Partnering with schools across state, NCSSM offers proven academic outcomes
Public high schools throughout North Carolina are providing students access to world-class science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) instruction, as well as to other advanced placement and honors level courses by partnering with the North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics (NCSSM).
The educational access provided by these partnerships brings opportunities to communities large and small. In the U.S., STEM workers command wages 26 percent higher than average, and the number of jobs within STEM occupations is projected to grow by 17 percent by 2018, according to the U.S. Department of Commerce.
Gaining access to distance education courses has never been easier. Today’s technology makes offering two-way streaming distance education classrooms trouble-free and cost-effective. Outfitted with a video camera and a computer, students can see and interact live with an NCSSM instructor and other high school students participating in the class — even though the students may attend schools hundreds of miles from NCSSM, and from each other.
Though NCSSM may be best known as the nation’s first public boarding school specializing in STEM, the school actually serves more students through its distance education efforts than it does through its residential program. NCSSM’s Distance Education and Extended Programs (DEEP) division works hand in hand with more than 35 schools in 23 systems across the state to educate upwards of 700 top students, slightly more than the 680 students enrolled in its residential programs.
“It takes a team effort to give North Carolina’s students every advantage in science and math education. Part of our mission is to provide support to schools and students across the state by providing them access to advanced course content and offerings that help meet individual academic needs,” said Todd Roberts, NCSSM Chancellor.
Most of the School’s educational outreach is achieved through interactive videoconference (IVC) courses, where students from up to six separate schools receive real-time classroom instruction from an NCSSM teacher and collaborate in real-time with one another to engage in problem-based learning.
Focused on honors and advanced placement content, these courses are currently provided entirely cost-free to high schools where students would not otherwise have access to advanced STEM content, such as higher mathematics, physics and forensics, as well as Mandarin Chinese. The program is funded by NCSSM’s state budget.
Found in the northeastern corner of the state, Perquimans County is a haven for boating, fishing and hunting. The county is also squarely situated in one of North Carolina’s most impoverished regions.
Since 1992 Victor Eure has been director of technology at Perquimans County Schools. From the start, his goal was to level the playing field for students in his district. As is the case in most rural areas, the school system struggles to recruit and retain teachers for STEM and other AP and Honors level courses.
“It’s hard to describe how remote we are. We have zero industry here other than farming. There’s not even a hotel in the county. Two-thirds of the kids qualify for reduced lunch. It’s just very hard for us to attract teachers.”
One-quarter of the Perquimans County High School student population is taking distance education courses at any given time.
“We want our kids to be able to connect to the rest of the state, to allow them to be competitive. We want to close the gap between the northeast and the rest of the state. NCSSM has opened doors to us that we couldn’t have been able to offer.”
Since 1996 Eure has partnered with the School of Science and Math to bring IVC advanced placement courses to the county, and the relationship has continued unbroken since.
“We don’t have any AP courses other than the ones offered by NCSSM, and that’s been true for many years. In fact, I think we may have been one of the first school systems in the state to partner with NCSSM and use distance education to provide advanced coursework to our students. It’s the best way we know to assure very high-quality instruction in a very cost-effective way.”
Perquimans County, which has a longstanding success rate with IVC courses, is an example of how a distance-education partnership can work. The students have a desire to take upper-level courses, and the county, through IVC, can get those classes for free. All that is required is the price of a textbook.
“IVC Honors and AP History are our longest-running classes with NCSSM,” said Eure. “It’s something we can rely on. We may be rural, but we have the best AP History course in all of North Carolina.”
For Eure, who has tried other distance-learning programs, the School of Science and Math’s IVC approach has been particularly effective.
“For us, the School of Science and Math is the successful model for distance learning. As distance learning has transitioned more towards a blended approach, combining face-to-face instruction with online collaboration, NCSSM has helped our students make that jump painlessly by integrating state-of-the-art online collaborative tools that reflect the current instructional delivery methods of post-secondary institutions.”
The benefits to students transcend pure academics, including giving students an opportunity to interact with students in other parts of the state.
“Ultimately, we all hope that students who have gained broader academic experiences such as these will be better equipped to lead our area, to bring more economic and educational opportunities to this part of the state.”
