On Wednesday, the
State Board of Education will receive the 2014-15 READY Accountability report,
providing details about the performance of student groups and schools in North
Carolina’s accountability model. This will include school performance grades as
well as information about the state’s overall student proficiency and the
academic growth that students made last school year.
Your local testing
coordinators will have access to your district information at noon on Tuesday,
Sept. 1, and we will provide access to our draft news release to your
communication staff and you on Tuesday afternoon.
This year’s School
Performance Grades’ model remains the same as last year’s in terms of the grade
scale (15-points) and the weighting of performance (80 percent) and academic
growth (20 percent). What is different is the addition of an A+NG
designation for schools that meet federal requirements regarding achievement
gaps and also the state requirements for a school performance grade of A. New
federal requirements do not allow us to provide our state’s highest school
designation to any school where there is a student achievement gap that is
larger than our largest average achievement gap overall. That’s the reason for
the new highest letter grade designation.
As with last year’s
results, I intend to focus on student growth – the best demonstration of the
work our teachers and students did last year – and on this release as an
opportunity to underscore the importance of high school graduation to our
students and our state.
|
Licensure System
Update
As you know, our new automated Licensure System went live on Aug. 1.
The new system allows applications to be handled once, reduces the chances that
an incomplete application is submitted, expedites the processing of fee
payments, improves the timing of application review, and has brought
significant improvements in navigating the licensure process quickly and
easily. While we are still accepting paper applications, we highly encourage
everyone to use the new system to expedite the process. We have limited staff
assigned to the historical manual process and we need all school districts and
charters to submit their applications through the online system. Please
let us know if you or your team needs additional training.
Please note that we will be announcing at
the PANC Conference in October our transition date when we will no longer
accept paper applications.
If you have not already requested access to
the new online system to submit requests on behalf of your teachers, please do
so as soon as possible. The necessary forms and links are available online. To access the
online system, please visit the NCDPI Online Licensure System. If you have any
questions, please visit the Licensure website or
contact NCDPI Licensure Division at 919/807-3310.
State Board of Education Meets
This Week
The State Board of Education meets this Wednesday and Thursday,
Sept. 2-3, in the 7th Floor Board Room, Education Building, Raleigh.
Action items include the 2014-15 READY Accountability results, the four and
five-year cohort graduation rates for 2014-15, the 2014-15 CTE Credentials
Report, the funded average daily membership for charter schools with approved
dropout prevention and recovery programs, and the Title V State Abstinence
Education Grant. Board members also will receive special presentations on
several Race to the Top final reports and one from the University of North
Carolina Gillings School of Global Public Health. The
full agenda, as well as executive summary materials, are available online by
clicking on the Meetings tab.
|
Last
Chance for Teachers to Submit Feedback on Common Core Standards
The North Carolina Academic Standards
Review Commission continues to conduct a comprehensive review of all English
Language Arts and Mathematics standards as part of the Common Core State
Standards that were adopted by the North Carolina State Board of Education. The
Commission appreciates the time and work that teachers have invested in
educating our students, and values the feedback that teachers can provide from
being the boots on the ground on a daily basis.
This
is the Commission’s third and final attempt since May to solicit feedback on
classroom experiences in teaching the Common Core standards. Teachers’
survey responses are intended to inform recommendations to the North Carolina
State Board of Education later this year.
Please
let your teachers know that the deadline to respond to these questionnaires is 6 p.m., Sept. 15. After that date and
time, access will no longer be available. A separate email will be sent to you
with the survey links later this week or the first week in September.
Please
feel free to contact Academic Standards Review Commission Co-Chairs Andre Peek
and Tammy Covil with questions or concerns regarding these surveys. The email
address to use is Jocelyn.herrera@doa.nc.gov. Again, thank you for your support in the
collective effort to uphold the academic standards in North Carolina
Cooperative
Innovative High School (CIHS) Applications Due SEPT. 15
All
CIHS applications are due to NCDPI by Sept. 15. LEA teams, with Letters of
Intent on file, have been receiving technical support since May and are aware of
application requirements. NCDPI staff are expecting close to 40 applications;
last year, the department received less than 10.
In anticipation of the large number of
applications, please remember that only complete applications will be
reviewed. It is critical to fully respond to all of the components of the
application so that the Joint Advisory Committee, with members from NCDPI, UNC General
Administration, and NC Community Colleges System, is able to make effective
recommendations to the State Board for approval. If applications do not
meet legislative requirements, LEAs may be asked to apply in future years or not
be recommended for approval.
