches. In all instances the model is based on building local capacity for continuous improvement. After 2 years of implementation, the majority of 

targeted schools have posted significant student achievement gains. 

THE NORTH CAROLINA VIRTUAL PUBLIC SCHOOL (NCVPS)

The NCVPS is ranked as one of the best in the Nation. You will be receiving comments from Dr. Bryan Setser, the director of the program. The NCVPS has been 

made more effective because of the North Carolina Connectivity initiative in which 

the State has assumed responsibility for providing connectivity to each school in 

North Carolina. 

TRANSPARENT, DATA-DRIVEN SYSTEMS APPROACH

In all of the initiatives outlined above, staff members at the Department of Public 

Instruction are working using data, planning strategically, and soliciting input from 

stakeholders through a transparent process. Programs are evidenced-based using 

North Carolina data and lessons learned from past experiences. As data-systems improve, program selection and outcomes for students will improve. The Department 

tracks its own performance using a Performance Navigator that is open to public 

view and scrutiny. North Carolina is committed to data and innovation as the drivers for a more effective and efficient educational system. 

Thank you for allowing me to share some of our innovative practices. 

ATTACHMENT—FUTURE-READY STUDENTS: GOALS FOR THE 21ST CENTURY

The guiding mission of the North Carolina State Board of Education is that every 

public school student will graduate from high school, globally competitive for work 

and post-secondary education and prepared for life in the 21st century. 

13 

NC PUBLIC SCHOOLS WILL PRODUCE GLOBALLY COMPETITIVE STUDENTS

Every student excels in rigorous and relevant core curriculum that reflects what 

students need to know and demonstrate in a global 21st Century environment, including a mastery of languages, an appreciation of the arts and competencies in the 

use of technology. • Every student’s achievement is measured with an assessment system that informs instruction and evaluates knowledge, skills, performance and dispositions 

needed in the 21st Century. • Every student will be enrolled in a course of study designed to prepare them 

to stay ahead of international competition. • Every student uses technology to access and demonstrate new knowledge and 

skills that will be needed as a lifelong learner to be competitive in a constantly 

changing international environment. 

• Every student has the opportunity to graduate from high school with an Associate’s Degree or college transfer credit. 

NC PUBLIC SCHOOLS WILL BE LED BY 21ST CENTURY PROFESSIONALS

• Every teacher will have the skills to deliver 21st Century content in a 21st Century context with 21st Century tools and technology that guarantees student learning. 

• Every teacher and administrator will use a 21st Century assessment system to 

inform instruction and measure 21st Century knowledge, skills, performance and 

dispositions. 

• Every education professional will receive preparation in the interconnectedness 

of the world with knowledge and skills, including language study. 

• Every education professional will have 21st Century preparation and access to 

ongoing, high quality professional development aligned with State Board of Education priorities. 

• Every educational professional uses data to inform decisions. 

NC PUBLIC SCHOOL STUDENTS WILL BE HEALTHY AND RESPONSIBLE

• Every learning environment will be inviting, respectful, supportive, inclusive 

and flexible for student success. 

• Every school provides an environment in which each child has positive, nurturing relationships with caring adults. 

• Every school promotes a healthy, active lifestyle where students are encouraged 

to make responsible choices. 

• Every school focuses on developing strong student character, personal responsibility and community/world involvement. 

• Every school reflects a culture of learning that empowers and prepares students 

to be life-long learners. 

LEADERSHIP WILL GUIDE INNOVATION IN NC PUBLIC SCHOOLS

• School professionals will collaborate with national and international partners to 

discover innovative transformational strategies that will facilitate change, remove 

barriers for 21st Century learning and understand global connections. 

• School leaders will create a culture that embraces change and promotes dynamic, continuous improvement. 

• Educational professionals will make decisions in collaboration with parents, students, businesses, education institutions, and faith-based and other community and 

civic organizations to impact student success. 

• Public school professionals will collaborate with community colleges and public 

and private universities and colleges to provide enhanced educational opportunities 

for students. 

NC PUBLIC SCHOOLS WILL BE GOVERNED AND SUPPORTED BY 21ST CENTURY SYSTEMS

• Processes are in place for financial planning and budgeting that focus on resource attainment and alignment with priorities to maximize student achievement. 

• Twenty-first century technology and learning tools are available and are supported by school facilities that have the capacity for 21st Century learning. 

• Information and fiscal accountability systems are capable of collecting relevant 

data and reporting strategic and operational results. 

• Procedures are in place to support and sanction schools that are not meeting 

State standards for student achievement. 

Senator HAGAN. Ms. Clark. 

14 

STATEMENT OF ANN BLAKENEY CLARK, CHIEF ACADEMIC OFFICER, CHARLOTTE-MECKLENBURG SCHOOLS, CHARLOTTE, 

NC 

Ms. CLARK. Good morning, Senator Hagan. Thank you for the opportunity to tell you and your colleagues about some of the innovative work we are doing in Charlotte-Mecklenburg schools, including 

the great work being done here at E. E. Waddell High School under 

the leadership of Lisa Bowen and her team of teachers. 

I would like to tell you very briefly about three important initiatives now under way in CMS—strategic staffing, measuring teacher 

effectiveness, and pay for performance are three CMS initiatives 

intended to increase the performance of teachers, principals, and 

district employees on our way to our implementation of our strategic plan, ‘‘Teaching Our Way to the Top.’’ 

The strategic staffing initiative began in the 2007–2008 school 

year with 7 schools and has increased each year to a total today 

of 20 schools. As of the 2009–2010 school year, we have put in 

place at 20 of our most academically challenged schools some of our 

most successful principals and teachers into these struggling 

schools. The results have been remarkable with student achievement in some schools increasing by more than 20 percent on State 

tests in just 1 year. 

Strategic staffing has five tenets. A great leader is needed, a 

principal with a proven track record of success in increasing student achievement. Also, great teachers will not go to a troubled 

school without a great leader as a principal. 

A team with a track record of success needs to go to the school 

so a person is not alone in taking on this challenging assignment. 

There is strength and support in numbers. Staff members who are 

not supportive of reform need to be removed from the school. 

Principals must be given the time and authority to reform the 

school and be freed from the district list of ‘‘non-negotiables that 

constrain principal autonomy and flexibility. Not all job assignments are equal in difficulty, and compensation should be varied 

to match. 

Academic performance as measured by proficiency on State tests 

has risen at nearly every school where we have employed strategic 

staffing. Leadership at a school matters because the principal is 

the key lever for change. With the right principal and a strong core 

team of effective teachers in place, achievement rises and the 

school improves in other ways as well. 

For teacher effectiveness and for pay for performance, we again 

would believe that every child deserves an effective teacher. Great 

teaching lifts every child in a classroom. And when that happens, 

student achievement goes up. We are reshaping the way we train, 

evaluate, and compensate our teachers. This is a very broad-based 

reform initiative that is being launched in multiple ways. 

We began this work 2 years ago with the Department of Education Teacher Incentive Fund Leadership for Educators’ Advanced 

Performance initiative that is helping us pilot measures of teacher 

effectiveness using student learning objectives as a measure. We 

have been invited to take part in a national 2-year study to measure effective teaching funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. 

15 

The Strategic Data Project at Harvard has done another study 

of CMS that is the most in-depth research done on our teachers to 

date. Using student performance to measure teacher effectiveness, 

this study found very little correlation between teacher effectiveness as measured by student performance and advanced degrees. 

Some positive effects were detected for teachers with national 

board certification. Other factors affecting teacher performance 

that were evaluated by the study included which undergraduate institution the teacher attended and whether a teacher was hired 

late after the school year began. 

The study also found that nearly all of the improvement that occurs as teachers gain experience comes in the first 3 years of teaching. Therefore, we are focused on managing teacher performance by 

evaluating them based on student learning rather than choosing 

them based on experience or degrees. We are beginning with teachers, but ultimately, all employees in the Charlotte-Mecklenburg 

schools will be managed using pay for performance. 

We will develop a system of multiple indicators of effectiveness 

for each job in this district and use it to measure and compensate 

all employees. We also will be submitting an alternative compensation plan to the Department of Public Instruction and our legislative body as a potential to inform the work across the State. 

Thank you. 

[The prepared statement of Ms. Clark follows:] 

PREPARED STATEMENT OF ANN BLAKENEY CLARK

Good morning, Senator Hagan. Thank you for the opportunity to tell you and your 

colleagues about some of the innovative work we’re doing in Charlotte-Mecklenburg 

Schools. I’d like to tell you about three important initiatives now underway in CMS. 

All three of the initiatives are focused on improving the performance of adults, 

rather than children. That’s deliberate. We know that if our teachers, principals and 

administrators do a great job, then our students will achieve more. Every student 

can learn—as educators, we know that. We just have to do a better job of teaching 

every student. Strategic Staffing, Measuring Teacher Effectiveness and Pay for Performance are three CMS initiatives intended to increase the performance of teachers, principals and district employees. 

STRATEGIC STAFFING

The Strategic Staffing initiative began in the 2007–2008 school year with seven 

schools and has increased each year. As of the 2009–2010 school year, we have put 

it into place at 20 of our most academically challenged schools. Without intervention, any underperforming school can find itself trapped in a cycle of failure: Ineffective teachers and weak administrators lead to poor academic performance, which 

makes the school unattractive to the successful teachers and strong principals who 

could improve it. With the same staff and the same problems year after year, poor 

results become the norm—and a culture of failure takes root. 

Strategic Staffing addresses this challenge by putting some of our most successful 

principals and teachers into some of our most struggling schools. The results have 

been remarkable, with student achievement in some schools increasing by more 

than 20 percentage points on State tests in a year. Strategic Staffing is based on 

five tenets: 

• A great leader is needed, a principal with a proven track record of success in 

increasing student achievement. Also, great teachers will not go to a troubled school 

without a great leader as principal. 

• A team with a track record of success needs to go to the school so a person is 

not alone in taking on this challenging assignment; there is strength and support 

in numbers. 

