Teaching and Learning Takes Center Stage in Curriculum Audit
September 4, 2007 - The Wake County Board of Education today received the results of a six-month Curriculum Management Audit conducted by Phi Delta Kappa International, the first of its kind for the Wake County Public School System. The results were presented by Dr. Rosanne Stripling, Professor and Dean of the College of Arts & Sciences and Education at Texas A&M University-Texarkana, who served as lead auditor on the project.
 Superintendent Burns and Dr. Hargens listen to PDK lead auditor Rosanne Stripling discuss audit findings with reporters. |
The comprehensive audit of the school system’s teaching practices focused on five key areas: governance and control (policy); direction and learner expectation; connectivity and consistency (alignment of programs); assessment and feedback (use of data to drive decisions); and productivity and efficiency.
The 400-page report delivered to the school board cited eight recommendation areas and also recommended a total of 117 possible action steps to be considered. The report suggested 47 action steps for the Wake County Board of Education in the area of policy review and development and 70 suggested actions for administrative staff in the areas of alignment, academic implementation and operations.
“I called for this independent audit to have our system measured against world-class standards for education. We do not want to coast on our past success,” said Del Burns, superintendent. “This was not an exercise to pat ourselves on the back. We wanted to see where we had gaps in our processes and alignment so we can move this school system and our children to the next level academically. We wanted and we received the hard look we asked for and will work with the Board of Education in processing and aligning these recommendations into our system”
Phi Delta Kappa International used business auditing practices developed by Peat Marwick and Mitchell in evaluating more than 50,000 documents and interviewing 479 government and business leaders, parents, administrators and teachers.
WCPSS staff will report their plans for organizing and beginning to address the findings from the audit to the Board of Education on September 18.
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