State Board of Education Meets
Next Week

The North Carolina State Board of Education will meet next Tuesday-Thursday, May 30-June 1, in the 7th Floor Board Room, Education Building, Raleigh.

On Tuesday, Board members will continue their planning/work session during which they will receive feedback from various education stakeholders (Business and Community, Charter School, Early Childhood Education, Institutions of Higher Education, Local Boards of Education, Principals and Teachers) on specific sections of the state’s draft Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) plan suitable for their designated group’s topic. Topics include Long-Term Goals and Interim Progress for Academic Achievement Growth, Graduation Rates and Measurements of Interim Progress; Supporting Effective Instruction and School Transitions; and School Conditions, School Transitions, English Language Learners, Rural and Low-Income School Programs, and Transitions Between Correctional Facilities and Local Programs.

Board members on Wednesday will discuss all agenda items (unless otherwise noted) in their committee meetings and take action as appropriate during their full Board meeting on Thursday. Action items include Extended Content English Language Arts K-12, K-8 Mathematics Standard Course of Study revisions, amendment to General Licensure Requirements Policy to indicate specific World Languages, Licensure Renewal Policy to address digital learning competencies for teachers and administrators, recommendations for charter schools proposing to open in 2018-19, and Lab Schools opening in 2017.

Discussion items include addition of Cambridge International courses and amendment to associated SBE policies; update to Occupational Course of Study graduation requirements; amendment to the Career and Technical Education alternative licensing policy; amendment to licensure renewal requirements policy; and reform models restart applications

Also on Thursday, Board members will recognize STEM schools achieving Model School of Distinction and Prepared School of Distinction designations and the Society of Health and Physical Educators’ National Adapted Physical Education Teacher of the Year Lara Brickhouse (Durham Public Schools).

The agendas for these meetings and executive summaries are available online (under Meetings tab).

Evaluation/Professional Development Plans Close June 30

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.

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 DOK 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.

Multi-Tiered System of Support:
Intensifying Instruction

The work of NCDPI’s Integrated Academic and Behavior Systems is to support every district and charter in designing a Multi-Tiered System of Support (MTSS) that meets the needs of all students. The “multiple tiers” refer to the layering of academic and behavior supports available for every student to be successful.

The most effective and efficient installation begins with considering what core materials, practices and resources all students will receive. However, even with strong implementation in core, some students will need intensification of instruction. This message offers the following practical, research-based strategies for intensifying your instruction:

1. Be more explicit. Add in visible delivery and instructional design principles.


2. Are your methods systematic? Is there a sequence for instruction and is scaffolding available?

3. Provide multiple opportunities to respond.

4. Give clear specific feedback
.

5. Schedule several opportunities for judicious review.

6. Include modeling in lessons. Teacher does the task, and it is important to remember: model ALL steps.

The professional development being offered via Integrated Academic and Behavioral Systems provides resources for teams engaged in designing a MTSS for all students. For more information on instruction within these layers of support, see this graphic, which also is available on the MTSS wiki.

If you have any questions, please contact Amy Jablonski, director of Integrated Academic and Behavior Systems, with any questions.

Northampton Teacher Receives National Award

Congratulations to Gaston College Preparatory (Northampton County) teacher Brett Noble for being one of four teachers nationwide to receive the 2017 Fishman Prize.

The award recognizes the nation’s most effective teachers working in high-need public schools. Applicants undergo a rigorous six-month selection process in which they must demonstrate quality instruction, mastery of their chosen content areas, and a commitment to creating life-changing relationships and learning experiences for all students.

Noble, who teachers 11th grade English Literature and Writing Composition, will receive $25,000 and participate in a summer residency program.

Professional Development Opportunities

Summer Teacher Leadership Workshops

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.

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, please contact Paul Marshall with NCDPI Educator Human Capital Policy and Research.

National School Bus Safety Week Poster Contest Deadline Extended

The deadline to submit posters for the National School Bus Safety Week poster contest has been extended to Friday, June 2.

The theme for this year is “My Driver – My Safety Hero!” This contest provides a good opportunity for teachers to discuss the importance of paying attention to the school bus driver and realizing the driver’s job is to keep student’s safe. The contest is open to students in grades K-8.

Rules for the 2017 National School Bus Safety Week poster contest have been posted on the School Bus Safety website. For the past two years, North Carolina students have won at the national level and received cash prizes. Your student(s) may be our next winners!

NCCAT Fall Registration Open

North Carolina educators have plenty of opportunities throughout the fall to attend the North Carolina Center for the Advancement of Teaching (NCCAT), a recognized national leader in professional development programming for teachers.

Applicants are encouraged to register as soon as possible to ensure a spot. Programs are available to North Carolina educators at the Cullowhee and Ocracoke campuses, online and with NCCAT faculty visiting school districts. NCCAT provides food, lodging and programming. Teachers and or their districts are responsible for travel to and from the center and the cost of the substitute teacher. For more information visit NCCAT’s website.

Upcoming programs include:

14458 • ACHIEVING AGAINST THE ODDS: FOCUS ON READING

Sept. 18–21, Cullowhee

This program guides participants to explore and document their experiences in motivating at-risk students to become effective readers. In addition to sharing successful strategies for improving reading skills and producing a written narrative, participants will use several technology applications to capture their stories about students who have achieved against the odds and become motivated and skilled readers who excel academically.

14467 • MAKING MATH MEANINGFUL: ENGAGING WITH MATH THROUGH MULTIPLE INTELLIGENCES (Designed for K–6 teachers)

Oct. 9–12, Cullowhee

Come and refresh your understanding of Howard Gardner’s Theory of Multiple Intelligences (MI) as you engage in activities designed to help connect the ways your students are “smart” to the NC math standards. Explore and develop learning strategies to support math mastery as we look at planning for and assessing math standards for your grade level. This program is presented by A+ Schools of North Carolina.

14485 • READING, WRITING, AND READY BY THIRD GRADE: EARLY GRADES LITERACY INSTRUCTION

Nov. 13–16, Ocracoke

Literacy instruction is as difficult as it is essential. This program will provide early grades teachers with a complement of research-based tools and strategies to help answer some of their more burning questions: How do I teach close reading to students who don’t yet know the alphabet? What level of writing can I attain from children who are still learning to spell? How do I simultaneously provide enrichment for advanced readers and remediation for delayed readers? How can I integrate reading and writing instruction into all other subject areas? Finally, what does this instruction look like in the classroom and how are student engagement and learning measured in this process?

14489 • GOOGLE TOOLS IN SCHOOLS

Dec. 4–7, Ocracoke

Whether or not your school or district has adopted a Google Chromebook environment, if your LEA infrastructure allows for the use of Google Tools and/or Apps, the “Googlesphere” can be an immense help. It can aid in engaging students, keeping in touch with parents, automating feedback and assessment, sharing documents, and more. Hone your skills with the Google Chrome Browser, with Google Apps, with Android Apps, and with Chrome OS so that you can engage your students using freely available tools on almost any platform.

Biweekly Message Breaks for the Summer

The teachers’ biweekly email message will take a break for the summer following this issue, and will resume its normal biweekly distribution schedule on Thursday, Aug. 24. Interim messages will be sent as appropriate.

Using our school information database, we will refresh this topic’s subscribers in August and will hopefully capture all current addresses when the first message of the new school year is sent.

If you have any questions over the summer, please don’t hesitate to email Lynda Fuller with NCDPI Communications.