Advanced Math Course Access in North Carolina Note: The following blog contains excerpts from an essay published in The 74 Million in November 2023, co-authored by Dr. Jonathan Plucker, Professor of education and Director of the Education Policy Program at Johns Hopkins University and...
Read More
Best Practices in Teacher Pay: State Position Allotments and Hidden Teacher Pay Inequities A comprehensive, professional compensation plan includes layered pay strategies that build on one another to ensure the recruitment and retention of a high-quality workforce. This is the twelfth in a...
BEST NC Launches Updated per Pupil Expenditure Data Explorer The latest update now includes data through the 2021-22 academic year. BEST NC is pleased to announce the 2023 update of its per Pupil Expenditure (PPE) Data Explorer and landing page, designed to facilitate the...
Best Practices in Teacher Pay: Spotlight on Teacher Retirement Benefits A comprehensive, professional compensation plan includes layered pay strategies that build on one another to ensure the recruitment and retention of a high-quality workforce. This is the eleventh in a series of blogs...
Best Practices in Teacher Pay: Teacher Benefits Overview & Spotlight on Healthcare Benefits A comprehensive, professional compensation plan includes layered pay strategies that build on one another to ensure the recruitment and retention of a high-quality workforce. This is the tenth in a...
Best Practices in Teacher Pay: Differentiated Pay Landscape and Best Practices A comprehensive, professional compensation plan includes layered pay strategies that build on one another to ensure the recruitment and retention of a high-quality workforce. This is the ninth in a series of...
Best Practices in Teacher Pay: Differentiated Pay for Hard-to-Staff Subjects A comprehensive, professional compensation plan includes layered pay strategies that build on one another to ensure the recruitment and retention of a high-quality workforce. This is the eighth in a series of blogs...
Best Practices in Teacher Pay: Differentiated Pay for Hard-to-Staff Schools A comprehensive, professional compensation plan includes layered pay strategies that build on one another to ensure the recruitment and retention of a high-quality workforce. This is the seventh in a series of blogs...
Best Practices in Teacher Pay: Beginning Teacher Pay and Regional Competitiveness A comprehensive, professional compensation plan includes layered pay strategies that build on one another to ensure the recruitment and retention of a high-quality workforce. This is the sixth in a series of...
Best Practices in Teacher Pay: Strategic Staffing and Advanced Teaching Roles A comprehensive, professional compensation plan includes layered pay strategies that build on one another to ensure the recruitment and retention of a high-quality workforce. This is the fifth in a series of...
Best Practices in Teacher Pay: Front-Loading Base Pay, a Key Strategy for Teacher Compensation A comprehensive, professional compensation plan includes layered pay strategies that build on one another to ensure the recruitment and retention of a high-quality workforce. This is the fourth in...
Best Practices in Teacher Pay: Front-Loading Base Pay, a Common Practice for High-Skilled Professionals A comprehensive, professional compensation plan includes layered pay strategies that build on one another to ensure the recruitment and retention of a high-quality workforce. This is the third in...
Best Practices in Teacher Pay: Front-Loading Base Pay to Provide a Living Wage A comprehensive, professional compensation plan includes layered pay strategies that build on one another to ensure the recruitment and retention of a high-quality workforce. This is the second in a...
Best Practices in Teacher Pay: Front-Loading Base Pay for Professional Growth A comprehensive, professional compensation plan includes layered pay strategies that build on one another to ensure the recruitment and retention of a high-quality workforce. This is the first in a series of...
BEST NC Releases Comprehensive Teacher Pay Report In 2023, BEST NC released a new report on teacher pay entitled Teacher Pay in North Carolina: A Smart Investment in Student Achievement. The BEST NC team, along with leading economists and experts from across the country...
2023 Spotlight On Series: Return on Investment – Student Achievement and Education Expenditures
2022 Spotlight On Series: Federal COVID Relief Funding for North Carolina Schools Since March 2020, the United States government has provided nearly $337 billion in pandemic-related aid to be used to support the education of students across the country in preschool through higher education....
BEST NC Launches Updated Per Pupil Expenditure Data Explorer Tool (2018-19 to 2020-21) BEST NC is pleased to announce the update of its Per Pupil Expenditure (PPE) Data Explorer and landing page, designed to facilitate the understanding and exploration of North Carolina’s school-level...
2022 Spotlight On Series: Student Learning During the COVID-19 Pandemic STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT BEFORE AND AFTER THE PANDEMIC In March 2020, education in North Carolina changed dramatically as schools across the state were temporarily closed and then moved to remote learning in response to the...
2022 Spotlight On Series: Enrollment and Attendance During the COVID-19 Pandemic ENROLLMENT The percentage of North Carolina’s school-aged children attending traditional public schools has declined over the last 15 years, from 88% in 2005-06 to 79% in 2019-20. Meanwhile the number of students attending...
