CHAPEL HILL (Sept. 3, 2020) – The ability to read by third grade is viewed as critical to college readiness. Through third grade, students learn to read, the saying goes, and after third grade they read to learn. So in a Zoom webinar hosted by Higher Ed Works, we asked our panelists why third-grade reading… READ MORE
Third-grade reading: “Don’t give up…. Fix it”
RALEIGH (Aug. 13, 2020) – Even before the coronavirus pandemic, North Carolina was struggling to improve students’ ability to read by third grade – a vital precursor to college readiness. And the exercise in online education forced by the pandemic certainly hasn’t improved matters. As Debra Derr, host of the NC Chamber’s annual Education &… READ MORE
Excerpts: Funding NC Public Education Through the Pandemic
RALEIGH (July 29, 2020) – Funding for public education in North Carolina can be uncertain even in good times. Now try it in the midst of a global pandemic. In the following excerpts from Zoom webinars Higher Ed Works hosted last week, state legislative leaders discuss the many uncertainties they face in budgeting for public… READ MORE
Colleges to help communities ‘grow their own’ teachers
RALEIGH – It had nothing to do with the coronavirus, but the State Board of Community Colleges took an important step last week to expand North Carolina’s pipeline of future teachers. The board approved two new teacher-preparation transfer degrees – an associate in arts in teacher preparation and associate in science in teacher preparation –… READ MORE
A moral imperative for our kids
DURHAM (August 21, 2019) – To fix North Carolina’s leaky education pipeline, we need to start at the beginning: Pre-kindergarten. “It lays the foundation for third-grade reading proficiency,” Jim Hansen, PNC Bank’s Regional President for Eastern North Carolina, told the NC Chamber’s Education & Workforce Conference yesterday. Hansen is part of a group of executives… READ MORE
Where We Stand – Pre-K: Prime those 4-year-olds to learn
RALEIGH (June 12, 2019) – We’re finally starting to get it: Improved student performance starts well before kindergarten. And that means getting more 4-year-olds into high-quality pre-kindergarten. Recent research indicates that the benefits of quality Pre-K prepare a child for academic success at least through eighth grade. For several years now, academics and business executives alike… READ MORE
NC teacher pay: Keep going
RALEIGH – We’ve said it before, and we’ll say it again: Teacher pay in North Carolina is headed in the right direction. The National Education Association released estimates in March that indicate average pay for North Carolina’s K-12 public school teachers now stands at $53,975, ranking North Carolina 29th among the states.1 That’s an increase… READ MORE
Reward all our teachers
RALEIGH (May 2, 2019) – The 2019-21 state budget the N.C. House is moving to approve this week continues to award healthy raises to K-12 teachers and makes some strategic investments in higher education, especially in the area of capital. But it doesn’t do nearly enough for our public colleges’ and universities’ human capital. House… READ MORE
NC Pre-K: 33,000 kids eligible, but can’t get it
RALEIGH (January 17, 2019) – The key to a student’s academic success is a strong foundation – and that foundation needs to be built before formal schooling even begins. So a group of North Carolina business leaders called Thursday for the state to revamp funding for its nationally recognized pre-kindergarten program so that it reaches… READ MORE