• Staff members who are not supportive of reform need to be removed from the 

school. 

16 

• Principals must be given the time and authority to reform the school, and be 

freed from the district list of ‘‘non-negotiables’’ that constrain autonomy. 

• Not all job assignments are equal in difficulty and compensation should be varied to match. 

Let me tell you about one school in CMS that has benefited from Strategic Staffing: Sterling Elementary. At the end of 2008, student performance on State tests 

had fallen dramatically over the preceding 2 years. By 2008, only 29 percent of students had tested at proficient or above in both reading and math compared to 52 

percent in 2006. Sterling also had enrollment challenges. Nearly 90 percent of students were categorized as economically disadvantaged and Sterling’s students with 

limited english proficiency were increasing. Furthermore, surveys showed the 

school’s teachers were becoming increasingly unhappy with their jobs and with the 

school. 

A year later—in spring 2009—the picture was very different. Sterling was moving 

in a new direction. The percentage of students scoring at proficient or above on EOG 

tests had risen dramatically, far exceeding average district increases in math and 

reading: a 23 percent jump in math and a 14 percent jump in reading (without retesting). The school had become orderly, with smooth transitions between classrooms and sparkling facilities. Teachers tracked student progress and sent reports 

to parents, and the teachers were using twice-weekly, 90-minute planning periods 

to write common assessments, review data, and discuss what needed to be done to 

help students achieve even more. 

As Sterling Elementary shows, Strategic Staffing can turn a struggling school 

around. Academic performance, as measured by proficiency on State tests, has risen 

at nearly every school where we have employed it. Leadership at a school matters 

because the principal is the key lever for change. With the right principal and a 

strong core team in place, achievement rises and the school improves in other ways 

as well. 

MEASURING EFFECTIVE TEACHING/PAY FOR PERFORMANCE

For too long, many people have casually assumed that teaching can be done by 

anyone willing to assemble a lesson plan and show up in class. The truth is, it can’t. 

Great teachers bring enormous amounts of skill and heart to the job. Not everyone 

has the ability to be a great teacher—a point once made by the great violinist 

Jascha Heifetz. After a brilliant career playing the violin, Heifetz took a job as professor of music at UCLA. Someone asked him what had prompted his move to teaching, and he replied, ‘‘Violin-playing is a perishable art. It must be passed on as a 

personal skill. Otherwise it is lost. I remember my old violin professor in Russia. 

He said that someday I would be good enough to teach.’’ 

At CMS, we believe that every child deserves a teacher who is good enough to 

teach. Every child deserves an effective teacher because it’s so directly linked to 

achievement: The most important school-based factor in student learning is the 

classroom teacher. Great teaching doesn’t benefit just one group or one kind of student. Great teaching lifts every child in a classroom—and when that happens, student achievement goes up. 

So CMS is working to recruit and retain great teachers by reshaping the way we 

train, evaluate and compensate our teachers. This is a very broad-based reform initiative that is being launched in multiple ways. 

We began this work 2 years ago with a Teacher Incentive Fund-Leadership for 

Educators’ Advanced Performance initiative that is helping us pilot measures of 

teaching effectiveness using student learning objectives as a measure. CMS has also 

partnered with nearby Davidson College and the University of North Carolina at 

Charlotte to create a Charlotte Teachers Institute, which will train CMS teachers 

in scholarly content using the Yale National Initiative as a model. In addition, we 

have been invited to take part in a national 2-year study to measure effective teaching funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. That study, which will look at 

several districts across the United States, is part of the Gates-funded Strategic Data 

Project at Harvard, a national education initiative to help education leaders use 

data effectively to improve instruction and increase student achievement. 

CMS is the focus of another study by the Strategic Data Project that is the most 

in-depth research done on our teachers to date. The Center for Education Policy Research at Harvard, led by Dr. Jon Fullerton, examined teacher performance in the 

district as well as recruitment, retention, development and credentials. The study 

used results in reading and math for grades four through eight for the period from 

2003–2009, and it found very little correlation between teacher effectiveness, as 

measured by student performance, and advanced degrees. 

17 

Some positive effects were detected for teachers with National Board certification. 

Other factors affecting teacher performance that were evaluated by the study included which undergraduate institution the teacher attended and whether a teacher 

was hired late (after the school year began). The study also found that nearly all 

of the improvement that occurs as teachers gain experience comes in the first 3 

years of teaching. It also found that how a teacher enters the profession makes little 

difference in performance after 5 years—non-traditional routes to certification do 

not affect performance. 

At CMS, we are finding that great teachers are diverse. They come in all shapes 

and sizes. Some have master’s degrees. Some don’t. Some have National Board certification. Some don’t. Some are veterans. Some are in the second or third year of 

teaching. 

That diversity makes it impossible for us to accurately predict who’s going to be 

a great teacher and who isn’t. But we are learning what is not an accurate predictor: National research and research done by Harvard on CMS in particular shows 

that degrees and experience are not predictors of teaching excellence. 

Therefore we are focusing on managing teachers’ performance by evaluating them 

based on student learning. Pay for performance allows teachers to set high goals 

and be promptly rewarded for attaining them. This is a more equitable system than 

seniority or degree-based compensation because it is focused on student outcomes. 

What matters most is how well the student is educated, not the teacher! 

For teachers, pay for performance is actually a five-part plan. The five parts are: 

• Define it: Clearly define and measure teacher effectiveness. 

• Hire it: Base teacher recruitment on effectiveness. 

• Develop it: Provide access to training to help teachers improve. 

• Manage it: Provide accurate, timely and relevant data on teacher performance. 

• Pay for it: Revise the compensation structure so it is aligned with performance. 

Standards of effective teaching must be based on effectiveness in the classroom 

and student outcomes—how much students learn. We are using five core principles 

in the development of standards to measure effective teaching: We will work with 

our employees on this new way to measure performance. We will approach this work 

in a thoughtful, deliberate way. We will be truthful and transparent about this 

work. We will communicate clearly and regularly about this work. We are going to 

be innovative and creative, and we will resist false either-or choices. 

We are beginning with teachers, but ultimately, all employees in CMS will be 

managed using pay for performance. We will develop a system of multiple indicators 

of effectiveness for each job in the district and use it to measure and compensate 

all employees. 

Senator HAGAN. Thank you, Ms. Clark. 

Dr. Arbuckle. 

STATEMENT OF MARGARET BOURDEAUX ARBUCKLE, Ph.D., 

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, GUILFORD EDUCATION ALLIANCE, 

GREENSBORO, NC 

Mrs. ARBUCKLE. Good morning. It is a pleasure to be here and 

appear before this committee and be with my good friend, Senator 

Hagan. 

Guilford County Schools has a history of innovation, having been 

one of the first to provide early and middle colleges offering students alternative routes to graduation. It launched the State’s first 

in-house licensure program, and it is providing North Carolina’s 

first comprehensive pay-for-performance model, Mission Possible. 

In the 2005–2006 school year, principals who were recruiting 

teachers complained loudly that when they were attending teacher 

recruitment fairs, the schools in our district with high-needs student populations found themselves competing unsuccessfully for 

high-quality teachers, as new teachers preferred entering our more 

affluent schools. Led by the superintendent, teacher focus groups 

were formed and teachers were asked, ‘‘What would it take to attract you and other teachers to our high-needs schools?’’ 

18 

Following much discussion, several specific things were identified—strong, experienced principals; financial incentives, particularly to teach the tested subjects; performance compensation for 

academic results; relevant professional development with instructional coaches who are experienced master teachers; and smaller 

class sizes. 

Using criteria of teacher turnover rates, socioeconomic levels, 

adequate yearly progress, and ABC growth models, schools were selected. Initially, funding for the program was found by redirecting 

funds, resulting in over $2 million in local dollars to fund the four 

components of the program—compensation incentives, performance 

accountability, professional development and capacity building, and 

structural support for recruitment bonuses. 

The outcomes for Mission Possible are well described on our 

Guilford County Schools Web site. But in summary, they are: the 

impact of Mission Possible has been great in terms of maintaining 

faculty within our high-needs schools; providing appropriate differentiated professional development; and improvement in school 

climate as measured by a special measure developed specifically for 

the Mission Possible schools. 

However, there remains concern of whether there will be increased student achievement, a long-term, 5- to 6-year outcome. 

Using the ABC growth model, our students’ achievement is improving, but many are not yet achieving grade-level proficiency. 

There are several explanations for this at this time. Changing a 

school’s faculty takes time in order to result in having the total 

number of highly qualified, course-certified teachers in all positions. 

Based on the 1996 Sanders & Rivers research on impact of effective teaching on students’ increased academic performance, we 

know that, on average, fifth grade students with highly effective 

teachers 3 years in a row will score 50 percentile points higher on 

State-level exams than their peers. But in reverse, for students 

who have historically had ineffective teachers, it takes years to 

overcome this deficit. 

Students enrolled in these high-need schools have multiple issues 

that present high challenges to their academic success—family poverty, family illiteracy, home mobility, health, and mental health 

issues. These must be addressed, as well as providing the students 

with effective teachers. 

There are many lessons learned through the process of developing and implementing Guilford County’s Mission Possible initiative. The attraction of subject-matter qualified teachers for our 

highly impacted, low-performing schools has been quite successful. 

However, it is important to remind public policy makers that 

educational change takes time. Investment of resources, both financial and personnel, and flexibility is important. 

For too long, we have had ‘‘cookie cutter’’ approaches to education, requiring all teachers to attend the same workshops no 

matter the relevance, paying teachers the same amount no matter 

their students’ outcomes, and not recognizing that students have 

very differentiated needs. We must provide the support and guidance to our teachers to meet each child’s individual educational 

needs. 

19 

[The prepared statement of Ms. Arbuckle follows:] 

PREPARED STATEMENT OF MARGARET BOURDEAUX ARBUCKLE, PH.D. 

