Please see
this week’s information items from across NCDPI’s departments and divisions of
interest to local superintendents.
Update
on ESSA State Plans
U.S. Education Secretary
DeVos sent a letter to
Council of Chief State School Officers Friday afternoon providing clarity on
how states should proceed in preparing and submitting ESSA Consolidated State
Plans.
This sentence is perhaps the most important in the letter: “The
regulatory delay and review, and the potential repeal of recent regulations by
Congress, should not adversely affect or delay the progress that States have
already made in developing their State plans and transitioning to the ESSA.”
Also in the letter, Secretary DeVos assures states that they should continue to
work toward the existing submission deadlines (April 3 and Sept. 18).
We wanted
to share this information with you to keep you updated on this transition
process. If you
have any questions, please contact NCDPI Data, Research and Federal Policy
Director Lou Fabrizio or
Federal Program Monitoring and Support Division Director Donna Brown.
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 North Carolina Student Surveys
Student Surveys are available to all third
through 12th grade teachers free of charge. Each survey takes
approximately five-six minutes to complete. The 2016-17 participation options
include whole-district opt in and individual teachers participation.
If an LEA or charter school would like to
participate as a district, please notify NCDPI via email by
Feb. 24. Visit the Student Surveys Wiki to learn more.
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Severe Weather Preparedness Week: March 5-11
With spring and peak severe
weather season right around the corner, Gov. Roy Cooper has proclaimed March 5-11 as Severe Weather
Preparedness Week, and educators,
families and residents are encouraged to prepare now for unpredictable, severe
weather including thunderstorms.
These storms can produce damaging winds, hail,
tornadoes and even flash floods. Faculty, staff and students need to know what
to do in the event that a tornado touches down during school hours.
North Carolina will hold its annual tornado drill
on Wednesday, March 8, at 9:30 a.m. Most
NOAA weather radios will NOT sound an audible alert to mark the beginning of
the drill. As such, schools are encouraged to self-initiate their tornado
drills at 9:30 a.m. as if an alert had been broadcast. The drill will conclude
when participants complete their drill activities. No all-clear message will be
issued. If this time is not convenient for your district’s instructional program,
you may reschedule the tornado drill on another day close to March 8.
North Carolina Emergency Management encourages
everyone to follow four simple steps to prepare for severe weather: make a
plan, practice the plan, have an emergency supplies kit and stay informed.
Teaching kids how to be ready for disasters can get the entire family ready.
For details, visit www.ReadyNC.org.
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 Global Education Update
The 2016-17 Global-Ready School Intent to Apply is still open for schools that wish to submit their
completed application by April 7. Interested applicants receive
resources and updates to assist them through the application process.
For additional information
and to see who in North Carolina has already earned this State Board of
Education designation click here.
As a reminder, if you have
teachers and administrators pursuing their Global Educator Digital Badge (GEDB) their
Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) must be turned in to NCDPI. Once the MOA is
received the GEDB candidate will have access to the online management platform
where they can access resources and any additional forms or information to
assist them through the process. The MOA, Implementation Guide, April 2016 webinar
and other resources are available online.
If you have any
questions, please contact NCDPI Global Education Coordinator Helga Fasciano.
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Multi-Tiered System of Support:
How are We Collaborating to Offer Supports?
Intentional collaboration with all stakeholders is critical to
building a school improvement framework.
Over the past two weeks, consultants from the NCDPI MTSS team have
attended the legislative breakfast, met
to discuss progress on ESSA, collaborated with both the Office of Charter
Schools and the Exceptional Children Division to provide engaging sessions in
each region, made preparations for school counselor presentations in March, and
began identification of supports for implementation of an MTSS framework in
pre-K settings.
In order to provide alignment of services to the districts and
charters, these partnerships continue to be a priority. It is these
partnerships as well as effective communication links that allow the
cascading system of support to work as designed, reaching from these state
level collaborative examples to the students in every North Carolina classroom.
We appreciate how your district teams are utilizing our supports to
prepare for strong implementation of this framework in every school.
