Published in March 2013, these reports review the first year of the NC Rural Innovative Schools initiative.
NC New Schools has partnered with 11 rural school districts to expand college readiness and access in 18 traditional high schools serving high needs students. The five-year grant will impact more than 20,000 students by 2016.
Key Year 1 conclusions and recommendations:
The data from the first year of implementation indicate that the program is generally on-track for meeting its goals, although there were some delays and there are areas in which it could be modified to strengthen its potential impact. The results so far from the evaluation have led to some recommendations for the program staff to consider as they move forward:
- The program staff has recognized the need to begin working with the schools earlier than the end of the school year and have already started working with Cohort 2 schools. This earlier contact with the schools will give schools more time to understand and buy-into the program and hopefully allow the coaching services to start earlier. During these early contacts, the Rural Innovative Schools staff should work with the schools to ensure that they have a very clear understanding of the project, and that the goal of the project is to help more students become college ready. For the school, this will involve trying to create an
environment that is more supportive of college, using instructional strategies that will help prepare students to succeed in college courses, and providing early access to college
courses. - Given the multiple expectations placed on teachers, including Common Core, Rural Innovative Schools staff and coaches should clearly present how the Rural Innovative Schools services mesh with and will help in implementation of these other initiatives.
- The professional development opportunities provided by NC New Schools are clearly focused on the Design Principles. The emphasis in these sessions has historically been on serving NC New Schools’ partner small schools, particularly their early colleges. Comprehensive high schools, such as those in the Rural Innovative Schools network, have different issues and would benefit from at least some programming more explicitly tailored to their needs. NC New Schools have made an excellent step in this direction by planning an onsite visit to a school district in Texas, where they have been implementing a similar effort for several years. NC iRIS staff should explore additional ways of tailoring the professional development more explicitly to the needs of comprehensive high schools.
- The instructional and leadership coaching services have been primarily focused on the Leadership and Powerful Teaching and Learning Design Principles. Given the fact that Ready for College is seen as the most important Design Principle for Rural Innovative Schools, staff may want to consider working with the coaches to determine ways in which they can emphasize the Ready for College Design Principle in their visits. This can be driven by the school’s plan developed as part of the Design Principle Rubric Review.
