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A committee met for the second time and heard from the state’s top education leader, Superintendent of Public Instruction Catherine Truitt.

During the meeting, Truitt promoted her initiative, , named after the Latin word for the North Star.

鈥淢y North Star is that every child in North Carolina must have a highly effective and excellent teacher in every classroom,鈥� Truitt said.

‘We need to redefine school accountability’

The has four 鈥渟atellites鈥�: literacy, student support, teachers, and accountability. Truitt concentrated most of her remarks Tuesday on the latter, arguing that the state鈥檚 current measures of student success are too weighted toward 鈥渉igh stakes, one-and-done, end-of-grade tests,鈥� the outcomes of which arrive too late for a teacher to do anything about them.

鈥淚t鈥檚 summer when the teacher gets the result,鈥� she said.

Truitt said that these end-of-grade tests are not good tests during a question-and-answer session. About the ACT, the college entrance exam every North Carolina public school student is required to take by law, she said, 鈥淎s someone who did not do a good job on the ACT, it is not a good predictor of success.鈥�

Schools in North Carolina are graded on an A-F grading system. To determine the school grade, the state uses a formula that emphasizes student performance on end-of-year testing. The formula is 80% academic achievement and 20% academic growth.

Truitt wants new metrics for accountability that include testing, parent satisfaction and their access to teachers and school leadership, the rate of chronic absenteeism, and the presence or absence of various afterschool programs.

鈥淲e need to redefine school accountability and rethink what student testing looks like,鈥� she told the committee.

Truitt emphasized the role of public education in preparing students to enter the workforce, saying that education is needed for economic mobility and a pathway to the middle class.

But Truitt also suggested the definition of education needed to be expanded beyond that developed by 鈥渆ducators at Harvard鈥� more than a century ago. Too many North Carolina students, she said, lack a 鈥渃redential of marketplace value 鈥� in other words, a credential they can get a job with.鈥� Under a third of graduating high school seniors in the state have obtained such a credential by the age of 24, she said.

鈥淚f we continue to say we’re so proud of our 87% of high school graduation rate,鈥� she said, 鈥渁nd yet, only 31% of students are obtaining a credential of marketplace value, then that diploma does not have the integrity that we want it to have.鈥�

Truitt also stressed that graduates too often lack “durable skills” that would help them in a career.

鈥淚’ve been hearing for years that employers are frustrated because employees can’t count change,鈥� she said. 鈥淭hey don’t show up for work on time. They can’t pass a drug test. All kinds of challenges.鈥�

High schools, Truitt believes, should focus on providing employer-sought credentials, especially in computer science, and not just preparing students for a four-year residential college experience.

鈥淲e need to make sure that our students are introduced to the notion of a K-12 career path early on,鈥� she said. 鈥淭he 鈥榗ollege for all鈥� cry from the 90’s and the 2000’s needs to become 鈥榗areers for all.鈥欌��

See Truitt’s presentation here.

Lawmakers react

The remark didn鈥檛 sit well with D-Mecklenburg, the only lawmaker on the committee with professional education experience.

鈥淎s a college counselor, that’s very concerning when it comes from the Superintendent of Public Instruction,鈥� Hunt said in an interview after the committee. 鈥淭o say that starting at kindergarten we should take the idea of the college out of the minds of certain children is something that used to happen many, many years ago. We need to make sure there is equity and opportunity for everyone, and then if that person or family decides on a career path, that鈥檚 fine. But language really matters, and so does the person saying it.鈥�

At the meeting, Hunt also told Truitt teachers in her district were struggling with a new adopted last year.

鈥淭eachers are having a really hard time in Mecklenburg County,鈥� Hunt said.

Other lawmakers on the panel who spoke up Tuesday were positive, offering their own anecdotes that reinforced Truitt鈥檚 themes.

R-Union, bemoaned the reality voiced by Truitt that many high school students endeavor to play a 鈥淕PA-game鈥� designed to boost college applications. He echoed her assertion that schools should make students employable.

鈥淚f we’re handing a child a diploma and they don’t have the skills to get a job,鈥� he said, 鈥渨e’re failing that child.鈥�

, R-Randolph, said she worried not about percentages but about actual students.

鈥淚’m concerned that many of them can’t write their names,鈥� she said. 鈥淚 know we’ve got to get back to basics: reading, writing, and arithmetic. There were so many good things that worked great years ago and would work great right now.鈥�

Later, Hurley pressed the superintendent to make sure students were learning to write in cursive, a requirement .

, R-Gaston, a chair of the committee, said that Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson will present before the committee next week.

See the video of Superintendent Truitt speaking before the committee below. Below that, listen to audio from the committee.

This first appeared on and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.

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