Good Morning. I am Margaret Bourdeaux Arbuckle, Executive Director of Guilford 

Education Alliance. Guilford Education Alliance is a countywide non-profit organization whose mission is to make quality education the top priority for our community 

in order for every person to achieve his educational potential. We conduct research, 

publish reports, convene education summits and community forums on specific education issues, advocate for funding for our public schools, connect resources into 

classrooms, and show case schools and students through community engagement activities. We are an affiliate of the national Public Education Network and are part 

of a network of North Carolina community-based independent non-profit educational 

advocacy organizations. We work closely with the Guilford County Public School 

District but we do not work for the district. We support many of the District’s efforts 

but also provide appropriate feedback to the Board of Education and the Administration when change is needed. 

Guilford County Schools has a history of innovation having been among the first 

to provide early and middle colleges offering students alternative routes to graduation, launching the State’s first in-house licensure program for alternatively certified 

teachers and in providing North Carolina’s first comprehensive pay for performance 

model, Mission Possible. Additionally the school district partners with Head Start 

and our State Smart Start/More at Four programs to provide pre-K programs to 

over 70 percent of identified at-risk young children. 

For background, the Guilford County School District hosts 120 schools with over 

72,000 students in 67 elementary, 22 middle, and 26 high schools, 14 traditional 

high schools and 8 middle/early colleges, and 7 alternative schools. There are 17 

magnet schools and four International Baccalaureate high schools. Guilford County 

had three schools with 100 percent graduation and three with 95 percent graduation 

last school year. Guilford County Schools is the largest employer in the region with 

close to 10,000 employees. 

But also, Guilford County Schools hosts 10 of the 75 low-performing schools in our 

State, representative of all levels. This year the percentage of students on Free/Reduced Lunch has grown to over 53 percent and there are over 150 languages/dialects 

spoken in our students’ homes representative of over 142 different cultural/ethnic 

groups. 

To address these many challenges, particularly those within our low-performing/ 

high-need schools, the district initiated a focused pay-for-performance model several 

years ago. This morning I will discuss Mission Possible, the pay for performance 

model with you. 

During the 2005–2006 school year, principals recruiting teachers complained loudly that when attending teacher recruitment fairs, the schools in our district with 

high-needs student populations found themselves competing unsuccessfully for 

teachers as new teachers preferred entering our more affluent schools. In particular, 

teacher applications to teach mathematics was at a very low number and the teacher turnover at our high-needs schools was very great. It was challenging to place 

an experienced principal at these schools and thus many had young inexperienced 

leaders. 

Led by the Superintendent, teacher focus groups were formed and teachers were 

asked, ‘‘What would it take to attract you and other teachers to our high-needs 

schools?’’ Following much discussion, several specific things were identified: (1) 

strong experienced principals, (2) financial incentives, particularly to teach the End 

of Grade-tested subjects, English and math, (3) performance compensation for academic results, (4) relevant professional development with instructional coaches who 

were experienced master teachers, and (5) smaller class sizes. 

Historically North Carolina teachers have been paid on the basis of academic degrees earned and longevity/experience in the position; this was true for all Guilford 

County teachers. Also, the staff development program was expansive but was workshop oriented with everyone’s participation expected. Class sizes varied upon grade 

level but generally the high-need schools did not have surrogate Gifted/Talented 

teachers that provided for an overall lower teacher/student ratio. 

Having the ideas from the teacher focus groups, the Superintendent put the idea 

of differentiated pay ‘‘on the table’’ for discussion in the community. Immediately 

there was press attention to it and great interest in the idea. Following rather heated discussion with the teachers’ organization which resulted in the question being 

posed, ‘‘what would you propose to recruit and retain teachers in our high-poverty 

schools?’’ which resulted in silence as the response, conversations with the business 

community, leadership of Guilford Education Alliance and others, the SuperVerDate Nov 24 2008 12:53 Mar 06, 2012 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00023 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6621 S:\DOCS\56125.TXT DENISE
20 

intendent proposed to the Board of Education in the spring of 2006 the funding of 

the Mission Possible program for 20 selected schools. 

Using criteria of teacher turnover rates, socioeconomic levels, Adequate Yearly 

Progress (AYP) and ABC growth models, schools were selected. Initially the funding 

for the program was found by redirecting funds through raising the class size in the 

fifth grade by .5 student/class and not filling 30 vacant teaching positions resulting 

in $2,073,624 in local dollars to fund the four components of the program: Compensation Incentives, Performance Accountability, Professional Development and 

Capacity Building, and Structural Support. 

In today’s discussion about School Reform initiatives, differentiated compensation 

has gained momentum but in 2006 this was seen as a very innovative, all but radical, proposal, particularly in North Carolina where teacher pay had such a long history of its being based on experience. Teachers joined the workforce making approximately $32,000/year and after 10 years of experience made about $8,000 more, including local pay supplements. Therefore to consider teachers being offered incentive 

pay to teach in specific schools and provided compensation for student performance 

created much attention. 

After the initial implementation, the UNC Administration and the local foundation community offered to expand the program with specific focus on teaching mathematics in high schools. Through the private funding, high school math teachers 

were provided a laptop, classroom technology, math coaching, summer institutes 

and an additional $4,000 stipend for attending the training programs. Following 

this implementation, Guilford County Schools became the first district to receive a 

Federal Teacher Incentive Fund grant of $8 million to differentiate teacher salaries. 

These additional dollars resulted in 30 Mission Possible Schools identified for the 

2007–2008 School Year and continuing henceforth. 

Agreed upon pay incentives are based on value-added scores for student academic 

performance. Teachers who produce gains of 1.0–1.49 above the district value-added 

mean receive a bonus of $2,500 and those who produce gains of 1.5 or more above 

the mean receive $4,000. 

Recruitment/Retention Incentives 

Position Incentive 

K–5 ............................................................................................................................................................................... $2,500 

6–8 Language Arts or Reading ................................................................................................................................... $2,500 

6–12 Math without a math degree or 24 content hours (C or above) ...................................................................... $2,500 

6–12 Math with a math degree or 24 content hours (C or above) ........................................................................... $9,000 

Algebra I ....................................................................................................................................................................... $10,000 

English I ....................................................................................................................................................................... $2,500 

Elementary Principal .................................................................................................................................................... $5,000 

Middle School Principal ............................................................................................................................................... $7,500 

High School Principal ................................................................................................................................................... $10,000 

Performance Incentives 

Position Level I 

(>1.0 SE) 

Level II 

(>1.5 SE) 

K–2 .................................................................................................................................................. Not Eligible Not Eligible 

3–5 Composite EOG ........................................................................................................................ $2,500 $4,000 

6–8 LA/Reading .............................................................................................................................. $2,500 $4,000 

6–12 Math ...................................................................................................................................... $2,500 $4,000 

Algebra I .......................................................................................................................................... $2,500 $4,000 

English I .......................................................................................................................................... $2,500 $4,000 

Performance Incentives 

Position Level I 

(>50%) 

School 

Makes AYP 

Level II 

(>75%) 

IB and AP Math ................................................................................................................. $2,500 $4,000 

Principal ............................................................................................................................. $5,000 

Curriculum Facilitator ........................................................................................................ $2,500 

21 

The Outcomes for Mission Possible have been published on the Guilford County 

Schools Web site, www.gcsnc.com/depts.missionlpossible. In summary they are: 

• For all 3 years of implementation, 100 percent of Mission Possible Positions 

were staffed on the first day of school. 

• The quality of the applicants for the teaching positions are more experienced 

and more qualified, licensed in English or Math. 

• Professional Development participation has been 100 percent Year 1, 99 percent 

year 2, and 95 percent Year 3 with evaluations of over 4.5 on a 1–5 point Likert 

Scale. 

• The Professional Development has been differentiated per teacher need. 

• From 2006–2007 to 2008–2009 school years, a total of $1,017,710 has been 

awarded for Value-Added Performance Awards representing from 13 percent to 75 

percent of teachers for each course measured, depending upon the course/level. 

• There is a shift in the population of teachers who are receiving Level I valueadded bonuses to increasing numbers receiving Level II value-added bonuses. 

• All but two of the schools received Performance Awards. 

• The Faculty Attrition Data was 11.7 percent as compared to 12.8 percent for 

the District average. 

The impact of Mission Possible has been great in terms of maintaining faculty 

within high-needs schools, providing appropriate differentiated professional development and improvement in School Climate as measured by a School Climate Indicator developed specifically for Mission Possible Schools. 

However, there remains concern in whether there will be Increased Student 

Achievement, a Long Term (5–6 year) Outcome. Using the ABC Growth Model our 

students’ achievement is improving but many are not achieving grade level proficiency. There are several explanations for why this is so at this time: 

1. Changing the faculty takes time in order to result in having the total number 

of highly qualified, course-certified teachers in all positions. For example, there can 

be 85 faculty members in a middle school and 4–5 of these positions change in a 

given year. It takes multiple years to replace all of the faculty. 

2. Based on the 1966 Sanders & Rivers research on impact of effective teachers 

on students increased academic performance, we know that on average 5th grade 

students with highly effective teachers 3 years in a row will score 50 percentile 

points higher on State-level exams than their peers. But in reverse, students who 

have historically had ineffective teachers, it takes years to overcome this deficit. 

3. Students enrolled in these high need schools have multiple issues that present 

high challenges to their academic success: family poverty, family illiteracy, home 

mobility, health and mental health issues. These must be addressed as well as providing the students with effective teachers. 

There are many lessons learned through the process of developing and implementing Guilford County’s Mission Possible Initiative. The attraction of subject-matter qualified teachers for our highly impacted, low-performing schools has been quite 

successful. However, it is important to remind public policymakers that educational 

change takes time, investment of resources both financial and personnel, and that 

flexibility is important. For too long, we have had ‘‘cookie cutter’’ approaches to education, requiring all teachers to attend the same workshops no matter the relevance, 

paying teachers the same amount no matter their students’ outcomes, and recognizing that students have very differentiated needs. We must provide the support 

and guidance to our teachers to meet each child’s educational needs. 

Senator HAGAN. Thank you very much. 

Dr. Setser. 

