NCDPI Office of Charter Schools (OCS) Updates
US
Department of Education’s Institute of Education Sciences (IES) Update
Researchers at the Friday
Institute
and SRI
International
are partnering with computer scientists from Worcester Polytech Institute (WPI) on a study
funded by the US Department of Education’s Institute of Education Sciences
(IES) to make middle school math
homework
more effective through an online homework
intervention – ASSISTments.org. We are seeking
NC 1:1 middle schools to participate in this free math
homework
intervention beginning in the 2018-19 school year. Charter schools are eligible for consideration.
The proposed study replicates a
large-scale efficacy study conducted in Maine, involving 44 middle schools.
ASSISTments was found to have significant positive impact on student learning
in math
in middle schools. Students learned more math
when they used ASSISTments to support homework.
ASSISTments have been adopted by many schools in states including
Massachusetts, Maine, New York, etc. Teachers found it easy to use, saves grading
time, and makes their homework
assignment and review more efficient and effective.
In addition as part of the study -
the research team will deliver intensive professional development during the
summer to provide support for teachers on how to use the reports from the
ASSISTments system as a formative assessment tool that can inform both changes
in classroom routines and the use of differentiated instruction based on group-
and individual-level student data. Teachers’ time at summer professional development
will be compensated.
If someone in
your school is interested in attending an in-person or virtual Oct. 16
information session to learn more about the study, please indicate your
availability by filling out this PLEASE RSVP HERE.
Additional information:
· Project
timeline: September 1, 2017- August 31, 2021 (Participating schools will use
the program during 2018-19 and 2019-20 school years)
· If students
have 1:1 devices that they can take home they do not need to have internet at
home to use ASSISTments. We created a system that allows them to download
the assignment at school and do it when they are not connected to the internet,
with feedback. When they get back to the internet, the information is uploaded
to the teachers.
· For this
study teachers can use their existing content whatever it is. No need to
use any of our pre-built content. They may use our skill builders but
they do not have to.
· ASSISTments
is a free service of WPI. It is and will always be free.
 NC School Jobs by PeopleAdmin
There are now over 150 charter
schools live in the system and many are already posting positions, so we
encourage you to take advantage of this resource as soon as you can. We have
thousands of applicants in the system which your school will have access to
when you go live in the system.
The steps associated with
implementation are:
-
Contact Craig Tucker at craig.tucker@dpi.nc.gov to request an NC School Jobs workbook
- Complete the workbook and
submit your school’s logo
- Participate in training
- Familiarize yourself with the
system
- Execute a few cutover steps
and go-live in the system
If you have been trained and are not currently scheduled for next steps,
please contact Craig Tucker via the email address above.
The next webinar training is
scheduled for Wednesday, October 11. Please visit THIS
WEBSITE to learn more about and register
for the training opportunities. Webinars last 1.5 hours with the ability to
continue an additional 30 minutes if requested. Team members from the service
provider, Jeff Davenport and Bill Barry, lead the trainings and are available
to assist you with the implementation process.
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Upcoming OCS Professional Development
Opportunities
2017 Charter School Leadership Institute
Location: Voyager Academy, Durham, NC
Date: Thursday, October 12 – Friday, October 13
Registration Information:
Please register HERE and be sure to read and follow all instructions for
registering. The registration fee for this event is $55. The agenda for the
institute can be seen HERE. Registration for this event will close on
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 4.
Digital Teaching and Learning: The Charter School
Connection
Location: NC Center for the Advancement of Teaching (NCCAT),
Cullowhee, NC
Date: Monday, November 13 – Thursday, November 16
Registration Information:
Please apply by Friday, October 6. This
is a new and unique collaboration between OCS/NCDPI, NCCAT and the Friday
Institute focused on digital teaching and learning within the charter school
context. There are 24 spots available for this event. As such, we ask that only
one person apply from each school. Participants will be notified if they are
selected to attend. Though primarily focused on teachers, technology
facilitators and administrators can also apply. Following the event,
participants will be expected to be ambassadors for best practices and
strategies for digital teaching and learning. All lodging and meals will be
provided by NCCAT at no cost to program participants; participants will be
responsible for all other travel-related costs. Participants will receive a
certificate of completion for CEU credit. You can see the draft agenda HERE and apply to attend HERE.
