GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA

1983 SESSION

 

 

CHAPTER 340

SENATE BILL 374

 

AN ACT FOR A PROGRAM FOR BASIC AND VOCATIONAL SKILLS AT GRADES SEVEN AND EIGHT.

 

The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:

 

Section 1.  Program established.  The State Board of Education shall establish a program for basic and vocational skills at grades 7 and 8.

Sec. 2.  Purpose.  The purpose of this program shall be to establish models for under-achieving students in grades 7 and 8 which will combine remedial instruction in the basic skills with introductory hands-on and orientation experiences in vocational education.

Sec. 3.  Goals.  The specific goals of the program shall be:

(1)       To provide a comprehensive instructional program which will keep these high-risk students in school until graduation.

(2)       To identify and correct the students' learning deficiencies in the basic skills.

(3)       To provide a broad range of introductory, vocational skills which will prepare the students for further specific training in the high school and later entry into either advanced training programs or the job market.

(4)       To provide an introduction to the world-of-work, career paths, work ethics, and the responsibilities of productive citizenship.

Sec. 4.  Emphases.  The specific emphases of the program shall be:

(1)       Providing students in grades 7 and 8 the opportunity to enroll in an instructional program that will combine a strong emphasis on basic academic learning (reading, mathematics, social studies and science) with hands-on experiences in occupational areas (manufacturing, construction, communications, energy and power, typing, and microcomputers).

(2)       Emphasizing the importance of good work habits and basic work ethics.

(3)       Establishing programs in the seventh grade in 16 middle/junior high schools during the 1983-84 school year, and expanding the programs to include the eighth grade during the 1984-85 school year.

Sec. 5.  Program participants.

(1)       In 1983-84, 50 under-achieving/high-risk seventh grade students from each of the 16 approved schools shall participate in the program.

(2)       In 1984-85, the same 50 students from each school who were in the program during 1983-84, plus an additional group of 50 seventh graders per school who will begin the program shall participate in the program.

Sec. 6.  Administration.  There is hereby created a nine member committee to make recommendations for participating schools to the State Board of Education.  The members shall be appointed as follows:

(1)       three members by the State Board of Education;

(2)       three members by the Lieutenant Governor;

(3)       three members by the Speaker of the House. Participating schools and participating students shall be selected and the program shall be administered in accordance with the Proposed Project Description for Basic and Vocational Skills Program at Grades 7 and 8 adopted by the State Board of Education on April 6, 1983. Schools not selected to participate in the program may administer their own programs in accordance with the project description adopted by the State Board with such funds as may be available. Those schools administering their own programs shall keep the State Board informed regarding those programs.

Sec. 7.  Evaluation.  The State Board of Education shall evaluate this program and shall report to the General Assembly by April 1, 1984 and by April 1, 1985.

Sec. 8.  The act shall not be effective until sufficient money is appropriated to implement the program.

Sec. 9.  This act is effective upon ratification.

In the General Assembly read three times and ratified, this the 20th day of May, 1983.