NC College and Career Data Use Project
SECC will support the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction (NCDPI) as it develops training, tools, and other resources to support districts and schools in using ACT Program assessment data in organizing and planning for instruction.
Previous Work Updates
2016
July
SECC provided NCDPI a resource on the rewriting of the federal career and technical education. This and other resources that have been provided can serve to advise SEA leaders embarking upon a study that will determine the impact of CTE program placement/ courses taken on student performance on the ACT as well as one regarding the effectiveness of an SREB Math Essentials course with which they would like support. The resources provided connect to the concept of career- and college-preparedness, which is the goal for all students completing K–12 education in North Carolina.
June
SECC provided resources to NCDPI pertaining to the impact of ESSA on career and technical education (CTE). These and other resources can serve to advise SEA leaders embarking upon a study that will determine the impact of CTE program placement/courses taken on student performance on the ACT as well as one regarding the impact/effectiveness of an SREB Math Essentials course with which they would like support. The resources connected to the concept of post-secondary school-/career-/college-preparedness, which is the goal for all students completing K–12 education in North Carolina.
May
SECC provided resources to NCDPI pertaining to graduation rates, achievement gaps, and remediation; career readiness as with employability skills, overage/undercredited competency-based content recovery, and career pathways; and using interim high school reading assessments as a college readiness predictor. These and other resources can serve to advise SEA leaders embarking upon a study that will determine the impact of its CTE program placement/courses taken on student performance on the ACT as well as regarding the impact/effectiveness of an SREB Math Essentials course with which they would like support. The resources provided connections to the concept of postsecondary college and career preparedness, which are the goals for all students completing K–12 education in North Carolina.
April
SECC provided a resource to NCDPI pertaining to the value of a bachelor’s degree versus that of an associate degree. This and other resources can serve to advise SEA leaders embarking upon a study that will determine the impact of CTE program placement/courses taken on student performance on the ACT as well as one regarding the impact/effectiveness of an SREB Math Essentials course. The resources provided connect to the concept of post-secondary preparedness, which is the goal for all students completing K–12 education in North Carolina.
March
SECC provided resources to NCDPI pertaining to community college pathways and about course performance being an early warning indicator for academic success. These resources can serve to advise SEA leaders embarking upon a study of the impact/effectiveness of an SREB Math Essentials course with which they would like support as well as those anticipating a study that will determine the impact of Career and Technical Education program placement/courses taken on student performance on the ACT. The resources provided connect to the concept of post-secondary school-/career-/college-preparedness, which are the goal/s for all students completing K–12 education in North Carolina.
SECC provided resources to NCDPI pertaining to community college pathways and about course performance being an early warning indicator for academic success. These resources can serve to advise SEA leaders embarking upon a study of the impact/effectiveness of an SREB Math Essentials course with which they would like support, as well as those anticipating a study that will determine the impact of Career and Technical Education program placement/courses taken on student performance on the ACT. The resources provided connect to the concept of post-secondary school-/career-/college-preparedness, which are the goal/s for all students completing K–12 education in North Carolina.
January
SECC met with NCDPI staff regarding the study of the impact/effectiveness of an SREB Math Essentials course with which they would like support. NCDPI staff indicated the need to await the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the University of North Carolina (UNC) to attain data needed for the study. The department dispelled the previous notion that UNC and NCDPI would conduct concurrent studies of the course as they have decided to combine efforts for one study. SECC and NCDPI staff also discussed collecting and incorporating implementation data/documentation into the study prior to addressing impact/effectiveness. In addition, SECC has provided information regarding several similar studies and will connect NCDPI staff with researchers who conducted those studies as a means to learn about effective methodology for its own study. SECC also shares relative resources such as ones regarding graduation rates, math instruction for teachers, and student privacy versus data mining. SECC has also met with NCDPI staff about assisting with a study that will determine the impact of CTE program placement/courses taken on student performance on the ACT. NCDPI has initiated a data-sharing memorandum of agreement with SECC so that SECC will be able to examine relative data to effectively advise the methodologies utilized for conducting this study. These studies, once conducted by NCDPI with advisement from SECC, could respectively determine the impact on student performance on the ACT via CTE program enrollment as well as the impact on college course placement for those students who took the SREB Math Essentials course in high school. Should these studies yield positive results, such could make for formularial direction for students to take in order to be well-prepared for both the ACT and college entry without the need for remediation.
2015
December
SECC met with NCDPI staff regarding the study of the impact/effectiveness of an SREB Math Essentials course with which they would like support. NCDPI staff indicated the need to await the signing of an Memorandum of Agreement with the University of North Carolina to attain data needed for the study; however, dispelled the previous notion that UNC and NCDPI would conduct concurrent studies of the course as they have decided to combine efforts for one study. SECC and NCDPI staff also discussed collecting and incorporating implementation data/documentation into the study prior to addressing impact/effectiveness. SECC has also provided information regarding several similar studies and will connect NCDPI staff with researchers who conducted those studies as a means to learn about effective methodology for its own study. SECC also shared relative resources such as ones regarding graduation rates, math instruction for teachers, and student privacy versus data mining. SECC has also met with NCDPI staff about assisting with a study that will determine the impact of Career and Technical Education program placement/courses taken on student performance on the ACT. NCDPI has initiated a data-sharing MOU with SECC so that SECC will be able to examine relative data to effectively advise the methodologies utilized for conducting this study.
