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Please see
this week’s information items from across NCDPI’s departments and divisions of
interest to local superintendents.
State
Board of Education
Meeting Highlights
The State
Board of Education on Thursday approved a recommendation to grant Kestrel
Heights Charter School in Durham a three-year renewal for grades K-8 only,
effectively closing its high school program after this year. The school has
faced scrutiny for awarding diplomas to students who hadn’t met all course
requirements for graduation.
Approving
a set of recommendations from the state’s Charter Schools Advisory Board, State
Board members did leave open the possibility that the school could reapply to
add high school grades after the conclusion of the three-year renewal period.
The school also will be subject to six-month reviews by the NC Charter Schools Advisory Board.
In other
business, the Board hired Adam Levinson as the new Chief Financial Officer for
the Department of Public Instruction, filling the position held by Philip
Price, who retired March 1. Levinson has been a member of the Department’s
senior leadership team since 2007, serving as chief of staff, director of
Policy and Strategic Planning, director of the Race to the Top program, chief
performance officer and interim director of the Department's Office of Charter Schools.
The Board
also approved a change to its Third Grade Reading Bonus policy that would
reallocate unspent funds to eligible third grade teachers, and heard updates on
the progress of the state’s “Check Ins” assessment pilot as well as the
Statewide Service Support Team, the Multi-Tiered System of Support
implementation and recommended modifications to the method by which the state
determines effectiveness ratings for NC educators.
The
complete list of this month’s Board actions is available on the Board’s website. The
Board’s March agenda as well as supporting executive summaries also are
available online by
clicking on the SBE Meetings tab.
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 ELA Standards Revision
Update
Draft 3 of the English Language Arts (ELA) Standard Course of Study was presented
to State Board of Education (SBE) members for discussion on March 1.
NCDPI K-12
English Language Arts Section Chief Julie Joslin reviewed the standards
revision process, including feedback from approximately 10,000 educators that
was used to create the proposed standards. She introduced a new format for the
standards along with an example showing how standards will be accompanied by a
clarification section and glossary. An overview of the major changes was
provided highlighting revisions by strand (Reading, Writing, Speaking and
Listening, and Language). Board members also reviewed a tentative
implementation timeline based on a 2018-19 start date. The standards will go
before the State Board for action on April
6.
For additional
information about the review process, including all drafts, a tentative
implementation timeline and the March 1 SBE presentation, please visit the
NCDPI ELA wiki. Questions regarding
the ELA standards revision process may be directed to NCDPI K-12 English
Language Arts Section Chief Julie Joslin.
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 March 6-10 is National School
Breakfast Week in
NC
At its March 2 meeting, State Board of Education
members passed a resolution proclaiming this week (March 6-10) as National
School Breakfast Week in North Carolina.
North Carolina has the sixth largest school
breakfast program in the nation. Studies show that students who eat breakfast
have improved attendance and less tardiness, pay attention longer, demonstrate
better classroom behavior, perform better on tests, make fewer trips to the
school nurse, have a more nutritious overall diet, and are more likely to be at
a healthy weight.
Board members encouraged districts to expand
school breakfast opportunities in order to provide a nutritious breakfast at
school as a means of supporting a sound basic education for all students.
A copy of the proclamation is available on the
State Board’s website
(click on Meetings tab, March 2 meeting date, then scroll to Chairman’s
Report to the Board).
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 PowerTeacher
Pro Cohort I Interest Survey
In an
effort to determine interest in participating in Cohort I of PowerTeacher Pro
(Gradebook) release this spring, for the 2017-18 school year, NCDPI staff shared a
survey with your curriculum and instruction leaders last week. We want you to
be aware of this effort because your support is integral in the success of how
PowerTeacher Pro is implemented in your district and ultimately statewide. The
survey will close this Friday, March 10.
More
information regarding PowerTeacher Pro is available online. If you have questions or
need assistance, please contact Special Projects Manager Hunter
Huffman or
919.807.3633.
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School Counselor Needs Survey
Released
The NC School
Counseling Strategic Leadership Team has been working hard to develop
strategies and recommendations to support school counseling in North Carolina,
especially in the areas of K-12 career and college readiness.
Many school
counselors report that they do not feel adequately prepared to guide elementary
students in career and college awareness or advise middle and high school
students on how to prepare for career and college beyond high school. As we seek
to try to address this need, the input of school counselors is essential.
A link to a brief
survey will be sent to the NCDPI School Counseling email group today (March 6), and will need to be completed
no later than Thursday, March 16. This information will guide the Strategic
Leadership Team in developing appropriate professional development
opportunities to assist school counselors in creating school cultures that
support student career and college readiness K-12.
Any questions may be directed to NCDPI School
Counseling Consultant Cynthia Floyd.
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