Tag: School support

Amid heightened concerns of teacher shortages, we document the role of principals in shaping teachers’ labor market decisions. Using teacher transfer applications from a large urban school district, we find that teachers are most likely to seek transfer away from schools with less-experienced principals and weaker leadership. The qualities of principals that attract applicants are survey reports of strong leadership, applicant-principal demographic congruence, and especially having worked with the principal previously. Ultimately, schools with high rates of teacher transfer seeking and exit receive few applications per teacher vacancy. These schools are likely to have shallow applicant pools and may need district support with recruitment in the short term, with the longer-term goal of developing leaders who retain teachers.

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Improving teacher selection is an important strategy for strengthening the quality of the teacher workforce. As districts adopt commercial teacher screening tools, evidence is needed to understand these tools’ predictive validity. We examine the relationship between Frontline Education’s TeacherFit instrument and newly hired teachers’ outcomes. We find that a 1 SD increase on an index of TeacherFit scores is associated with a 0.06 SD increase in evaluation scores. However, we also find evidence that teachers with higher TeacherFit scores are more likely to leave their hiring schools the following year. Our results suggest that TeacherFit is not necessarily a substitute for more rigorous screening processes that are conducted by human resources officials, such as those documented in recent studies.

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The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that U.S. secondary schools begin after 8:30 a.m. to better align with the circadian rhythms of adolescents. Yet due to economic and logistic considerations, the vast majority of high schools begin the school day considerably earlier. We leverage a quasi-natural experiment in which five comprehensive high schools in one of the nation’s largest school systems moved start times forty minutes earlier to better coordinate with earlier-start high schools. Here, disruption effects should exacerbate any harmful consequences. We report on the effect of earlier start times on a broad range of outcomes, including mandatory ACT test scores, absenteeism, on-time progress in high school, and college-going. While we fail to find evidence of harmful effects on test scores, we do see a rise in absenteeism and tardiness rates, as well as higher rates of dropping out of high school. These results suggest that the harmful effects of early start times may not be well captured by considering test scores alone.

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The WCPSS Student Survey is administered each year to measure students' impressions of their school and their learning experiences. 2013-14 results indicate that elementary school students had a more positive impression of their learning environment than middle or high school students. Results were similar to those of recent years except for a lower percentage of 7th and 10th grade students reporting that they are learning about other cultures and countries. Another exception was a decline in the percentage of 10th grade students agreeing that the information they are learning will help them beyond high school.

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During the spring of 2010, over 9,000 educators across Wake County Public Schools (WCPSS) took the North Carolina Teacher Working Conditions (TWC) survey. Survey responses were then compared to turnover data to see if there is any relationship between the two. Results indicated that teachers' satisfaction with their working conditions were positively associated with the percentage of teachers who stayed at their school the following year. These findings are discussed in terms of implications for improving staff retention rates at schools.

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The Wake County Public School System (WCPSS) has numerous programs and strategies to support students who are underachieving. Given the variety of support sources and the different ways in which WCPSS schools keep track of the type of support provided to students, it is often difficult at the district level to discern the full extent to which these students are supported beyond regular instruction, particularly by whom and through what funding source. Information on the types of services provided to students that extend beyond large supplemental programs such as Title I, English as a Second Language (ESL), and Special Education can be most reliably obtained from classroom teachers. To systemically collect data on the amount of need and support services given to K-5 students in 2009-10, elementary school teachers were asked to answer questions about whether their students were having frequent difficulty in literacy and mathematics, and if so, whether they received at least 30 hours of assistance and who provided it. These data were requested in the spring of 2010 as part of the annual K-5 Assessment Data survey completed by elementary school teachers. This report on the instructional assistance data for 2009-10 provides a brief look at the extent to which students had frequent difficulty in literacy and/or mathematics, whether these students received support beyond regular instruction and by whom, and whether the pattern of support differed at Title I elementary schools compared to non-Title I elementary schools.

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This paper reports the overall findings of research on effective teaching practices in Wake County Public Schools (WCPSS). It is a cross-case analysis of five earlier studies (Biology, Algebra I, U.S. History, middle school Algebra I, and English I). Despite subject implementation differences, four common themes were found: high academic expectations for all students, thoughtful management of time and materials, learning-centered classrooms, and proactive planning.

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This study analyzed the instructional practices of the most effective English I teachers identified by a multiple regression model. Using both quantitative and qualitative analysis of test data, surveys, observations, and focus-group interviews, the study found that the goal of the most effective teachers was effective communication skills for all students. These teachers focused on building capacity in students by addressing transition into high school and success across all curricular areas. Their classrooms were well-managed and activity-based, using at least the middle level thinking skills of application and analysis. Most effective teachers used Marzano research-based strategies, particularly reinforcing effort and providing recognition, non-linguistic representation, and cooperative learning. These results can be used to motivate teacher and school improvement efforts.

