Save the Date

Two Conferences: One Powerful Event

June 24-26 WEST and July 22-24 EAST

Virtual Days on June 27 and July 25

Two conferences at one location - attend the Growing Success for MLs Conference and the Standards Academy!

Share Your Expertise

The NCDPI ML/Title III Team invites all educators to submit proposals for the 2025 Growing Success for MLs Conference. Without question, the 2024 conference was a huge success because of our presenters! Sharing your "boots on the ground" expertise inspires fellow educators to create more effective learning environments for multilingual learners. We encourage you to submit your proposals offering practical strategies, innovative ideas, and proven methods for enhancing the educational experience of ML students.

Accepting Session Proposals Now

PRISM/Patterns Professional Learning Opportunity

The State Board approved for NCDPI to contract with Carnegie Learning and WestEd, to partner on the PRISM Patterns Professional Learning Impact Study, a grant awarded by the US Department of Education. This grant-funded opportunity will help build the capacity for high-quality math instruction. The study will focus on 4th grade teachers, providing professional development tied to the NC grade 4 math standards, emphasizing key fraction content standards to build conceptual understanding and readiness for teaching concepts and skills related to fractions.

The professional development includes up to $1700 in stipends for teachers, with no requirement to teach a specific math curriculum.

The teacher commitments would not start until October 1, 2025.

Please complete the interest form here, and we will follow up to schedule a call to share more information. 

For more information, contact Dr. Charles Aiken (charles.aiken@dpi.nc.gov)

NC2ML / NCCAT Elementary Math Vision Retreat 

January 13-16, 2025

Cullowhee, NC

NC2ML and NCCAT are partnering for the second time to do a four day elementary math leadership retreat for district teams across NC

Session Title: Flourishing in Mathematics:  Co-Creating a Vision for High Quality Equitable Mathematics Instruction.  

Description:  A shared vision of high-quality instruction among administrators, teachers, and other stakeholders is essential for large scale instructional improvement in mathematics. This 4-day retreat will assist school districts in the development of co-creating a vision for high-quality mathematics instruction. At the retreat, each team will:  collaborate with mathematics leaders to learn more about high-quality equitable math instruction, develop and align a district-wide vision of mathematics instruction, and create a plan to implement the vision.  

The NC2ML/NCCAT Visions Retreat will take place on January 13-16 at the NCCAT campus in Cullowhee, NC. This program is open to districts focused on elementary mathematics.  Each district will bring a team of four people in different roles so that they can learn and plan together.  Each participating district team should include:

• K-5 classroom teacher
• school-based teacher leader (coach or classroom lead teacher)
• an elementary principal (or assistant principal/principal intern)
• a district leader 

NCCAT provides food and lodging.  NC2ML is paying for the presenters and materials.  Your district would need to pay for a sub for the participating teacher and mileage for the team. 

Here is a flyer for the retreat. https://www.nc2ml.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/NC2MLNCCAT-Retreat-Flyer.pdf

If you are interested in attending the retreat, please complete the following form:

2024-25 SY ML/Title III PL Offerings

Join us for the 2024-2025 school year as the NCDPI ML/Title III Team presents an exciting new webinar series covering a range of standards-based topics.  

Don't miss these invaluable opportunities to enhance your skills.

• Collaborating within DL/I - (Recording | Slides)
• Collaborating to Integrate ELD Standards - Oct. 30
• Collaborating School-Wide for MLs - Dec. 4
• Collaborating withing an MTSS - March 24
• Collaborating to Support Dually Identified Students - May 8

See more information for Collaborative Conversations.

Keep scrolling through the document to learn more about the WIDA PL Offerings (Limited Seats Available - registration required)

• When Language and Disability Meet (Webinar)
• Collaboration Practices and Potentialities (F2F)
• Nurturing Speaking Growth (Webinar)
• Writing with MLs in the Elementary Grades (F2F)
• WIDA Español: Instructional Planning in the Bilingual Classroom

Catalyst - Creating Opportunities in STEM for Students with Disabilities

NC State University - The Science House

January 2025

Open House for Catalyst, a free International and National Award winning STEM program, for June 2025-June 2026, for New Students, will be

• January 16, 2025 from 7PM-8PM (Virtually), or
• January 18, 2025 from 10AM-11AM (In person @ NCSU)

*(You must register to attend Open House and only pick one to attend.)

To participate, students must be

• rising Grade 9-12 students for School Year 2025-2026,
• in Public School, Private School, Charter School, or Homeschooled,
• in Regular Education, Honors, AP or College Level Classes, or
• in the Occupational Course of Study Program to participate (with a documented disability, IEP or 504 Plan)

The link to sign up is: https://go.ncsu.edu/catalyst-open-house-2025 or QR Code:

7th Grade AQ-IQ Contest

Each year the North Carolina Division of Air Quality invites 7^th grade students to participate in the AQ-IQ Contest which combines S.T.E.A.M. education and project-based learning with student creativity to teach air pollution science to students across the state. The contest gives these students an opportunity to learn about air quality and think about solutions to air pollution and put THEM in charge of creating a project to educate others about an air quality problem. 

