Blueprint for Change in North Carolina: State Teacher Policy Yearbook, 2010
Author: National Council on Teacher Quality
Date: 2010-00-00
Type: Numerical/Quantitative Data
Subjects: Teaching (Occupation),Elementary Secondary Education,Educational Policy,Teacher Evaluation,Teacher Effectiveness,Teacher Improvement,Tenure,Teacher Dismissal,State Government,State Regulation,Academic Achievement,Educational Improvement,Teacher Certification,Alternative Teacher Certification,Needs Assessment,Yearbooks,Retirement Benefits,Educational Change,Teacher Education,Special Education Teachers,Elementary School Teachers,Middle School Teachers,Educational Objectives,Comparative Analysis,Public Schools

The 2009 &quot;State Teacher Policy Yearbook&quot; provided a comprehensive review of states' policies that impact the teaching profession. As a companion to last year's comprehensive state-by-state analysis, the 2010 edition provides each state with an individualized &quot;Blueprint for Change,&quot; building off last year's &quot;Yearbook&quot; goals and recommendations. State teacher policy addresses a great many areas, including teacher preparation, certification, evaluation and compensation. With so many moving parts, it may be difficult for states to find a starting point on the road to reform. To this end, this paper provides a state-specific roadmap, organized in three main sections. Section 1 identifies policy concerns that need critical attention, the areas of highest priority for state policymakers. Section 2 outlines &quot;low-hanging fruit,&quot; policy changes that can be implemented in relatively short order. Section 3 offers a short discussion of some longer-term systemic issues that states need to make sure stay on the radar. In the 2009 &quot;State Teacher Policy Yearbook&quot;, North Carolina had the following grades: (1) Delivering Well Prepared Teachers (D); (2) Expanding the Teaching Pool (D+); (3) Identifying Effective Teachers (C-); (4) Retaining Effective Teachers (C); and (5) Exiting Ineffective Teachers (D). North Dakota has an overall grade of D- for 2009. In the last year, many states made significant changes to their teacher policies, spurred in many cases by the Race to the Top competition. Based on a review of state legislation, rules and regulations, the National Council on Teacher Quality (NCTQ) has identified no recent policy changes in North Carolina. In response to NCTQ's policy update, North Carolina noted the following policy-related activities over the course of the past year: (1) The North Carolina Department of Public Instruction will develop a process to utilize principal ratings from the state's principal evaluation instrument, as well as teacher ratings from the state's teacher evaluation instrument, for annual statewide analysis; (2) The State Board of Education adopted mentor and education program standards recommended by the North Carolina Mentor Task Force; (3) The State Board approved a policy change allowing retired teachers to earn &quot;Continuing Education Units&quot; for time taught while complying with the North Carolina Retirement System's earning cap, as well as a change allowing licensed teachers to add teaching areas to their license after completing 24 semester hours of coursework with a C or better average in that subject area; (4) The State Board approved a policy change allowing retired teachers to earn &quot;Continuing Education Units&quot; for time taught while complying with the North Carolina Retirement System's earning cap, as well as a change allowing licensed teachers to add teaching areas to their license after completing 24 semester hours of coursework with a C or better average in that subject area; (5) The state also noted changes to its Provisional Licensure for Career and Technical Education teachers, as well as revisions to the standards for evaluation Speech Language Pathologists; (6) In December 2009, the State Board presented an updated list of approved teacher education and school executive preparation programs; and (7) The Board approved a new &quot;Rubric for Pre-service Superintendent Programs&quot; that will be used to assess both individual candidates and superintendent preparation programs. The Board also approved and adopted the already piloted and validated &quot;Principal Evaluation Process for Assistant Principals&quot; and the proposed cut scores for regenerated Praxis II exams, including World Languages: German; World Languages: French; World Languages: Spanish; Teaching Reading; and Special Education: Core Knowledge and Applications. Individual sections contain footnotes. (Contains 5 figures.) [For the related reports, see &quot;Blueprint for Change: National Summary. State Teacher Policy Yearbook, 2010&quot; (ED515614) and &quot;State Teacher Policy Yearbook, 2009. North Carolina&quot; (ED511925).]