STATEMENT OF BRYAN SETSER, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, 

NORTH CAROLINA VIRTUAL PUBLIC SCHOOLS, RALEIGH, NC 

Mr. SETSER. Thank you, Senator Hagan, for the opportunity for 

the North Carolina Virtual Public School to attend today and share 

our good news in North Carolina, as well as nationally. 

In the year 2000, the Florida Virtual School launched as the Nation’s first virtual school. Today, there are now over 42 virtual 

schools in this country. Your North Carolina virtual school ranks 

in the top five in all metrics, including enrollment, where we are 

second. 

22 

In the year 2000, there were 40,000 students nationwide taking 

virtual courses. Today, there are over 2.7 million. If you look to any 

expert in the field, including the recent U.S. Department of Education’s meta analysis of over 50 online learning studies, half of all 

students will learn online in 2020. 

So when we look at those types of metrics, what does that mean 

for service options in our States and for our parents, our students, 

and educators? What does it mean in terms of learning options and 

one-to-one laptops, one-to-one iPads, or one-to-one mobile devices? 

Several things are brought to mind in terms of innovation with 

where we are. Online learning in the K–12 space is over 10 years 

old. That means that simply taking a course on the Internet is now 

a classic model. But yet, when we look at penetration across North 

Carolina or across the Nation, less than 1 percent of the students 

are still meeting this metric. 

That means that if you go across North Carolina, some districts 

have 1,000 students enrolled and some districts have 15. Yet 75 

percent is the enrollment rate per semester in terms of growth. So 

as schools look at these service options across how they will deliver 

training to principals, superintendents, counselors, teachers, and 

how they will provide this access to students, four service options 

are emerging for us all to think about. 

Every school in 2020 will have a classic online learning option. 

They will have courses accessed before school and after school. In 

that same year, in 2020, every school will have a modular application. What that means is students can be diagnosed, assessed, and 

just take a portion of the course they missed. 

Every school most likely will have a mobile option, where they 

will be accessing content, as they are in Arizona and Alabama, on 

school buses before school and after school, giving feedback once 

they arrive at the schoolhouse and then disseminating those devices again as they leave it. 

And finally, we will all search for ways to blend those components. We are not advocating in North Carolina nor nationally that 

every student learns online the best or every student learns in a 

face-to-face situation the best. The final service option is blended. 

We need to look for ways for teachers, educators, leaders, and students to access online content anytime, anywhere, any path, or any 

pace. 

To create such an environment, you have heard from many of our 

panelists who are talking about Innovation 3 funding, which we are 

very appreciative of Ms. Shah and the Department of Education in 

looking at ways for programs like ourselves to participate in that 

national letter of intent, and also for ways for us to train teachers 

and leaders across States in these endeavors. 

I think when you hear from Dr. Garland today and the work 

around diagnostic testing and everything being offered on a Statewide learning management system, one of the reasons that the 

2020 vision is very critical is that students want to learn this way. 

When they arrive at school, they are asked to power down, to cut 

off their devices. But that is not the case in Onslow County or Durham County, where students are using smart phones to access Algebra I content, and results are up 14 percent on all State metrics. 

23 

So as we look to comprehensively plan, we need to stop referring 

to technology as a tool. Technology is now a strategic learning process, and every school district, every school should sit down and 

think of ways for that delivery system to continue to engage children, to continue to engage the parents, and to connect to a learning management system that can produce results. 

As I close my comments today, those results are very strong, that 

U.S. DOE analysis in 2009 concluded that online learning on all 

metrics was as good or better than face-to-face, particularly when 

partnering with blended instructors, when partnering with blended 

leadership and blended counselors. In North Carolina, since 2007, 

our metrics started out in the mid-50 percent range. They are now 

in the 85 percent range in student performance, as well as a 97 

percent completion rate. 

As we look at these options, the question is not whether or not 

we have a crisis of how to use technology. The question is do we 

have a crisis in leadership and execution in terms of how we deploy 

that technology? 

As we roll out the North Carolina virtual learning plan for this 

year, we are partnering with school districts. We are partnering 

with national initiatives to bring even more access to students, and 

I think you will see a day when this type of repository of information is accessible anytime, anywhere, to any parent, any student, 

and they can make more informed choices about their learning. 

[The prepared statement of Mr. Setser follows:] 

PREPARED STATEMENT OF BRYAN SETSER

NCVPS is honored to be a part of Senator Hagan’s Field Committee Hearing on 

‘‘Fostering Innovation in Education.’’ Our testimony today in the North Carolina innovation space includes a description of NCVPS, statutory requirements, services, 

and results for North Carolina students, educators, and citizens. Our national reputation is among the Top 5 virtual schools in the country, yet our usage level in 

North Carolina is still less than 1 percent of the total student population, and this 

is with a growth rate of 75 percent enrollment per semester. Since 2007, we have 

served over 65,000 North Carolina students and propelled over 9,300 to receive free 

college credit while in high school. 

However, as many students and parents find out at their local school sites, access 

to our courses often contains barriers. This is why hearings like today are vital. Our 

students are in a supplemental program to the public schools. We offer 77 general 

courses, 21 advanced placement courses, 10 credit recovery courses, and courses for 

middle school students seeking high school credit. In some districts, we have over 

1,000 participants, and in some districts less than 14. Why the disparity? Leadership, education, and execution. 

Our students can take courses anytime, anywhere, any path, and any pace. In 

school districts where the partnerships are strong they take these courses before 

and/or after school, during school, and/or at community centers or on vacation. Our 

model is portable and goes with the learner. So there really is no reason to not take 

advantage of NCVPS. 

Through our Getting Organized to Lead Virtual Education effort or GO LIVE site 

we are taking all of these barriers out of the mix. Use the site today: http:// 

sites.google.com/site/ncvpsgolive/ or craft notes from this testimony as we are here 

to provide all of North Carolina students with world class blended learning opportunities to become the globally competitive learners and leaders of tomorrow. 

Senator HAGAN. Thank you. 

Mr. Rectanus. 

24 

STATEMENT OF KARL RECTANUS, LEADER, NC STEM 

COMMUNITY COLLABORATIVE, DURHAM, NC 

Mr. RECTANUS. Thank you, Senator Hagan, for your leadership 

and for holding this hearing in a State that has been dedicated to 

innovation since even before the Wright brothers took their first 

flight on the coast. 

I want to acknowledge the efforts of the leaders here. I would 

also like to briefly acknowledge the wonderful educator Jessica 

Garner, who is our North Carolina Teacher of the Year from Union 

County, who has also joined us. 

Education is not simply about teaching and learning and graduation. It is the basis for economic prosperity. Education should be 

equitable so that all have the opportunity to be informed citizens 

and can thrive economically and civically in our now global environment. In fact, the Governor’s college and career Ready, Set, Go, 

as well as the Lieutenant Governor’s Joining Our Business and 

Schools Commission, has been driving this message across the 

State. 

Increasingly, however, our education system in the United States 

is not meeting our needs for informed science, technology, engineering, and math-trained students. Everyone needs some basics of 

STEM literacy to function in today’s world. Every single major 

challenge this country faces will be affected and impacted, and we 

will need STEM skills to solve it. 

In addition, our need for STEM-skilled workers has never been 

greater. This is not merely about doctors and researchers, but 

about the majority of jobs. The Kauffman Foundation research 

shows that 62 percent of our jobs in 2007 required STEM skills, 

and only 21 percent of our students had the requisite skills to meet 

those. 

In fact, I would argue that the best economic stimulus we could 

possibly have is an educated child. It will take all of us working 

together to address that challenge, and I applaud your recognition 

that we have to prepare our children for the world they live in, not 

just the world we came from. 

To do this, we need to take new approaches, but base them on 

proven practices. I have the honor of leading the North Carolina 

STEM Community Collaborative, which is developing a State-wide 

network of communities and access to drive education innovation 

further faster. NC STEM is housed at MCNC and has the support 

of nationally recognized innovators like the Bill and Melinda Gates 

Foundation and the Battelle Memorial Institute. 

As you know, MCNC primarily focuses on broadband needs of 

education and public health in the State. We appreciate that support. MCNC manages the research and education network—which 

was mentioned earlier, the single broadband network that all of 

our public schools, all of our public universities, and the majority 

of our private universities share to drive education innovation— 

and partners with education, private industry, economic development, and foundations. It is a model for public-private partnership, 

and NC STEM builds on this valuable State infrastructure to do 

three things. 

First, we invest in communities, communities ready to change 

the way they prepare their children for their regional economic 

25 

needs. Our State’s economy is transitioning from manufacturing 

and agricultural to one steeped in STEM skills. Whether a mechanic or a farmer or a doctor or an artist, any sector of the workforce, STEM skills are critical. 

NC STEM has developed a community visioning and design process that brings systems thinking—that is a STEM approach that 

architects, engineers use—to communities who don’t just want to 

do another project, but want to design education innovation that is 

sustainable, scalable, and serves all of the children. 

In three communities, Davie County, Lenoir County, and the 11 

counties around Fort Bragg, leaders and community members have 

been working in new ways to change teaching, learning, funding, 

and decisionmaking to bolster their economic strength. 

In Lenoir County, they have designed what they refer to as a 

‘‘STEM hub.’’ It is a central location for experience-based learning 

for all teachers and students, and it is co-located with aerospace 

and other industry partners. In the 11 counties around Fort Bragg, 

they are using a distributed learning network with enhanced technology classrooms that changes teaching and learning practices 

across county lines with 21st century tools. 

And just down the road in Davie County, they are changing the 

way they recruit, train, and retain teachers, teaming with business 

professionals and collaborating with higher education in new ways. 

This process has been so successful, we will extend this into a community in each of the other four economic development districts 

later this spring. 

Second, we connect communities to the broad swath of access and 

resources and experts in North Carolina and other States who can 

best move education innovation further faster. North Carolina has 

a wealth of wonderful and effective programs. Our universities 

have created over 70 different STEM programs. 

