Wake EduCast Archives

Newcomers' Guide to Summer Registration (video)

In our last Wake EduCast video podcast of the school year, I ask customer service administrator Jeff Nash, Wake County's own Answer Man, how parents can easily register their children for school once they arrive in Wake County.

UPDATE 6/16: Here's more information about registering kindergartners and first graders, registering other students, and locating student assignments.

Posted by Chip Sudderth at 5:06 PM on June 2, 2008 | Leave Feedback

Testing: Behind the Scenes (video)

There are a lot of logistical challenges to conquer in administering state-mandated testing and assessments, including the End-of-Grade and End-of-Course testing currently underway. Carol Jenkins is our senior director for testing, and we dropped in somewhat unexpectedly (Thanks, Carol! You're a trooper!) to get the lowdown on test security, Central Services administrators proctoring tests in schools, and the "Happy Room."

"Happy Room?" All is explained in our latest Wake EduCast!

Posted by Chip Sudderth at 3:09 PM on May 21, 2008 | Leave Feedback

Character Education in WCPSS (video)

WCPSS's character education program is a state pioneer. We talk to our character education coordinator, Dr. Susan Schmidt, for a quick overview of the program, and also take a peek at Northwoods Elementary's "Hero Day" which reinforces character education thanks to community volunteers. All that is in our latest Wake EduCast video podcast!

If you want to learn more, there's also our online Character Education Resource Center (including links to recent audio podcasts) and our December 2007 School Connection TV show, which featured a complete story about Hero Day at Northwoods.

Posted by Chip Sudderth at 9:41 AM on May 6, 2008 | Leave Feedback

What's Happening with the Curriculum Management Audit? (video)

Earlier this month Chief Academic Officer Dr. Donna Hargens provided a quarterly update to the Wake County Board of Education on our progress in responding to the independent curriculum management audit of our school system. Our latest Wake EduCast brings you a two-minute summary.

Posted by Chip Sudderth at 3:48 PM on April 22, 2008 | Leave Feedback

Business Volunteers Step Up for High School Career Fair (video)

This week's Wake EduCast video podcast highlights Xtreme Beginnings, our annual career exploration event for about 700 tenth, eleventh, and twelth grade students from all high schools in Wake County. Business volunteers are welcome to help lead roundtable discussions with students, conduct practice job interviews, and more.

Watch the video -- and if you want to volunteer, click here!

Posted by Chip Sudderth at 5:13 PM on April 7, 2008 | Leave Feedback

Fact or Fiction Results (video)

In this latest Wake EduCast video podcast, we highlight some of the results of our recent "Fact or Fiction" quiz about the Superintendent's Plan for Student Success. Find out more about how our schools are funded by the state and county, and where that funding goes, in less than two minutes.

Watch it now!

(Also, the new round of Fact or Fiction questions is online now!)

Posted by Chip Sudderth at 3:32 PM on March 24, 2008 | Leave Feedback

Wake EduCast #25: The Modern Media Center

"21st Century Learners" need to be adept at handling information from more and more sources. Learn how today's media centers are the nerve center for accessing knowledge in this week's Wake EduCast.

Posted by Chip Sudderth at 3:49 PM on March 10, 2008 | Leave Feedback

Wake EduCast #24: More Than Growth

The Superintendent's Plan for Student Success -- our annual business plan and budget document -- will be presented to the Wake County Board of Education on March 4. Here's a look at one of the challenges we face each year in our budget planning: the increased cost of existing services for the students we already have, not just the ones coming next fall.

Posted by Chip Sudderth at 5:33 PM on February 25, 2008 | Leave Feedback

Wake EduCast #23: National Board Certified Teachers

WCPSS teachers who earned certification from the National Board of Professional Teaching Standards were honored for their achievement last week. Find out more on this week's Wake EduCast!

Posted by Chip Sudderth at 5:32 PM on February 11, 2008 | Leave Feedback

Wake EduCast #22: Higher Standards

We've been talking a lot lately about rising standards in education. What does that mean in North Carolina? Find out in our latest Wake EduCast.

Posted by Chip Sudderth at 1:13 PM on January 29, 2008 | Leave Feedback

Wake EduCast #21: Midterm Report

In today's Wake EduCast, Superintendent Del Burns talks about the purposeful change WCPSS will adopt through a refined focus on learning and teaching.