“There is no doubt that our students who have participated in the NCSSM distance learning courses have been better prepared to be successful in post-secondary college environments.”
While NCSSM provides the technical infrastructure and instructors to broadcast IVC courses, a key to the success of an IVC course is the home school’s in-house faculty member acting as videoconference facilitator. They are the eyes and ears in the classroom. A good facilitator is key to a successful IVC class.
Alisha Ryan of A. L. Brown High School in Kannapolis is one such facilitator, forming a collaboration with NCSSM that has been particularly successful.
“I love my job and have since day one,” said Ryan. “It’s very important for the success of the course that I’m in constant communication with the instructor at Science and Math. Because the instructor isn’t physically here, the facilitator really sets the tone for the class.”
The facilitator monitors progress in class, communicates technical and personal issues to NCSSM and provides an anchor for students attempting to master challenging course content.
“I set boundaries from day one in the classroom. The rules in the classroom keep the students focused, and when the students realize that I talk on a daily basis with the instructor at Science and Math, the class just runs really well because the students trust the process, and they see the results.”
A. L. Brown High School currently offers several IVC courses: Honors Forensics, Honors Genetics and Biotechnology as well as Mandarin Chinese I and II, and next year plans to add Forensic Anthropology as well as AP Statistics.
“The students want to excel, to be challenged. All of the courses we take via IVC we would not be able to offer if it were not for Science and Math. It’s actually cheaper for us to take these IVC courses than it is to hire and try to retain qualified staff for these kinds of advanced courses,” said Ryan.
Instrumental to a successful IVC partnership is teamwork and a shared desire to create equal educational opportunity for students all across the state.
For Ryan, “that relationship with the students means so much to me — to see them grow.” Ryan is a perfect example of what a facilitator can do for the lives of students in her school. She is there for the students, and she’s there for the
NCSSM IVC instructors who rely on her dedication and professionalism: “NCSSM is always there to support me, and I’m there to support them.”
NCSSM connects to more than 30 schools statewide, educating 500 students through IVC classrooms and another 200 students via online courses. In each case, course offerings provide advanced instruction that is largely unavailable in the local district
NCSSM also provides professional development for North Carolina public school teachers tasked with adapting instruction to the newly released common core curriculum, as well as STEM learning to thousands of public elementary and middle school students in the state.
Founded on the premise that, in an increasingly global economy, investments in human capital will return value to local communities, NCSSM embraces each school partnership as an opportunity to support economic and quality of life objectives important to all North Carolinians.
NCSSM outreach is on track to serve 53 North Carolina schools during the 2012–2013 school year.
School’s by county that NCSSM has provided IVC courses to over the past three years:
Beaufort: Washington High School
Cabarrus: A.L. Brown High School
Catawba: Bandys High School, Fred T. Foard High School
Chowan: John Holmes High School
Currituck: Currituck Co. High School
Dare: Cape Hatteras High School, First Flight High School
Davie: Davie County High School
Durham: Hillside High School
Franklin: Louisburg High School
Gates: Gates County High School
Halifax: Southern Stokes High School, Southeast Halifax High School
Hertford: Hertford County High School
Hyde: Ocracoke High School
Johnston: Johnston County Middle College High School
Lee: Lee County High School, Southern Lee High School
Lenoir: Kinston High School, North Lenoir High School, South Lenoir High School
Macon: Union Academy
McDowell: McDowell High School
Mecklenburg: Hawthorne High School, J.P. Knapp High School, Olympic Biotech High School
Montgomery: East Montgomery High School, West Montgomery High School
Nash: Nash Central High School, Northern Nash High School, Southern Nash High School
Northampton: Northampton East High School, Northampton West High School
Pasquotank: Northeastern High School, Pasquotank High School
Perquimans: Perquimans County High School
Sampson: Clinton High School, Hobbton High School, Lakewood High School, Midway High School, Union High School
Tyrrell: Columbia High School
Warren: Warren County High School
Washington: Plymouth High School
Yadkin: Forbush High School, St. Stephens High School, Starmount High Schoo