Published in March 2015, these reports review the third 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 3 implementation activities:
- Professional development. In 2013-2014 school year, all but one of the Cohort 1 and Cohort 2 schools had participated in the targeted number of professional development activities.
- Instructional Coaching. All Cohort 1 and 2 schools received the targeted number of instructional coaching days in 2013-2014. Twenty laptop computers were distributed to instructional coaches supporting virtual coaching activities.
- Leadership coaching. All Cohort 1 and 2 schools received the targeted number of days in 2013-2014. Leadership coaches have changed their work to focus more on the impact plans.
- NC New Schools’ staff support. NC New Schools’ staff provided at least two days of on-site support to all but one of the Cohort 1 and 2 schools during the 2013-2014 school year. Staff have recently expanded their support to include coaching for the college liaisons.
- Access to college courses. All schools have the services of a college liaison. According to school reports, 1,700 students were taking college courses in the fall of 2014, an estimated 15% of the total student population. Participation levels range from a low of 4.4% of their enrollment in a Cohort 3 school to a high of 37.7% in a Cohort 2 school. Over 150 laptop computers were distributed to schools to support students with online courses. All 11 districts have completed formal MOUs with at least one of their higher education partners.
- Support for the context. The community development coordinator is working in 10 out of the 11 districts (including all of the Cohort 1 and 2 districts), engaging stakeholders in efforts to support the Rural Innovative Schools work. In the 2014-2015 school year, program staff have increased their emphasis on providing professional development opportunities to district staff. North Carolina New Schools has contracted with a retired educator to document implementation of the Rural Innovative High Schools initiative and communicate lessons learned to practitioners and policymakers.
Download the executive summary.
Download the complete external evaluation report from the SERVE Center.
