H719 - Education Improvement Act of 2013

• Establishes an 18-member North Carolina Educator Effectiveness and Compensation Task Force to study and recommend whether to create statewide incentives for recruiting and retaining highly effective educators and consider transitioning to an alternative compensation system; Task Force must report findings by April 15, 2014.

• Ties teacher career status achievement to performance evaluations using new standards: teachers rated "highly effective" automatically achieve career status after four years; those rated "in need of improvement" do not achieve career status; career teachers losing "highly effective" status for two consecutive years lose career status and may be demoted or dismissed.

• Requires continuing licensure to include at least 10 continuing education credits with competencies in digital learning and innovative teaching methods; mandates teacher education programs include training in identifying students with disabilities, managing student behavior, and creative teaching strategies including digital learning.

• Establishes new school performance scoring system based on proficiency percentages in reading, mathematics, science, end-of-course tests, college/workplace readiness, and four-year graduation rates, with letter grades (A-F) and potential grade increases for meeting student growth targets or maintaining 80% proficiency over three-year periods.

• Revises school improvement plan requirements to establish teams with elected staff and parent representatives, require open meetings, post plans publicly online (except safety components), and create a formal process for school staff votes and board approval of plans.