CMS
Study: More than 4,000 Mecklenburg students homeless or unstably housed
A new report from the UNC Charlotte Urban Institute presents research on family homelessness in Charlotte-Mecklenburg. Family homelessness is complicated, can result in negative impacts on educational outcomes for students and requires custom interventions based on each family’s unique needs. The report, released March 2, presents national research on factors associated with family homelessness, the […]
Confessions from the cul-de-sac
Three months ago my family and I moved into our first home. Something about buying a house makes you feel like a bona fide adult, and with that come adult decisions. When my husband and I were deciding where in the city we wanted to live, like many young families we fell into the trap […]
Book from UNC Charlotte researchers studies resegregation
A new book from UNC Charlotte educators and researchers examines the desegregation and resegregation of Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools over the past 40 years, putting education reform in a political and economic context. Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow: School Desegregation and Resegregation in Charlotte, is edited by Roslyn Arlin Mickelson, a UNC Charlotte professor; Stephen Samuel Smith, a […]
Wanted: sustainable jobs for principals
The past year has been a tough one for Charlotteans. We witnessed the public firing of our county manager, the incarceration of our mayor, and the forced resignation of our public school superintendent. We’ve experienced leadership transitions at every level of government and in many of the nonprofits that serve the most vulnerable residents of […]
Which students are dropping out of CMS and why?
This multimedia presentation shows the results of research into dropout behavior in Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools from school years 1995-1996 to 2009-2010. It shows how concentrated poverty at a school makes the dropout situation worse for black and Hispanic/Latino students. It also shows how positive academic climate at a school lowers the chances of dropping out for […]
Report tallies gains from United Way’s Collective Impact initiative
It’s a simple concept: Focus on fewer goals and bigger results. That’s the idea behind the Collective Impact approach United Way of Central Carolinas (UWCC) has adopted. For United Way that goal for the next 10 years is to increase the graduation rate among the more than 13,000 at-risk children who receive services from 16 […]
Why I support the Common Core
What should be the end goal of K-12 education? To prepare students for college, the workforce, military, trade school, life? I support Common Core standards because I believe including rigorous standards that require higher-order thinking skills prepare all students for a variety of career and educational paths. The Common Core is a set of standards […]
Maps compare teacher turnover at CMS schools
Increasing teacher turnover has been in the news for districts across North Carolina. The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools district is no exception – but what does teacher turnover look like when you get down to the individual school? Interactive maps and dashboards give you a new perspective. The UNC Charlotte Urban Institute has partnered with MeckEd through […]
As N.C. school buses roll, compare ride times, and more
It is no small task to get the school bus to your neighborhood each day. Planning starts in March for most North Carolina school districts to open school in August. As buses begin their routes again this year, did you know: North Carolina’s public school districts operate 13,349 public school buses. Those buses travel 180,000,000 […]
In CMS, recycling’s possible but not always practical
Recycling containers sit in classrooms in every Charlotte-Mecklenburg public school, and students at nearly half of them make the extra effort to dump leftover liquid from milk and juice cartons before tossing them into bins. “The recycling systems are in place in the schools,” says Laurette Hall, environmental manager for Mecklenburg County Solid Waste Services, […]