OCS Training Camp
Location: KIPP GASTON
Date: Monday, October 30
Time: 8:30-4:00
Registration Information:
Registration is NOW OPEN for
this event! Schools who have received or anticipate receiving a low performing
designation are invited to attend. Registration information must be received
by Wednesday, October 18. Please register HERE. This is a free event and lunch will be provided by
KIPP Gaston.
If you have any questions about these
opportunities, please contact craig.tucker@dpi.nc.gov
 NC Department of Public Instruction (NCDPI) Updates
ECATS Update
Attached
are one-page communications concerning the three ECATS modules. These
communiques provide basic information concerning each element of ECATS and
will be the central component of the shared presentation by DPI and PCG on
Monday October 2nd at the CASE conference in Wrightsville
Beach. The EC Division wanted to share these with you as a way
to be prepared for next week's conversation/presentation.
The
EC Division also wanted to make sure that if you are not at the CASE conference
that you had access to the communiques which you can share. The
presentation will be made available to all LEA and Charter School
Directors, not yet sure in what manner, so that everyone has the correct and
most up to date information.
Attachments:
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State Board of Education Meets Next Week
The State Board of Education will meet next week, Oct.
4-5, in the 7th floor Board Room, Education Building, 301
N. Wilmington Street, Raleigh.
The agendas for this meeting and executive
summaries are available online (under Meetings tab).
Please note that Board members will discuss all
agenda items (unless otherwise noted) in their committee meetings on Wednesday,
Oct. 4. Board members will summarize their Committee discussions and take
action on agenda items as appropriate during their full Board meeting on
Thursday, Oct. 5.
The State Board’s committee meetings and full
Board meeting will be audio
streamed for those who can’t attend. To
provide comments or feedback regarding specific agenda items, please email
State Board members individually or email
general comments/feedback.
 Regional PD for
Teachers of the Deaf and Hard of Hearing - October 2017
Attached
is informational memo and flyer regarding professional development for teachers
of the Deaf and Hard of Hearing.
If
you have any questions, please contact Nancy Woytowich (nancy.woytowich@dpi.nc.gov) or
Jenny Stroupe (jenny.stroupe@dpi.nc.gov).
Attachments:
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1st Month Principal Monthly Report (PMR) Reminder
As we near the end of the 1st
month Principal’s Monthly Report (PMR) collection please be reminded of the
following:
-
All PMR
intervals should be set up for your schools.
-
All current
students should have a schedule assigned along with instructional
minutes. Please note that in order for a student to be counted as
MST1 (membership standard) the student should have a schedule that is at
least half of the school’s instructional minutes.
-
All fatal
errors need to be corrected prior to the end of the school’s submission
end date.
-
All PMRs
need to be run so that your student data can be received at the state
level. This will also reduce your need to submit a remedy ticket requesting
the report to be unapproved.
-
All reports
need to be submitted by the submission end date.
-
If you are
having technical issues, a remedy ticket needs to be logged with the
Support Center immediately to avoid delay with the submission of your school
data as well as delaying the DPI’s ability to close out and publish the
statewide data in a timely manner.
If you have additional
questions or concerns regarding the submission of the 1st month PMR,
you can contact Ozella Wiggins at ozella.wiggins@dpi.nc.gov.
 Specific Learning Disabilities: Free online learning opportunity by the Friday Institute
Registration is now open for the Friday Institute's free Learning
Differences MOOC-Ed.
The Learning Differences MOOC-Ed is a six-week long, online
course that hopes to help educators understand the ways in which students’
learning varies and what they can do to meet every student’s needs.
The course first encourages teachers to understand their own learning
differences and then goes into depth on strategies for learning differences in
executive function, working memory, and motivation. Instructional coaches,
media coordinators, and teacher leaders will have the opportunity to
participate in an additional two units focused on strategies for coaching and
supporting other teachers in their work with learning differences. Teachers in North Carolina receive 2.5 CEUS and those in
other states will receive a certificate of completion for 25 hours of
professional development. Teachers can complete course activities any time, any
where as it works for them. Coaches will also have the opportunity to complete
a coaching module for an additional 5 hours (0.5 CEUs) which might be a great
way for these leaders to connect the course content to their role.
The course starts October 2 .
Check out go.ncsu.edu/ldmooc to learn more!