One example, the Kenan Fellows program, matches science 

teachers with industry and university scientists. As you mentioned, 

our community colleges have flexible responsiveness to our business needs, and our K–12 education industry, business, and nonprofit sectors have created a multitude of impact on teaching and 

learning, including a perfect example, the North Carolina New 

Schools Project. 

However, not all of these programs are equal, effective, or appropriate for every community. So we focus on ensuring that our State 

assets and others from around the country work together to provide 

children with good choices in life to bolster their economic situation. 

Finally, we believe we must consider a new approach to funding 

education innovation. Venture philanthropy, a proven model in the 

public and private sector that provides an admirable approach to 

local capacity-building and ongoing sustainability. NC STEM and 

its partners recognize that networks help move innovation further 

faster. The iPad, iPod, Twitter, Google, Facebook are all proven private sector examples. 

Our partners believe we need to take another approach from the 

private sector. That is venture capital. What is this venture capital 

and venture philanthropy for innovation? In a nutshell, it is about 

active investment and protecting that investment. It is about proVerDate Nov 24 2008 12:53 Mar 06, 2012 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00029 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6601 S:\DOCS\56125.TXT DENISE
26 

viding the support and guidance needed to take the seed of an idea 

and allow it to nurture to a full flower. 

We aren’t the first to utilize this. Obviously, business and industry, biotech and IT, have used this for years. Venture philanthropy 

is well documented as a valid model. New Profit, New Schools Venture Fund, which Charlotte is a part of, the Robin Hood Foundation, and others have helped prove the KIPP school model, New 

Leaders for New Schools, and others across the country. 

This is an idea whose time has come. A STEM ventures fund 

would spur innovative approaches—— 

Senator HAGAN. Just a few more seconds. 

Mr. RECTANUS [continuing]. Absolutely. And provide expertise, 

support, and guidance and build local capacity. It would also minimize the risk of what we do, improving opportunities. 

We believe it also responds to the pace of innovation, which is 

what we need. The pace of legislation as well as foundation giving 

cycles can be added to this approach. So, in three ways, building 

local capacity in communities, networking those communities 

across the State, and investing actively in a portfolio of them, we 

believe we can have great impact on our children, families, and 

economy. 

Thank you so much. 

[The prepared statement of Mr. Rectanus follows:] 

PREPARED STATEMENT OF KARL RECTANUS

Thank you, Senator Hagan for your leadership, and holding this hearing in a 

State that has been dedicated to innovation since well before the Wright Brothers’ 

first flight on North Carolina’s coast. 

Education is not simply about teaching, learning and graduating. Education is the 

basis for economic prosperity. Education should be equitable so all have the opportunity to be informed citizens who can thrive economically and civically in our now 

global environment. Education is even a nationally security issue—an informed 

global citizen is much more able to interpret and contextualize global events. 

Increasingly our education system in the United States does not meet our needs 

for informed science, technology, engineering, and math (or STEM) trained students. 

Everyone needs some basis of STEM literacy to function in today’s world. The environment, health care innovations, and use of the Internet impacts our daily lives, 

and every single major challenge our country faces this century requires STEM 

skills to solve. 

In addition, our need for STEM-skilled workers has never been greater. This is 

not merely about doctors and researchers, but about the majority of jobs. These are 

the innovation careers. And our children are the inventive minds that will meet the 

challenges of the 21st century with new ideas about energy, healthcare, and infrastructure. In fact, I would argue that the best economic stimulus is an educated 

child. 

It will take all of us working together to address the challenge. I applaud your 

recognition of the critical need to prepare our children for the world they live in, 

not just the one we came from. To do this we must take new approaches, based on 

proven practices. 

I have the honor of leading the NC STEM Community Collaborative, and I appreciate the opportunity to discuss how our State and Nation can foster education innovation. NC STEM is developing a statewide network of communities and assets who 

drive education innovation in STEM fields further, faster. 

NC STEM is housed at MCNC, with the support of nationally recognized 

innovators including the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the Battelle Memorial Institute. As you know, MCNC primarily focuses on supporting the broadband 

needs of education and public health of the State of North Carolina. MCNC manages the NC Research and Education Network (NCREN). NCREN is the single 

broadband network that all public schools, all public universities, the majority of the 

private universities all share to drive education innovation. MCNC works with education, private industry, economic development, foundations and private industry— 

27 

it is a model for public/private partnership. NC STEM builds on the valuable State 

infrastructure asset by doing three things. 

First, we invest in communities ready to change the way they prepare 

their children for their regional economic needs. Our State’s economy is 

transitioning from manufacturing and agriculture to one steeped in STEM skills— 

advanced manufacturing, aerospace, IT, health and biotech. Whether a mechanic, 

farmer, doctor, artist, or any other sector of our workforce, STEM skills are critical, 

and many communities are now willing to change the way they teach and learn to 

ensure their children are able to fill these roles. 

NC STEM has developed a ‘‘Community Visioning & Design Process’’ that brings 

a systems-thinking—a STEM approach—to communities who don’t just want to do 

a new project, but want to design education innovation that is sustainable, scalable, 

and serves all children. In three communities—Davie County, Lenoir County, and 

the 11 Counties around Ft Bragg—leaders and community members are working in 

new ways to change teaching, learning, funding, and decisionmaking to bolster the 

economic strength of their communities. The process has been so successful, communities in each of the other four economic development regions of the State will implement their own Community Visioning & Design Process later this spring. 

Second, we connect communities to the broad swath of assets, resources, 

and experts in NC and other States who can best move education innovation further faster. North Carolina has a wealth of wonderful, effective programs 

that impact students. Our universities offer over 70 different STEM programs that 

impact K12 education—for example, the Kenan Fellows Program matching science 

teachers with industry and university scientists. Our community colleges have proven their flexible responsiveness to business needs. Our K12 education, business and 

non-profit sectors have also created a multitude of impactful teaching and learning 

programs; a wonderful example of this is the NC New Schools Project with redesigned high schools and STEM Schools. 

However, not all programs are created equal, effective, or appropriate for all communities’ needs. NC STEM focuses on ensuring that our State’s assets and others 

from around the country work together to provide children with good choices in life 

and bolster the economic strength of their communities. 

Finally, we believe we must consider a new approach to funding education innovation—venture philanthropy, a proven model in the public and 

private sectors that provides an agile approach to local capacity building 

and ongoing sustainability of innovation. 

NC STEM and its partners recognize that networks help move innovation further, 

faster. Of course, the iPad, the iPod, Twitter, Facebook, Google and other private 

sector examples prove the power of networks. Our partners believe we need to take 

another page from private sector’s efforts to spark innovation—that is, the venture 

capital approach to funding innovation, especially in the STEM arena. 

What’s the idea of the Venture Capital, or Venture Philanthropy, to drive innovation? In a nutshell, it’s about active investment and protecting that investment. It’s 

about providing the support and guidance needed to take the seed of an idea and 

nurture it to full flower with assistance and financial support. 

We aren’t the first to utilize the model. Business and industry has nurtured innovation this way with incredible results in IT, Biotech, and other industries globally, 

and here at home. And, Venture philanthropy is well-documented as a valid model. 

National leaders like New Profit Inc., the Robin Hood Foundation, New Schools 

Venture Fund, and others have driven great education innovations like the KIPP 

school model and New Leaders for New Schools in regions and across the country. 

Venture Philanthropy encourages a more active role in investments to push for 

faithful and effective implementation of good ideas. 

This is an idea whose time has come. A STEMVentures Fund will: 

• spur innovative approaches; 

• put capital into ideas and organizations best positioned to succeed; 

• provide the expertise, support, and guidance needed for effective implementation and impact; 

• build local capacity while providing opportunities to scale proven practices and 

programs quickly; 

• minimize the risk and exposure for public investment through private investment and assistance; 

• support a portfolio of evidence-based innovations rather than individual point 

programs; and 

• Leverage public investment for multiplier effect with private dollars. 

28 

This approach responds to local needs to drive innovation and innovative approaches. And it responds at the pace of innovation—not the pace of a legislative 

appropriation process or a foundation giving cycle. 

By doing these three things—building local capacity in communities, networking 

their successes across the State, and actively investing in a portfolio of sustainable 

innovation—we believe we can ensure we support our children, our families, our 

economies, and our Nation to continue to lead the world. 

Thank you again for your leadership, your support of STEM skills and NC’s 

STEM economy, and your willingness to help North Carolina lead the world in education innovation. 

Senator HAGAN. Thank you. 

Mrs. McCray. 

STATEMENT OF MARY McCRAY, TEACHER, COMMUNITY 

HOUSE MIDDLE SCHOOL AND LOCAL PRESIDENT OF THE 

CHARLOTTE-MECKLENBURG ASSOCIATION OF EDUCATORS 

Ms. MCCRAY. Good morning, Senator. 

I thank you for the opportunity to give the perspective of my colleagues, who are here on the front lines of CMS every day. 

Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools lost 843 educators last year, 

nearly one-half of those were classroom teachers and a quarter 

were teacher assistants. With instructional support personnel 

counted, Charlotte-Mecklenburg cut 710 educators from the classroom out of 843 total cuts. That is 84 percent of all cuts coming 

from children’s teachers and teacher assistants. 

Before we talk about innovation, before we begin any discussion 

on experiments, Charlotte-Mecklenburg and the State of North 

Carolina needs to master the most elementary requirement for 

schools. It needs a qualified teacher standing before ready-to-learn 

students. 

Innovators and academics can present all the studies and talk 

about all the new ideas at any given conference. We can create programs, we can bring in technology, and we can shift our paradigms 

and think outside the box. However, it always comes back to a 

teacher standing in the classroom, teaching children who are ready 

to learn. 

Innovation is nothing new to schools, especially here in Charlotte-Mecklenburg. We have large numbers of students who earn 

college credit in high school, strategic staffing along with pay for 

performance in our hard-to-staff or low-performing schools. We 

have implemented the New Schools Project with success on the 

campuses of two of our high schools, and many more examples. 