2022 Spotlight On Series: Students with Disabilities in North Carolina The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) guarantees students with disabilities a free and appropriate public education, guided by an individualized education program developed by educators in partnership with the student’s parent/guardian. Federal funding...
BEST NC Launches North Carolina School-Level Per Pupil Expenditure (PPE) Data Summaries and Interactive Tool BEST NC is pleased to announce the launch of a new Per Pupil Expenditure (PPE) interactive tool and landing page designed to facilitate the understanding and exploration of North Carolina’s recently...
Spotlight On: Rural Students in North Carolina (Updated for 2021) North Carolina has the second largest rural student population in the United States (after Texas), with 524,955 rural students in 2018-19, 36% of all K-12 students. Eighty of North Carolina’s 100 counties are...
Spotlight On: National Board-Certified Teachers (Updated for 2021) The National Board Certification process, offered by the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards, recognizes high-quality teaching. The certification process uses rigorous standards to evaluate teaching practice through performance-based assessments. Correlational studies have consistently found that...
Spotlight On: Career and College Promise (Updated for 2021) In 2019-20, 70,801 public high school students participated in the Career and College Promise (CCP) program, which offers qualified high school students the opportunity to enroll in community college and university courses that provide pathways...
Spotlight On: per Pupil Expenditures (PPE) (Updated for 2021) More than $13 billion dollars was spent on K-12 traditional public education in North Carolina in the 2018-19 school year, including funding from local, state, and federal sources. Beginning in 2019-20, the federal Every Student...
Spotlight On: myFutureNC (Updated for 2021) Throughout the 2020 edition of Facts & Figures, the myFutureNC icon indicates key education performance measures directly tied to North Carolina’s education-to-workforce continuum and the state goal of increasing educational attainment to 2 million by 2030. For more...
Announcing TeachNC: The One-Stop Resource for Becoming a Teacher in North Carolina We are thrilled to share that, for the first time ever, North Carolina has a unified, statewide teacher recruitment initiative that elevates the teaching profession and seeks to fill critical vacancies!...
A core principle guiding BEST NC’s work is the idea that well-informed conversations can lead to real, meaningful change in the lives of North Carolina’s students and educators. It’s why we produce Facts & Figures, the most comprehensive guide to education data in the state. It’s why we convene the Education...
Spotlight On: North Carolina’s Allotment Approach and How Teacher Sorting Affects Funding Fairness In North Carolina, the state allots teaching positions to each school district based on the number of students in each grade, according to specific ratios set by the General Assembly. The classroom...
Spotlight On: Advanced Teaching Roles Initiative In 2016, North Carolina created the Advanced Teaching Roles Initiative. This legislation establishes a school leadership re-design model that empowers districts and educators to design new teaching roles that provide advancement opportunities, improved professional development, and...
Spotlight On: Teacher Pay Trends The statewide teacher salary schedule is established in the state budget. The following charts show two major phases in the teacher pay schedules over the last ten years: pay freezes from 2009 to 2014, followed by investments of almost...
Spotlight On: School Support Staff and the Whole Child In 2016, the State Board of Education (SBE) adopted the Whole School, Whole Community, Whole Child model as a framework for supporting healthy behaviors and academic performance for students. In 2017-2018, there was one school counselor for every...
First in Freedom. First in Flight. Why shouldn’t North Carolina be First in Teaching, too? In 2018, more than 70 current and former educators from across North Carolina came together, sharing their stories, experiences, and ideas with the goal of elevating their profession. This...
We are grateful to the State of North Carolina for investing in two distinct, innovative principal preparation programs over the last four years. The timing is right to take the best practices from each of these outstanding programs and magnify their collective impact for...
BEST NC welcomes three new members to the team! Princess Brown, Constance Clark, and Leah Sutton each bring with them a unique set of skills passion and expertise. Learn more below: Princess Brown: Communications and Engagement Coordinator Raised in Pierce County, Washington, Princess...
Growth and Achievement: you have probably heard these terms in conversations about education. But what are they? How do they differ, and what do they tell us about North Carolina’s students and teachers? Our new video “Growth and Achievement in North Carolina” explores some...
Note: This blog post features a brief from page 26 of our 2018 Facts & Figures publication, contextualizing North Carolina education data with a short description of an historical feature or a critical issue in North Carolina. Read more and find further information at www.NCEdFacts.org....
Note: This blog post features a brief from page 42 of our 2018 Facts & Figures publication, contextualizing North Carolina education data with a short description of an historical feature or a critical issue in North Carolina. Read more at www.NCEdFacts.org. In North...
