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House committee discusses students’ college and career readiness

The House Select Committee on Education Strategy and Practices met August 23 to hear from presenters on the state of North Carolina education and to discuss ways to improve the system’s quality through policy.

Gene Bottoms, senior vice president of the Southern Regional Education Board, spoke first on the strengths and weaknesses of N.C. education when it comes to college and career readiness. He showed the gaps in different industries in North Carolina and explained how schools can prepare students to fill them.

Catherine Moga Bryant, the deputy assistant secretary at the Department of Commerce; Jo Anne Honeycutt, the director of career and technical education at the Department of Public Instruction; and Jackie Keener, the assistant secretary at the Department of Commerce, spoke next. They outlined the existing career-oriented programs in N.C. schools. Go to 1:20:00 in the video at the bottom for Bryant, 1:27:00 for Honeycutt, and 1:36:36 for Keener.

Rebecca Garland, the deputy state superintendent at DPI, spoke on the state’s graduation standards and their alignment with the standards of colleges and employers. Susan Barbitta, the associate director for special projects with the N.C. Community College System, talked about the N.C. Career and College Ready Graduate program, and high school mastery-based remediation efforts that allow students to move through material at personalized speeds. Go to 2:06:30 for Garland and 2:31:04 for Barbitta.

Lastly, state Superintendent June Atkinson; Lou Fabrizio, the director of data, research, and federal policy at DPI; and Donna Brown, the director of federal program monitoring and support at DPI, gave an update on the state’s implementation of the federal Every Student Succeeds Act of 2015. Go 3:30:34 in the video for Atkinson, 3:37:40 for Fabrizio, and 3:45:04 for Brown.

Liz Bell

Liz Bell is the early childhood reporter for EducationNC.