November
SECC staff met with NCDPI staff regarding the study of the impact/effectiveness of a SREB Math Essentials course with which they would like support. NCDPI staff indicated the need to await the signing of an memorandum of understanding with the University of North Carolina (UNC) to attain data needed for the study. UNC and NCDPI have decided to combine efforts to conduct a single study. SECC and NCDPI staff also discussed collecting and incorporating implementation data/documentation into the study, prior to addressing impact/effectiveness. In addition, SECC staff have provided information regarding several similar studies and will connect NCDPI staff with researchers who conducted those studies as a means to learn about effective methodology for its own study. SECC staff also shared relative resources such as ones regarding graduation rates, math instruction for teachers, and student privacy versus data mining.
October
The SECC team met with NCDPI staff regarding the study of an SREB Math course with which they would like support. NCDPI staff indicated the need to await the signing of an MOU with the University of North Carolina to attain data needed for the study. SECC will provide guidance for best practices for conducting the study and relative resources throughout this period and beyond.
September
The SECC team met in anticipation of forthcoming North Carolina college and career readiness work. SECC and NCDPI team members have planned to talk about specific deliverables and timelines for this work in early October.
August
SECC staff continue to share college and career readiness resources with all states in the region, particularly from the College and Career Readiness and Success Center and other sources. Staff are also sharing assessment resources with North Carolina due to its particular interest. An alternative school accountability resource was most recently shared with the SEA.
April
SECC has had preliminary discussions with NCDPI about assisting with a program evaluation of the SREB Math Ready course implementation that began last fall. SECC will assist with a concurrent evaluation to be done by NCDPI alongside one done by the University of North Carolina upon further prompting from the NCDPI once a successor for SECC’s point of contact who recently retired is established.
March
SECC has had preliminary discussions with NCDPI about assisting with a program evaluation of the SREB Math Ready course implementation that began last fall. SECC will assist with a concurrent evaluation to be done by NCDPI alongside one done by the University of North Carolina upon further prompting from the NCDPI relative to readiness.
February
SECC has had preliminary discussions with NCDPI about assisting with a program evaluation of the SREB Math Ready course implementation that began last fall. SECC will assist with a concurrent evaluation to be done by NCDPI alongside one done by the University of North Carolina upon further prompting from the NCDPI relative to readiness.
January
SECC has had preliminary discussions with NCDPI about assisting with a program evaluation of the SREB Math Ready course implementation that began last fall. SECC will assist with a concurrent evaluation to be done by NCDPI alongside one done by the University of North Carolina upon further prompting from the NCDPI relative to readiness.
2014
December
SECC has had preliminary discussions with NCDPI about assisting with a program evaluation of the SREB Math Ready course implementation that began last fall. SECC will assist with a concurrent evaluation to be done by NCDPI alongside one done by the agency on behalf of SREB.
November
SECC shared with NCDPI qualitative data analyses from the open-ended responses to the counselor needs sensing survey items relative to ACT support needed by secondary school counselors. Additionally, SECC has made plans with NCDPI to assist with the program evaluation of SREB Math Ready course implementation as well as to assist with a correlational study to determine the connectedness between participation in CTE program areas and WorkKeys assessment performance.
October
SECC shared with NCDPI qualitative data analyses from the open-ended responses to the counselor needs sensing survey. SECC will continue to assist NCDPI with analyzing the survey data to aid in professional development needs.
September
SECC compiled and shared a report with the NCDPI containing aggregate responses to the online counselor survey. SECC will also assist with data analysis and advise relative to responding to such in the way of professional development determinations.
August
The SECC assisted NCDPI with revising and transforming for online use a survey to determine the support needs of school counselors throughout the state. The survey was launched on Tuesday, September 2, 2014.
July
SECC assisted NCDPI with compiling a survey to determine the support needs of school counselors throughout the state.
June
SECC met with NCDPI about the ACT toolkit component of the College and Career Readiness project, learning that another direction needs to be taken with the trimming away of pre-ACT products. The shift will take place particularly with a forthcoming counselor support needs assessment survey and a counselor PLC webinar in September, both with which SECC will assist.
May
Staff from SECC and NCDPI met for a college- and career-readiness project update. Year 3 planning will include assistance with surveys to glean information to inform student and teacher placement for SREB Math Ready courses. Also, SECC staff, with the help of SEDL research and evaluation staff, met with NCDPI about details for assisting with a correlational study of the WorkKeys assessment and student placement in career and technical education program areas.
