There was a time in North Carolina when most school
districts kept a surplus of potential teacher applicants ready for hiring when
and if a vacancy occurred. In some districts, recent teacher education
graduates once expected to serve as teacher assistants for a time while they
waited for a teaching position to open up for them.
Those times are over for many school districts, and no
longer do most Human Resources offices have a large stack of applications from
potential teachers. I believe the time is ripe to take some steps to fix this
situation in our vibrant and growing state.
Last week, I presented a plan
for addressing teacher compensation for all to include across-the-board pay
increases, pay for teacher leadership roles, competitive recruitment pay to
attract teachers to low-performing schools and opportunities to once again earn
bonus pay for advancing student academic growth. Please take a look at my ideas
and read them in more detail. North Carolina’s economy is improving and state
revenues also have improved, giving us a chance to be bold and meet this
challenge in 2016.
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State Board of Education Meeting Highlights
At today’s State Board of Education meeting, members approved policies
governing services for children with disabilities, recommendations for charter
enrollment and grade expansion requests, recommendations for charter schools
expiring in 2016, and a report to the Joint Legislative Education Oversight
Committee on a multi-year survey of driver education. They also discussed
policy recommendations pertaining to the teacher licensure and evaluation
process, proposed student perception surveys, reform for continually
low-performing schools, and the Board’s 2016-17 Supplemental Budget
recommendations. Members also received an update on the department's response to the Every Student Succeeds Act.
To
view the complete list of this month’s Board actions, please visit the Board’s website.
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Regional Principals of the Year Announced
Congratulations to the following eight outstanding
public school principals who were recently selected as Regional Wells Fargo
North Carolina Principals of the Year and will now compete for the state title
of 2016 Wells Fargo North Carolina Principal of the Year.
The regional principals of the year are:
- Northeast: William Peele,
Bertie Middle (Bertie County Schools);
- Southeast: Molly White, Lincoln
Elementary (Brunswick County Schools);
- North Central: Matthew Hunt,
Northern High (Durham Public Schools);
- Sandhills: Melody Chalmers,
E.E. Smith High (Cumberland County Schools);
- Piedmont-Triad: Wayne Duggins, South Stokes High (Stokes County
Schools);
- Southwest: Maureen Furr,
South Mecklenburg High (Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools);
- Northwest: Kelly Nicholson,
Oxford Elementary (Catawba County Schools); and
- Western: Peggy Marshall,
Sugarloaf Elementary (Henderson County Schools).
Regional
winners will each receive $1,000 for personal use and $1,000 for their schools.
The Wells Fargo Principal of the Year announcement will occur May 12 during a
luncheon in Cary. The winner will succeed the 2015 recipient, Steve Lassiter
Jr., principal of Pactolus School (Pitt County Schools).
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Implementation Science: A New Way of Work
Using the principles of
implementation science helps staff effectively select, begin, evaluate and
sustain new initiatives. NCDPI has partnered with the State Implementation and
Scaling-up of Evidence-based Practices Center (SISEP) to increase capacity for
implementation and scale-up of department initiatives to maximize students'
academic and social outcomes. View this brief video to learn more.
The Office of Early Learning
is partnering with school districts across the state using implementation
science principles to scale-up the NC K-3 Formative Assessment process. The
following eight school districts are early innovators, leading the way in this
effort, as they apply implementation science principles to scale up the NC K-3
Formative Assessment process: Chatham, Clinton City, Dare, Elizabeth
City-Pasquotank, Harnett, Iredell-Statesville, Swain and Winston-Salem/Forsyth.
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Problem-Solving Network: Host an
Issue Session
The Problem-Solving Network provides an opportunity for
educators across the state, who are facing similar issues and challenges, to
collaborate on solutions.
During virtual sessions, participants will:
• listen as a district or charter school representative
details an educational dilemma;
• actively engage in a virtual discussion using prompts;
• collaborate on solutions as a network; and
• provide feedback about the process and content.
Please consider hosting a session by submitting a
dilemma/issue for discussion. Educator
Effectiveness staff will assist you with any questions. Just
complete the request form and a professional development
coordinator will contact you.
NC Textbook Commission Meets Feb. 12
The North Carolina Textbook Commission will meet Friday, Feb. 12, from
1–4 p.m., in the 7th Floor Board Room, Education Building, Raleigh.
Commission members will review the process and procedures for textbook
evaluation and adoption. The draft 2016 Invitation proposed for health and
social studies is currently scheduled for presentation at the State Board of
Education’s March meeting.
The meeting will be audio streamed (click on the live audio stream link) for those who are interested
and cannot attend.
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Essentials for College
Math Course Training
NCDPI’s Math Section staff will conduct a
two-day training for high school teachers of record of Essentials for College Math (2408)
course created by the Southern Regional Education Board. The training will be
held Feb. 15-16 from 9 a.m.-4 p.m., at the Education Building in Raleigh.
This is a repeat of the trainings conducted across the state
over the past 18 months and is available to any teacher who is currently teaching
the course, but has not been trained. Additional trainings will be offered this
summer for those teachers who need the training for next year.
Lunch, snacks and all course materials will be provided for
participants at no charge. Unfortunately, there will not be financial support
for travel expenses or substitutes. Teachers may register online for this
training. Principals are asked to make sure appropriate math teachers are
aware of this opportunity.
NCVPS Professional Development Opportunities
The North Carolina Virtual Public School will host three webinars in February at no cost to administrators
and teachers who are interested in learning more about leading, teaching and
supporting teachers in an online and blended environment. All webinars
will start at 7 p.m. Dates and topics are as follows:
- Feb. 8:
Individualization in Online and Blended Learning;
- Feb. 15:
Cyber Bullying; and
- Feb. 29:
Assessment and Feedback for Teachers in Online and Blended Learning
Environments.
Mastery Learning for First-Time Credit Pilot Program
This program gives schools the option of providing
alternative scheduling to students in special enrollment situations. NCVPS will
function as an intervention for students in these situations. Program details
are available online.
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