May 12, 2016 Teachers' Biweekly Message
North Carolina Public Schools
Thu 5/12/2016 3:51 PM
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To: Lynda
Fuller <Lynda.Fuller@dpi.nc.gov>;
Biweekly message to North Carolina public school teachers from State Superintendent June Atkinson
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May 12, 2016
For the past year, the Department of Public Instruction has been in
the five-year review process for the mathematics content
standards, involving local district teachers, curriculum leaders,
higher education representatives and others. Also, information from
other resources, including the Academic Standards Review
Commission’s December recommendations, was included in the
process.
As a result of this feedback, modifications to the sequencing of
standards as well as revisions for clarity of the standards have been
proposed to Math I, II and III (high school levels). K-12 English
Language Arts review will begin this summer and Mathematics in
grades K-8 and the fourth level math courses, AFM, Discrete and
Pre-Calculus, will be under review beginning this fall.
Educators, parents and other interested citizens are invited to provide feedback regarding proposed
revisions to the content standards for high school math courses Math I, II and III via an online survey.
The survey will be available through May 20. A quick way to access the background information on
each set of math standards’ changes is to click on the links below.
* NC Math 1 Draft Standards
* NC Math 2 Draft Standards
* NC Math 3 Draft Standards
* Summary, Overview and Rationale
If you are a mathematics teacher, please consider taking the survey and sharing your feedback. The
State Board of Education could act on these revisions as early as June 2 when it holds its next monthly
meeting.
State Board of Education
Meeting Highlights
At last Thursday’s State Board of Education meeting, members approved
School Reform Models to be applied to five schools in four districts, LongRange Facility Plans (Five-Year Report), requests for local flexibility in the
Analysis of Student Work, and a number of consent agenda items.
Members also discussed Digital Learning Competencies/Digital Learning Plan, Math I, II and III Draft
Standards Revisions, and Career and Technical Education Licensure revisions.
The complete list of this month’s Board actions is available on the Board’s website. The Board’s May
agenda as well as supporting executive summaries are available online by clicking on the SBE Meetings
tab.
Guilford County Teacher Participates in
White House Event Celebrating Teachers
Congratulations to Murphey Traditional Academy (Guilford County Schools) teacher Claudia Walker for
being selected to represent the Teacher Advisory Council for the National Academy of Sciences in
Washington, D.C., (on which she is a member) at an event President Obama held May 3 to honor
teachers. During the celebration, Obama honored the 2016 National Teacher of the Year and finalists,
alongside great educators from across the country, including Walker.
And the 2016 NC TWCS
Winners are…
NCDPI staff would like to thank the over
101,800 educators who participated in the 2016
North Carolina Teacher Working Conditions
Survey (NC TWCS). Almost 1,100 NC schools met the statewide goal of 100 percent participation.
In order to recognize the effort of this accomplishment, NCDPI has partnered with the North Carolina
Business Committee for Education (NCBCE) and the North Carolina Association for Educators (NCAE)
to award those schools with prizes and monetary incentives. On May 9, the Department organized a live
drawing to randomly select six schools to recognize those schools and districts that led the state with
participation.
The following schools were selected “firsts” in our state:
* First Elementary School in state to reach 100 percent response rate:
Allenbrook Elementary (Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools)
* First Middle School in state to reach 100 percent response rate:
East Rutherford Middle (Rutherford County Schools)
* First High School in state to reach 100 percent response rate:
Creswell High (Washington County Schools)
* First School District in state to reach 100 percent response rate:
Edenton-Chowan Public Schools
* “Nick of Time” School (final school in state to reach 100 percent response rate):
Plain View Primary (Bladen County Schools)
All schools that reached 100 percent participation may be found here. Thank you to all of our gracious
sponsors: BB&T, California Casualty, Blue Cross Blue Shield, Duke Energy and Lenovo.
The DPI Prize Patrol will travel the state to hand-deliver prizes to these schools. Stay tuned … they may
be arriving at your school during the month of June!
Cumberland County Schools’ Principal
Named Principal of the Year
Congratulations to E.E. Smith High School Principal Melody
Chalmers who today was named the 2016 Wells Fargo North
Carolina Principal of the Year.
As Wells Fargo Principal of the Year, she will receive $3,000 for
personal use and $3,000 for her school. She also receives
professional development and resources supporting global
awareness in the curriculum for her staff thanks to Education First
Tours, and a custom-made NC Principal of the Year signet ring and
pendant from Jostens Inc.
She will continue to lead her school for the next year however, Wells Fargo will furnish her with a
stipend to travel across the state serving as an ambassador for education. She will serve as a member
of the State Superintendent’s Principals’ Advisory Committee, and as an advisor to the State Board of
Education and the Board of Directors for the NC Public School Forum.
Chalmers succeeds Pactolus School (Pitt County Schools) Principal Steve Lassiter.