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Comparison of SAS© EVAAS© Results and WCPSS Effectiveness Index Results

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The students who have the most difficulty reaching accountability standards in Wake County Public Schools are those with more than one of the following characteristics: recipients of free or reduced-price lunch, students with disabilities, and/or students with limited English proficiency. The Evaluation and Research Department identified elementary and middle schools that differed in their effectiveness in promoting achievement growth for these students. Quantitative and qualitative analyses suggest differences in both attitudes and practices. The more effective schools had higher expectations for these students, and greater confidence in their ability to meet students' needs. Evidence suggested more effective administrative leadership/support, training, and utilization of resources. Higher-growth middle schools utilized assessments to inform instruction more frequently, and higher-growth elementary schools had more structured collaboration around student needs. Further research is planned.

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Student Support Teams (SST) are designed to strengthen and support students who are experiencing academic, behavioral, family, and/or emotional difficulties that interfere with learning. SSTs develop and implement action plans using classroom-, school-, family-, and/or community-based strategies. In 2003-04, 80% of the 4,944 students served by SSTs were elementary students. Over half of the students referred for academic reasons scored on grade level before SST participation. Earlier SST meetings and family-based strategies were correlated with positive academic outcomes. Classroom-based strategies were correlated with fewer suspensions. Schools varied in their success in improving SST students' achievement. SST participants' growth in achievement was generally smaller than a matched comparison group over one year, but students could have differed in ways related to referral reasons. SST students closed the gap between their achievement and that of the district overall in some elementary grades but not at the secondary level.

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The East Wake High School Evening Program study focused on whether the program was meeting its original intent and was cost/beneficial. The focus changed from serving only dropouts or students likely to drop out or not graduate who participated in the extended day program to serving any student needing course grade recovery. Most attempted courses were completed with credits earned, and grade promotions of enrollees increased. However, some classes were small, which increased the cost per student. Few dropouts enrolled in 2003-04, and overall enrollment was lower than previously.

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In 2003-04, 1,912 students in 16 elementary and 6 middle schools in the Wake County Public School System (WCPSS) participated in Fast ForWord program. Evaluation findings indicate that elementary and middle school participants made short-term gains averaging 22-55 months (approximately 2-4 years) of gain in terms of foundational listening and reading skills after nine weeks of intervention. When compared to students who had not received Fast ForWord instruction in 2003-04, both groups appeared to make similar gains on the Reading EOG over one year, although 7th and 8th graders served via Fast ForWord made greater gains on the math EOG. Over two years, students who received Fast ForWord in 2002-03 again performed similarly to their at-risk peers who had not received services in Reading EOG scores and gains. These findings suggest that Fast ForWord appears to impact foundational reading skills, but is not sufficient on its own to influence higher level reading skills and comprehension as measured by EOGs.

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The Wake County Public School System (WCPSS) is currently in the extension year, or Year 4, of the Safe Schools/Healthy Students grant. This report outlines the activities continued in the extension year, and a status report on each activity for the first part of Year 4.

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In the 2001-02 school year, Wake County Public School System (WCPSS) implemented a project within an innovative assistance program area of Title VI- the provision of performing arts teachers within magnet elementary schools to provide arts education - under the "promising educational reform projects" category. Twelve arts teachers, representing between 0.3 and 1.0 FTE each, served in six elementary magnet schools: Fuller, Powell, Washington, Wendell, Conn, and Wiley. Also, in spring 2001, funding was allocated for planning and training activities for a new school improvement/reorganization effort at eight schools. WPSS Instructional Services Division identified a set of six schools showing historical patterns of below-expectation growth, and two schools volunteered to participate in "Project Achieve." Training and development for the eight schools did occur as planned in July - October, 2001. Results are shared.

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High-quality evaluation research has demonstrated that smaller classes with a heterogeneous student composition can increase academic achievement and close the achievement gap. Research suggests that changes occur in the classroom naturally as a result of smaller size without teachers or students trying to do anything different. With fewer students, teachers understand students better, they use more tailored approaches to individuals, students form closer relationships with classmates and teachers, and the atmosphere becomes more friendly, cohesive, and less regimented. Still, researchers also observe that some changes such as the use of more hands-on activities emerge gradually (perhaps as teachers learn more about what is possible) and that individualization may not always be well done. Evaluation research has been slow to address potentially appropriate staff development training that may enhance the experience of smaller classes. The few existing evaluation studies have not shown benefits from training. At present, there is no agreement on the usefulness of staff development or on a general standard of teacher training appropriate for smaller class sizes.

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Evidence exists of positive progress toward meeting interim benchmarks as the project works toward achieving its major goals. In almost all instances where concerns were noted, appropriate corrective actions are in place or in process. SS/HS staff, partners and contacts meet regularly as appropriate to review progress and receive project updates.

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