The dean of the School of Education joined three deans from public North Carolina universities on Dec. 4, 2018, to discuss teacher recruitment, preparation and induction in North Carolina as part of an invited panel for the Governor's education commission meeting.
Ann Bullock, dean of the School of Education, joined three deans from public North Carolina universities on Dec. 4, 2018, to discuss teacher recruitment, preparation and induction in North Carolina as part of an invited panel for the Governor’s education commission meeting.
The commission, appointed by Gov. Roy Cooper in 2017, focuses on the state’s commitment following the landmark Leandro court ruling in 1997 to provide every student in North Carolina with equal opportunity for educational success. From the Leandro court ruling:
“[T]he right to an equal opportunity to obtain a sound basic education requires that each child be afforded the opportunity to attend a public school which has the following educational resources, at a minimum: First, that every classroom be staffed with a competent, certified, well-trained teacher who is teaching the standard course of study by implementing effective educational methods that provide differentiated, individualized instruction, assessment and remediation to the students in that classroom.” Liability Judgment (April 4, 2002), pp. 109-110; Leandro II, 358 N.C. at 636, 599 S.E.2d at 389
Tom Tomberlin, the director of district human resources for the N.C. Department of Public Instruction, provided the first presentation to the commission on the most recent data from the State of the Teaching Profession report published by the department each year. Tomberlin’s presentation focused on teacher attrition rates, or the percent of teachers who are no longer employed at NC public schools from one year to the next, as well as the relative effectiveness of those who leave the profession versus those who remain. As a metric for teacher effectiveness, Tomberlin referenced average EVAAS scores.
“The problem is, if you look at 2015-16, this story is exactly the same,” Tomberlin said. “This is an insidious cycle that these districts are in,” said Tomberlin. “They’re constantly losing their experienced teachers, unable to replace them with experienced teachers from other districts, and having to replace them with brand new, ineffective teachers.”
Themes that emerged from the panel discussion with the invited deans included the importance of establishing strong partnerships between colleges of education and K-12 school systems, preparing teacher candidates through student teaching, and providing professional development and support to new teachers.
During the discussion, Bullock said the state needs to return its focus to the competencies and outcomes that contribute to an effective teacher and create an assessment-driven model at the state level that shows which teacher preparation programs are high-quality. Bullock then urged the commission to think about the “long play” when it comes to teacher education.
“The long play does need to include pay,” said Bullock. “I feel like when we got off track, all these other programs were created, all these others ways to become a teacher … and we need to go back to what are our outcomes and what are our competencies.”
The commission has future meetings planned through April 2019, after which it is expected to release a final report. Previous meetings of the commission have addressed topics like school funding, early childhood education, and the principal pipeline. Future meetings will address supporting and retaining teachers and providing career pathways.