The AQ-IQ contest allows students to explore their interests and strengths while engaging with the material and learning about air quality. Students are asked to think creatively while designing their projects.  Past projects have been posters, videos, Minecraft creations, games, and artistic projects off all sorts! 

Winners will be recognized during the summer of 2025 at a REGIONAL and STATEWIDE level and will receive AWESOME prizes! 

For details about how to enter, deadlines, general information and past project examples, please visit the NC Environmental Education webpage. 

If you have any questions or concerns, please contact Keith Bamberger at keith.bamberger@deq.nc.gov, or Janina Millis at janina.millis@deq.nc.gov. 

ELA Standard Course of Study (SCOS) Update

All Stakeholder Standard-by-Standard Survey

Survey Closes January 9, 2025

State Board of Education policy specifies that the NC Department of Public Instruction will formally collect feedback on the current standards from educators, administrators, parents, students, institutions of higher education, business/industry representatives, national organizations, and other education agencies. The purpose of this survey is to obtain input from educators and stakeholders familiar with the English Language Arts Standard Course of Study in order to inform revision decisions.

This process began with a review phase, conducted during the 2023- 2024 school year. The review phase included gathering relevant research and analyzing data obtained through surveys, interviews, and focus groups. The data obtained was compiled by the NCDPI Office of Learning Recovery (OLR) and provided to the ELA Data Review Committee (DRC) for review and analysis.

The DRC completed a formal report summarizing the data and trends within the feedback and making recommendations for changes. The report was provided to the ELA Standards Writing Team (SWT) as the basis to start the revision process for the 2024 - 2025 school year. The SWT launched their work in July 2024. Draft 1 is now released for public review and feedback using this survey.

The English Language Arts team in the Office of Academic Standards requests your thoughtful input and comments on Draft 1 of the proposed K-12 English Language Arts academic standards to inform any additional revisions, which may include changes, clarifications, additions, deletions, or replacements to the draft standards and their objectives.

Any individual who wishes to provide input on the English Language Arts SCOS may complete this survey.  This survey is estimated to take about 10-20 minutes to complete, depending on the grade-level you choose to review, and should be completed in one sitting. If you would like to give feedback on more than grade-level, you can return and submit another survey. Please use the Survey Companion Document to assist you when providing feedback on Draft 1.

STEM Teacher Collaborative: 
Seeking Elementary Principal CHAMPIONS!

The STEM Teacher Collaborative (STC) aims to identify and connect STEM teachers across North Carolina (STEM teachers defined as K-5 STEM specials/electives teachers in the same vein as traditional electives classes such as Music, Art, PE, and Media).The STC leadership team is now looking for approximately 10 elementary principals across NC who are committed to supporting this initiative as administrative “Champions”!

We are seeking elementary principals who are:

• willing to share their “why” regarding the STEM teacher position. Why do you feel this role is important/necessary in your school?
• willing to share the “how” of their STEM teacher position. How is it funded? How does your master schedule work? What kind of expectations do you have for the position?
• willing to connect virtually as a collaborative team, sharing ideas on how to improve the work and how to communicate this work to other elementary principals across NC who may be interested in creating a STEM teacher position in their own schools.

If you are an elementary principal or know a K-5 principal who has a STEM teacher they strongly support, please have them complete this form.

Calling All STEM Reviewers!

The 2024-2025 North Carolina STEM Schools of Distinction Recognition Program is underway. With nearly 20 schools across the state having communicated their Intent to be recognized as a leading STEM program in North Carolina, we are asking for STEM educational leaders, who have familiarity with the STEM Schools of Distinction process, to assist with the Peer Review of this year's applications. 

Individuals presently leading within a NC recognized STEM school, or any individuals who have served as past SSoD reviewers, are asked to provide updated contact information by completing this Reviewer Application by December 20th.

There will be a required Reviewer training. More information on this training will be available soon.  This year's application submissions will be shared by January 13th and reviewers will have through January 24th to complete their individual review and share feedback.  The number of reviewers assigned will be dependent upon the final number of submitted applications.

Thank you for continuing to drive quality STEM education in North Carolina!

Your support is greatly appreciated

NC K-12 Math Standards Resource Hub

The NCDPI K-12 Mathematics team has created a repository to provide a variety of resources for supporting school leaders, administrators, educators, and parents/caregivers. The NC K-12 Math Standards Resource Hub houses the standards, communications, and recommended resources related to the implementation of the North Carolina K-12 Math Standard Course of Study (NCSCOS). 

The hub includes:

• K-12 standards and unpacking documents
• Previous PD presentations, recordings, and resources
• At Home Resource Guides for parent/guardians
• Math Options Chart aligned to post graduation plans
• STEM Content Integration

Math educators are encouraged to browse, reference, download, share, discuss, and adapt resources.

NCDPI K-12 Mathematics Virtual Office Hours

On Tuesday, November 19, 2024, the NCDPI K-12 Mathematics team, with special guests, NCDPI Testing and Accountability specialists and NCDPI ML/Title III consultants, held an office hour for NC math school and district leaders. This office hour featured information, opportunities, and resources from all groups as well as updates from NCDPI Mathematics team. 

Click here for the agenda, presentation, and recording.