Students with Limited English Proficiency (LEP) entering U.S. schools in grade 9 face a tight timeline to simultaneously learn English and graduate from high school in four or five years. This study focuses on student outcomes and progress indicators for the cohort of ninth graders new to WCPSS in 2008-09 who had limited English proficiency. Based…

In this article, the author shares the background of James Daugherty in music education, a band director who was elected to serve as president of the North Carolina Bandmasters Association, the highest leadership role for a band director in the state. His passion for music only grew in high school, where he gleaned both musical and life lessons…

While there has been growing interest in the last few years to address the literacy needs of adolescents, this interest comes when alarming numbers of students are challenged by academic literacy demands in high school. Many students entering high school without passing state assessment examinations are required to take developmental reading…

State policies affect the qualifications of beginning teachers in numerous ways, including regulating entry requirements, providing incentives for graduate degrees, and subsidizing preparation programs at public universities. In this paper we assess how these policy choices affect student achievement, specifically comparing traditionally prepared…

High school students participating in online courses offered by the North Carolina Virtual Public School (NCVPS) completed end-of-course surveys in spring 2009. When the responses of 559 foreign language students were compared to students in five other subject area groups, the findings suggested foreign language students had significantly lower…

This dissertation was designed to examine and evaluate the effectiveness of a Ninth-Grade Transition Program at a Rural High School in Central North Carolina. The ninth grade is a pivotal year that determines which students will prevail and which students will fail to finish high school (Hertzog, 2003). It is essential that schools put in place…

The study sought to explore and compare the current level of job stress among secondary agriculture teachers in Missouri and North Carolina. The accessible populations consisted of secondary agriculture teachers (n = 252) in Missouri and (n = 118) in North Carolina. Data were collected using the Job Stress Survey (Spielberger & Vagg, 1999).…

This research investigates the relative effectiveness (in terms of student tested achievement) of Teach for America (TFA) teachers, and examines the validity of the criticisms of TFA. Specifically, the authors look at TFA teachers in secondary schools, and especially in math and science, where considerable program growth is planned over the next…

As a social studies program coordinator at a regional-sized institution, the author typically has between 20-25 preservice candidates enrolled in his annual undergraduate methods course. However, he usually has only one to two in-service candidates each year who require an advance methods course focused on such items as the historical influences,…

This paper describes the second part of a new three-part study of STEM and engineering design research--termed Design-Without-Make--conducted by NC State University in 2009-10 in an NC high school. The hybrid quantitative, qualitative case study is being developed with the purpose of capturing what new technological learning occurs and how the new…

The Delaware Enhanced Assessment Grant (DE EAG) project was funded by the U.S. Department of Education in 2006 as an initiative to assist 10 state departments of education (SDE) teams, and local school district and high school teams, in implementing a comprehensive and balanced learning and assessment system (CBAS) with a strong emphasis on a…

This publication is the result of an 18-month project that brought together teams from six states--Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, and Texas--along with their national organizations in a groundbreaking partnership to identify collective bargaining language and policies that support high-quality professional development.…

In 2007-08, the WCPSS teacher absence rate was 10.3 days, slightly higher than a national rate of 9.5 days in 2004-05 but lower than the 11.3 to 14.6 days reported in large school districts more recently. In comparison with other studies, WCPSS teachers averaged smaller proportions of personal and sick leave days, slightly more annual leave days,…

This study examined whether having a Teach For America (TFA) teacher instead of a non-TFA teacher affects the academic performance of high school students. The research described in this report is consistent with What Works Clearinghouse (WWC) evidence standards with reservations. The following strengths were identified. The estimated effects rely…

Research has shown that certain ways of teaching can make a difference in whether students learn standards-based content. Many strategies have proven to be effective in teaching literacy, mathematics, science and social studies. These strategies have facilitated blending academic and career/technical subjects to make learning more meaningful for…