Education Initiatives

Educator Innovation
The New North Carolina Principal Fellows Program (NCPFP)

The New North Carolina Principal Fellows Program allows districts to partner with vetted EPPs and sponsor teachers with leadership aptitude for a fully paid MSA…

Visit Initiative Landing Page

Download Our Policy Brief

Educator Innovation
TeachReadyNC: Teacher Apprenticeship in North Carolina

BEST NC’s research indicates that a state-supported, paid teacher apprenticeship program like TeachReadyNC will help North Carolina’s largest and fastest-growing teacher candidate pool find the…

Visit Initiative Landing Page

Download Our Policy Brief

Educator Innovation
Advanced Teaching Roles (ATR)™

Advanced Teaching Roles (ATR)™ is the nation’s only school-level, state-supported strategic staffing initiative, empowering North Carolina schools to design and adopt new organizational structures that…

Visit Initiative Landing Page

Download Our Policy Brief

VIEW ALL

Coursework Strategy
Economics & Personal Finance Coursework

Research has found that states that have required stand-alone courses in personal finance have seen their average credit scores rise in the years after implementation….

Visit Landing Page

Coursework Strategy
Increasing Access to Advanced Coursework

Access and enrollment in advanced coursework is linked to long-term positive outcomes for students, including greater readiness for postsecondary education. Automatic enrollment policies are a…

Visit Landing Page

Data
North Carolina School Spending Data Explorer Tool

This data explorer allows users to identify trends in education spending and examine relationships between per pupil expenditures (PPE) and other school-level data….

Visit Landing Page

VIEW ALL

Strategic Plan
North Carolina Counts on Math (NCCOM): Designing a Shared K-5 Vision for Math (2026)

BEST NC, partnering with Watershed Advisors, convened the North Carolina Counts on Math (NCCOM) working group consisting of a cross-section of state and local mathematics…

Learn More

Download the Report

Strategic Plan
NC STRIDE: An Action Plan for Teacher Recruitment in North Carolina (2021)

This document shares the recommendations, strategies, and actions suggested by the NC STRIDE Teacher Recruitment Working Group in 2020, and highlights areas of alignment with…

Download the Action Plan

Visit Innovation Lab Recap

Strategic Plan
NC First in Teaching (FIT) Roadmap (2018)

In 2018, current and former NC teachers formed the FIT Leaders. The culmination of their work together was the NC First in Teaching Roadmap, which…

Download the Roadmap

Full List of 2018 FIT Leaders

VIEW ALL

Event
The North Carolina Education Innovation Lab

The North Carolina Education Innovation Lab is a day-long gathering of business leaders, policymakers, educators, and other state and national stakeholders dedicated to exploring timely…

Visit Innovation Lab Online Hub

Video
BEST NC’s Conversation with the Candidates

Each election cycle, BEST NC’s A Conversation with the Candidates brings together the candidates for North Carolina State Superintendent of Public Instruction together for a…

Watch 2024 Debate

Watch 2020 Debate

Video
Advanced Teaching Roles™ Virtual RFP & Info-Sharing Sessions

Hosted by BEST NC and NC DPI, these in-person and virtual meetings convenes districts that are currently implementing or are curious about ATR staffing models…

Watch Previous Recordings

Visit Education Concept Page

VIEW ALL
Facts Matter

Data, Report
Facts & Figures: Education in North Carolina

This annual guide is designed to give you quick and easy access to key data that will support your work to improve North Carolina’s education…

Visit Landing Page

Download Facts & Figures

Data
North Carolina School Spending Data Explorer Tool

This data explorer allows users to identify trends in education spending and examine relationships between per pupil expenditures (PPE) and other school-level data….

Visit Landing Page

Educator Innovation
Teacher Pay in North Carolina

Teachers are the most significant in-school factor for student success, which means the most important thing we can do to improve our education system is…

Visit Initiative Landing Page

Download the Data Report

VIEW ALL
Innovation Lab
Resource Library
About
Leadership
Members
Join
Search

Resource library

PowerPoint: Learning from Other People-Driven Industries

Presentation Deck

Presented at the 2020 North Carolina Education Innovation Lab by Carl Nordgren and Mark Tully, co-founders of Better Than Before.

Presentation Deck

RESOURCE LIBRARY

Related Resources & Programs

Select one of the options below to learn more about that aspect of our work.

Presented on March 23, 2026 at the 2026 North Carolina Education Innovation Lab during the panel for Building the Foundation for Tailored Learning. The slide…

Presented on March 23, 2026 at the 2026 North Carolina Education Innovation Lab by Brenda Berg, President & CEO of BEST NC….

Educator Innovation

Educator Innovation

Educator Innovation

Coursework Strategy

Coursework Strategy

Data

Strategic Plan

Strategic Plan

Strategic Plan

Event

Video

Video

Data, Report

Data

Educator Innovation

Resource library

PowerPoint: Learning from Other People-Driven Industries

RESOURCE LIBRARY

Related Resources & Programs

Presentation Deck

Presentation Deck

Presentation Deck

Principal Pay in North Carolina: Aligning Compensation Strategies with Student Success (2026)

Public Impact’s NC Opportunity Culture ATR Landing Page

PowerPoint: Building the Foundation for Tailored Learning

PowerPoint: Why Tailored Learning, Why Now?

Facts & Figures: Education in North Carolina

North Carolina School Spending Data Explorer Tool

Advanced Teaching Roles (ATR)™