Published in March 2014, these reports review the second year of the NC Rural Innovative Schools initiative.
- Executive summary
- Year 2 baseline report from the SERVE Center
- 2014 report to the State Board of Education
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 2 activities include:
- NC New Schools recruited an additional four schools to replace four schools that left the program prior to their receiving services.
- The program design was modified in several ways:
1. The program funded college liaison positions, individuals who would support college course taking efforts at the school level;
2. More resources were provided to fund college readiness
activities at schools; and
3. The program will extend services to NC Investing in Rural Innovative Schools partner schools, at a gradually declining level, for longer than the three years originally intended. - Participation in professional development increased dramatically in the second year of the program. In the first full year of implementation (2012-2013 school year), Cohort 1 schools participated in an average of 14.5 days of professional development. In the first half of the 2013-2014 school year, all Cohort 1 and 2 schools had participated in an average of 17 days of professional development, more than 100% of the expected
number of days. - In the 2012-2013 school year, Cohort 1 schools received 97% of the targeted number of days of instructional coaching. Cohort 1 and 2 schools are on-track for receiving the targeted number of days in Year 2. Instructional coaches spent the majority of their time meeting with teachers, providing customized feedback.
- In the 2012-2013 school year, Cohort 1 schools received 61% of the targeted number of days of leadership coaching. In the fall of 2013, three quarters of Cohort 1 and 2 schools received at least 100% of the days of leadership coaches’ visits. Leadership coaches
worked primarily with the principal around implementing the Design Principles in the school. - Five out of seven Cohort 1 and 2 districts have completed Memoranda of Understanding with their postsecondary partners. So far, a total of 990 students have taken college courses, an estimated 12% of the entire enrollment of Cohort 1 and 2 schools.
- All Cohort 1 and 2 districts participated in Design Principle Rubric Reviews on the topic of College Readiness. This provided an opportunity for the NC New Schools staff, school and district staff to examine data collaboratively and determine how well they are doing relative to standards for the College Readiness rubric.
- The Community Development Coordinator has worked extensively with all of the Cohort 1 and 2 districts. This has resulted in local partnerships in some districts that are designed to support the schools’ innovative activities.
Based on recommendations from the evaluation team, project staff will:
- Continue their work with both school and district leadership teams to develop buy-in and a deeper understanding of the program;
- Explore the possibility of creating teams of coaches working within districts so that the same group of instructional and leadership coaches are working with the same team of
schools as much as possible; - Identify ways in which NC New Schools staff and coaches can be supportive and collaborative, yet also effectively “push” schools to attain the next level of progress.
Download the executive summary.
Download the complete year 2 baseline report from the SERVE Center.