Dr. Burns announced this new direction during his January 7 midterm report to the Wake County Board of Education.

Posted by Chip Sudderth at 3:15 PM on January 14, 2008 | Leave Feedback

Educast #20: Mary Phillips High School

This week's Educast explores Mary Phillips High School, which occupies a unique place in the Wake County Public School System.

Posted by Paul Cory at 4:21 PM on December 18, 2007 | Leave Feedback

Wake EduCast #19: Fall Teacher Job Fair

Find out more about the December 1 Fall Teacher Job Fair in this week's Wake EduCast!

You can preregister for the Job Fair through next Monday here.

Posted by Chip Sudderth at 9:59 AM on November 20, 2007 | Leave Feedback

Wake EduCast #18: Career and Technical Education

Our school system's vision is that every child will graduate on time, prepared for the future. Learn about one of the important ways we ensure the second half of that vision -- career and technical education -- in this week's Wake EduCast.

Posted by Chip Sudderth at 4:03 PM on November 5, 2007 | Leave Feedback

Wake Educast #17: Magnet Fair

The Magnet Schools Fair happens Saturday, November 3, 2007 from 10:00 am - 1:00 pm at Southeast Raleigh Magnet High School. Watch the Educast to learn more about the Fair.

For more information about Magnet Schools, visit the Magnet Schools Resource Center.

Posted by Paul Cory at 12:38 PM on October 23, 2007 | Leave Feedback

Wake EduCast #16: Fact or Fiction -- the Audit Edition

Ashley Smith and I review some of the surprising results of our recent curriculum management audit quiz in today's Wake EduCast.

Posted by Chip Sudderth at 1:35 PM on October 8, 2007 | Leave Feedback

Wake Educast #15: What Are "Formative Assessments"?

There are different ways to assess a child's academic progress. There's always the final exam, or the End-of-Grade or End-of-Course test, which lets you know how the child did at the end of the year or class. Teachers also regularly check students' progress during the year in order to fine-tune their instruction and better meet each child's needs. That's called a "formative assessment", and we compare it to preparing a meal in this week's Wake EduCast.

(By the way, the chicken parmigiana was outstanding.)

Posted by Chip Sudderth at 4:55 PM on September 24, 2007 | Leave Feedback

Wake EduCast #14: Learning About the Audit

The impact of Phi Delta Kappa's independent curriculum management audit of our school system will be lasting. But it's a 400-page document; where do you start if you want to find out more about it?

Watch our latest Wake EduCast for a guided tour.

Posted by Chip Sudderth at 5:32 PM on September 10, 2007 | Leave Feedback

Wake EduCast #13: Understanding AYP

What does Adequate Yearly Progress mean? David Holdzkom, assistant superintendent for evaluation and research, and Cathy Moore, principal of Sanderson High School, sat down with me for a conversation about this measurement of school progress against the goals of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001. (Our preliminary results for elementary and middle schools are available here.)

Posted by Chip Sudderth at 5:40 PM on August 27, 2007 | Leave Feedback

Wake EduCast #12: One Year-Round School's Story

I visited Vance Elementary School to talk with a principal and teacher about their experience in a new year-round school.

Posted by Chip Sudderth at 4:51 PM on August 13, 2007 | Leave Feedback

Wake EduCast #11: We're Back!

The back-to-school edition of the Wake EduCast gives you a brief roundup of what's happening with teaching and learning in the Wake County Public School System. We touch on the start of year-round school, registration for newcomers, the Plan for Student Success, and the curriculum management audit.

We're back on our twice-monthly schedule, so look for a new episode in another two weeks. If you want Wake EduCasts delivered to you automatically, you can subscribe to the Wake EduCast in iTunes by choosing "Subscribe to Podcast..." from the Advanced menu and entering this link location: http://www.wcpss.net/announcements/index.xml .

Posted by Chip Sudderth at 5:55 PM on July 30, 2007 | Leave Feedback

Wake EduCast #10: Graduation!

The end point of K-12 education is also the launching point of a new life. Wake EduCast visits one of our graduation ceremonies and salutes the Class of 2007.

