May 15, 2017 Superintendents' Weekly Message

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Superintendents' Weekly Message

May 15, 2017

Please see this week’s information items from across the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction’s departments and divisions of interest to local superintendents.

 


NC Reads

Friday is Deadline to Boost Summer Reading with myON

 

As part of North Carolina’s new statewide reading initiative, NC Reads, NCDPI is partnering with myON, a division of Capstone, to offer preK-5th grade students access to the personalized literacy tool myON Reader. Friday, May 19, is the deadline to register your district to participate.

 

Students will be able to use this tool during the summer months to select from thousands of titles and download free books that are well matched to their reading level and personal interests. As an added bonus, parents, teachers and others can access data from this tool on how many pages and hours students spend reading. There is even a feature to help measure students’ literacy growth while they are away from the classroom.

 

If you would like to join the 30 North Carolina districts that have already signed up to offer their students free access to the myON Reader this summer, please contact myON Account Manager Darren Drye (704.219.9624) by Friday, May 19, or visit the myON website for more information.


NC Virtual Public Schools Logo

NCVPS Summer Session Begins June 19

 

NCVPS summer session begins June 19. Registration is still open, and will remain open until that date. Please have your advisors register as soon as possible, however. Spaces may become limited in certain courses as the start date approaches. Additionally, students who are able to start on the first day of class are more successful in their summer courses.

 

If your district has students enrolled in summer session, please identify whom your summer contact(s) will be. Our teachers and your students will need to have that information. NCVPS has sent a survey to your district’s e-learning coordinator (ELC). Please be sure that your ELC has completed this survey.

Also note that the allotments for summer enrollments are part of your 2017-18 allotment totals.

 

Please visit the NCVPS Summer 2017 web page for more details.


Truenorthlogic icon

Evaluation/Professional Development Plans

 

The 2016-17 Evaluation and Professional Development Plans will close on Friday, June 30, at 5 p.m.


At that time, all evaluations should be completed and locked. Once the plans and the data within are archived, no further updates can be made.


Home Base

End of Year for Home Base

 

The 2016-17 end of year (EOY) process for the Home Base suite of applications will begin Friday, June 30.

 

Home Base will be taken offline Friday at 5 p.m., and EOY processing and archiving of data will begin Saturday morning, July 1. Once all EOY tasks are completed and systems tested, Home Base will be returned to service.


Schoolnet icon

Schoolnet: It's Opt-in Time!

 

We hope you are “opting-in” to share resources and assessment items statewide within Schoolnet. Many states do not provide systems like North Carolina’s Home Base platform where for only $1 per ADM, you have access to standard aligned lesson plans, assessment items, evaluation resources and data.

 

As we continue to shape the digital landscape, our main focus is to ensure that users understand their “professional role” in selecting resources and assessment items that meet their students’ individualized needs. This does require vetting resources and differentiating them for personalized learning. Whenever Schoolnet content or items need a second review, we are happy to assist. Based on your recommendations, we have added a new Reporting Tool so that teachers can now report items or instructional materials that may need a second review.

 

As we look forward to a new year with Schoolnet, we are excited about the upgrades and enhancements in Schoolnet 19.0 (see image below). Look for a sleeker design with navigation changing from the top, to the left side, which will prevent extra clicking when searching for materials or creating assessments. Schoolnet also will continue to work with Global Educators and Teachers@Work to share their lesson plans within the system and with Canvas to integrate the use of assessments within their platform.

 

SchoolNet Home screen


It’s a great time to be an educator in North Carolina, and we look forward to providing enhanced services in our next opt-in cycle.


Digital Learning Initiative

Friday Institute Offers Professional Learning on Personalized and Digital Learning

 

Building upon the exciting work with leaders across the state, The Friday Institute for Educational Innovation at NC State University, in partnership with NCDPI, invites superintendents to join their colleagues in ongoing, job-embedded cohort-based programs in 2017-18. These programs are targeted for superintendents, district leaders, principals and assistant principals, coaches, media coordinators, Instructional Technology Facilitators (ITFs), and teacher leaders.

 

The program includes face-to-face sessions in regional locations and opportunities to learn and collaborate with peers. Data from current participants in the program show that they are excited about the quality and the relevance, and many share examples of how the programs have contributed to or accelerated changes in their districts and schools. This program provides you the opportunity to learn while also working directly on challenges and ideas you have for your own school(s) and district.

 

We encourage you to apply for this face-to-face and blended opportunity to learn and share with your colleagues from across the region and state. Program details are available here.


Professional Development

Summer Teacher Leadership Workshops 2017

 

NCDPI staff are excited to bring back Summer Teacher Leadership workshops this summer focusing on building teacher leadership capacity by using data and critical analysis. These workshops will highlight Student Surveys, EVAAS, NCEES, professional development resources, and state policy – including licensure updates and a discussion of equity in light of ESSA.

