Public School Forum of NC

Founded in 2002 by the Forum, the north carolina center for afterschool programs (NC cap) is a comprehensive statewide afterschool network that includes afterschool providers, state agencies, state and local policymakers, law enforcement, business, and the philanthropic community, all working together to increase access to high-quality afterschool programs for all children and youth in north carolina, especially for those at risk for education failure. Research shows that high quality afterschool programs improve academic performance and school-day attendance, nurture youth development, decrease juvenile crime and other high-risk behaviors, and meet the needs of working families. As a statewide afterschool network, NC cap represents over 6,000 afterschool programs serving more than 150,000 children and youth across the state. NC cap unites a collaborative of over 35 partners to address issues including quality, accessibility, and sustainable funding.

NC resilience and learning project - the NC resilience and learning project works with high-poverty schools across the state where student trauma is prevalent. Our model is a whole School, whole-child framework to create trauma-sensitive schools that will improve academic, behavioral, and social-emotional outcomes for students. The cdc-kaiser permanente adverse childhood experiences (ace) study found that roughly 64% of the over 17,000 participants reported having at least one ace (aces include abuse, neglect, and household dysfunction such as a home with substance abuse, mental illness, mother being treated violently, or an incarcerated relative). Research shows aces can actually alter brain development and cause chemically toxic effects in the brain resulting in children remaining in a constant state of "survival mode" leading to the fight, flight, or freeze response. This reaction results in major impacts in children's learning, classroom behavior, and relationships. Students with aces have higher rates of office referrals, suspensions, and retention as well as lower academic performance. Our project has two components: professional development for school-wide staff and the formation of a School steering committee who meet regularly and serve as the champions of this work. The committee identifies areas of urgency, creates, and implements specific trauma-sensitive strategies for students experiencing trauma in order to positively influence learning and academic success. The 2021-2022 School year will be our fifth year of implementation. We have provided training and/or coaching in 23 School districts across the state.

NC institute for educational policymakers: the Public School Forum provides policymakers and education stakeholders with data and information to address the host of complex questions that will shape schools in north carolina. The education policy primer is provided to elected and appointed officials as well as to candidates for office to serve as a briefing manual on all topics and issues related to education in north carolina. The Forum hosts virtual sessions for all candidates running for state and local offices in the even number years (including 2020 and 2022). Since 2020, the Forum has also hosted virtual Public briefing sessions. The education primer is the key document for policymakers, educators, parents, and other stakeholders seeking facts and research about education in north carolina. The primer contains the most recent education data available, updates on recently passed education legislation, and background information on both federal and state education legislation. The Public School Forum has produced and updated the primer for several years, providing new information, updated facts, and key analysis each election cycle. Our goal is that this valuable tool will be used as a resource for policymakers as they tackle the policy issues in the general assembly, their local community, or in their schools.

Other: to further research and development through other programs such as: education policy fellowship program (epfp)the Forum has led the north carolina education policy fellowship program since 1992. The program is the only statewide program focused on leadership and professional development in the context of education policy. Each new class continues the trend of high-caliber participants and is rich in its members' range of professional and personal experiences. Fellows come from Public schools, colleges and universities, state agencies, and a diverse array of education organizations across north carolina. Each class includes a cohort of 20-30 fellows who focus on education policy issues and the wide range of factors that influence education in north carolina. The program is designed for fellows to learn about issues and perspectives in education that they may not always encounter in their daily work so that they can be more informed, rounded contributors to the critical education debates that shape the quality and focus of schools. Leadership development is a key focus of the education policy fellowship program. Epfp has graduated more than 1100 fellows and has a rich network of alumni in north carolina and nationally. North carolina's program is affiliated with the national institute for educational leadership in Washington, d.c. The north carolina program is routinely held up as an example for its strong curriculum, growing network of fellows, and influence in north carolina. Key research, policy analysis, and publicationsthe Public School Forum is a highly trusted source in north carolina for research and analysis of key issues affecting Public education. For more than 30 years, the Forum has annually produced the local School finance study, the only report of its kind in north carolina that tracks counties' investment in Public education. The report helps state-level policymakers understand the importance of adequate state funding for Public education and inequities in local funding across counties and helps county commissioners, district superintendents, and local School finance officers learn lessons from similar counties on how to boost resources for schools. The Forum's annual top education issues publication looks at the key issues expected to drive education policy for the coming year. The friday report is a weekly e-newsletter that reports on top education news, information, and events happening in north carolina's schools. The friday report reaches individuals in the north carolina department of Public instruction and other state agencies, legislators and legislative staff, superintendents, teachers, education nonprofits, and the media, along with many other stakeholders in education. The Forum also regularly publishes policy briefs and research reports exploring key education policy matters. A recent example is our new policy brief: covid-19's impact on Public School budgets: unstable funding requires quick action. Dudley flood center for educational equity and opportunity in october 2019, the Forum formally announced the founding of the dudley flood center for educational equity and opportunity (flood center). The flood center, born out of the findings and recommendations of the Forum's study group xvi: expanding educational opportunity (2016), serves as the umbrella to organize policy proposals and programs (including color of education) focused on equity in all aspects of k-12 education and to serve as a nexus for collaborative efforts in educational equity, access, and opportunity across the state. The flood center is named for dr. dudley flood, a current and long-term Forum board member, who travelled across north carolina to unite divided communities and work toward integrating our Public schools following brown v. board of education (1954).the flood center has an advisory board and officially launched in the fall of 2020. To address these issues of educational inequity, the flood center hosts student voices webinars, virtual town halls, the equity officers cohort, and the color of education (see below).color of education, (coe), first initiated in 2017, a partnership between the Public School Forum of north carolina, duke policy bridge and the samuel dubois cook center on social equity at duke university, was created in an effort to address the domains identified in the study group xvi's report. The mission of the partnership is to achieve racial equity in education across north carolina through building connections and engagement across fields of research, policy and practice. This mission is achieved by bringing together stakeholders from across the state in an effort to work toward continued engagement with research, policy, and practice to improve the quality of education for pre k-12 students of color from historically marginalized and underrepresented racial/ethnic groups in north carolina. The work of coe is informed by our guiding committee, led by co-chairs keisha bentley-edwards and lauren fox. In 2019, the color of education collaborative launched its new website, www.colorofeducation.org. Mapping the movement for racial equity in education and beyondthere is, and has long been, great work happening around racial equity in education in the state of north carolina. Groups engaged in these issues span across sectors. However, these efforts are largely happening in isolation from one another. Thus, one of the first goals of the color of education partnership is to build a network, as well as create a map, of organizations who are engaged in these efforts across the state. This is necessary to understand the landscape of racial equity in education initiatives across the state and inform ceo's work and programming moving forward. The goals of this effort include the following:- visibility and coalition building- information and strategy sharing- identify what is missing- track progress and milestoneseducation matters tv showthe Forum's weekly television program, education matters, airs statewide and was developed to provide the Public with pertinent facts about the state of Public education in north carolina. The show explores everything from the history of Public education to the impact of legislation and policy decisions on our Public schools. One of the key goals of the program is to help the Public understand how policies play out in our schools, and the impact these policies have on students and teachers. Education matters premiered in october 2016 on wral-tv 5, the nbc affiliate in the raleigh-durham/central north carolina market. In 2017, the show began airing statewide on unc-tv's NC channel and fox 50. In addition to television broadcast, the program is available online at http://www.wral.com/ and https://www.ncforum.org/ and is shared through the Forum's social media channels.