NC Education Resources Now Available on iTunes U

Teachers, students, and parents now have a new tool to help them download the latest multimedia education resources from North Carolina, including presentations, professional development videos, curriculum materials and more, for free. The Department of Public Instruction and the Governor's Office have worked with other organizations in the state to create the collection of education-related audio and video files that is now available on the new "North Carolina Department of Public Instruction and Partners" section of iTunes U. For more information, visit  here

The State Board of Education today voted to end the state-required performance gateways that have linked promotion and graduation to end-of-grade and end-of-course tests for the past several years. This move is a part of the state's greater emphasis on early diagnostic assessments that can pinpoint student learning needs before the end of the school year. This change will be effective with the current school year, 2010-11.

Board members noted that they had several reasons for making this change:

The state gateways required North Carolina students to pass end-of-grade reading and math tests in grades 3, 5 and 8 in order to be promoted to the next grade level. High school students were required to pass a "gateway" of five core end-of-course tests in order to graduate effective with the 9th graders who entered high school in 2006-07.

Local school boards continue to have the option of setting promotion and graduation standards that are more rigorous than the state standards. Also, students will continue to take the end-of-grade and end-of-course tests and results will continue to be reported and monitored at the school, district and state levels.

"The gateways were initially put in place with good intentions to address the problem of students being promoted before they were ready, but the policy has not had the intended effect," said State Superintendent June Atkinson. "The new accountability model being developed and implemented over the next few years has a much stronger focus on early diagnostic assessments. Our goal is to make sure that teachers spot student learning problems early when there is plenty of time to make a mid-course correction."

The student accountability gateway standards in elementary and middle schools have been in place since 2000-01 for grade 5 and since 2001-02 for grades 3 and 8. The high school standard has affected one graduating class, the Class of 2010. Students who are currently in high school and who have not passed a particular gateway will no longer be required to do so.

Beginning with the ninth grade class entering high school in 2006-07, high school students have been required to pass five core end-of-course tests in order to receive a high school diploma. These tests were in Algebra I, Biology, Civics and Economics, English I, and US History. Under the changes approved today, students still will be required to take these exams and their score on these tests will continue to count as a minimum of 25 percent of the students' final grades.

View the FAQ's and Q&A's about Gateways here

Effective July 1, 2009, students who entered the ninth grade for the first time prior to 2006-07 and are not currently enrolled in a public school but have met all state and local graduation requirements except for achieving proficiency on the North Carolina Reading and/or Mathematics Competency Test(s) and/or the North Carolina Skills Test(s) and/or their alternate assessments(s) are no longer required to meet the competency or computer skill standards. These students may petition their former school for a diploma. In order to receive a high school diploma, these students' school records and/or documentation must show that all state and local board requirements have been met. If these students' school records and/or documentation show that all state and local board requirements have been met, these students may be granted diplomas.

If you fall in this category and wish to receive your high school diploma, please contact the Superintendent of Bladen County Schools, at 910-862-4136.

Frequently Asked Questions click here...........

The Bladen County Board of Education does not discriminate on the basis of race, creed, national origin, sex, age, or handicapping condition in its policies.

If you have a question concerning discrimination or believe you are a victim of discrimination you may contact the Title IX or Section 504 Coordinator Jane Lomax by calling Bladen County Schools at (910) 862-4136 between 8:30 am and 4:00 pm Monday through Friday.

El Borde de Educacion del Condado Bladen no discrimina en lo basicos de raza, credo, origen nacional, sexo, cdad a condiciion minusvalida en sus polizas.

Si tiene preguntas de asustos de discriminacion o cree que sea victim de discriminacion puede contactar a Titilo IX o Seccion 504 Coordinador Jane Lomax se llama a las Escuelas del Condado de Bladen (910) 862-4136 entre las horas de las 8:30 de la manana hast alas 4:00 de la tarde lde los Lunes hasta el Viernes.