Please see
this week’s information items from across NCDPI’s departments and divisions of
interest to local superintendents.
Just
in Time Mathematics Supports Redesigned
NCDPI’s Mathematics team and the NC Collaborative for Mathematics Learning (NC2ML) at UNC-Greensboro are pleased to announce a redesign
of the Just in Time supports for implementation of revised NC Math 1, 2 and 3.
Based on feedback, staff have redesigned the supports into modules in Canvas that teachers can
access at their convenience.
Sign-in is via the "blue"
Canvas button in NCEdCloud. Directions for entry into the
course can be found on DPI's math wiki site. View the introductory
screencast for the modules here.
NC Math 1 and
NC Math 2 modules were released this past week and the NC Math 3 module will
be released on or before Feb. 23. For March and April, new modules
will be released in a similar manner.
Math coaches
and coordinators can sign-up for entry using this google form. Principals and assistant principals will have a separate
resource coming soon! Questions regarding entry into Canvas may be directed to Yanisha
Mann.
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 Digital Learning Competencies and
Licensure Renewal Survey
In the coming days, a survey will be
distributed via the Personnel Administrators of North Carolina email list
regarding Digital Learning Competencies
and how they impact licensure
renewal. Your feedback is vital in determining how this will affect licensure
renewals across the state.
Please work with your Human Resources
personnel to submit one response per
district. The survey will close at the end of business Friday, March 3.
If you have any questions regarding
this survey, please contact Special Projects Manager Hunter Huffman or 919.807.3633.
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 General
Assembly Report Addresses School Calendar Law
The North Carolina General
Assembly’s Program Evaluation Division recently released its report, No Modification to North Carolina’s School Calendar Law
Satisfies Multiple Competing Interests.
North Carolina is one of 14 states
that currently prescribe when public schools begin the school year and one of
two states that stipulates a date when public schools must end the school year.
Prior to 2004, local boards of education had the authority to determine start
and end dates.
The Program Evaluation Division (PED)
found that opinions differ on when public schools should start and end the
school year, and no modification to the state’s school calendar law satisfies
multiple competing interests, which include organizations representing state
government, education, parents and citizens, and travel and tourism. As a
result, this report makes no recommendation for changing the school calendar
law. PED also found that allowing school calendar flexibility as a mechanism
for low-performing schools to address summer learning loss provides an
opportunity to increase student performance.
To address the needs of
low-performing schools, the General Assembly should provide school calendar
flexibility for schools and districts identified as low performing by the State
Board of Education, and direct NCDPI to evaluate whether a modified school
calendar increases student performance in low-performing schools and districts.
For more information,
please contact Principal Program Evaluator Carol
Shaw or 919.301.1216.
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Curriculum and
Instruction Leaders’ Forum Update
The
registration form for the Curriculum and Instruction Leaders’ Forum was sent to
district curriculum and instruction leaders on Wednesday, Feb. 15. The Forum
will be held Monday, March 20, from
9 a.m.-4 p.m., at the Collaborative Conference for Student Achievement (CCSA)
in Greensboro. Registrations must be submitted by March 1 for each district.
The
number of participants each LEA/charter school may register is based on average
daily membership. To determine the number of participants your LEA/charter
school may register, please use the information below:
 Lunch
will be provided to registered participants. If Forum participants wish to
attend the CCSA conference on additional days, they will need to register separately and pay the
required conference registration fee.
If
you have any questions regarding Forum registration, need to make
substitutions, or have additional members to add to a wait list, please contact
Amy Betsill Bain in K-12 Curriculum and Instruction.
Next
Connected Educator Session Scheduled for March 16
On March 16, NCDPI District and School
Transformation in partnership with NCSU Northeast Leadership Academy continues
the Professional Development for School Leaders Series: The Connected Educator.
This session will be held from 9 a.m. – 3:30 p.m., at the Hilton Garden
Inn-Crabtree, Raleigh. Onsite registration begins at 8:30 a.m.
The
featured speaker, Dr. Stephen Peters, will provide participants with a better
understanding of the types of students we’re dealing with as well as specific
strategies to engage all learners.
Peters has
been a classroom teacher, assistant principal, principal, director of secondary
education and superintendent of schools. Most of his experiences have been in
schools that made significant growth in short periods of time.
Please
join us for this exciting opportunity to connect with practitioners statewide. Registration is open.
For additional assistance, please contact District and School Transformation
Leadership Development Administrator Amelia McLeod or 919.835.6101.
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 NCVPS Offers Culture Café
The North Carolina Virtual Public School (NCVPS) Culture Café
sessions are hour-long lectures on various cultural topics in American Sign
Language (ASL), Arabic, Chinese, French, Japanese, Latin, Russian, and Spanish
that broaden students’ cultural and world views. The presentations are
delivered by NCVPS faculty or invited guests as ancillary instruction for
interested students on a variety of themes (ex. career, cultural, geographic,
historical, etc.) related to the target languages.
These sessions are FREE and available to any educator or student
interested in the topic. Topics for Feb. 21 - March 9 are as follows:
* Tuesday, Feb.
21, 6 p.m. ASL: How to Become an
Interpreter
* Thursday, Feb. 23, 4 p.m. Spanish:
Focus on the Dominican Republic
* Tuesday, Feb.
28, 8:30 p.m. Arabic: Who Speaks
Arabic and Why You Should
* Thursday, March 2, 5 p.m. French: A
Look at the Portuguese and Spanish Age of Discoveries
* Tuesday, March
7, 7 p.m. Exchange Students Share
Their Cultures
* Thursday, March 9, 8 p.m. French: Les
Chateaux de la Loire
Please visit the NCVPS Culture Cafe web page
for details, including a short informational video, the current Culture Cafe
calendar, and links to the session archives and the upcoming Culture Cafe
sessions. Questions about the NCVPS Culture Cafe Sessions may be directed to
NCVPS Instructional Leader for the Culture Cafes Herman Hall.
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 Deadline Approaching to Nominate
Teachers for 2017 NC Presidential Awards for Excellence in Mathematics and
Science Teaching
April 1
is the deadline to nominate secondary teachers (grades 7-12) for the 2017 North Carolina
Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching (PAEMST).
The PAEMST 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. Elementary school teachers (grades K-6) will be eligible
to apply during a future cycle.
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