The Goal is Not Just Better Students but
Better Future Citizens
NCDPI is partnering with First Vote NC (formerly Kids Voting) to
bring a student-led, project-based initiative to high schools across
the state.
Launching this fall, First Vote NC will provide your schools with
everything they need for students in the Founding Principals, Civics and Economics courses to become
their school's Board of Elections and run a school-wide simulation election.
In addition, teachers will have access to data analytics tools that will allow students to engage in
contrast and comparison studies with other high school students across the state.
Please take three minutes to watch the video (produced by high school students) then access online
materials. This resource is offered free-of-charge to high schools this fall. If you have any questions,
please contact Hunter Buxton.
Professional Development Opportunities
Two new professional development modules have been added to
the Home Base Professional Development system:
* Helping Struggling Readers in the K-12 Classroom: Action Research from the GTN Project – 1 CEU –
Literacy
* Universal Design for Learning 2: UDL and the Whole Classroom – 1 CEU – General
Each self-paced module will take approximately 10 hours to complete. For a complete description of
these newly added modules, please visit http://rt3nc.org/. If you need additional support, please contact
NCDPI Instructional Design Lead Geetanjali Soni.
Action Research Project Spotlight:
Motivation
We are approaching the time of the year where educators may need
a few new ideas on how to motivate students to do their best.
Instead of pouring over articles or doing countless web searches, why not go directly to a source that
has been proven to work for North Carolina students.
Kelly Brock, an action researcher with Stanly County Schools, investigated seven different motivational
strategies with three groups of fifth graders at different learning levels. Kelly’s goal was to discover what
motivates students to increase time on task, persist with tasks, and ultimately, be more successful in
applying grade-level curriculum.
If you are interested in learning more about Kelly’s interesting and sometimes unusual motivational
techniques, please visit the Online Professional Development Catalog and click on the Action Research
tab. The Action Research tab contains over 200 action research projects spanning all grade levels and
11 subject areas created by members of the 2014-15 Governor’s Teacher Network.
NCCAT Offers Professional Development
Opportunities
North Carolina educators have plenty of opportunities throughout
the summer to attend the North Carolina Center for the
Advancement of Teaching (NCCAT), a recognized national leader in
professional development programming for teachers.
Registration for the summer programs is open now. Applicants are encouraged to register as soon as
possible to ensure a spot. Programs are available to North Carolina educators at the Cullowhee and
Ocracoke campuses, online and with NCCAT faculty visiting school districts. For more information visit
NCCAT’s website and click on the Programs tab.
A few upcoming programs include:
14162 • Just Plan It! Build Your Couse Digitally from Start to Finish
Cullowhee, June 6 -10
Wouldn’t you like to begin the year with your course mapped out from start to finish? Come get
organized and build a blueprint of your upcoming course.
14164 • Success from the Start: How to Survive and Thrive Your First Three Years in the Classroom
Ocracoke, June 6-10
Open to teachers in their first, second, or third year of teaching, this program supports motivated
beginning teachers by strengthening their knowledge base and classroom expertise.
14172 • Integrate Coding Skills into Your Curriculum
Cullowhee, July 5-8
Learn how to code, integrate coding into your curriculum, basics in robotics, and inspire students to
learn more about computer science.
14186 • Reading Resources: Equipping Your Classroom for Reading Success
Ocracoke, Aug. 8-12
Explore multiple means of acquiring literacy-related donations, discover open-access materials online,
and share strategies for the effective use of these resources.
Save the Date for World View’s
Fall Programs
Partners Program – Full STEAM Ahead: A Cross-Discipline Program Exploring Global STEM and Art
Education
Aug. 11
Our one-day workshop is held at a different North Carolina school campus each year specifically for
World View Partners. This program will help kick-off your new school year with an introduction to 21st
century global issues, globalization, and global education. This workshop is for every teacher, no matter
the subject area or the grade level. Teachers also will have the opportunity to learn new classroom
teaching strategies for integrating global content into their curriculum. The program is FREE for
participants attending from Partner schools and districts.
One CEU credit for successful completion.
Global Education and 21st Century Skills Online Course
Oct. 6 – Nov. 16
This redesigned online course immerses K-12 educators from all disciplines in an exploration of global
topics such as the economy, the environment, diverse populations, and the U.S.’s place in the world.
Over six weeks participants will read, discuss and reflect on the most important issues facing the United
States and the world today. As a final project, each participant will present a global connections planner
or an action plan for their classroom or school to support the development of globally competitive
graduates.
Four CEU credits for successful completion.
K-12 Global Education Symposium: Innovation and Technology to Drive Global Learning
Oct. 19 – 20
Our K-12 Global Education Symposium is held each October at the William and Ida Friday Center in
Chapel Hill. This day-and-a-half program explores significant global issues, offers best practices in
global education, and provides educators an opportunity to develop a global action plan for their
classroom, school or district.
1.5 CEUs will be offered.
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