But the reality is that there are teachers who are teaching nearly 

40 children in a classroom that only seats 30 students and has 25 

textbooks. We are preparing children for universities, careers, and 

military service with fewer resources than we have had in a generation. 

Our teachers are also innovating at home as we deal with furloughed pay, higher healthcare premiums for our children, and our 

North Carolina ABC pay-for-performance testing program that 

hasn’t paid us for our successful performance in 2 years. 

Please do not misunderstand me. Public schools do require innovation. In an economic climate that has left K–12 public education 

without the needed resources to provide a constitutionally required 

sound basic education, we need innovation more so now than ever. 

29 

I propose that we create a tax system in North Carolina that produces the resources required to put one teacher in front of a classroom with no more than 22 students. I propose that we transition 

our current tax system in North Carolina from an agrarian-based 

tax system to one that recognizes that we are now an economy 

based on services and technology, not bartering and manufacturing. Let us also create a baseline funding system for K–12 public education that recognizes the limitations of local funding capabilities. 

The Federal Government can play a role in protecting the 5,500 

jobs that were cut in North Carolina last year. I ask that this Administration and the Congress invest in public schools and its students during this critical time. Now is not the time to divest, privatize, or devise gimmicks. 

To promote innovation in public schools, we must think beyond 

creating more charter schools. Charter schools are only one strategy to afford innovation in a community. Schools that have proven 

track records based on multiple indicators should be allowed educational flexibility to try innovative strategies. 

In North Carolina, we have a variety of those innovative strategies, such as magnet programs, language emersion programs, 

Learn and Earn, early and middle colleges. Another innovative approach might be creating learning lab schools with universities to 

implement research-based innovations that impact student achievement. 

Additionally, new and innovative approaches for public schools 

must entail reviewing the manner in which we assess students, 

evaluate teachers, and fund innovation. North Carolina has an 

edge on supporting effective educators with the principal and 

teachers evaluation process. This new evaluation process has created in most schools climates of collaboration, self-reflection, and 

professional learning communities where instruction is data-driven 

to maximize student success. 

The evaluation of educators cannot be solely based on student 

test scores. There are many ways that a teacher or a principal impacts a student’s growth. To elevate the most noble profession, we 

must have policies in place that help create more respect for educators and stop the divisive policies that create barriers from collaboration, such as merit or differentiated pay. 

To be an educator, one needs to have skills as well as knowledge 

and training. Saying anyone can come and teach if they have the 

desire to make a difference does not create professional respect. 

The Federal Government does not need to tell States how to evaluate educators, nor does the Federal Government need to set policies 

on who schools should hire. 

Senator HAGAN. Mrs. McCray, just a few more seconds. Thanks. 

Ms. MCCRAY. As we push forward for innovation, we must remember that every child has equal rights to a quality public education, and fully funding that education is a baseline for student 

success. 

I appreciate the opportunity to be a witness today, and I look forward to continuing this dialogue in the hopes for a better and 

brighter future for all of our students. 

Thank you. 

30 

[The prepared statement of Ms. McCray follows:] 

PREPARED STATEMENT OF MARY MCCRAY

Good morning. My name is Mary McCray. I am an elementary teacher of 5th 

grade here in Charlotte-Mecklenburg. I am also president of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Association of Educators. CMAE is an affiliate of the North Carolina Association of Educators and the National Education Association. 

I thank you for the opportunity to give the perspective of my colleagues, classroom 

teachers, who are on the front lines in CMS every day. 

Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools lost 843 educators last year, nearly 1⁄2 of those 

were classroom teachers and a quarter was teacher assistants. With instructional 

support personnel counted, Charlotte-Mecklenburg cut 710 educators from the classroom out of 843 total cuts. That is 84 percent of all cuts coming from children’s 

teachers and teacher assistants. 

Before we talk about innovation, before we begin any discussion on experiments, 

Charlotte-Mecklenburg and the State of North Carolina needs to master the most 

elementary requirement for schools: It needs a qualified teacher standing before 

ready-to-learn students. Innovators and academics can present all the studies and 

talk about all the new ideas at any given conference. We can create programs, we 

can bring in technology, and we can shift our paradigms, and think outside the box. 

However, it always comes back to a teacher standing in the classroom, teaching children who are ready to learn. 

Innovation is nothing new to schools, especially in Charlotte-Mecklenburg. We 

have large numbers of students who earn college credit in high school, strategic 

staffing along with pay for performance in our hard to staff or low-performing 

schools, we’ve implemented the New Schools Projects with some success on the campuses of two of our high schools—that is considered ‘‘schools within a school,’’ and 

many more examples. But the reality is that there are teachers who are teaching 

nearly 40 children in a classroom that only seats 30 students and has 25 textbooks. 

We are preparing children for universities, careers, and military service with fewer 

resources than we’ve had in a generation. Our teachers are also innovating at home 

as we deal with furloughed pay, higher health care premiums for our children, and 

an ABC pay-for-performance testing program that hasn’t paid us for our performance in 2 years. 

Please do not misunderstand me. Public schools require innovation. In an economic climate that has left K–12 public education without the needed resources to 

provide a constitutionally required sound basic education, we need innovation now 

more than ever. I propose that we create a tax system in North Carolina that produces the resources required to put 1 teacher in front of a classroom with no more 

than 22 students. I propose that we transition our current tax system in North 

Carolina from an agrarian based tax system to one that recognizes that we are an 

economy-based on services and technology not bartering and manufacturing. Let’s 

also create a baseline funding system for K–12 public education that recognizes the 

limitations of local funding capabilities. 

The Federal Government can play this important role in protecting the 5,500 education jobs that were cut in North Carolina last year. I ask that this Administration 

and the Congress invest in public schools and its students during this critical time. 

Now is not the time to divest, privatize or devise gimmicks. 

To promote innovation in public schools we must think beyond creating more 

charter schools. Charter schools are only one strategy to afford innovation in a community. Schools that have proven track records based on multiple indicators should 

be allowed educational flexibility to try innovative strategies. In North Carolina we 

have a variety of innovative school models; magnet programs, language emersion 

programs, Learn and Earn, Early and Middle Colleges. Another innovative approach 

might be creating Learning Lab schools with Universities to implement researchbased innovations that impact student achievement. 

Additionally, new and innovative approaches for public schools must entail reviewing the manner in which we assess students, evaluate teachers and fund innovation. 

We must provide students ways to show what they have learned: As ESEA 

is reauthorized the focus can not be on more assessments/testing, but better assessments to allow students to show they can solve problems, think creatively, and work 

in teams. There must be multiple ways that schools can demonstrate success. Success is not just a passing test score! 

We must Elevate the Profession: North Carolina has an edge on supporting 

effective educators with the Principal and Teacher Evaluation Process. This new 

evaluation process has created in most schools; climates of collaboration, self reflecVerDate Nov 24 2008 12:53 Mar 06, 2012 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00034 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6621 S:\DOCS\56125.TXT DENISE
31 

tion, and professional learning communities where instruction is data-driven to 

maximize student success. The evaluation of educators can not be solely based on 

a student test score. There are many ways that a teacher or principal impacts a 

student’s growth. To elevate the most noble profession, we must have policies in 

place that help create more respect for educators and stop the divisive policies that 

create barriers for collaboration; such as merit or differentiated pay. To be an educator, one needs to have skills as well as knowledge and training. Saying anyone can 

come and teach if they have the desire to make a difference does not create professional respect. The Federal Government does not need to tell States how to evaluate 

educators nor does the Federal Government need to set policies on who schools 

should hire. Each State and each community has different needs and ONE-SIZEDOES-NOT-FIT-ALL. 

We must Provide Equitable Access to Education: The competitive grant process will create more have and have not schools. It is noble to provide opportunities 

for schools to apply for extra funds, but many schools that need extra funds will 

have too many barriers to access the needed funding. Before extra funds are granted, the Federal Government must fully fund Title I and IDEA programs without the 

current caps. 

As we push forward for innovation we must remember that every child has equal 

rights to a quality public education and fully funding that education is a baseline 

for student success. I appreciate the opportunity to be a witness today and I look 

forward to continuing this dialogue in the hopes for a better and brighter future for 

all of our students. 

Senator HAGAN. On behalf of all the people here testifying, I 

can’t begin to tell you how much I appreciate what you have done 

for education so far, and what you will continue to do. Just the fact 

that you are here sharing your insight and wisdom is critical. So 

I do want to thank you. 

When I consider the theme fostering innovation in education, I 

think that going forward in our country—obviously, the socioeconomic backgrounds and differences of our students is certainly 

something that we all must take into consideration. I also think 

that STEM education is going to be critical because we want these 

students to have careers and a college education. 

When I look at what is going on in North Carolina, as we move 

from a manufacturing, agrarian society, driven by the aerospace industry, medical, biotech, and pharmaceuticals, clean energy manufacturing, and all of those areas, we have got to come together to 

teach all of that in our school systems. And I do think that online 

education is going to grow dramatically. 

One of my own children just recently, before he went into medical school, took a couple of online science classes that he hadn’t 

taken as an undergraduate. And I just see that just growing exponentially. 

I have got questions for each and every one of you. And typically 

what we do in the Senate, we take rounds of questions. And since 

I am the only one here today, what I am going to do is just ask 

each one of you a question, and then if we have time, we will go 

back and start again. 

One of the things I am focused on, being from North Carolina, 

is that with such a large rural population in our States, a lot of 

what is applied to urban areas cannot be handled the same way 

in our rural areas. So if you have any insight on rural education 

issues, I would love to hear that, too. 

Ms. Shah, once again, thank you so much for coming. North 

Carolina enrolls more students in rural school districts than any 

other State in the country. At these schools, the students obviously 

face unique challenges. The President’s blueprint for the No Child 

32 

Left Behind reauthorization states that the Secretary may reserve 

funds for research on innovative programs that are designed to 

help rural districts overcome capacity constraints. 

Can you share your thoughts on the way that these innovative 

programs might be designed, and are there any examples that you 

can cite? And one other thing that none of us talked about today, 

too, was any sort of discipline in the schools, if that has any impact 

on what it is that we are talking about now, too? 