April
SECC staff completed their work with NCDPI and SREB staff on a marketing tool to advertise the Southern Regional Education Board (SREB) Math Ready course and relative forthcoming webinar and face-to-face training. The tool was electronically delivered to the NCDPI ready for use.
March
SECC worked with NCDPI to create a marketing tool to advertise the Southern Regional Education Board (SREB) Math Ready course and relative forthcoming webinar and face-to-face trainings. SECC and NCDPI also began planning for additional assistance with surveys to collect data from training participants about the training and from teachers throughout the course implementation process. SECC also met with NCDPI to discuss available ACT data use tools and to explore what components to include in a data toolkit and revised Data Literacy Modules.
January
The SECC staff met with NCDPI staff to receive an update on the December SREB Readiness Courses training attended by NCDPI staff and district staff who will teach or train teachers to teach the courses. The NCDPI staff decided that the math course would be offered as a fourth math to students and that the Disciplinary Literacy course could be offered at the discretion of districts and schools and perhaps integrated into existing courses or paired with ACT preparation activities for students. The NCDPI staff will consult with SECC in the near future about preparing marketing tools and a relative disclaimer for the courses.
2013
December
Staff from SECC sought and drafted a list of tools for schools and districts, especially for counselors, to provide ideas and suggestions for helping students in areas such as course selection, based on ACT results. The tools should help students and adults working with them to make informed decisions for college and careers. The tools selection process consisted of reviewing the NCDPI website to determine available information for course selection; conducting web searches using various wording to glean information from sites other than the ACT website, which included research reports, white papers, “how to” sites, and general information; and a thorough review of ACT’s website for all materials available including courses and workshops. This resource will be remitted to NCDPI upon completion of editing.
November
On November 21, SECC staff met with NCDPI staff to clarify requests regarding the CCR project. It was established that assistance is needed and forthcoming relative to follow-up regarding the CTE Program Areas-WorkKeys Assessment correlational study, SREB Readiness courses marketing tools, ACT data use toolkit production and Data Literacy Modules revisions.
October
The SECC staff met with the NCDPI Director of Curriculum and Instruction to propose a calendar of activities developed by the College and Career Readiness Data Use project team for the implementation of SREB Transitional Courses. The director made revisions to the proposal to reflect the direction and pace for the 2014–2015 rollout of the courses.
September
The SECC assisted NCDPI staff with content to be included in a presentation given at the Academic Services and Instructional Support meeting relative to the SREB College and Career Readiness Transition Courses. The SECC also provided input for consideration regarding criteria for SREB course placement and course credit.
August
On August 13, SECC met with NCDPI staff for followup planning for the student selection criteria for participation in the SREB Transitional Courses and other implementation strategizing after having attended the relative training in July. SECC also conferred with the Louisiana Board of Regents to glean information regarding Louisiana's implementation of SREB transition courses to share with North Carolina.
July
SECC staff members and an AIR partner attended the Southern Regional Education Board Transitional Courses professional development conference in Charlotte, North Carolina, with NCDPI staff and various district/school staff from across the state to learn about the content and design of the coursework. Gleaning such knowledge is a preface for the team to soon make decisions regarding the development of a marketing plan, coursework guide, professional development, coursework scheduling, assessment data use for coursework placement, and program evaluation.
June
SECC staff introduced the new SECC North Carolina state liaison, Shirley Carraway, to the NCDPI college and career readiness team. SECC staff also conducted needs sensing to finalize the Year 2 work plan projects and supports.
May
A face-to-face meeting was held on May 3 at which it was determined that SECC would provide support to the NCDPI for planning, implementing, and evaluating Southern Regional Education Board (SREB) Transition Coursework. Technical assistance will be provided by SECC with the following:
- identifying high-level vocabulary independent learning strategies
- attending training as a NCDPI partner
- developing a marketing plan and tools
- drafting a coursework guide
- providing professional development
- incorporating SREB coursework into school schedules
- using assessment data for coursework placement
- conducting a program evaluation
- establishing baseline data
- correlating SREB courses/career and technical education
(CTE program areas and assessment performance
April
SECC staff held a planning meeting on April 3, 2013, with NCDPI staff members to clarify the objectives of the College and Career Ready Data Use project. A face-to-face meeting is scheduled for early May to begin next steps.
March
SECC staff met with NCDPI staff on March 15 and 27 to determine next steps for deploying assistance with effective use of ACT data to districts and schools. A subsequent face-to-face meeting will be scheduled to outline specific next steps for collecting data regarding ACT data use exemplars in the state, as well as for making plans to connect this project to the one around transitions being done by the NCDPI with the Southern Regional Education Board.
February
Staff from SECC met with NCDPI staff to make plans for an ACT data use toolkit, partnering for a correlational study to explore whether there is a relationship between Career and Technical Education program area participation and performance on the WorkKeys assessment, and a marketing tool for the SREB (Southern Regional Education Board) Math course to be implemented in Fall 2014.
