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HomeMy WebLinkAboutAgenda - 12-14-2004-7bORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS ACTION AGENDA ITEM ABSTRACT Meeting Date: December 14, 2004 Action Agenda Item No. ~_ SUBJECT: Educational Excellence Work Group Update DEPARTMENT: County Manager PUBLIC HEARING: (Y/N) No ATTACHMENT(S): None INFORMATION CONTACT: John Link or Rod Visser. ext 2300 Durham 688-7331 Mebane 336-227-2031 TELEPHONE NUMBERS: Hillsborough 732-8181 Chapel Hill 968-4501 PURPOSE: To receive an update about the UNC School of Education team that has been working to provide research and analysis about the resources available to the two school systems in Orange County. BACKGROUND: In February 2004, the Board of Commissioners endorsed the creation of an Educational Excellence Work Group to examine the resources made available to the Orange County Schools and the Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools. As originally proposed, the Task Force's mission was to provide a review of both Orange County school systems, investigating the educational resources available in both school systems and making recommendations for improvement and how these resources could become equally accessible to all Orange County students, In the March 2004 inaugural meeting of this work group, it was determined that representatives of the UNC School of Education would develop a proposal to pursue the research and analysis upon which the envisioned recommendations could be developed. In .June 2004, the Board of Commissioners approved an agreement with UNC incorporating the research proposal prepared by Dr.. Madeline Grumet, former Dean of the School of Education. Dr. Grumet has been leading the research team from the beginning of the project in July 2004 to date. The research team briefed elected representatives from the BOCC and both schcol systems on progress in early November 2004. This December 14 agenda item updates the full Board of Commissioners on preliminary findings and outlines some work remaining to be done before the research team concludes its work and provides its report in early January 2005. z Dr, Grumet reports that the research team (Madeleine Grumet, George Noblit, Rita O'Sullivan, Martha Hudson, Kim Pyne, Amy Anderson) has visited every school in both districts, They have gathered information using the same interview protocol with each principal. The team has returned the data gathered to each principal for her/his review. Because the team and the Superintendents thought it important to be able to use both 2002-03 and 2003-04 State Report Card data, the team's work was delayed until the recent data was released in mid-November 2004. A few preliminary observations from the team's research thus far, some outstanding questions, and some of the issues the team plans to address in their January 2005 report, are mentioned below: • Preliminary observations based on 2002-03 Report Card data: o District at-a-glance similarities o Average class size is greater in CHCCS o Within each district some differences are notable o There are more racial groups in CHCCS • Would like research team to look at 2003-2004 data (especially achievement) and include synthesis of two years in final report (versus relying on snapshot of one year's data). • Must consider the significance of class size and choices regarding specialists when looking at staffing patterns, as well as costs of choice. Research team needs to look at certified vs. non-certified support staff as well as staffing patterns at school level and district levels, • For elementary schools, the differences between districts are not as significant as differences school by school within districts • Ethos of good practices in both districts: work for heterogeneity in classrooms with highly differentiated instruction • Discussion of how to name the significant equity issues the Commissioners should consider, Straggle with what the markers are for a study of equity between two districts? What constitutes a level playing field? What is an adequate distribution of resources? How to define adequacy? • Acknowledge that CHCCS generally has more resources than OCS, including CHCCS tax base that puts them at $12 million more than OCS; CHCCS PTA Thrift Shop as significant source of revenue for CHCCS schools, These are "non-existent pieces of the pie" for OCS. • What seems an especially significant difference between districts is the number of adtalts present in an ongoing, everyday way in CHCCS that provide an ongoing educational resource. • What happens at the elementary school that affects the changes that data reveal regarding middle school & high school achievement data? What are the gatekeeping courses that facilitate/frustrate progress? Middle school is also a time for differentiation regarding class and gender to appear, • Report to include executive summary prefacing final report that indicates: o "These are the most striking examples of possibilities for resource sharing" o "These are the gaps in resources that effect equivalency," • Careful attention must be paid when discussing programs: Is something happening at one school, or in many places? Report should not over-generalize district-level/school- level program offerings. FINANCIAL IMPACT: The School of Education's cost for the research project work is $25,000, This amount was carried forward from the 2003-04 Orange County budget to cover the cost of the research project, RECOMMENDATION(S): The Manager recommends that the Board receive the update as information..