Thanks. 

Ms. SHAH. Thank you for that question. 

We certainly recognize the unique challenges facing rural areas, 

and we are deeply committed to better serving rural areas. As we 

all know, there are more small rural communities than there are 

large urban ones. And given our focus on bringing funding and resources to where kids are in need and simultaneously getting the 

skill is critical for us to better serve rural communities. 

Specifically, you asked about the Secretary’s request to set aside 

funds for research and capacity building. So the first thing I would 

say is that we are requesting the authority to do so. So no funds 

for that would be taken from the Rural Education Achievement 

Program in Fiscal Year 2011, but we would hope in future years 

that we would have funds allocated for this purpose. And we 

would, hopefully, be able to use those for a range of activities, including national activities, which could very specifically be used to 

provide technical assistance to small rural districts to enable them 

to increase their capacity to access more of the competitive grant 

making that the department is now moving toward. 

But it could also be used to support research into teacher prep 

and recruitment programs for rural schools, including Grow Your 

Own Teacher programs, which I am sure everyone here at this 

stage is quite familiar with. But we know there is much research 

out there that tell us that teachers want to teach in schools where 

they grew up and prefer areas like their hometowns. 

And we know that in rural communities, there are many young 

individuals, mid-career professionals, all sorts of different people 

who want to go into teaching. And by leveraging partnerships with 

universities and some of the distance learning community that we 

have also talked about briefly, there are a whole range of ways that 

we could support activities like that that would hopefully benefit 

more rural communities. 

I would probably stop there, but I would say between the growing your own teachers and the distance learning, those are at least 

two very good examples of ways that we think we can leverage 

what is happening across the country to better benefit rural communities. 

Senator HAGAN. I think growing your own teachers in rural 

areas is critical, and I think we have also seen that in the medical 

field, as well. One of the other bills that I am working on now is 

the Rural Physician Act. If we can get more people to go to our 

rural areas to practice medicine, and become teachers, I think it 

would be advantageous for those rural areas. 

Dr. Garland, you talked about North Carolina’s commitment to 

high school reform and to increasing the number of students who 

attend post-secondary school. I know that you also know that PresiVerDate Nov 24 2008 12:53 Mar 06, 2012 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00036 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6601 S:\DOCS\56125.TXT DENISE
33 

dent Obama and Secretary Duncan have set the goal that by 2020, 

the United States will once again lead the world in college completion. 

To accomplish that goal, tell me what you think the value is of 

national or common standards, from a curriculum standpoint. 

Ms. GARLAND. North Carolina has supported the notion of Common Core standards from the beginning. In fact, Governor Hunt, 

two Governors ago, was one of the first Governors that spoke to the 

need for Common Core standards. 

If you will remember, I spoke about North Carolina rewriting its 

standard course of study. Actually, we have begun new efforts in 

the area of more rigorous standards, more rigorous requirements 

for students to graduate from high school, and we are delighted 

that the Common Core movement gained some legs because, obviously, in our country, we don’t need 50 different standards for Algebra I or Algebra II. 

So the State Board of Education does support vehemently the notion of Common Core standards, as well as common assessments. 

In our country, in order for every—for the country to be competitive with countries from across the world, we need to set high 

standards and then figure out ways to get all of our students to 

meet those standards. 

Senator HAGAN. When you mention ‘‘around the world,’’ do you 

look at curriculums in other countries and the number of days that 

students go to school? 

Ms. GARLAND. Yes. 

Senator HAGAN. And how do those common standards compare 

to other countries? 

Ms. GARLAND. Our Common Core standards have actually been 

benchmarked against international standards, and so we feel very 

confident that once the Common Core is initiated, that the standards themselves will be the same level of knowledge and skills that 

students across the world have to demonstrate when they graduate 

from high school. 

However, in our country, our students do not attend school as 

many days. It is typical in our country around 180 days for school 

attendance. We know that in some countries, students attend 

school 220 days. So we are falling behind in terms of days that our 

students are able to attend school to achieve those standards. 

Senator HAGAN. Somebody once told me that by the time our students graduate from high school, in another country, a European 

student would have gone to school for a whole year? 

Ms. GARLAND. Right. I think in our country we have to overcome 

the notion of the, again, the agrarian calendar. We still struggle in 

some areas of our State to get support for year-round schooling of 

any kind because in our State, we have a notion that the summertime should be spent at the mountains and the beach, which, obviously, we want to support the tourism industry in our State. 

But we don’t think that it should happen at the expense of education for our students. And so, I do think we have to break some 

of those paradigms if we are going to move our students forward. 

Just having world-class standards will not produce world-class students. 

Senator HAGAN. Thank you. 

34 

Ms. Clark, in your testimony, you said that you were surprised, 

or perhaps that they were surprised at the finding that teachers 

with advanced degrees did not have better outcomes for the children they are teaching. Can you talk about that just a little bit? 

Ms. CLARK. If we think about it, the notion of a one-time degree 

attainment against ongoing professional development, it is really 

counterintuitive that we would be compensating teachers for a degree they might have received 20 years ago. There certainly 

wouldn’t be anything taken away from that teacher’s initial learning—but when you put it up against ongoing professional development. 

What I didn’t talk about is, I think there is also the opportunity 

to look at experience and longevity. That is another thing the State 

of North Carolina and many States across the country re-enforce 

teachers and compensate them for years of experience when our 

data also showed us that that doesn’t necessarily correlate with 

student achievement results. 

Senator HAGAN. And North Carolina, I know, has professional 

development for principals and teachers. I know NCCAT is something that I think is highly effective. Obviously, not every teacher 

can attend. 

Ms. CLARK. Yes, I think it is scope and scale of quality professional development rather than isolated opportunities that we have 

to continue to look at the local and district level, as well as the 

State. 

Senator HAGAN. Thank you. 

Dr. Arbuckle, you state that the impact of the Mission Possible 

has been great in terms of maintaining faculty within high-needs 

school districts to maintain those teachers. But yet, it remains to 

be seen how long it will take to increase student achievement. I 

want you to elaborate on that. And how long will the funding 

stream exist? 

Mrs. ARBUCKLE. Yes. The funding that has come initially are redirected local dollars and then some grants from some local foundations and also a Federal grant from the U.S. Department of Education. I believe it is Federal, State, or a State grant that is being 

reapplied for. So that funding piece has been taken care of outside 

of the operating budget of Guilford County Schools. 

I think one of the tragedies in our public school district and the 

public school system is that we have so many of our children who 

come to school so ill prepared to enter school. There is substantial 

research on just the vocabulary words of children who have grown 

up in middle-class families versus those who have grown up in poverty, and that is just one indicator of the incidences that children 

come to school behind. 

And so, consequently, are not proficient at grade level by grade 

3, which is what I described as a line in the sand. I mean, we are 

projecting jail beds on the reading scores of children in grade 3, 

projecting jail bed need. So I think one of the investments that we 

must make is in early childhood education and enhancing parents’ 

capacity to be able to provide for their children in terms of language development and so forth. 

That has been, when I have questioned the district about our 

success, or lack thereof, in terms of Mission Possible, one of the 

35 

things that is a source of great pride is the stability of the teaching 

force because in these low-performing schools, you had 50 to 75 

percent teaching turnover every year. And as a consequence, that 

impacted the continuity of the learning environment for the children. So that is an accomplishment, and people are very proud of 

that. 

The other issue is making certain that if you have a school with 

low-performing or inadequate teachers, the course of time that it 

takes to shift that teacher population. We have a school in our district this year that is actually one of the lowest performing schools 

in the country, and we are initiating a transformational model that 

is now allowed by the State to require every person within that 

school to reapply for their job and to set different criteria for the 

hiring of the new teachers. 

We are very excited about that. This is a school where we have 

had 27 percent of children on grade level. So, a huge challenge. 

And we are hopeful that being able to do this, we want to build 

opportunity. It will make a huge difference. 

Senator HAGAN. Thank you. 

Dr. Setser, when we talk about virtual learning, I do think that 

there will be a dramatic change in what education has looked like 

for so many years. But as we look at that, particularly in our rural 

areas, too, can you tell me how we can enhance the 21st century 

skills necessary for students to be successful in the workplace, 

through virtual education? 

Mr. SETSER. Sure. A couple of comments. One is that if I polled 

our students over here to my right, how many of you have access 

to a cell phone right now? Show of hands. 

[Show of hands.] 

So those cell phones have Web browsers. They have text messaging. They have a way for the students to pull up content and 

interact with it. 

So our discussion is not whether we have a computer in every 

home or a one-to-one laptop initiative. Those things are all critical, 

but we need to follow the national technology plan, which states 

that all students by 2015 will have access to a device or access to 

a way to bring content to them. 

But in the meantime, for students who don’t, in the rural areas, 

for instance, they are setting up tremendously innovative programs 

like going to local churches and setting up virtual kiosks where 

those students can learn anytime, anywhere, and the church leaders can be trained on how to execute in that virtual environment. 

The other thing we are seeing is in States like Georgia, virtual kiosks at McDonald’s or Wal-Mart or libraries, where students can 

have anytime, anywhere access to bring in content to them. 

So if we want to keep rural citizens in their demographic, geographic areas, where they can spend the tax dollars in those areas 

and bolster the local economy, you also can bring in training over 

the Net, such as the effort with WakeMed, where medical records 

transcriptionists are being trained over the Net and then doing 

that job in their local county. They are spending their tax dollars 

there and living there because they value that quality of life. 

So what this medium does is allow for multiple opportunities, 

multiple options within a district, within a community. But school 

36 

districts and schools continue to assess the deployment of this in 

terms of safety issues or security concerns when multiple paths 

have already shown that innovation can exist in those types of environments. 

So the school is a really critical partner as we move forward, 

where community members, community leaders can come in and 

use those computers that we see in places like Watauga County, 

where early in the morning, families are coming in from 6 o’clock 

to 8 o’clock during peak times, third shift, and accessing devices 

and content. 

