Welcome to the Curriculum Leaders Update from NCDPI.  The North Carolina Department of Public Instruction remains committed to providing communication to Chief Academic Officers and Curriculum Leaders throughout the state.  The Department will take a collaborative approach across all academic areas to ensure that you receive information and updates, as well as opportunities for professional learning and collaboration, throughout the year.

This C and I Leaders Update is intended for LEA and charter curriculum leaders to stay up to date on important policies, professional development, resources, and announcements impacting public instruction from a standards, curriculum, and instruction perspective.  You are encouraged to also stay informed by staying in close contact with your Chief Academic Officer and to subscribe to listservs of interest for more specific information regarding a variety of topics, such as grade-specific content listservs, legislative updates, etc. Once sent, the updates are archived on the listserv updates page of the SC&I supplementary google site.

New this year, the NCDPI Academic Areas are pleased to open applications for the NCDPI Academic  Leaders Advisory Committee for the 2019 - 2020 school year. Becoming an advisor for this committee empowers you with the opportunity to share your expertise and  collaborate with the NCDPI Academics Team and other NC educators and leaders across the state. Please visit the letter of invitation to learn more, including a link to apply. If you are interested in serving as an advisor, please complete this ​application​ ) by COB August 28​.  We will notify all advisors of their acceptance by ​September 1, 2019.

The staff at NCDPI strives to support you in providing a well-rounded education where each student follows his or her personal pathway to success!  Thank you for all that you do to serve NC’s over 1.5 million school children.

Legislation and Policy 

State Board of Education Approves Standards for 4th Level Mathematics Courses

On August 8, 2019, the State Board of Education unanimously approved the proposed mathematics content standards for 4th Level Mathematics Courses. These standards were created by a committee of knowledgeable and experienced classroom teachers, instructional coaches and specialists, and NC university and community college professors based on research and public feedback. Additionally, an equally qualified team of educators, as well as, members of the business/industry community served as external reviewers throughout the revision process. These evidence- and research-based standards were created by NC educators with the driving question of, “What is best for North Carolina’s students?”

This approval formally ends the standards review and revision processes and marks the start of the implementation phase of new content standards for Discrete Mathematics for Computer Science, NC Math 4 and Precalculus. These courses are designed to prepare students for any entry level post-secondary mathematics course. They are equal in rigor and designed to meet different student pathways into post-secondary education. These courses were developed in adherence to NC General Statute 115C- 12 (9c) and SBE policy SCOS-012 which require all advanced math courses and standards convey that consideration has been given to national standards and federal requirements such as: NAEP (National Assessment for Educational Progress), ACT, OCR (Office of Civil Rights) and other states’ content standards for advanced mathematics courses. Thus, content such as basic trigonometric identities, operations with matrices and vectors, composite functions and complex numbers, is included in all three courses, where appropriate. The new standards will be fully implemented beginning in the 2020 – 2021 school year.

Prior to full implementation, the 2019-2020 school year will serve as the installation period. During the installation phase, the NCDPI mathematics team will seek valuable input from district math leaders and teachers, IHE professors and the NC Business community to develop support materials that will enhance curriculum alignment efforts and finalize the statewide implementation plan.

Additional information pertaining to installation activities will be provided via the Curriculum Leaders Listserv Update and the Mathematics Listserv. Thank you for your dedicated partnership and collaboration. Your input is vital and greatly appreciated. Please email questions or concerns to Beverly Vance (Beverly.vance@dpi.nc.gov).

September SBE Meeting

The State Board of Education will hold their next monthly meeting on Wednesday, September 4 and Thursday, September 5. The agendas can be found at their website: https://stateboard.ncpublicschools.gov/. Audio for these meetings can be found here.

Legislative Updates

Please view the State Board of Education Legislative Updates for information on legislative activity this session, including budget resources and 2019 new K-12 education laws.

Career and College Ready Graduates (CCRG)  - SB99 Session Law 2018-5 Update

Thank you for your patience as NCDPI and the NC Community College System work through the final phases of development and planning for the implementation of the Career and College Ready Graduates (CCRG) legislation.  The CCRG legislation requires that “the State Board of Community Colleges, in consultation with the State Board of Education, shall develop a program... that introduces the college developmental mathematics and developmental reading and English curriculums in the high school senior year and provides opportunities for college remediation for students prior to high school graduation through cooperation with community college partners.”    An extension was received in summer of 2018 to support further development and implementation, with a statewide implementation requirement in the 2020-21 school year.

As we move into installation of this required legislation, we will continue to keep you updated with more details to help local districts, schools, and teachers know how to plan. Please use this form to submit questions or comments, which will be used to help inform our implementation of the legislation. Thank you for your dedicated partnership and collaboration in this effort to prepare students for post-secondary opportunities.

Updates

New Initiative Strives to Reduce NC Teacher Vacancies

At the August 14th meeting of the Governor’s Education Cabinet, education leaders and stakeholders gathered to celebrate the launch of TeachNC, a partnership between the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction, BEST NC, TEACH.org. TeachNC is a statewide teacher recruitment initiative that employs both a broad media campaign and a robust web platform to support teacher candidates in their quest to become a teacher in North Carolina.

All of North Carolina’s educator preparation programs were invited to join the TeachNC initiative. Profiles of participating programs will be featured on the TeachNC website. More than 30 of the 54 public and private educator preparation programs have joined the initiative so far, and more will continue to be added.

Within the next year, TeachNC will expand to provide robust information on the more than 100 school districts and charter schools in North Carolina. The website will feature tools and resources to help teacher candidates identify the schools and communities best suited to their skills and interests.

TEACH.org is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, launched by Microsoft and the U.S. Department of Education, to partner with public school systems on teacher recruitment. Support for TeachNC is provided by grants from the NC Department of Public Instruction, The Belk Foundation, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Coastal Credit Union, IBM, the John M Belk Endowment, and Microsoft.

Visit TeachNC at https://www.TeachNC.org.

Professional Development and Resources

Curriculum and Instruction Leaders Quarterly Webinar Series

This quarterly webinar professional learning series is open to curriculum leaders of all content areas. The Standards, Curriculum, and Instruction Division will provide updates on topics of interest throughout the year. Register once for all four webinars in the series:

1. Tue, Sep 10, 2019 10:00 AM - 11:00 AM EDT
2. Tue, Nov 12, 2019 10:00 AM - 11:00 AM EST
3. Tue, Feb 4, 2020 10:00 AM - 11:00 AM EST
4. Tue, May 5, 2020 10:00 AM - 11:00 AM EDT

Registration link - https://register.gotowebinar.com/register/1791917380857089281 

ArtsR4Life

Saturday, September 7, 2019 (One-day)
Meredith College, Raleigh, NC

Registration:
$40.00 early-bird registration (early bird deadline: July 31, 2019)
$50.00 regular registration
$25.00 presenter/partner registration
$20.00 college/university student registration

The North Carolina Department of Public Instruction is partnering with Meredith College to host the fifth annual “ARTS R4 Life” professional development conference for NC K-12 Arts Educators in Dance, Music, Theatre Arts, and Visual Arts. Pre-service arts educators and faculty from institutes of Higher Education interested in K-12 Arts Education are also encouraged to attend. The conference is scheduled to take place on Saturday, September 7, 2019, and will be preceded by the Arts Education Think Tank, Arts Education Coordinators, and Arts Education Leadership Coalition meetings on Friday, September 6, 2019.

Conference Details

Registration