The Education Trust published Counting on Graduation, an assessment of the low standards set by states in response to No Child Left Behind. It doesn’t pull any punches. The report points out,
Again, North Carolina, with its 0.1 annual graduation rate improvement target, provides a good example. In 2006, North Carolina reported a 70.3 percent overall graduation rate. If the state were to meet the minimum improvement target of 0.1 percentage point every year, it would take about a century to reach the state?s goal of 80 percent graduation. And that is just for the overall graduation rate?it would take another century or more for North Carolina?s African-American and Latino students to reach the state?s goal. (Emphasis mine)
Mathematica, WestEd, and the Institute of Education Sciences teamed up to determine whether pricey comprehensive induction programs for new teachers (includes orientation sessions, professional development, mentoring, classroom observation, and formative assessment) actually work. Comprehensive induction programs are a favorite of the current regime in Raleigh. Researchers found comprehensive induction had:
? No impacts on teacher practices in the first year
? No positive impacts on student test scores in the first year
? No impacts on teacher retention after one year
? No positive impacts on composition of the district teaching workforce after one year
