Meetings/Events

Kudos

Pam Schram recently received the “Best Faculty Advisor Award” from the Coordinating Council for Clubs.

Summer View

We anticipate receiving more information about DPI changes in the next month or so; these changes will drive our response in terms of curriculum changes, etc. We also anticipate that more information will be forthcoming about what will be offered by different departments in terms of Gen Ed; those offerings will have a significant impact on our curriculum and requirements. We would hope to convene some work groups over the summer to start work on both initiatives. We hope you will view these changes as being significant enough to participate in discussions about how we might best respond.

Also scheduled for summer is an update on our enrollment goals for teacher education. The Provost will call a team together to set expanded productivity goals for three additional years (2010-11 through 2012-13) for overall traditional teacher education graduates, overall alternative licensure completers, and traditional and alternative goals for high-need licensure areas. As we take action in expanding our goals, major attention must be given to preparing more teachers in mathematics, science, middle grades, and special education. Moving forward with our accountability plan, Education and Arts & Sciences academic units will have a shared responsibility for meeting the goals established for mathematics and science high-need licensure areas, as well as a responsibility to assist in meeting the overall campus teacher productivity goals. Productivity goals are due at GA by July 15. Current state-wide projections call for 12,664 new teachers needed in 2020-2021—a number that has remained fairly constant over the past 4-5 years.

Budget View

The latest revenue forecast for the State of North Carolina is a rather somber report indicating the $140-150 million revenue increase (over last year at this time) we enjoyed for part of this fiscal year has evaporated in light of falling tax revenue. The State is now only about $15-20 million ahead and the chances of that holding are slim. Information we have received this week suggests that the Governor’s budget will include a 1% cut for the UNC system. The legislature may well add on 1-2% additional cuts so while August and the end of the session are a ways off, be prepared for a possible reduced budget this fiscal year.

Accreditation Unification

The Task Force on Accreditation convened in early 2008 by AACTE to discuss future unification of the accreditation system for educator preparation will issue its recommendations for a unified system. Task Force members represented TEAC, NCATE, and AACTE. A report completed by the Task Force in late April, Building Agreement On An Accreditation System for Educator Preparation, presents a vision for unified national accreditation, with a detailed transition plan for NCATE and TEAC to complete the design of a system within two years. The report recommendations have been forwarded from the Task Force to leaders of the three organizations. Note: I am sure the three organizations will proceed very cautiously concerning unification and such an action would have to be ratified by all three groups; still, it is an interesting concept and one to keep an eye on as discussions continue.

Boosting Memory

Cognitive training may boost "fluid intelligence" in healthy young adults, and may be applicable to students with learning disabilities or ADHD, according to a study published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA. Nearly three dozen students who were trained in a complicated memory task with simultaneous auditory and visual cues increased their IQ scores, challenging the long-held theory that intelligence is an inherent characteristic that can’t be modified. Scientific American (4/29)

Food for Thought in the Short Session

Public school teachers earn considerably less than comparably educated and experienced people, and less than people in occupations with similar educational and skill requirements, such as accountants, reporters, registered nurses, computer programmers, members of the clergy, and personnel officers. Compared with these professionals, teachers earn, on average, about $154 less a week—or 14.3 percent less—than people in these other learned, but not unusually lucrative, professions. This teacher pay penalty, in effect in all 50 states and the District of Columbia, ranges from more than 25 percent in 15 states (Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, the District of Columbia, Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas, and Virginia) to less than 10 percent in only five (Montana, North Dakota, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Wyoming). Nowhere in this country, however, do teachers earn more than those comparably educated. ASCD Brief 4-30-08.

Last Update

This update will be the last one for the academic year. We usually take a hiatus during the summer months although if news and events warrant it, an occasional Update may appear. We thank you for a busy and productive year and hope that the upcoming summer provides you with some change of pace and even venue. See you around the coffee pot!

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“Change is a Journey, not a Destination.”
—M. Fullan