 

We understand that many educators would like to attend these workshops and in the past, we have had to close registration due to capacity limitations of some locations. To ensure that we are able to serve as many teachers as possible, we are not offering these workshops to school administrators this summer.

 

Workshop dates and locations are noted below. Please register here for the time and location you would like to attend. If you have any questions, or if any administrators would like to discuss other ways of obtaining this information, please contact Paul Marshall with NCDPI Educator Human Capital Policy and Research.


Summer Leadership Workshops

K-3 Formative Assessment

NC K-3 Formative Assessment Process:
Success During the Kindergarten Year

 

Teachers, instructional coaches and administrators in North Carolina’s public schools are sharing how their engagement with the NC K-3 Formative Assessment process is impacting teaching and learning in classrooms across the state.

 

The following story from a North Carolina school illustrates the importance of utilizing data from the Kindergarten Entry Assessment (KEA) portion of the NC K-3 Formative Assessment process to make instructional decisions for children. This example illustrates how the whole-child focus of the KEA provides teachers with valuable information to improve student learning.

 

Megan Turner, a kindergarten teacher at B. Everett Jordan Elementary School (Alamance-Burlington Schools), said fine motor development construct progressions have been of great value to her this year. Turner has several students who initially struggled with being able to properly grip a pencil. She shares that, while many children coming into kindergarten hold their pencil in a fisted grip and are able to write adequately, she has one child who had a hard time holding his pencil in any way and had difficulty figuring out how to make his pencil move on the paper the way he intended.

 

Using the fine motor construct progressions, Turner specifically planned morning work stations that focused on fine motor skills, using materials other than pencil and paper. She found that her student was able to build fine motor control and make a connection between his center activities and holding his pencil during writing. Turner felt this fine motor practice significantly improved his handwriting skills.

 

For more information about the K-3 Formative Assessment process, please visit the NCDPI K-3 Formative Assessment Process website or contact your regional K-3 Education Consultant.


Drivers Education

Driver Education Advisory Committee to Meet

 

The Driver Education Advisory Committee will hold its quarterly meeting on Tuesday, May 16, from 11 a.m.-2 p.m., in the 7th Floor Board Room, Education Building, Raleigh. Agenda items include Legislative Update, Educating Teens for Successful Police Stops, and subcommittee reports.

 

The meeting will be audio streamed for those who cannot attend.


Jason Griffin

2017 Principal of the Year Named

 

Congratulations to Hertford Grammar School (Perquimans County Schools) Principal Jason Griffin who last Thursday was named 2017 Wells Fargo North Carolina Principal of the Year.

 

State Superintendent Mark Johnson said Griffin exemplifies the qualities of leadership essential for helping teachers excel and students to achieve. “Jason makes smart use of data to work with his teachers to personalize learning for all students. He delegates to help his teachers grow as leaders themselves, and he works to provide them with innovative strategies to improve teaching and learning for students.”

 

As Wells Fargo Principal of the Year, Griffin receives $3,000 for personal use and $3,000 for his school. He also receives professional development and resources supporting global awareness in the curriculum for his staff thanks to Education First Tours, and a custom­-made NC Principal of the Year signet ring and pendant from Jostens Inc.

 

While continuing to lead his school next year, Wells Fargo will furnish him with a stipend to travel across the state as an ambassador for education. He will serve as a member of the State Superintendent’s Principals’ Advisory Committee, as an advisor to the State Board of Education and also to the board of directors for the NC Public School Forum.

 

The other regional Principal of the Year finalists for 2017 were:

*  Southeast: Maria Johnson, Northside High (Onslow County Schools);

*  North Central: Kiley Brown, Efland-Cheeks Global Elementary (Orange County Schools);

*  Sandhills: Mary Hemphill, I. Ellis Johnson Elementary (Scotland County Schools);

*  Piedmont-Triad: Jusmar Maness, Balfour Elementary (Asheboro City Schools);

*  Southwest: Amy Rhyne, East Iredell Elementary (Iredell-Statesville Schools);

*  Northwest: Jeffrey Isenhour, Bunker Hill High (Catawba County Schools); and

*  Western: Doris Sellers, A.C. Reynolds High (Buncombe County Schools).


Regional winners will each receive $1,000 for personal use and $1,000 for their schools.

 

 

Profile Videos for the 2017 Wells Fargo NC Principal of the Year and Regional Finalists Online

 

Profile videos for North Carolina’s 2017 Wells Fargo Principal of the Year Jason Griffin and the regional finalists are available on the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction YouTube page.

 

Select the “Top Notch Educators, Schools and Students” playlist to learn more about these amazing principals!


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