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.
NCVPS NC Math 1 Intervention Co-Teaching Program Webinar
Does your district have struggling NC
Math 1 students? Are your teachers and principals looking for innovative ways
to support these students? Have you contemplated integrating online learning
into your NC Math 1 classes? If you answered yes to any of these questions,
then you will want to ensure that your district has someone attend an upcoming
NCVPS webinar on an innovative approach to addressing students who are
struggling with NC Math 1.
The NCVPS NC Math 1 Intervention
Co-Teaching Program webinar will be held Wednesday, May 31, from 4:30 – 5:30 p.m. Visit the
above link for more information, including registration.
If you
have questions, please contact NCVPS Director of Outreach and Support Mia Murphy.
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NC Digital Learning Data Dashboard Released
The Friday Institute, in partnership with the NC
State Board of Education and NCDPI, has developed the NC Digital Learning Data Dashboard to
demonstrate statewide progress in digital learning. This dashboard will serve
as a public, interactive, web-based tool used for analyzing and displaying data
about local and statewide digital learning efforts.
The statewide transition to digital-age teaching
and learning is an innovative change in the state’s overall approach to
education. This data will be useful to state policymakers and education
leaders, as well as to the education stakeholders who are tasked with
implementing the initiatives locally. This dashboard contains performance
indicators and other information at the school, district and state levels about
digital learning leadership, infrastructure, professional learning, content and
instruction, and data and assessment.
For more information, please contact Jeni Corn, director of Evaluation Programs,
Friday Institute at NC State.
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PowerTeacher Pro
Update
Training for the new
PowerTeacher Pro (Gradebook) for Cohort I is going well. There are approximately
500 educators from 91 districts and charter schools attending 16 full-day
teacher and 12 half-day administrator training sessions in all eight regions.
More training dates are planned for July.
Districts
participating in Cohort I are indicated in green on the map below. All
remaining districts will be part of (Cohort II) the full implementation in
summer 2018.
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There are many other
resources available in PowerSource. In June, staff
expect to have a self-paced PowerTeacher Pro course available in Canvas.
If you have any
questions about the PowerTeacher Pro implementation timeline or Cohort I,
please contact Special Projects Manager Hunter
Huffman or 919.807.3633.
PowerSchool 10.0 Implementation Date
PowerSchool 10 will be
deployed into all NC PowerSchool instances the weekend of July 14. This release will feature PowerTeacher Pro - the new grade
book that will be phased into the districts. Testing continues with Canvas and
Schoolnet to ensure grade pass-back functionality is successful prior to
implementation.
For more details about
this upgrade, refer to the PowerSchool 10.0 Release Notes located on
the NC SIS website.
Home
Base Opt-in Update
The Home
Base Opt-in process has been working nicely with the new tool. As of Friday, May 19, 73 districts and 33 charter
schools have opted-in for the 2017-18 school year. To see if your district has
made a decision, please click here. You
also will find additional information on the Home Base website.
To
ensure access to Schoolnet and local professional development components in
Truenorthlogic by the start of the school year, a response by your district
finance officer must be submitted by the June
16 deadline.
If you
have any questions, please contact Project Coordinator Jamie Woodlief or
919.807.3745.
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Schoolnet News
Staff are excited to
announce increased Certica items in the item bank for Schoolnet for the 2017-18
school year. New items will
include:
- an expansion
of English language arts and math progress checks into the middle grade levels
(6-8);
- more than
500 new English language arts items with an emphasis on high Depth of Knowledge
and technology enhanced item types;
- 500 new
math items;
- 600 new
science and social studies items; and
- 2,000 new
trans-adapted Spanish items.
The Social Studies Coverage report highlights the areas of expansion for social studies along with the North Carolina Coverage Report Summary based on the upcoming release.
Further Roadmap
Progress
- Continued
expansion of all content areas with emphasis on high Depth of Knowledge and technology
enhanced items. The
specific areas of focus are being determined at this time.
