Comment Now on Draft 2 of the State’s K-8 Mathematics Standards

North Carolina Department of Public Instruction Mathematics Section staff have developed a survey to seek public input on the second draft of the state’s revised K-8 mathematics standards. The second draft incorporates local school district feedback.

You may review the draft standards online prior to completing the survey. The survey deadline is 5 p.m., April 20.

Home Base Pricing for 2017-18

NCDPI is pleased to announce that the full suite of Home Base will be available to all districts in the 2017-18 school year with many new features. The cost to LEAs and charter schools will remain the same as last year - $1/ADM, which gives access to Schoolnet and local control of professional development components in Truenorthlogic.

Districts and charter schools can acquire Canvas for an additional cost of $3.74 per user through the state negotiated convenience contract. Access to the Home Base Opt-in Tool will be available in April. Staff will send more information when the Tool opens.

PowerTeacher Pro Training

The surveys are in, and over 50 percent of LEAs are going to participate in Cohort I of the release of PowerTeacher Pro for the 2017-18 school year. To see who will be part of Cohort I, click here.

Training in each region for Cohort I administrators and teachers begins April 24 and will continue into May. Registration and training information went out today to the Cohort I contact in your district. Registration closes April 14.

If you are interested in learning more about the PowerTeacher Pro roll-out, please review the comprehensive PowerTeacher Pro NC Implementation plan. Questions should be directed Special Projects Manager Hunter Huffman or 919.807.3633.

Homework Gap Survey

Nationally, seven in 10 teachers assign homework that requires Internet access and digital equipment. But an estimated five million households in the United States with school-age children do not have Internet access at home, and/or other required resources. Students that fall into this “homework gap”—households where Internet access is limited or unavailable—lag behind in education and are less competitive in the workforce.

The State of North Carolina wants to help ensure no public school student falls into the homework gap. To do so, the state needs to know how widespread the homework gap is and potential challenges students face in accessing digital resources.

To identify this data, NCDPI Digital Teaching and Learning staff will partner with the Broadband Infrastructure Office and the Friday Institute to conduct a survey of North Carolina households with K-12 students. We encourage you to share this survey with parents and caregivers in your community so policy makers and education stakeholders can design solutions to address this issue.

The anonymous, short survey is available in English and Spanish (Encuesta de Accesso a Internet K-12 en el Hogar). The survey closes April 30. If you have questions, concerns or feedback, please contact the Broadband Infrastructure Office or 919.754.6695.

CTE Technical Attainment Monitoring and Compliance Model

Career and Technical Education (CTE) at the state and local level have federal assurances for performance in eight indicators. Performance Indicator 2S1, Technical Attainment, measures the percent of students who are proficient on CTE post assessments.

Each district has a local benchmark goal for performance. When districts do not meet 90 percent of their local benchmark or do not meet 90 percent of the state goal for two consecutive years, CTE staff implement this model of support. The following graphic illustrates the Triangle of Support for all three levels.

Multi-Tiered System of Support:
CCSA Presentation

At last week’s Collaborative Conference for Student Achievement, NCDPI’s MTSS team offered several professional development opportunities.

On Tuesday, Director of Integrated Academic and Behavior Systems Amy Jablonski presented to charter schools at the “Moving Forward” session. Also, a full-day session was provided to support cohort teams featuring presentations from current MTSS implementers. Topics included SAM administration, the Belief Survey, strategic communication and secondary implementation.

Thank you to the following districts and charters whose presentations contributed to this rich experience:

-  Carteret County Schools;

-  Iredell-Statesville Schools;

-  Lincoln Charter;

-  New Hanover County Schools;

-  Pender County Schools;

-  Rockingham County Schools; and

-  Wake County Schools.

Thank you for supporting your district team and coordinator in building systems of support for all students. For a list of the CCSA presentations by strand, go here. For further information on MTSS, please contact NCDPI Director of Integrated Academic and Behavior Systems Amy Jablonski.

Howard Lee Receives Jay Robinson Leadership Award

Congratulations to former North Carolina Senator and State Board of Education Chairman Howard Lee who was recently named the 2017 Public School Forum of North Carolina Jay Robinson Education Leadership Award winner.

The award recognizes “leaders who have demonstrated innovative, creative, effective leadership for public education in North Carolina.”

April is School Library Month

Help school libraries across the state celebrate School Library Month! Contact your local school libraries to learn about activities they will be hosting in April.

Consider changing your social media banner for the month of April to show your support. Add a “Twibbon” to your Twitter profile picture, and use #slm17 to share how school libraries empower our students.

Complimentary graphics and more information about School Library Month are available on the American Association of School Librarians' website.

Latest Messages Online

March 23, 2017  Teachers’ Biweekly Message

March 23, 2016  Home Base Biweekly Update

March 24, 2017  Finance Officers’ Newsletter