February 2016
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DPI to Conduct Public
Input Sessions Regarding NC’s ESSA Plan
The Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) was signed by
President Obama on Dec. 10, 2015, and reauthorizes the 50-year-old Elementary
and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), the nation’s national education law and
longstanding commitment to equal opportunity for all students.
The ESSA outlines a return to more state-focused
accountability for student learning and a stronger focus on high school
graduation and preschool education. To gather feedback that will inform the
drafting of North Carolina’s ESSA plan, DPI staff will conduct a series of
public input sessions across the state this April and May.
To learn more about the ESSA and related programs, please
visit the Federal
Program Monitoring and Support website. Dates, times and locations for
these input sessions should be posted to this website in the coming weeks.
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NC TWC Survey to
Launch March 1
The North Carolina Teacher Working Conditions (NC TWC)
survey is an anonymous statewide survey of licensed school-based educators to
assess teaching conditions at the school, district and state level. First
administered in 2002 as part of the Governor's Teacher Working Conditions
Initiative, the survey is conducted biennially. The 2016 NC TWC Survey will
launch on March 1 and the survey window will run to March 25.
For the past 12 years, the survey has been a platform used
to amplify educator’s voices concerning working conditions in their schools and
districts. The results of this survey are used to inform policy at the school,
district and state levels. Feedback from the survey also serves as a component
of school and district improvement plans and is used in NC’s educator and school
administrator evaluations. For more information, visit the NC TWC website.
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April 1 is
the deadline to nominate elementary teachers (grades K-6) for the 2016 North
Carolina Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching
(PAEMST). The PAEMST Awards is the highest honor bestowed by the United States
government specifically for K-12 mathematics and science teaching.
Anyone – principals, teachers, parents, students, or members
of the general public – may nominate a teacher by completing the nomination
form available on the PAEMST website. Nominees
may recommend more than one educator and must provide each teacher’s name,
email address, and school contact information. Teachers also may apply.
One mathematics teacher and one science teacher will be
selected from North Carolina. Each will receive a $10,000 award and a trip to
Washington, D.C. to attend the National Awards Recognition Program. Secondary
school teachers (grades 7-12) will be eligible to apply during a future cycle.
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Celebrate NC Schools Highlights Stories from the “READY”
Initiative
From 2010 through 2015, state and local school leaders used
$400 million in federal Race to the Top grant funds to strengthen teaching and
learning in North Carolina. A new section on Celebrate NC Schools
features a series of short stories highlighting how these grant funds were used
in a multi-strategy approach, branded the "READY" initiative, to
transform education in the classroom, district and state.
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