Staffing shortages remain a problem for many schools. In North Carolina, all grade levels suffer from a lack of math and special education teachers, while elementary schools lack qualified educators for all core subjects. Discover how school districts are getting … Read more

…rural areas lose talent and economic potential. Brain drain may occur because of an actual or perceived lack of job opportunities in a region, the lack of opportunities for career…

Northeastern North Carolina faces clear economic challenges, including a notable lag in employment growth.  Some unique assets are responding to the challenges in promising ways. The region’s Elizabeth City State University (ECSU) has several programs helping to prepare students for jobs that exist and create ones that do not. The university is ranked as the number one historically black college and university for economic mobility, partly because it is intentional about investing in its students in ways that promote the region.

Workforce shortages have been on the rise across the United States over the past year, as the COVID-19 pandemic shifted labor markets. Local solutions are emerging as communities collaborate on efforts to connect more people with jobs.

As the state continues to emerge from the COVID-19 pandemic, communities face labor shortages as skill gaps and hiring challenges hinder the economic recovery. Fortunately, veterans returning to civilian life are searching for careers where they can use the skills they gained while in service, thus providing a potential solution to the shortage. 

School safety encompasses a number of issues, such as student mental health, peer-to-peer interactions and bullying, and the physical safety of students while they are at school. Gates County is one of three rural counties (including Duplin and Stanly) partnering with RTI International on their All Hands on Deck program. Henderson County partners implemented a new safety plan to enhance both the physical safety of students in the schools and their mental and emotional health. 

Gates & Henderson Counties Schools are grappling with the topic of school safety from a number of different angles, including increasing school mental health personnel and services, increasing security measures at schools, and decreasing incidents of bullying. ncIMPACT highlights the … Read more

Alamance & Craven Counties Following a year of school closings and virtual learning, more than half of K-12 teachers say students have experienced significant learning loss.

If you’re a student today, it’s easy to feel like every academic term brings a new, history-making event. But COVID is in its own category. The pandemic has upended the educational landscape in huge and novel ways. The ncIMPACT Initiative team recently took some time to speak directly with students about the changing nature of school and youth engagement, and to learn more about the path they see ahead.