Articles About Education

This article is a summary of a yearlong study to be published in an edited volume printed by Harvard Educational Press in fall 2014. The study uses administrative records from the N.C. Department of Instruction and Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools, media reports, and in-depth interviews with parents, teachers, and administrators. In 1997, when North Carolina launched its […]

Early in my career as a teacher and principal, I learned I should make all of my decisions based on what was in the best interest of the children we served, and not necessarily what the adults wanted. I am deeply concerned that the “Opportunity Scholarship Act,” or private school voucher bill, fails to meet […]

In North Carolina, the achievement gap between economically disadvantaged students and their wealthier peers is about 30 percentage points,[1] and the graduation gap between these two groups is more than 11 percentage points.[2] Before I was a lawyer or a legislator, I fought this reality firsthand as a Teach For America teacher. My experience working […]

Starting with the 2014-15 academic year, North Carolina’s Opportunity Scholarship Act will offer a $4,200 voucher to pay for low-income children in public schools to attend private schools. The legislation, which the N.C. General Assembly passed in July 2013, captures two contentious topics in the state: school choice and the idea of using public dollars […]

Since 2012-2013 test results were released Nov. 7 there has been a flurry of publicity about the Common Core standards. The Charlotte Observer has had strong coverage of the topic, as has the News & Observer of Raleigh. (Example: “Common Core essential to student growth,” a commentary by Superintendents Heath Morrison of Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools and […]

How do we use maps in the modern world? Your smart phone, GPS, digital camera and daily weather report all use modern versions of maps called geographic information systems. GIS day is an event that helps explain the growing importance of this technology in daily life. Want to attend? Location: Spirit Square Center for the […]

Jody Pressley, project leader for the Transportation Information Management System, is featured in the November issue of School Bus Fleet magazine as one of “14 Phenomenal Women in School Transportation.” TIMS is a collaboration among the UNC Charlotte Urban Institute, where Pressley works, the N.C. Department of Public Instruction and the Institute for Transportation Research […]

As summer vacation winds to an end, many families anxiously await the first day of school – the end of their struggle to provide babysitters, activities and camps to curb bored kids’ mischief. But from educators’ perspective, beginning a new school year can mean a daunting task of overcoming the “summer slide.” Educators and researchers […]

Early in my teaching career I realized how easy it would be to cheat on standardized tests. I realized this by accident, due to my lack of a poker face. The day after a big end-of-unit assessment, a parent of a third-grade student told me her son had gone home upset, because he knew he […]

The LandTrust for Central North Carolina and staff from the North Carolina Museum of Sciences are hosting the Uwharrie Naturalist Weekend on May 4 and 5 – a weekend of nature exploration in the Uwharries. The focus of this inaugural event will be breeding birds. This naturalist weekend is the first of its kind in […]

“In 1965, if you had a good back and a good alarm clock, you could make a good living in Milwaukee,” Mayor Tom Barrett told a recent Raleigh conference, because of the strength, at the time, of that city’s manufacturing sector. Although rural Stanly County is very different, that Milwaukee attitude was also the prevailing […]

Nationwide, schools of concentrated poverty have poor academic outcomes and limited educational opportunities.[1] Our local schools are no different.[2][3] Education reform is a priority across the political spectrum and throughout the community. But are we basing our reform efforts on accumulated evidence or simply on stories that tug on our emotions? The students pictured above […]