North Carolina Policy Profile
North Carolina
Teaching Standards and Leadership Standards
Teaching Standards
Is working with and meeting the needs of students with disabilities addressed in state teaching standards?
North Carolina Professional Teaching Standards reference a teacher’s responsibility for addressing the needs of students.
Standard 1: Teachers demonstrate leadership by advocating for schools and students. Teachers advocate for positive change in policies and practices affecting student learning. They participate in the implementation of initiatives to improve the education of students. Collaborate with specialists. Engage students and ensure they meet the needs of their students through inclusion and other models of effective practice.
Standard 2: Teachers establish a respectful environment for a diverse population of students by adapting their teaching for the benefit of students with special needs. Teachers collaborate with the range of support specialists to help meet the special needs of all students. Through inclusion and other models of effective practice, teachers engage students to ensure that their needs are met. Collaborate with specialists. Engage students and ensure they meet the needs of their students through inclusion and other models of effective practice.
Source: North Carolina Professional Teaching Standards
School Leadership Standards
Is knowledge of working with students with disabilities included in leader standards?
North Carolina Standards for School Administrators inform higher education programs in: developing the content and requirements of school executive degree programs; focusing the goals and objectives of districts as they support, monitor and evaluate their school executives; guiding professional development for school executives; and developing coaching and mentoring programs for school executives. One of the philosophical foundations of the Standards is that the moral purpose of school leadership is to create schools in which all students learn. Effective practices of school leaders include facilitating the setting of high, concrete goals and the expectations that all students meet them, and creating of processes for identifying, benchmarking, and providing students access to a variety of 21st century instructional tools and best practices for meeting diverse student needs.
Source: North Carolina Standards for School Administrators
Teacher and Principal Preparation
Teacher Preparation – Program Approval/Accreditation
Required course work in teaching students with disabilities/diverse learners
State law requires teacher education programs to address demonstrated competencies in the identification and education of children with learning disabilities. Indicator four of Core Standard three in the Standards and Indicators for the Teacher Education Programs states that teachers are expected to adapt their teaching for the benefit of students with special needs.
Sources:
North Carolina General Statutes (NCGS) § 115C-296 (b)
Standards and Indicators for Teacher Education Programs
Clinical time in diverse settings/teaching special populations
Teacher preparation programs are required to receive accreditation under CAEP, NCATE or TEAC standards.
CAEP Standard 3.3 requires preparation program providers to “design clinical experiences of sufficient depth, breadth, diversity, coherence, and duration to ensure that candidates demonstrate their developing effectiveness and positive impact on all students’ learning and development. Clinical experiences, including technology-enhanced learning opportunities, are structured to have multiple performance-based assessments at key points within the program to demonstrate candidates’ development of the knowledge, skills, and professional dispositions…that are associated with a positive impact on the learning and development of all P-12 students.”
NCATE Standard Four specifically states that preparation programs design, implement and evaluate curriculum and provide experiences for candidates to acquire and demonstrate knowledge, skills and professional dispositions necessary to help all students learn. Including curriculum, field experiences, and clinical practices in which candidates:
- Challenge students toward cognitive complexity and engage all students, including English language learners and students with exceptionalities, through instructional conversation
- Are encourage candidates to interact with exceptional students and students from a broad range of diverse groups.
TEAC standards require that candidates in a preparation program be able to convert their knowledge of subject matter into compelling lessons that meet the needs of a wide range of pupils and students.
Sources:
TEAC principles and standards for teacher education programs
Teacher Preparation – Accountability
Quality of teacher preparation programs
The state collects some program-specific, objective data that reflect teacher preparation program performance. Regulations require the state to publish data on each teacher preparation program housed in a college or university, including the mean value-added score of the program’s graduates, employment rates and evaluation ratings. North Carolina requires national accreditation for program approval. For program approval, the state also requires evidence that during the two preceding consecutive years, 95 percent of graduates employed by public schools have earned a continuing license. North Carolina also collects traditional preparation programs’ annual summary licensure test pass rates.
Source: National Council on Teacher Quality, 2014 State Teacher Policy Yearbook
Principal Preparation – Program Approval/Accreditation
Require course work in leading a school/district that serves students with disabilities/diverse learners
Our state policy review did not identify a required course for principal or school administrator candidates in leading a school or district that serves students with disabilities.
Source: NCGS § 115C-284, Principals and Supervisors Method of selection and requirements
Principal Preparation – Accountability
Are programs reviewed based on outcomes of graduates’ success? Can school principals be linked back to institutions of higher education and preparation programs?
State statute requires the State Board of Education (SBE) to develop and implement a plan for annual performance reports for all masters degree programs in education and school administration by the 2017-2018 school year. The performance report must include at least the following elements: (i) quality of students entering the schools of education, including the average grade point average and average score on pre-professional skills tests that assess reading, writing, math and other competencies; (ii) graduation rates; (iii) time-to-graduation rates; (iv) average scores of graduates on professional and content area examination for the purpose of licensure; (v) percentage of graduates receiving initial licenses; (vi) percentage of graduates hired; (vii) percentage of graduates remaining after four years; (viii) graduate satisfaction based on a common survey; and (ix) employer satisfaction based on a common survey.
Source: NCGS § 115C-296, Board sets licensure requirements; reports; lateral entry and mentor programs
Teacher and Principal Certification/Licensure
Teacher Certification/Licensure – Structure
Is a specific certificate, license or endorsement related to special education required?
North Carolina does not distinguish between elementary and secondary special education teachers. The state offers only a K-12 special education certification in the following areas: Cross Categorical (mildly/moderately disabled), Severely/Profoundly Disabled, Mentally Disabled, Visually Impaired, Behaviorally/Emotionally Disabled, Learning Disabled, Academically Gifted, Deaf and Hard of Hearing, Special Education: General Curriculum, and Special Education: Adapted Curriculum.