Posted by Chip Sudderth at 4:46 PM on June 12, 2007 | Leave Feedback

Wake EduCast Extra #1: Curriculum Management Audit Overview

Here's a video supplement to our previous Wake EduCast about the curriculum management audit. Lead auditor Dr. Rosanne Stripling made a 30-minute presentation to the school board, including answering questions, at their May 8, 2007, meeting.

If you're interested in a detailed overview of the audit, this is the place.

Posted by Chip Sudderth at 5:32 PM on May 24, 2007 | Leave Feedback

Wake EduCast #9: Meet the Teacher of the Year

We visited the Wake County Teacher of the Year banquet last Thursday night, and brought back this report: Meet Paige Elliott, Wake County's Teacher of the Year!

Posted by Chip Sudderth at 6:57 PM on May 22, 2007 | Leave Feedback

Wake EduCast #8: The Auditors Were Here!

Last week, auditors from Phi Delta Kappa International completed their site visit of the Wake County Public School System for our first-ever independent curriculum management audit. (More here.)

I had the chance to speak with lead auditor Rosanne Stripling, Ed.D., about the audit. Find out what the audit entails, and what work has already gone into the audit, in this three-minute Wake EduCast.

Come back later in the week for more details in our first "Wake EduCast Extra"....

Posted by Chip Sudderth at 4:29 PM on May 14, 2007 | Leave Feedback

Wake EduCast #7: Understanding Testing

Assistant superintendent David Holdzkom of our Department of Evaluation and Research offers some tips for parents and explains what End-of-Grade and End-of-Course testing are all about in this week's Wake EduCast.

Posted by Chip Sudderth at 4:04 PM on April 30, 2007 | Leave Feedback

Wake EduCast #6: Fact or Fiction?

This week, the EduCast covers some of the persistent misconceptions about the Plan for Student Success.

Posted by Paul Cory at 9:48 AM on April 16, 2007 | Leave Feedback

Wake EduCast #5: The Plan for Student Success

Take a couple of minutes and watch this week's Wake EduCast, as we give a brief introduction of the 2007 Superintendent's Plan for Student Success.

Posted by Chip Sudderth at 5:40 PM on April 3, 2007 | Leave Feedback

Wake EduCast #4: Public-Private Partnerships Revisited

This week, Wake EduCast follows up on Kristin Flenniken's recent post with a video update on public-private partnerships.

We took our first look at the new legislation allowing PPPs in our July 24 GrowthCast. You can find out more about growth and its impact on teaching and learning in Wake County by visiting the Managing Growth" archives from our blog.

Posted by Chip Sudderth at 10:49 AM on March 19, 2007 | Leave Feedback

Wake EduCast #3: Early College Through a Student's Eyes

Meet Elizabeth, a member of the Wake Early College of Health and Science's inaugural freshman class, as she takes me -- and you -- on a walking tour of this innovative partnership. WECHS is the product of a close partnership between the Wake County Public School System, Wake Technical Community College, and WakeMed Health and Hospitals.

Students like Elizabeth graduate from Early Colleges in five years with a high school degree plus an associate degree, enabling them to enter the workforce immediately or transfer to a four-year college with the equivalent of two years already under their belt. For more information about WECHS, check out their FAQ!

Posted by Chip Sudderth at 5:43 PM on March 5, 2007 | Leave Feedback

Wake EduCast #2: Curriculum Management Audit

Hear our chief academic officer, Dr. Donna Hargens, talk about the potential academic impact of our upcoming comprehensive independent curriculum management audit in this week's Wake EduCast.

Want more? We'll have a more detailed look, including a conversation with Dr. Burns, on next month's School Connection TV show!

Posted by Chip Sudderth at 3:04 PM on February 19, 2007 | Leave Feedback

Wake EduCast #1: Strategic Directives

On the heels of last year's series of video podcasts about growth in Wake County, we now present the first Wake EduCast. This will be a twice-monthly series on educational issues in Wake County. We begin with Dr. Del Burns, who describes the four strategic directives that have driven WCPSS since he became superintendent on July 1, 2006.

Posted by Chip Sudderth at 5:47 PM on February 5, 2007 | Leave Feedback