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Thank you for
participating in the legislative update webinar earlier today. I hope the information
provided was useful.
Over the coming
months, it will be important for us to continue to keep the lines of
communication open between NCDPI and you as we address the General Assembly’s
new laws and as we craft North Carolina’s Every
Student Succeeds Act plan to submit to the US Department of Education in
March.
A second series of
public comment sessions will be held in October in six cities and towns, and
those locations and dates will be announced soon. Also, I will be meeting with
you in your RESA meetings this fall, and on Nov. 10, we plan to hold a special
superintendents’ meeting to provide more time to collect feedback from you on
North Carolina’s ESSA plan.
There are many new
opportunities ahead of us to strengthen public schools in our state to benefit
all of our students. Thank you for making time to stay involved and in
communication with us.
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 Aug. 5
is School Calendar Flexibility Survey Deadline
This
Friday, Aug. 5, is the deadline to
complete the General Assembly Program Evaluation Division’s survey on School
Calendar Flexibility. As of this morning, not quite 10 percent of districts had
completed the survey. It is critical that we have 100 percent participation. You
may access the survey online.
If you have any questions, please contact Pat Madej with the NC General Assembly
Program Evaluation Division.
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 State Board of
Education Meets This Week
State Board of
Education members will meet this Wednesday and Thursday, Aug 3-4, in the 7th
Floor Board Room, Education Building, Raleigh. Board action items include an
update to the Interscholastic Athletic Policy, applications for reform models,
and charter application recommendations for schools opening in 2017. Discussion
items include 2017-19 Biennium Expansion Budget requests, a restart of the
school funding model, revision of licensure fees, and high school
accreditation.
On Thursday, Board members
will welcome Amy White and Todd Chasteen and new advisors Freddie Williamson
(superintendent), Melody Chalmers (principal) and Bobbie Cavnar (teacher).
Members also will receive a special presentation on Connecting Classrooms to the Future: Project-Based Inquiry Global.
The complete agenda
as well as supporting executive summaries are available online by clicking on the
Meetings tab. The meeting is audio streamed for those who cannot attend. To
listen, please visit the above link and click on the live audio stream link to
the right.
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 Resources to Support
Implementation of Revised Math Standards Online
North Carolina State
Board of Education members unanimously approved revisions to the NC Standard Course of Study for NC Math 1, 2
and 3. The first set of resources – Math Resource for Instruction for NC Math 1, 2 and 3 – to support the implementation of the revised standards is now available online.
These are living
(continuously growing) resources that should be accessed electronically due to
the many active links to curricular resources that are embedded in the overall guide.
Included
in the Math Resource for Instruction for high school courses are
links to feedback and contribution folders. NCDPI Mathematics Section staff are
very interested in all comments, feedback and additions of local
tasks/curricula to share and include in the Math Resource for Instruction.
Please share the
resources with your instructional leaders and teachers. Additional resources
such as optional pacing guides will be sent next week.
Should you have any
questions about the resources, please contact NCDPI Secondary Math Consultants Joseph Reaper at or Lisa Ashe.
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 Updated Guidance on
Section 504
On July 26, the U.S.
Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights
(OCR) issued guidance clarifying the
obligation of schools to provide students with attention-deficit/hyperactivity
disorder (ADHD) with equal educational opportunity under Section 504 of the
Rehabilitation Act of 1973.
Among other things,
the guidance discusses the obligation to provide services based on students’
specific needs and not on generalizations about disabilities, or ADHD, in
particular. The guidance also clarifies that students who experience behavioral
challenges could have ADHD and may need an evaluation to determine their
educational needs.
In addition to the
guidance, the Department also released a Know Your Rights document that provides a
brief overview of schools’ obligations to students with ADHD.
For questions
regarding Section 504, please contact NCDPI Federal Program Monitoring and
Support Division Title I Program Administrator Kenneth
Kitch.
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Multi-Tiered System of Support:
Coordinator Support for District Teams
Cohort 1 and 2 coordinators are
meeting with Regional MTSS consultants this week. The focus of these regional
meetings is to:
* preview Module 2 on "Best Practices for Building an Intervention
System;"
* provide orientation supports for new coordinators or new team members; and
* spotlight resources and develop our
regional Community of Practice.
In September, Cohort 1 and 2 Teams will be introduced to Module 2 and Cohort 3 and 4
Teams will be introduced to Module 1.
Coordinators support district and charter teams to implement an MTSS.
The work of the coordinator is outlined through Selection Criteria. Districts and charters will be more successful in implementing MTSS
when leadership has established common language and vision.
To develop common language, consider viewing this 21-minute video on MTSS. NCDPI Director of Integrated Academic and Behavior Systems Amy Jablonski provides the introduction to this school improvement framework. Feel free to contact Amy with feedback or questions.
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 Recognizing Outstanding STEM Schools and Programs: Intent to Apply
Schools around the
state are being recognized and honored as STEM Schools of Distinction for their
outstanding and effective STEM strategies in teaching and learning. Are you a
school employing the 11 essential STEM Attributes and 21st century skills
for students to be globally prepared? If so, we need to hear from you.
Schools planning to
apply for potential STEM recognition for the 2016-17 school year need to fill
out the following intent to apply to ensure you
receive information about the application, timeline, and resources that will
provide assistance in this process. The intent to apply request is due no later
than Oct. 14.
For more information
on the application process and timeline, please contact NCDPI STEM Project Manager Tina Marcus.
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