Those are just some sample ways that the rural communities can 

keep peak their localized talent where it resides, but also access 

the world at large on devices like cell phones that we are seeing 

today. 

Senator HAGAN. I appreciate it. I also think we have got to be 

sure that these rural areas in North Carolina have access to 

broadband technology, and I know that MCNC just got a sizable 

grant to help with putting broadband in 29 rural counties that currently have dial-up. It is one thing to have access, it is another 

thing to have to sit there forever for something to download. So I 

think that is critical not only in education, but in business. 

I know one of the farmers I talked to, who grows sweet potatoes 

and potatoes, says he needs to have an accurate count on a daily 

basis of what the supply shipment stream is. And yet if it takes 

2 hours to download what he needs to access, just think what that 

does to his day. So I think that is critical. 

Mr. Rectanus, STEM is probably one of the most important 

things that I think our country needs to be focused on right now 

from the standpoint of education. But I am also concerned. I know 

a couple of years ago, our university system graduated I believe it 

was two individuals with teaching degrees specific to physics. I 

think after 1 year, one of those two teachers wasn’t even around 

anymore. 

I think that STEM education is critical. But I also think it needs 

to be very much hands-on, too. I have two kids that are scientists. 

That is why I am very concerned that we need to do all that we 

can going forward to be sure that you all have great access, which 

I know you do here, to a lot of wonderful technology having to do 

with science, engineering, math, and information technology. 

So share your thoughts on how we can truly integrate STEM 

education into every school and every grade level so that not only 

are our children much more interested in fields like engineering 

and math—and that means you girls, too. We definitely need you. 

But have the tools that they need to be successful. 

Mr. RECTANUS. Is that all, Senator? 

Senator HAGAN. That is all. You have 1 minute. 

[Laughter.] 

Mr. RECTANUS. All students—I mean, this is really about equity. 

It is about all students, and it is about connecting our education 

pipeline to our economic pipeline. We know that that is the case. 

I think in our minds, and NC STEM’s approach, we actually feel 

that the rural communities are an asset to this. We have focused— 

while our network is statewide, we focused our STEM community’s 

37 

effort in rural communities around the State, and we have done 

that very purposefully. We have done it for a few reasons. 

No. 1, the economic changes going on in a place like Kinston that 

historically has done tobacco and manufacturing is now in advanced manufacturing in aerospace. This is happening now. This is 

a challenge that must be addressed immediately and for all students and for all workers. Your example outlines the need for a 

farmer to use STEM skills, which are critical. 

We also do it within these communities because they have a 

great opportunity. These communities have worked together, but 

they have innovated. They have been innovative in the past. Oftentimes, they have done that in black box. They haven’t been able to 

share that with communities around the State, and we see that as 

a great opportunity. 

And it is really necessary for us to provide those examples and 

to share what is going on in each of these different areas, but also 

across the State so that not everyone is forced to boil the ocean. 

Senator HAGAN. How do we recruit the teachers to go into these 

fields and teach? 

Mr. RECTANUS. It is a great question. In fact, Davie County is 

one example that has partnered with Appalachian State University 

for a number of years and is now working with Wake Forest Baptist Medical and UNC-Greensboro to identify and partner leading 

edge pre-service and early career teachers with master teachers or 

more experienced teachers to help give that broad perspective. And 

they are now bringing in business professionals that really add a 

new dimension into bringing those folks into this. 

I think the opportunity to address the STEM skills beyond— 

within the university system to address STEM skills outside of the 

schools of education is critical. 

Senator HAGAN. Thank you. 

Mr. RECTANUS. And I think there is opportunity to do that. 

Senator HAGAN. Thank you. 

One other example for the students, I was actually taking a tour 

this last week at a company in North Carolina, and we are making 

these airplanes now out of composite materials because they are 

much lighter. So they can use a whole lot less fuel for traveling distances. But one of the draw-downs of that composite material is 

when lightning hits it, it might get fried. So you have to have a 

shield over it that would detract the lightning so it is not going to 

hit it or so it wouldn’t affect it. It would go around it. 

A company in North Carolina has developed a sort of composite 

that just makes a little shield over it. It is just fascinating what 

new technologies can do. So there is a lot of great things that we 

still need your wonderful minds to help figure out. 

Ms. McCray, as a 32-year teacher, you certainly have a lot of experience in so many areas in our education system, and I know 

that there is an abundance of research and several examples of 

programs even in the Charlotte-Mecklenburg system school district 

that aim to evaluate a teacher’s effectiveness in the classroom. 

As a classroom teacher, can you share what you think is the 

most effective design for evaluating a teacher’s performance? 

Ms. MCCRAY. The No. 1 thing, I think, would be my being able 

to reach each student that is in my class. So I would have to say 

38 

that teacher-to-pupil ratio is going to be one of your most effective 

designs there. 

Senator HAGAN. How would you relate that to online teaching? 

Ms. MCCRAY. For online teaching, well, on the elementary level, 

we don’t do too much of that. But with my own daughter, who is 

now a freshman in college, I had the experience of watching her 

take an online test, exam at Elizabeth City. So I was amazed by 

how they do all of that. 

For our students online what we can do, what we are doing presently is part of our literacy program where the students can work 

one-on-one in a remediation-type program, where they don’t need 

the teacher there. The teacher more or less does follow up with 

them afterwards. So that is a lot of the online we are doing. 

Now as far as the science, we do have a lot of hands-on with the 

science. And we just need the time to do it during the school day 

where our students are exposed to something other than just their 

basic literacy program and their math program because they do 

have a joy of learning science and social studies. So we have to 

bring those other core subjects in, not just during test time when 

they see that they are testing on something that is not basically 

just a story. But we have to expose them to that type of instruction 

during the day. 

I have seen us sort of shift away from instruction with our 

science and our social studies because now we are more assessment-driven. 

One thing I do want to say. Poverty is the same in an urban area 

as it is in a rural area. That is why it is important that you all 

really totally fund our Title I and our IDEA programs because that 

helps a lot of urban areas with their pockets of poverty. 

Senator HAGAN. Thank you. 

You know, I know we are getting close to the end. Is there something we have left out that you just have this burning desire we 

need to share? 

Dr. Garland. 

Ms. GARLAND. We have talked so much about the need for effective teachers in all of our classrooms in low-performing schools, 

rural and urban. The State board is taking a different view of how 

we fill the positions in those classrooms. 

There is new research that has just been released by UNC general administration that shows that Teach for America teachers actually do a very good job of working in the rural areas of our State. 

In fact, they outperform in many cases our own UNC graduate 

teachers from out of State. 

I think what we have to do in our educational field is break some 

of those traditional ways that we have gone about looking at the 

teaching profession. We have felt like we had to recruit people that 

would commit 30 years in order for them to be accepted quickly 

into the profession. 

Certainly, we don’t want anybody to teach in the public schools 

if they are not capable of teaching in the public schools and if they 

are not competent. However, in some of our rural areas if we can 

create a culture of continuous change so that we have a crop, if you 

will, of Teach for America teachers that come in and out. The military does it all the time. 

39 

They are constantly working in a field where they have new recruits coming and going, and yet they are able to bring them in, 

induct them, and make them very competent and ready to work in 

a very short period of time. Where in the schools, we have thought 

that folks had to come and stay forever. 

And so, looking at how we fill those high-needs areas like STEM, 

if we can get those teachers for 3 or 4 years, bring them in, quickly 

acculturate them to their surroundings, and then create a culture 

where that is the norm, then I bet we can meet some of those highneeds areas with very competent teachers. 

Senator HAGAN. I saw an advertisement in a school newsletter 

that said some of the northeast boarding schools were recruiting 

students to teach for 2 years in science and math. Just commit 

those 2 years, give this back, and I thought that was an interesting 

approach to a recruitment process. 

Ms. GARLAND. You have to have a good induction program because they have to know something about pedagogy when they 

come. But if we put the right structures, then I think it will work. 

Senator HAGAN. Ms. Clark, let me ask you one question regarding pay for performance. Can you talk about how that is accepted 

at the teacher level? I know there is so much talk on that around 

the country right now. 

Ms. CLARK. I think we are in the early stages in Charlotte of designing our pay for performance, and we will be doing that with 

our teachers. We have had a wonderful opportunity with our 

Teacher Incentive Fund grant to pilot some different approaches to 

pay for performance. 

So we have both opportunities for teachers to design their own 

goals, as well as a measure that has individual student growth as 

a part of that measure. And we are in our final year with that 

grant next year, and we will have another iteration of that as well. 

So we are designing this over a 4-year period of time and being 

very intentional about involving our teachers. 

Ms. McCray sits on our steering committee at the district level, 

representing MCAE, and we also have another teacher on the committee. We will be expanding it into stakeholder groups as we move 

forward. 

Senator HAGAN. Great. Let me ask my staff here how we are 

doing on time. We need to wrap up? 

Well, I just want to thank you, and I see Chairman Roberts leaving. Thank you so much for being here. I always look to you for 

great guidance and advice. She does a great job in Mecklenburg 

County and always gives me great information. 

The reason we are here is because we want to have the best-educated students in the future, and all of you are so committed and 

so dedicated. I just want to thank you for all of your information. 

I am thrilled to be in the U.S. Senate. I am thrilled to be a part 

of the Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee, and I 

want to work together with my colleagues to make significant 

changes to the No Child Left Behind law by hearing in detail today 

about the innovative work that all of you are doing across North 

Carolina, as well as the Department of Education’s commitment for 

supporting these innovative programs. 

40 

I also want to thank so much the principal, Ms. Bowen. Thank 

you so much for letting us come here to your school. And I believe 

you said the assistant principal Mr. Yakin helped to really coordinate this. So I want to thank you, too. 

I really want to thank the students for being here, and at the 

end, I want to come over and chat with you and hear what your 

questions and concerns are. Once again, we are all here because of 

you. 

Thank you so much. The Fostering Innovation in Education hearing for the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and 

Pensions is now adjourned. 

[Whereupon, at 12:21 p.m., the hearing was adjourned.] 

Æ