Note: This blog post features a brief from page 22 of our 2018 Facts & Figures publication, contextualizing North Carolina education data with a short description of an historical feature or a critical issue in North Carolina. Read more at www.NCEdFacts.org. In North Carolina,...
Note: This blog post features a brief from page 30 of our 2018 Facts & Figures publication, contextualizing North Carolina education data with a short description of an historical feature or a critical issue in North Carolina. Read more at www.NCEdFacts.org. In recent...
The new North Carolina Teaching Fellows program is due to officially launch this month – and it’s a big deal. It’s an exciting opportunity for future teachers, for the students they will serve, and for North Carolina.
Cary, NC - This year, North Carolina made the largest investment in state history in principal salaries through an updated salary schedule and bonus opportunities. The impetus was an average principal salary ranking at the bottom of the Southeast and among the lowest in...
Cary, NC- BEST NC is proud to announce that Chuck Purvis, CEO of Coastal Credit Union, has been unanimously voted onto the board of directors. He joins other top North Carolina executives who are committed to transforming education by promoting public policy and other...
Amid a flurry of budget negotiations, a gubernatorial veto and the subsequent legislative veto override this summer, it’s been easy to get caught up in the partisan analysis of North Carolina’s latest $22B state budget. Like any budget – or any 438-page document, for...
May 2017, By Brenda Berg, CEO, BEST NC. For several years, a primary focus of BEST NC’s student-focused advocacy work has been around the importance of having strong, well-supported educators in every classroom from; pre-K to higher education. Without great educators, anything else we...
As a business leader, I know the value of great leadership on my executive teams, and in our public schools. That’s why a top priority for me as a member of BEST NC has been to encourage substantial and sustained investments in principal compensation....
Over the past few years, North Carolina teachers have seen significant pay increases. Signals from Gov. Roy Cooper and last week’s Senate budget proposal indicate that the next few years will see even more increases. This commitment by our legislative leaders is extremely important for the future of our state. The growth of our state is directly tied to the educational outcomes of our students.
Over the past few years, North Carolina teachers have seen significant pay increases. Signals from Gov. Roy Coo per and last wee k 's Senate budget proposal indicate that the next few years will see even more increases. This commitment by our legislative leaders...
Over the past few years, North Carolina teachers have seen significant pay increases. Signals from Gov. Roy Cooper and this month’s Senate budget proposal indicate that the next few years will see even more increases. This commitment by our legislative leaders is extremely important...
In my experience, this sentence is usually closely followed by, “but it’s too good to be true.” Whether it’s the diet fad that didn’t help you lose those five pounds fast, or that new movie that got rave reviews but didn’t make any sense...
My father was Darth Vader. No, that doesn’t make me a Jedi Knight. My father was also Boss Hogg and a range of other bad guys. During his nearly two decades as principal of North Carolina’s largest elementary school, located in the Mecklenburg County community of Matthews.
Are you frustrated about how polarized our country has become? I certainly hear it on the news and in the voting trends; people are discouraged by the inability of our society, particularly our politicians, to find common ground and work together.
DVISORY: Rhee, Parker, BEST NC to hold media availability Tuesday. Cary, NC – BEST NC will host a media availability Tuesday featuring unlikely education reform allies Michelle Rhee and George Parker, who will discuss their work to improve education in Washington, DC.
BEST NC releases the 2017 Facts & Figures: Education in North Carolina guide, a composite of current education data from cradle through career.
If North Carolina were to secede from the union and become an independent country — no, conspiracy theorists, I’m not actually proposing this as a reasonable response to recent political events — how would our education system rank among the other developed nations of...
Results were released this week from the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA), an academic assessment measuring 15-year-old students’ achievement in key subjects. This time, North Carolina and Massachusetts became the only states in the U.S. top anticipate in the study at a state...
Reimagining the Pipeline: Preparing PK-12 Teachers for Excellence. Thought leaders from around the state and nation gather to imagine innovative solutions for teacher recruitment and retention in North Carolina.
Education transformation in North Carolina depends on our ability to attract and retain the best and brightest teachers and school leaders. That’s why we commend our elected leadership for its bold commitments to raise teacher pay.
As a business leader, I know the value of great leadership on my executive teams, and in our public schools. That’s why a top priority for me as a member of BEST NC has been to encourage substantial and sustained investments in principal compensation....
It’s time for North Carolina to treat principals with the respect and compensation they deserve. As the legislative session resumes next week, business leaders across North Carolina will be looking for a strong focus on what we know is key to the success of...
NEWS: CJ EXCLUSIVES Legislators Get Mixed Bag of Teacher PayProposals Atkinson’s call for 10-percent hike draws cool reception Legislators Get Mixed Bag of Teacher Pay Proposals – Carolina Journal From left, Best NC’s Brenda Berg, the John Locke Foundation’s Terry Stoops, and state...