A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT to appropriate funds for a pilot program to recruit undergraduate students to the college of education at appalachian state university and to appropriate funds for the friday institute to study teacher recruitment and preparation programs.
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
SECTION 1.  There is appropriated from the General Fund to the Board of Governors of The University of North Carolina the sum of ninety‑one thousand dollars ($91,000) for the 2015‑2016 fiscal year and the sum of ninety‑one thousand dollars ($91,000) for the 2016‑2017 fiscal year. These funds shall be used by the College of Education at Appalachian State University for a personnel position to implement a pilot program to recruit undergraduate students to the College of Education and to provide counseling and advising services to those students once enrolled.
SECTION 2.(a)  There is appropriated from the General Fund to the Board of Governors of The University of North Carolina the sum of two hundred thirty‑five thousand dollars ($235,000) for the 2015‑2016 fiscal year and the sum of four hundred seventy thousand dollars ($470,000) for the 2016‑2017 fiscal year. These funds shall be allocated to the Friday Institute for Educational Innovation, as part of North Carolina State University, to be used to conduct a three‑year evaluation of six teacher recruitment and training programs in North Carolina that meet the following criteria:
(1)	One university program that focuses on recruiting high school high achievers into a four‑year teacher preparation program, such as the Maynard Scholarship at East Carolina University.
(2)	One university program that focuses on recruiting undergraduate students into teacher preparation programs, such as the Teacher Education Marketing Pilot at Appalachian State University.
(3)	One university program that focuses on providing fifth‑year students an opportunity to earn a Masters of Arts in Teaching in a shortened time frame, such as the MAT Program at Meredith College.
(4)	One university program that focuses on connecting community college students to university teacher preparation programs in connection with the Comprehensive Articulation Agreement and related 2+2 initiatives, such as the 2+2 Online Program in Agricultural Education at North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University.
(5)	The Regional Alternative Licensing Centers that are focused on improving the quality and effectiveness of the workforce‑to‑lateral entry process.
(6)	One innovative statewide university program focused on improving the recruitment of educators, such as NC INSPIRE at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte.
Each evaluation shall be contingent upon the continued operation of each program being evaluated.
SECTION 2.(b)  Over the course of the three‑year evaluation, the Friday Institute shall, at a minimum, measure the following outcomes at each of the selected programs:
(1)	Number of applicants and participants and progress toward one hundred percent (100%) participant capacity.
(2)	Applicant and participant diversity, including information about demographics and geographic location.
(3)	Where applicable, indicators of participant quality, including participants' grade point averages and initial leadership qualities and the quality of participants' colleges and universities.
(4)	Cost per program and per participant.
(5)	Participant assessment of program quality, including information gathered from participants via surveys, focus groups, or interviews.
(6)	Independent, rubric‑based observer assessment of program quality.
(7)	Program completion rates.
(8)	Hiring locations for program completers.
(9)	Changes in program participation rates and cohort size across time.
(10)	Changes in applicant and participant diversity, including information about demographics and geographic locations.
(11)	Where applicable, changes in participant quality across time, including changes in cohort grade point averages, the quality of participants' colleges and universities, and direct and indirect measurements of leadership growth.
(12)	Changes in costs across time, including the costs per program and the costs per participant over time.
Where practical, the Friday Institute shall consult with the State Board of Education and the Board of Governors on the design and implementation of the evaluations.
SECTION 2.(c)  Beginning December 1, 2016, and annually thereafter until submission of a final report on December 1, 2018, the Friday Institute shall report to the Joint Legislative Education Oversight Committee on the status of the evaluation process for each of the selected programs, including any outcome data that can be reliably measured at the time of the report. If, upon the submission of the final report, the Friday Institute finds further outcomes could be determined, the Friday Institute may request a six‑month no‑cost extension to submit a revised version of the final report.
SECTION 2.(d)  The funds appropriated pursuant to subsection (a) of this section for the 2015‑2017 fiscal biennium shall not revert but shall remain available for expenditures pursuant to this section through the 2017‑2018 fiscal year. Any unexpended, unencumbered balance of these funds shall revert at the end of the 2017‑2018 fiscal year.
SECTION 3.  This act becomes effective July 1, 2015.