For more information on MTSS, please see our LiveBinder or contact NCDPI Director of Integrated Academic
and Behavior Systems Amy Jablonski.
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 Hold March 20 for
Curriculum and Instructional Leaders’ Forum
Superintendents are asked
to hold Monday, March 20, from 9:30
a.m. – 4:30 p.m., to attend the Curriculum and Instructional Leaders’ Forum. The
Forum will be held during the Collaborative Conference for Student Achievement at the Sheraton
Greensboro at Four Seasons.
Registration information, along with agenda
topics, will be sent no later than Friday, Feb.
17. This will allow you time to review the
agenda and to select appropriate staff to attend. Lunch will be provided to
registered participants.
If you wish to attend the
CCSA conference on additional days, you will need to register here and pay the required
registration fee. We look forward to seeing each district’s representative(s)
in March.
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 PowerSchool’s
New Grade Book Featured at Home Base Symposium
PowerTeacher
Pro is coming to North Carolina. Sessions covering its many advanced
features and robust capabilities will be presented at the 2017 Home Base
Symposium.
Check
out what separates PowerTeacher Pro from other gradebooks:
- Robust and streamlined grading and
assignments empower teachers to drive student outcomes by saving countless
teacher hours spent elsewhere.
- District-level ability to push configurations
down to teachers.
- Fast and intuitive interfacing also reduces
teacher’s work.
- PowerTeacher Pro supports standards-based and
traditional grading in one comprehensive solution, and it delivers greater
flexibility with classroom analysis.
Don’t
miss this great opportunity to PLUG IN
& CONNECT with PowerTeacher Pro. Bring your teams and learn all about
the features. Join us at the 2017 Home Base Symposium and get ahead of the
learning curve. Register
now!
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Schoolnet: Data for All Users
Did you
know that in Schoolnet you can see how your schools are performing on district
benchmarks in comparison to other schools in
your district and to the whole district?
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If you have questions
about how to access this program in your district, please contact NCPDI
Instructional Improvement Systems Consultant Yanisha Mann.
 Superintendent Vacancy Announced: Granville County Schools
The Granville
County Board of Education is seeking a superintendent to lead the school system
in its continuing pursuit of excellence. Candidates must have or be qualified
to hold a North Carolina superintendent license. Central office and
building-level experience are preferred. A doctorate degree or progress toward
a doctorate degree is preferred but not required. The individual chosen will be
required to live in Granville County. The application deadline is April 3.
An electronic
version of the application is available by going to the N.C. School Board
Association's website and clicking on
the appropriate link. Inquiries and requests for applications also can be
directed to Allison Schafer, Legal Counsel/Director of Policy, North Carolina
School Boards Association, PO Box 97877, Raleigh NC 27624-7877, telephone
919/841-4040, fax 919/841-4020, email. All inquiries
will be kept confidential.
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NC GreenPower Solar Schools
Pilot Program
The NC GreenPower Solar Schools pilot grant
program offers funding for small solar PV educational installations, giving
teachers valuable tools to educate students about renewable energy.
The program’s first two years were a success and
the third pilot year is now open for
applications through Feb. 24. The NC GreenPower Solar
Schools program will give each grant recipient a 3-5 kW solar PV system,
weather station, monitoring equipment, curriculum and classroom solar kits for
the students, training for the teachers, and ongoing support following
installation.
Any North Carolina school may apply, though
special emphasis is made to target
Tier 1
counties with the most need. Schools will be eligible for
a 50 percent matching grant (up to $10,000); and NC GreenPower will assist the
school with raising the balance of funds required with marketing and social media
campaigns.
NC GreenPower also is pleased to be partnered
with the State Employees Credit Union Foundation. The Foundation is offering a $10,000
matching challenge grant to any awarded public school that is successful in
raising their funds, allowing them to increase their system to a 5 kW array.
If you have any questions, please contact NC
GreenPower Marketing Communications Director Katie
Lebrato.
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