May 22, 2013 NEW THIS WEEK • Assessment Period Begins Under Way for NC Public Schools • Public Reports on Educator Effectiveness Released • Mini-­‐Grants for Partnership Efforts among IHEs and LEAs Available IN CASE YOU MISSED IT • NCVPS Transitions to Common Core Math • Facilitated Team Time Twitter Training for SI 2013 Participants • Podcasts on Common Core, Assessments and More NEW THIS WEEK Assessment Period Under Way for NC Public Schools Students in grades 3 through high school have begun the assessment period to measure their learning from this school year. This is a well-­‐known routine for public school teachers and students, reaching back to 1993 for end-­‐of-­‐grade assessments and even further for high school end-­‐of-­‐course assessments, but this year, assessments are new to match the new Standard Course of Study that teachers began implementing last fall. NCDPI anticipates that state test scores will drop this year for two reasons. The new Standard Course of Study in all subjects is more rigorous and challenging and the new assessments are more difficult than prior years’ assessments. “We know from our own history that every time we raise expectations, there is a dip in student scores and school performance. But, over time, students rise to expectations and schools perform at higher levels,” said State Superintendent June Atkinson. “Higher standards for our students provide a better foundation for their success in college and careers. It’s the right move to make, even if scores drop in the first year.” Read the full news release regarding assessments by visiting www.ncpublicschools.org and selecting the appropriate link under News. Public Reports on Educator Effectiveness Released The North Carolina Department of Public Instruction today has made available to the public the summary results of teacher and administrator evaluation systems for the 2010-­‐11 and 2011-­‐12 school years. These data can be accessed at http://www.ncpublicschools.org/effectiveness-­‐model/data/. The online data display is intended to provide a resource that is user-­‐friendly and easily accessible so that parents, educators and other community members can see data reflecting the effectiveness of instruction in their child’s school. This information also can illustrate how their schools and districts are using evaluation data to ensure a stronger teaching and administrative staff. Summary evaluation reports from the past two years are now online, and the NCDPI will post such data for the current and subsequent school years as the information becomes available. Read the full news release regarding assessments by visiting www.ncpublicschools.org and selecting the appropriate link under News. Mini-­‐Grants for Partnership Efforts among IHEs and LEAs Available The NC Ready for Success initiative and the state’s Core to College Steering Committee has released a Request for Proposals for a series of SASS (Supporting Alignment for Student Success) Mini-­‐Grants. These grants aim to foster greater collaboration and alignment across all of North Carolina’s educational sectors. Mini-­‐grants will be awarded to proposals to promote greater student success through explicit partnership efforts with other institutions of higher education and at least one local K-­‐12 school district. All eligible NC institutions of higher education are welcome to apply. Funds are to be used during the 2013-­‐14 academic calendar year. All proposals must include development of an NC Ready for Success Team, comprising representation of faculty from secondary and postsecondary ranks, as well as a clear plan for accomplishing stated outcomes as required by either Tier I or Tier II levels of proposals. The deadline for submitting proposals is 5 pm on June 26. Please note under the description of eligible grantees that while local K-­‐12 LEA districts are absolutely encouraged to work with their IHE partners in developing these proposals, grant funds will be awarded to the IHE serving as the fiscal agent supporting these activities. MORE INFO: John D. Denning, State Director, K-­‐12 and Postsecondary Alignment Initiatives at JDenning@NCReadyforSuccess.com, or minigrants@NCReadyforSuccess.com. IN CASE YOU MISSED IT NCVPS Transitions to Common Core Math As a result of the NCDPI and the High School Math Task Force recommendations, the NC Virtual Public School will be transitioning to the Common Core Math 1, 2, and 3 pathways. We will begin by changing our Algebra 1 course to Math 1 this summer as the 2012-­‐13 Math 1 standards are the same for all first level courses. We will then offer Math 1 and Math 2 this fall and Math 1, 2, and 3 this spring. We have made these changes on our website and in our registration system. NCVPS understands you may have students who began the traditional math pathway and may need to complete this pathway in order to graduate. Therefore, we will phase out our Algebra 1, Geometry, and Algebra 2 pathways, but will do so over time so that students who still need these pathways will still have access to them. Algebra 1 will no longer be offered as of summer 2013. Geometry will remain available through summer 2014, but will no longer be offered as of fall 2014 and Algebra 2 will remain available through summer 2015, but no longer be offered as of fall 2015. The Credit Recovery Algebra 1, Geometry, and Algebra 2 courses will be phased out at a slower pace for those students that need to recover credit. CR Algebra 1 (old standards) will remain available through fall 2013 and CR Geometry and CR Algebra 2 will remain available through spring 2015. MORE INFO: Jennifer Nobles, NCVPS Curriculum Director, jennifer.nobles@ncpublicschools.gov. Facilitated Team Time Twitter Training for SI 2013 Participants During the last 30 minutes of Facilitated Team Time at Summer Institutes 2013, each LEA/Charter team will be asked to participate in a collaborative “Tweetup.” This Tweetup event is an opportunity to share PD plans, resources and next steps via Twitter. Each Summer Institutes Team will have a North Carolina Department of Public Instruction facilitator available to assist with the Tweetup. Since teams will be expected to tweet their responses, some participants may find it helpful to attend one of the two Twitter training webinars provided. Topics covered during the training will include: • Access to a self-­‐guided Twitter training website • Deciphering tweets • Understanding hashtags • Participating in a Twitter chat • Chat etiquette • Setting up a chat platform • Closing questions that will be asked during Facilitated Team Time Registration information is as follows: Wednesday, June 12, 9 am to 10:30 am Registration Web Link: https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/412238488 Thursday, June 13, 1 pm to 2:30 pm Registration Web Link: https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/454649824 MORE INFO: Elizabeth Edwards, Educator Effectiveness, Elizabeth.edwards@dpi.nc.gov Podcasts on Common Core, Assessments and More With the many changes occurring in the NC Standard Course of Study, along with new assessments, a new educator evaluation system and more, the NCDPI has produced a number of podcasts for teachers, principals, parents and others interested in a video resource to explain the work under way. Topics include READY Overview, Why the Common Core, Assessments, Educator Effectiveness Common Exams and more. Visit www.ncpublicschools.org/ready/resources to access these podcasts. RACE TO THE TOP WEEKLY UPDATE INFO If you know someone who would like to be on this list, please send their email address(es) to Michael.Yarbrough@dpi.nc.gov. ***PLEASE NOTE: Each entry in this Weekly Update features the email address of at least one contact person, department or website. For questions, concerns or technical assistance, please email the appropriate contact(s) directly. Thanks! ***LINKS: PC users might need to press the CTRL button when clicking on a hyperlink in this document. Archived Race to the Top Weekly Updates are available online at: http://www.ncpublicschools.org/rttt/updates/