About: Terry Stoops

According to Education Week, cursive is ready for a comeback.  The article offers an instructive anecdote. When an undergraduate in her university’s [University of Illinois] Rare Book and Manuscript Library asked for help with a manuscript she was reading, library director Valerie Hotchkiss assumed it was something difficult. An obscure Latin text, perhaps, or a letterContinue Reading

We’ve heard countless reports of teachers who flee North Carolina public schools for higher pay. But some of these teachers return to North Carolina after finding that public schools in their destination states were less than ideal.  These “boomerang” teachers rarely receive the kind of attention that their departing counterparts do, but they have anContinue Reading

The N.C. Department of Public Instruction (DPI) revealed that the state spent at least $66 million on the implementation of the Common Core State Standards. For the past few years, Lt. Governor Dan Forest and others asked DPI to provide an estimate of taxpayer money used for Common Core implementation.  They never received it.  NowContinue Reading

Last week, Governor McCrory (R?) appointed 22 members to the State Textbook Commission.  The commission evaluates and recommends textbooks to be used in North Carolina’s public schools, so it is a fairly important job. Just for the heck of it, I checked N.C. State Board of Elections records to determine the voter registration of eachContinue Reading

For more information on this ranking and the issue of educational productivity, read this week’s newsletter, “The most and least productive school districts in NC.” Note: The lower the ROI score, the higher the productivity.  For example, districts that scored a “1″ had the highest achievement and lowest spending.  Districts that earned a “6″ hadContinue Reading

That is the question posed by Twitter user J. Wesley Fricks III. The photo posted on his Twitter feed (and below) speaks volumes. Curiously, neither the publisher nor the editors of the News & Observer have commented on their publication’s use of plastic bags.  Letters to the editor asking them to clarify their position, suchContinue Reading

According to the N.C. Division of Non-Public Education, the estimated number of homeschool students hit 98,172 during the 2013-14 school year. Just to put this in perspective: 1. This year’s enrollment represents the highest homeschool enrollment ever in North Carolina. 2. Homeschool enrollment increased by 10,194 students or 11.6 percent compared to last year. 3.Continue Reading

WRAL is reporting that “NC education spending on decades-long slide.” What they really mean is that education spending, as a percentage of the total state budget, has decreased due to the demands of Medicaid and various other state-funded enterprises. Indeed, there is a big difference between a decrease in spending (stated in the headline) andContinue Reading