- Tighter
integration with AB connect focused on expanded searching capabilities
including concept and topic-based searches.
More information will be shared as these new
items become available. If you have any questions about Schoolnet and/or
Certica items, please contact Yanisha
Mann or 919.807.3249.
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EdCamp Scheduled for June 21 as Part of Connected
Educator Series
The Connected
Educator Series developed by NCDPI District and School
Transformation in partnership with NCSU Northeast Leadership Academy is sponsoring
EdCamp NELA-DST on Wednesday, June 21, from
8:30 a.m. – 3:30 p.m., at Louisburg
High School, Louisburg. Lunch will be provided.
This
collaborative event will be an innovative professional development opportunity
for school leaders. Check out this informative video about
EdCamps to learn more about an unconference. To register, click here.
For more information, please contact Amelia
McLeod or 919.835.6101 with NCDPI District and
School Transformation.
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Multi-Tiered System of Support: Importance of a “Compelling Why”
The NCDPI team is working with over 200 district
/charter Multi-Tiered System of Support (MTSS) teams across the state. These
MTSS teams are charged with guiding implementation at each school. As each team joined an
MTSS cohort, they identified a “compelling why” for installation of this school
improvement framework. The compelling why provides the team a motive to begin
the work as well as a purpose when they begin to lose focus. Here is a sampling
of “whys” from Cohorts 3 and 4:
* “To provide ALL students with
a high quality education that prepares them for future successes after
graduation.”
* “To provide safe and engaging
learning environments that prepare students for their tomorrow.”
* “Empower all teachers with the
framework, process and tools necessary to help all students reach their full
academic, social and emotional potential.”
* “When the data reflects there
is a need for change to help students reach their greatest potential, this
becomes our compelling why and motivates us to examine our current practices.”
Cohort teams have demonstrated extraordinary
collaboration and commitment to installation of this school improvement
framework. Staff also recognize the visionary leadership superintendents provide
that is necessary to meet the needs of every student in North Carolina.
For more information on MTSS, contact Amy
Jablonski, director of Integrated Academic and Behavior Systems, and
follow us on Twitter @ncmtss.
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Data Driven Prevention + Data Responsive Problem
Solving = Healthy School Environments
This year, the North Carolina State
Board of Education passed a resolution establishing the use of the Whole
School, Whole Community, Whole Child (WSCC) model as the framework for its
work.
Research shows that healthy children
learn better. School districts and individual schools are encouraged to use
this framework to organize work in supporting positive student outcomes and
creating healthy school environments for all students.
The NC Healthy Schools Section at NCDPI
is available to assist schools and districts in using data to target
priorities, work with community partners and find potential resources.
Resources to help support this work using the WSCC framework include:
- an assessment tool to help review and
compare local, state and national data over time;
- an action planning template to help
prioritize and collaborate;
- a dedicated team to help guide,
support and identify possible resources;
- a monthly webinar series to help
promote the WSCC framework; and
- an annual training for School Health
Advisory Council (SHAC) leaders.
If you have any questions, please
contact Healthy Schools Section Chief Dr. Ellen Essick or 919.807.3859.
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Financial and Business Services’ Summer
Conference
NCDPI Financial and Business Services will hold
its annual Summer Conference on July 27
at the Sheraton Imperial Hotel and Convention Center, Research Triangle Park.
On July 28, there will be a half-day
of sessions provided by the Office of Charter Schools geared toward charter
schools.
The full-day conference will offer participants a
variety of sessions regarding the latest legislative/budgetary updates,
personnel updates, charter schools, and other essential information about new
and continuing issues concerning local districts and charter schools.
Conference information and online registration is
available on the FBS website.
The Sheraton Imperial has created a personalized hotel website
for room reservations. Guests can access this site through June 27.
Questions regarding the conference may be
directed to Alexis Schauss or Doris McCain with Financial and
Business Services.
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Superintendent Vacancy Announced: Durham Public Schools
The Durham Public
Schools 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 Durham County. The application deadline is July 10.
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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