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Multi-Tiered System of Support (MTSS) Updates
As with any school improvement effort, installation of a multi-tiered system of support will bring a wealth of benefits as well as a few challenges. North Carolina teachers share how they are experiencing increased supports as a result of the work of MTSS teams. The video created by East Wake Academy staff reinforces this idea in describing the shift that is taking place by teachers in their school. MTSS is allowing teachers to express confidence in their skills, “I know what this kid needs”, and then depend on problem solving teams to answer, “how can I incorporate this help inside my classroom?”. Thank you to teams like the one represented in this video who are defining and analyzing strong core academic and behavioral practices in order to improve outcomes for all students.
For a list of charter schools currently involved in a cohort, see this document. For information on joining Cohort 5, please access the MTSS wiki or contact Amy Jablonski, Director, Integrated Academic and Behavior Systems(IABS).
Other News
Reminder: NCHEP McKinney-Vento
Regional Compliance Forums
Regional compliance forums for charter schools are
scheduled to begin the week of October 2nd. The schedule is posted below:
- Northeast & North Central (1 & 3) - November 16th - PAVE SE Raleigh Charter
- Sandhills & Southeast (2 & 4) - October 18th - Southeastern Academy
- Piedmont-Triad & Southwest ( 5 & 6) - November 15th - Socrates Academy
- Northwest and Western (7 & 8) - October 5th - Williams Academy
Host site address information is available to
download from the Compliance Forum web page located at: https://serve.uncg.edu/hepnc/training/RegionalComplianceForums.php.
Registration link for forums: https://uncg.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_6yaeEPEeNFOvYTb
Additional questions can be addressed to the
Program Specialist serving your region:
Paullett Wall – pwall@serve.org or 336-315-7407
Regions:
Northeast, Southeast, North Central, Sandhills
Patricia Lentz – plentz@serve.org or 336-315-7402
Regions:
Piedmont-Triad, Southwest, Northwest, Western
Burroughs
Wellcome Fund Application Open for Promoting Innovation in Science and
Mathematics (PRISM) Award
The
Promoting Innovation in Science and Mathematics or PRISM Award provides NC
public school teachers the opportunity to receive up to $3000 in funding
towards the purchase of STEM-related materials and up to $1500 for any
necessary training for those materials.
The award
was created in 2012 by the Burroughs Wellcome Fund to support teachers in their
efforts to provide quality hands-on, inquiry-based activities for their
students.
“The PRISM
Award enables teachers to provide new and inventive ways of teaching STEM in
their classrooms,” said Dr. John Burris, president of the Burroughs Wellcome
Fund. “For a relatively modest investment students all over North Carolina can
benefit from the wealth of material that may not otherwise be available to
them.”
The Fund
has provided 238 awards to 77 of North Carolina’s 115 school districts for a
total of $750,000. One teacher, Matthew Kinnaird in Buncombe County, used the
PRISM Award to build a radio telescope with his class to gather information for
NASA.
Teachers may apply at https://www.bwfund.org/grant-programs/science-education/promoting-innovation-science-and-mathematics. The deadline to apply is
December 5, 2017.
Hope
Street Group Teacher and Instructional Staff Survey
Teacher
voice matters! Let your voice be heard on the topic of professional development
and learning by taking the short survey linked below. In partnership with NCDPI
and with support from EdNC.org, Hope Street Group NC Teacher Voice Network
Fellows are asking teachers and instructional staff to complete a short survey
to gather feedback. The survey will only take a few minutes and your
participation would be greatly appreciated: your thoughts will be used in an
effort to improve your professional learning experiences at the state and
district level.
The survey will
close on Sunday, October 1, 2017. All survey responses are anonymous and will
not be made public. Only teachers and instructional staff are asked to respond,
but please share widely to help garner as many responses as possible.
Desktop Survey Link
Mobile Survey Link
Call for
Summer 2018 NCSSM Accelerator Course Proposals
The North
Carolina School of Science and Mathematics (NCSSM) is looking for course proposals
for their 2018 Summer Accelerator programs. NCSSM's Accelerator
programs, for rising 7th-12th graders, offer talented students innovative
courses and opportunities to explore complex subjects, collaborate with peers
from around the globe, and gain hands-on experience to kickstart college
readiness and career interests.
Course
proposals will be due by 5pm on Wednesday, October 11th, 2017. Additional
information regarding course structure, locations, qualifications, schedules,
and more can be found online here.
The submission form for proposals
can be found online here.
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