Sources:
National Council on Teacher Quality, 2014 State Teacher Policy Yearbook
North Carolina State Board of Education, TCP-A-001, Policies on General Licensure Requirements
Teacher Certification – Examination
Does the state require teachers to pass a basic skills exam for initial certification? What are the pass rates on the exams? Does the state require Praxis II or more pedagogical assessment for licensure? Does it include anything about teaching diverse learners or special populations?
Until mid-2014, beginning teachers in all content areas were required to pass all three Praxis I tests (in either format), or meet composite score requirements (SAT/ACT). Candidates must also take Praxis II tests for each area of certification. Secondary education required Principles of Teaching and Learning for grades 7-12.
Effective for degrees conferred after July 1, 2014, all Middle Grades, Secondary Grades, and K-12 initial SP1 licensure applicants (with the exception of Elementary Education and Exceptional Children: General Curriculum) are required to: (1) Take the State Board of Education (SBE)-approved licensure exam(s) for each initial licensure area at least once during the first year of teaching; and (2) Pass the SBE-approved licensure exam(s) for each initial licensure area in order to convert the initial SP1 to the SP2 license. All Exceptional Children license area applicants, other than Exceptional Children: General Curriculum, are required to pass all SBE-approved licensure exams for the teaching area prior to the license being issued
Effective for degrees conferred after October 1, 2014, Elementary Education (K-6) initial SP1 licensure applicants are required to pass all of the following SBE-approved licensure exams in order to qualify for licensure: (1) Pearson Foundations of Reading Test, Pearson General Curriculum Test – Multi-subjects Subtest and Mathematics Subtest. Exceptional Children: General Curriculum (K-12) initial SP1 licensure applicants are required to: Pass Praxis II – Special Education: Core Knowledge and Mild to Moderate Applications, and must take all of the following tests at least once during the first year of teaching: (1) Pearson Foundations of Reading Test, (2) Pearson General Curriculum Test for North Carolina (Multi-subjects Subtest and Mathematics Subtest). They must pass all of the following tests in order to convert the initial SP1 to the SP2 license: Pearson Foundations of Reading Test, Pearson General Curriculum Test (Multi-subjects Subtest and Mathematics Subtest).
Sources:
ETS, North Carolina Test Requirements
North Carolina Department of Public Instruction, Licensure Testing Policy Update
Teacher Certification/Licensure – Requirements
Is professional development around working with special populations required to move from initial to a professional license?
North Carolina offers the Standard Professional 1 (SP1) and the Standard Professional 2 (SP2) Professional Educator’s Licenses. Our state policy scan did not identify any such required professional development in working with special populations to move from the SP1 to the SP2 license.
Sources:
North Carolina Department of Public Instruction, Professional Educator’s Licensure
Principal Certification/Licensure – Requirements
Is prior teaching experience required to become a principal and/or a superintendent? Is specific coursework or other evidence required around working with special populations?
The state of North Carolina requires school leaders to obtain a master’s degree and complete a state-approved preparation program.
Principals: Candidates must have completed a state-approved teacher education program from a regionally accredited college or university and have met state licensure testing requirements, including passing a licensure examination. Candidates must also complete an approved program in school administration at the master’s level or above.
Superintendents: Each local board of education has the sole discretion to elect a superintendent of schools. However, the SBE adopts rules that establish the qualifications for election. At a minimum, each superintendent shall have been a principal in a North Carolina public school or shall have other leadership, management, and administrative experience. In addition, the SBE shall adopt rules that include minimum credentials, educational prerequisites, and relevant experience requirements that would qualify a person to serve as a superintendent without having direct experience or certification as an educator. It is the duty of each local board to elect a superintendent who is qualified.
Sources:
George W. Bush Institute, Operating in the Dark
Teacher and Principal Induction
Teacher Induction
Is mentoring required for all new teachers and for how many years? If so, do program guidelines/requirements specifically address teaching diverse learners?
The state requires all beginning teachers to participate in a three-year induction program. Teachers with “three or more years of appropriate experience” are not required to participate. In addition, districts may request an exemption from this requirement for teachers with “equivalent non- public experience.”
Source: New Teacher Center, Review of State Policies on Teacher Induction
Principal Induction
Is coaching/mentoring required for all new principals/administrators/ superintendents and for how many years? If so, do program guidelines/requirements specifically serving diverse learners?
The state does not require induction for new school administrators.
Source: New Teacher Center, Review of State Policies on Teacher Induction
Teacher and Principal Professional Development Standards
Teacher Professional Development Standards
Does the state have professional development standards for teacher PD?
The state of North Carolina adopted the Professional Learning Standards developed by Learning Forward. These standards outline the characteristics of professional learning that leads to effective teaching practices, supportive leadership, and improved student results.
Sources:
Principal Professional Development Standards
Does the state have professional development standards for leadership PD?
Our state policy review did not identify professional development standards for school leaders.
Popular Resources
Other Collaborators
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Center on Personnel Studies in Special Education (COPSSE)
Personnel Improvement Center (PIC)
American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education (AACTE)
National Association of State Directors of Special Education (NASDSE)
Council for Exceptional Children (CEC)
Study of Personnel Needs in Special Education (SPENSE)
Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO)
Council for the Accreditation of Educator Preparation (CAEP)
This website was produced under U.S. Department of Education, Office of Special Education Programs, Award No. H325A120003. David Guardino serves as the project officer. The views expressed herein do not necessarily represent the positions or polices of the U.S. Department of Education. No official endorsement by the U.S. Department of Education of any product, commodity, service, or enterprise mentioned in this website is intended or should be inferred.