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!~ ~ North Carolina Public Education K - I Z The original Constitution of North Carolina, adopted on December 18, 1776 included the specific provision "that a school or schools shall be established by the legislature, for the convenient instruction of youth." The NC Supreme Court reaffirmed in 2004 that every child in NC is entitled to an equal opporhanity to receive a sound basic education. The disagreement is on the question of how many dollars are needed to provide this equal sound basic education. NC EDUCATIONAL PROGRAMS (current) ABCs: The ABCs of Public Education. The ABCs is North Carolina's comprehensive plan to improve public schools that is based on three goals: strong Accountability, an emphasis on student mastery of Basic skills, and as much local Control as possible. The model focuses on schools meeting growth expectations for student achievement as well as on the overall percentage of students who scored at or above grade level. The model uses end-of--grade tests in grades 3-8 in reading and mathematics to measure growth at the elementary and middle school levels and end-of-course tests to measure growth at the high school level and at the middle school level where appropriate. Certified staff receive bonuses based on student growth and schools receive recognition based on the percentage of students' scores at or above grade level. New growth formulas and performance composites will be used for ABC calculations beginning for 2005-06 assessment results NCLB: No Child Left Behind. NCLB is the more recent reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Authorization Act and represents a sweeping cliange in the federal govermnent's role in local public education. NCLB has a variety of goals, but the most dominant ones are for every school to be at 100 percent proficiency by 2013-14 as measured by student achievement on state tests and for every child to be taught by a "Highly Qualified" teacher.. The new law emphasizes new standards for teachers and new consequences for Title I schools that do not meet student achievement standards for two or more consecutive years. North Carolina is one of five states approved to participate in a national pilot to switch the order of the first two years of sanctions that the No Child Left Behind federal law applies to schools in Title I School Improvement, according to notice received by State Superintendent June Atkinson from the U.S. Department of Education. The pilot allows seven districts in North Carolina to offer supplemental educational services, or free tutoring, to economically disadvantaged students in the first year a school is in Title I School Improvement instead of public school choice options, the usual first year sanction. The seven districts in the pilot are: Burke, Cumberland, Durham, Guilford, Northampton, Pitt and Robeson. In public school choice, parents are given the option to transfer their children to another school designated by the district that is not in Title I School Improvement. When both the public school choice and tutoring options are available to a family, parents may choose the transfer option or tutoring services, but not both. Public school choice is offered to all students in a Title I school. Extra tutoring services, or supplemental educational services, are offered only to economically disadvantaged students, regardless of the level of their academic performance. In North Carolina, economically disadvantaged is defined as qualifying for free or reduced-price lunch. More information about NCLB, Title I, SES and other related topics is available at www.ncpublicschools.or nclb. Questions also may be directed to the NC Department of Public Instruction (NCDPl) Communications division at 919.807.3450. MORE AT FOUR: The More at Four Program is North Carolina's statewide pre-kindergarten initiative for at- risk 4-year-olds, designed to help children be more successful when they enter school. The purpose of More at Four is to provide a high quality educational program for at-risk children in the year before kindergarten entry. Children are eligible for More at Four based on poverty status and other risk factors with priority for service given to children who are otherwise unserved in a preschool program. To learn more about the More at Four Program, please contact the More at Four State Office. Parents or caregivers interested in enrolling a child in More at Four should call 1-866-NC-PREK4. 2006-2007 Women's DraftAgenda 12