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Number 10
Office of Exceptional Children 2025-2026 Parent Survey - Special Education - Deadline June 30
NCDPI's Office of Exceptional Children invites families of students receiving special education services to complete the 2025–26 Indicator 8 Parent Survey. This two-minute anonymous survey — available in multiple languages — helps guide improvements for students and families.
Take the survey here. Responses will be accepted through June 30.
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Number 9
NCDPI’s Global Languages Endorsement (GLE) Team Seeking Student Spotlight Submissions 🌎
NCDPI’s GLE team is seeking Student Spotlight submissions from all public school units to recognize students who have satisfied the requirements of the GLE, North Carolina’s Seal of Biliteracy!
Help us celebrate and elevate student language achievements!
Submit a student spotlight here.
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Number 8
75th Exceptional Children Conference Call for Proposals
The Call for Proposals is open for the 75th Conference on Exceptional Children, November 4-6 in Greensboro. The conference theme this year is "Brilliant Past. Bold Future: 75 Years of Exceptional Children."
Presenters are invited to share evidence-based practices, innovations and success stories that improve outcomes for students with disabilities.
Submit proposals here. The deadline to submit is July 17.
Questions? Contact ECConfProposals@dpi.nc.gov.
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Number 7
K-12 Social Studies Standards Stakeholder and Feedback
The NCDPI K–12 Social Studies team is seeking feedback from educators, families, students, community members and other stakeholders on North Carolina’s current Social Studies Standards. Stakeholder input will help inform potential updates and revisions to ensure the standards remain relevant, rigorous and responsive to student needs.
Each survey takes 10–20 minutes to complete, and participants may provide feedback for one or multiple grade spans. Submit feedback by August 1 using the links below:
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Number 6
NC Newsline: "NC Students Bring Calls for School Funding, Mental Health Support to Legislature"
"Students from across North Carolina gathered at the General Assembly on Tuesday to urge lawmakers to invest more in public schools.
The students were participating in a Youth Advocacy Day organized by Every Child NC and partner organizations. They raised concerns about mental health services, school discipline policies and the impact of immigration enforcement on students and families.
Earlier in the day, North Carolina Supreme Court Justice Anita Earls told students that the state constitution guarantees a right to a sound basic education, pointing to the long-running Leandro case as an effort to enforce that obligation.
Later, students gathered outside the General Assembly and pointed to what they said were gaps between that promise and conditions in their schools.
Aisosa Limon, a rising sophomore at Wake Young Men’s Leadership Academy, cited racial disparities in school discipline and argued that schools should invest more in student support services rather than relying on suspensions."
Read the full article here.
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Number 5
EdNC: "How One Group of Educators is Building Stronger Literacy Leaders across Northeastern North Carolina"
"When educators talk about improving literacy outcomes, the conversation often focuses on curriculum, instructional resources, or assessment data. In northeastern North Carolina, however, a group of school and district leaders is proving that sustainable literacy growth begins somewhere else: leadership.
Over the past semester, a unique professional learning community (PLC) has brought together principals, district leaders, curriculum directors, and literacy advocates from across the northeast region. Their purpose was simple but powerful — to deepen their understanding of effective literacy instruction and strengthen their ability to support teachers and students. What they found was that leadership learning is just as important as student learning.
'Leadership is often a lonely world,' said Karen Wood, northeast regional literacy consultant with the Department of Public Instruction’s (DPI) Office of Early Learning. 'Many leaders don’t have regular opportunities to collaborate with others who are doing similar work. This PLC created a space where leaders could learn from one another and grow together.'”
Read the full article here.
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Number 4
Skills for the Future Pilot Expands in Fall 2026
The Skills for the Future Pilot is expanding this fall with Cohort 3, offering new districts and charter schools the opportunity to support durable skill development for high school and eighth-grade students using Portrait of a Graduate resources.
This pilot provides participating educators with professional development, statewide networking and resources to help students strengthen and demonstrate durable skills. In spring 2026, nearly 150 educators from five districts and one charter school supported more than 6,000 students, who uploaded more than 13,000 authentic artifacts focused on collaboration. Students connected classroom collaboration to extracurricular activities, jobs and internships, hobbies and volunteer opportunities, strengthening academic engagement and student agency.
Student survey results showed that 95% of participating students reported moderate to extreme confidence in their ability to collaborate more effectively after the program. Educators also reported increased student engagement and academic growth when durable skills were intentionally embedded into instruction.
Cohort 3 registration for new LEAs closes July 2. Limited spots are available for new districts and charter schools.
To learn more, view the Information Slide Deck or contact Kristine Barberio, SFF Project Coordinator, at kristine.barberio@dpi.nc.gov.
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Number 3
Innovation Leadership Council Accepting Applications - Help North Carolina Identify and Elevate Solutions That Work
Applications are now open for North Carolina’s Innovation Leadership Council, a statewide effort to identify, vet and elevate promising practices already making a difference in public schools.
The council will bring together leaders from across public education to help recognize effective solutions, examine evidence and implementation, and consider how promising practices could be adapted or scaled in other contexts. Members may bring experience in school or district leadership, research, evaluation, implementation, policy, communications or cross-sector collaboration.
This hands-on council is designed for individuals with practical judgment, curiosity and a commitment to helping strong ideas travel beyond one classroom, school or community. Together, members will help North Carolina better understand what works, why it works, for whom and under what conditions.
Learn more and apply here. Applications are due July 22.
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Number 2
Joint Statement on Senate Bill 227, Eliminating “DEI” in Public Education, Becoming Law from North Carolina Superintendent of Public Instruction Maurice "Mo" Green and State Board of Education Chair Eric Davis
"The North Carolina public school system, with its historic academic achievements, educates all students, regardless of race, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, gender, religion or ability. We seek to provide each and every student what they need to be successful, and we strive to serve them in safe and affirming environments.
With that context, Senate Bill 227, Eliminating 'DEI' in Public Education, raises concerns about what it could mean for those very qualities that make North Carolina's public schools strong. Moreover, we believe the law leaves educators with genuine questions about how to apply it, since, for example, it restricts instruction on certain concepts while expressly and appropriately preserving the teaching of difficult history, including the historical oppression of people based on characteristics such as race, ethnicity and religion.
Regardless, we trust that our legislators will join us in supporting our public school educators as they continue to do what they do best- helping students think deeply and critically about a wide range of important issues, respect and appreciate people of varied backgrounds and characteristics, and prepare for their next phase of life."
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Number 1
North Carolina Places Second in the Nation at the SkillsUSA National Championships
"North Carolina’s career and technical education (CTE) students brought home 79 medals from the 61st annual SkillsUSA National Leadership and Skills Conference — the second-highest medal total of any state in the country. The state’s community college students played a leading role, earning 47 of those 79 medals. North Carolina public school students in middle and high school earned 32 additional medals.
Held June 1-5 in Atlanta, the conference drew more than 19,000 registrants and 7,000 competitors from across the country. North Carolina was represented by more than 530 students, instructors, administrators, parents and supporters from 74 schools and colleges statewide, and finished in the top five among all states in delegation attendance.
Across the full North Carolina delegation, 270 students competed in 178 contests. Twenty-nine percent finished as medalists, and 69 percent placed in the top ten of their events. In all, North Carolina student-contestants earned 25 gold, 23 silver and 31 bronze medals. Every one of them had to win first place in their event at the SkillsUSA North Carolina State Conference in April to reach the national stage."
Read the full press release here.
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