Nina Anderson is a first-grader in Charlotte. Due to recent school closures, Nina’s classroom looks very different than it did a few weeks ago. She and millions of other North Carolina students are learning from home. I interviewed Nina, her mom, and her teacher to learn more about what learning looks like right now.

Growing up, one of my favorite shows was Nick News with Linda Ellerbee. For those who missed it, Nick News was a long-running news show for kids hosted by Peabody-award winning journalist Linda Ellerbee.

Early seasons of the show explored myriad topics framed by the “Five W’s” (Who?, What?, When?, Where?, Why?) and the occasional 6th, How?

North Carolina is on a growing list of states that are studying Mississippi’s rising reading scores and discussing how to align reading instruction with the so-called science of reading. That much was clear on Thursday when The Belk Foundation held a “North Carolina and the Science of Reading” event at the Friday Institute.

Cherelle Sanders is a multi-classroom leader at Martin Millennium Academy in Tarboro. In her first year in that role, she worked with four teachers. One was in her third year teaching, but the other three were all brand new.

“There are more than 100,000 teachers in North Carolina. We know there are effective teachers in all our communities across the state,” says Johanna Anderson, the executive director of The Belk Foundation.

“Raise our expectations!” That’s always been Julie Hill’s mantra as a teacher coach in CMS elementary schools. “We have to stop letting excuses get in our way, like language barriers or turbulent home lives. Put all that to the side and focus on what we can control in the classroom,” says Ms. Hill, part of the CMS Teacher Leader Pathway program that promotes highly effective teachers into coaching roles, often supporting beginning teachers.

What makes a great teacher? It’s a question that parents, superintendents, principals, and even teachers themselves grapple with.

As we have traveled the state, we’ve noticed that there are a lot of ways people think about teachers. And, of course, everyone has a favorite.

On this episode of EdTalk, host Alex Granados talks with Johanna Anderson, executive director of the Belk Foundation, about the foundation’s new funding priority aiming to make sure there is an equitable distribution of effective teachers in districts across North Carolina.

Today, the Belk Foundation announced a new, five-year strategic focus on equitable access to effective teachers. In the announcement, the foundation cites research that students in high-poverty schools are half as likely to have access to a highly effective teacher as students in low poverty schools.

In 2019, inspired by what we launched in Read Charlotte’s community-wide movement, we announce a new strategic issue for the next five years: equitable access to effective teachers.