Charter schools maintain their current assessment flexibility and may use the state approved diagnostic assessment, DIBELS 8 or one of their own choosing. If a charter school chooses to use the state-approved assessment, the assessment tool and training will be provided by the state. More information regarding Charter School’s training will be forthcoming. If a charter chooses not to use the state-approved assessment system, the charter is responsible for the tool and any required training.  

All K-3 students will be assessed three times a year using the state-approved formative/diagnostic assessment, DIBELS 8. Furthermore, charter schools interested in participating in the EVAAS process must follow the state-required benchmark windows. More benchmark windows information for the 2023-2024 school year will be forthcoming.

The Office of Early Learning and the Office of Accountability & Testing began implementing a revised process for verifying the accuracy of DIBELS 8 benchmark data at BOY this year. 

The Office of Accountability & Testing will send each PSU their DIBELS 8 MOY data in two separate files to PSU Accountability & Testing Directors/Testing Coordinators at the end of March and will notify them of the transfer. Once the data is transferred, RTA POCs will be notified by the Office of Early Learning with information about retrieving the files and directions for reviewing the data. A link to a response form will be included. RTA POCs will be asked to review their data and notify the Office of Early Learning regarding the accuracy of the data using a form linked in the notification email. If any inaccuracies are reported, your Office of Early Learning consultant and the Office of Early Learning Project Manager will work with you to resolve the discrepancies. We will provide additional information as the date approaches.

We recognize the importance of beginning the planning process for your PSUs reading camp  opportunities. The following information pertains to Read to Achieve (RtA) Reading Camps for the 2022-2023 school year. 

PSUs will use student mCLASS EOY Composite Score data as the pre-assessment data for reading camp. Students attending reading camp will be assessed using DIBELS 8 at the end of camp.  We will share more information about the reading camp end of camp assessment soon!

2023 Reading Camp Guidebook

Charter Schools maintain flexibility and may choose to conduct Read to Achieve reading camp. If a charter chooses to provide Read to Achieve reading camp, funds are allotted in PRC 016 and are to be used to fulfill the legislative requirement of offering at least 72 hours of reading instruction to yield positive reading outcomes for participants.

If a charter chooses not to conduct RtA reading camp, the funds provided in PRC 016 will revert back to the state. 

"Reading camp" means an additional educational program outside of the instructional calendar provided by the local school administrative unit as a literacy intervention that shall be offered to (i) any third grade student who does not demonstrate reading proficiency and (ii) any second grade student who demonstrates difficulty with reading development. Local school administrative units may offer a reading camp as a literacy intervention to any first grade student who demonstrates difficulty with reading development. Parents or guardians of the student offered a reading camp as a literacy intervention shall make the final decision regarding the student's reading camp attendance. 115C-83.7A

RtA reading camp funds are expected to be provided to all PSUs Spring 2023.  Please note that all PRC 016 (RtA Reading Camp funds) must be spent to provide reading instruction and support during reading camp as outlined in legislation. 

We are so excited to share that 200 charter school teachers and approximately 100 charter school administrators are currently participating in LETRS training.  This training is being sponsored by The Office of Charter Schools and NC ACCESS Program. 

K-5 LETRS Participants will need to complete the following:

• Complete the online course work for Volume 1 Unit 1 textbook reading by March 8
• Attend the online live Unit 1 *Zoom session on March 9
• Attend the Bridge to Classroom Practice review and *support session on March 23 from 3:30 pm-4:30 pm. (*a link for these sessions will be sent to participants closer to the date, go ahead and mark your calendar)

Administrator Participants will need to complete the following:

• Complete the online Welcome and Overview by March 6
• Attend the online Live Zoom Session on March 6
• Complete the online Administrator Leading through LETRS by May 3
• Attend the online Live *Zoom Session on May 4
• Attend the Administrator *Support session on May 10 from 9:00am-10:00am (*a link for this sessions will be provided to participants closer to the date, go ahead and mark your calendar)

  LETRS K-5 Pacing Guide                                                                                                                        LETRS Admin Pacing Guide                                                                                                                        NC Lexia LETRS

Please Note:  If your charter school purchased LETRS training for staff members outside of the training funded by NC ACCESS your training dates will be different. 

In order to provide continuing support for North Carolina’s youngest readers, The North Carolina Department of Public Instruction Office of Early Learning has developed and released “Literacy at Home.” This digital resource provides literacy activities at each grade level, pre-kindergarten through fifth grade. Families and communities may access this resource for activities that specifically target the literacy skills of phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, reading comprehension, and oral language. When children grow in each of these foundational areas they are well on their way to becoming proficient readers.