Please contact Sneha Shah-Coltrane, director
of Advanced Learning, for further information.
Multi-Tiered System of Support (MTSS) Update
MTSS Cohort Blended Learning Course Scheduled. MTSS is a multi-tiered framework that promotes school improvement through
engaging, research-based academic and behavioral practices. The framework is
designed to maximize growth for all students and is based on the following
critical components:
o
Leadership
o
Building the
Capacity/Infrastructure for Implementation
o
Communication
and Collaboration
o
Data-Based
Problem Solving
o
Three-Tiered
Instruction/Intervention Model
o
Data-Evaluation
Cohort 1 and 2 will experience the specially
designed, cohort-blended learning, which focuses on district teams establishing
readiness for implementation, as well as the development and assessment of core
academic and behavioral practices. Additional professional development for all
other LEAs, charters and state-operated programs is planned to strategically
facilitate the development of the six critical components. The first session, focused on district teams and school leaders,
is being offered in six different locations, beginning in October. All LEAs,
charters and state-operated programs will be invited to participate in a MTSS
Cohort Blended Learning Course.
Multi-Tiered System of Support
(MTSS) Contacts. MTSS now reports to NCDPI Chief Academic and
Digital Learning Officer Tracy Weeks. It previously was a section within the
K-12 Curriculum and Instruction Division. Additionally, four consultants
from the Exceptional Children Division have been re-allocated to the MTSS team,
creating a team of eight MTSS consultants. The work of this team, under the
leadership of Amy Jablonski, is to build an integrated academic and behavior
system through an MTSS framework.
Initial professional development, technical
assistance and coaching of MTSS will begin fall 2015 with Cohort 1, and Cohort
2 in winter 2016. Statewide professional development opportunities for
school districts, charter schools and state operated programs not involved in
Cohorts 1 and 2 are available during the 2015-16 school year. Please visit
the MTSS wiki for continuous
updates.
Following is a list of the MTSS Team and
contact information. The NCDPI MTSS Team looks forward to working with you!
Amy
Jablonski, Director
Lynn
Bailey, MTSS Consultant, Western
Angel
Batts, MTSS, Consultant, Northeast
Beth Boggs, MTSS Consultant, Southwest
Angie
Cloninger, MTSS Consultant, Southeast
Susan Laney, MTSS Consultant, Northwest
Amy
Miller,
MTSS Consultant, Piedmont-Triad
Correy
Watkins, MTSS Consultant,
Sandhills
Laura Winter, MTSS Consultant, North Central
 NCVPS Fall Enrollment
Largest Ever
The North Carolina Virtual Public School is experiencing its
largest fall ever with over 26,500 enrollments. Regular registration continues
through Friday, Sept. 4, while credit recovery registration is open until Nov.
25. Schools can add to their existing Occupational Course of Study courses
throughout the semester.
NCPVS also accepts transfer students through Nov. 25.
Transfer students must already be enrolled in the course in the traditional
classroom and have a grade to transfer in with. Transfers are not for students
new to a course, but work great for students who must go on homebound status,
are suspended, move in from another school, or have any unusual or
unexpected scheduling problems.
|
US Senate Youth Program Accepting Nominations
North Carolina
Senators Richard Burr and Thom Tillis recently announced that the United States
Senate Youth Program (USSYP) has begun its annual statewide selection process.
Each year, the USSYP brings two students from
each state, the District of Columbia and the Department of Defense Education
Activity to Washington (all expenses paid) to experience an intensive week-long
(March 5-12) educational program about the workings of the Senate and the
federal government overall. Student delegates also will receive a $5,000
undergraduate college scholarship.
Delegates must be juniors or seniors and
elected student officers for the 2015-16 academic year. The 2016 program
brochure with detailed rules, selection process and the annual yearbook may be
accessed on the NC Senate Youth website. There is also a
Senate Youth Q&A webinar scheduled for
Saturday, Sept. 12, from 9 – 10 a.m. for interested students and parents. All applications and entry materials must be
submitted before Sunday, Oct. 4. Selected students will be announced
mid-December. Questions may be directed to NCDPI High School Social
Studies Consultant Michelle
McLaughlin or by calling 919/807-3924.
|
