Number 10

Save the Date - Office of Learning Recovery and Acceleration (OLR) USED Guidance Webinar

Join the Office of Learning Recovery and Acceleration on December 14 as they cover the USED's Non-Regulatory Guidance on Using Evidence to Strengthen Education Investments.

With the pending fiscal cliff, it is imperative that PSUs ensure that their investments are using evidence to combat the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic while supporting their students' continued educational as well as social emotional growth.

Register for the webinar here. Contact Dr. Richard Lewis, richard.lewis@dpi.nc.gov or Jay Johnson jay.johnson@dpi.nc.gov with any questions.

Number 9

Quarterly PIO Call Wednesday, December 13

As a reminder, Public Information Officers and Charter School Communication Leaders are invited to join the Quarterly PIO Call Wednesday, December 13. The Zoom link was shared this week.

Please reach out to communications@dpi.nc.gov with any questions or if you did not receive the meeting information.

Number 8

State Superintendent's Student Advisory Council Now Accepting Applications - Deadline Next Friday, Dec. 15

High school juniors are invited to apply to serve as a Student Advisor on Superintendent Catherine Truitt's Student Advisory Council. If you are interested in state education issues, advocating on behalf of your fellow peers, and serving as an advisor to decision-makers in K-12 education, this opportunity is for you!

Advisory members meet monthly and serve a two-year term that concludes at the end of senior year of high school. Throughout the appointment, advisors hear from experts at the Department of Public Instruction, State Board of Education, the General Assembly, and the Governor's Office, among others, to learn about issues facing our state and what can be done to support students, teachers and our local school districts and charter schools.

At the conclusion of each year, advisors will present a proposal to address an evolving state education issue to the Superintendent among other state leaders.

The deadline to apply is December 15. Learn more and apply here.

Number 7

Purple Star Award Submissions Now Open

The submission period for the Purple Star Award is now open and will close February 1. Help honor those schools that go above and beyond to demonstrate their commitment to military students and their families by encouraging them to apply.

Learn more, see previous awardees and find the application here.

Number 6

NCHSAA Formally Approves New Classification Model, Expects New Memorandum with State

"Eight classifications will be enough for the foreseeable future.

The North Carolina High School Athletic Association (NCHSAA) Board of Directors concluded its 2023 fall meeting Thursday with an approved plan for NCHSAA membership to compete among eight classifications beginning in the 2025-26 academic year. This plan doubles the number of classifications from the four the NCHSAA has had since school integration of the mid- to late 1960s.

'This is a direction that they (member schools) have been wanting to go for years,' NCHSAA commissioner Que Tucker said. NCHSAA president Chris Blanton, assistant superintendent for Watauga County Schools, noted the NCHSAA member schools passed a bylaws amendment to make way for this possibility.

Under the new plan, any classification will include a maximum of 64 schools."

Read the full article here. 

Number 5

ESSER Funds: NC Districts Played It Safe on Teacher Pay & May Avoid Fiscal Cliff

"Nationally, school districts and charter schools have poured billions of federal pandemic relief dollars into staffing. Most states don’t detail that spending precisely, but North Carolina does. A FutureEd analysis of how North Carolina is spending its last and largest round of federal Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief money suggests that localities across the state, especially rural school districts, put larger shares of that money into short-term staffing fixes than into long-term personnel commitments. This decision could potentially ease their fiscal pain when the funds run out.

Of the $3.6 billion the state received in the third and final round of federal relief, about $2.3 billion had been spent or earmarked as of Oct. 31, including $1.2 billion on staffing.

Notably, given warnings of looming post-ESSER teacher layoffs, the largest share of North Carolina’s staffing investments — and the single largest last-round expenditure of any sort — went to one-time expenditures.

About 55% of North Carolina’s local education agencies spent some of their third-round ESSER dollars on staff bonuses. That translated to $445 million, or 20% of the final federal installment spent so far. Most of these expenditures occurred in fiscal year 2022, likely reflecting pandemic-related challenges in recruiting and retaining staff."

Read the full article here.

Number 4

Superintendent Truitt's Parent Newsletter

The next edition of Superintendent Truitt's newsletter for parents, Coffee with Catherine, will go out next week!

To sign up for the newsletter, click here and enter your email address. When prompted, select "Superintendent Truitt's Parent Newsletter."

Check out the most recent edition of the newsletter here.

Number 3

Biden-Harris Administration Announces $277 Million In Education Innovation and Research Grants to Help Address Academic Recovery

"As part of the Biden-Harris Administration’s ongoing work to address academic recovery, including supporting student success in math and reading, the U.S. Department of Education (Department) today announced $277 million in new grant awards to advance educational equity and innovation through the Education Innovation and Research (EIR) grant program. State-administered test scores from the 2021-2022 and 2022-2023 school years show some early signs of rebounding from the major disruptions of the pandemic, but not enough are back to pre-pandemic levels—and the recovery has been uneven—with the students most impacted still furthest behind. We have a long way to go, especially for communities and students who have been exposed to longstanding inequality. These new grant awards can help us get there with $90.3 million for STEM, $87.2 million for social emotional well-being, including student engagement, and $76.5 million for projects in rural areas."

Read the full press release from the U.S. Department of Education here.

Number 2

New Round of Grants for Digital Teaching and Learning Available for 2024-2025

"Digital Teaching and Learning in North Carolina’s public schools will benefit from a new round of competitive grants that were approved December 7, 2023 by the State Board of Education.

Up to $1.25 million in grants funded by the General Assembly through the state’s Digital Learning Initiative will be available to school districts, charter schools, lab schools and regional schools during the 2024-2025 school year. Over the past seven years, the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction’s (NCDPI) Digital Teaching and Learning Division has committed more than $10 million dollars in similar grants to help schools and districts develop and strengthen digital-age learning initiatives.

'This agency has had a long history of prioritizing and securing funding for Digital Teaching and Learning grants, and I’m excited to see us continue these efforts today,' State Superintendent Catherine Truitt said. 'As our world continues to become more interconnected, technology embedded within North Carolina classrooms will better help our students prepare for the wide range of opportunities upon graduation. I look forward to the creative proposals that will be put forth by schools across the state and seeing how they will enhance teaching and learning for all students.'”

Read the full press release here. 

Number 1

Beginning-of-Year Reading Assessment Shows Growth for Early Grades Students

"North Carolina’s investment in early literacy is paying off.

New data presented today to the State Board of Education shows that elementary school students continue to make significant improvements in their reading skills.

Based on beginning-of-year testing data, North Carolina students outpaced their peers on a national level in grades 1-3, while grades K-3 have shown steady improvement since the implementation of a standardized early literacy assessment in the 2021-22 school year.

The assessment – DIBELS 8 (Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills) – consists of a set of measures designed to evaluate component skills involved in reading.

In the two years since its implementation, North Carolina’s first, second and third graders have made gains that are more than double those seen on the national level.

Despite having lower scores compared to the national average during that same timeframe, North Carolina kindergarteners have shown greater improvement than their peers across the country, with a growth rate of 6% versus 4% on the national level.

And in the year-end assessment for 2022-23, the percentage of kindergarten students who measured 'on track' more than doubled – surpassing the national average."

Read the full press release here.