Weekly Message - State Superintendent June Atkinson - Lynda Fuller
2/24/16 9:19 AM
Weekly Message + State Superintendent June Atkinson
North Carolina Public Schools <NCPublicSchools@public.govdelivery.com>
Wed 2/24/2016 9:18 AM
To: Lynda
Fuller <Lynda.Fuller@dpi.nc.gov>;
Having trouble viewing this email? View it as a Web page.
Feb. 22, 2016
The NC General Assembly will return for its short session on April
25 to make budget adjustments for the state. In March, the State
Board of Education will hone its legislative budget and policy
agenda.
One area for which DPI needs additional staff is in licensing. With
the new system, it takes about six months to get a new staff
member to be skilled in handling licensure complexities. We
continue our efforts in reducing the backlog associated with the
transition from the manual to the electronic licensing system.
We also are aware of your ongoing frustrations about unprocessed
teacher licenses. To that end, we want to make sure you receive
ongoing updates to how licensure is processing your requests.
Since the online licensure application system went live on Aug. 1, 2015, we have approved 26,291
applications in the new systems. On Dec. 2, 2015, we had 9,838 applications pending. By Feb. 19, that
had been cut to 7,847 pending. We continue to focus attention on this area, recognizing that licensure
processing requires a specialized skill set. We will continue to look for ways to better communicate the
progress we are making. We do recognize that we need to continue to work on strategies to expedite
the elimination of the unprocessed applications.
We know these issues are extremely important to you and to the operation of your schools. If you have
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Weekly Message - State Superintendent June Atkinson - Lynda Fuller
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input you would like to share regarding the top priorities that you identify for public school funding
adjustments and policy issues, please share those through the Let’s Talk software available on DPI’s
home page. Please select Education Policy Feedback as your dialog topic.
Minimum Professional Standards Set for
School Nutrition Professionals
The United States Department of Agriculture has established minimum professional standards
requirements for school nutrition professionals who oversee, manage and operate the National School
Lunch and School Breakfast programs.
The standards, another key provision of the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010, aim to institute
minimum education standards for new state and local school nutrition directors as well as annual
professional development standards for all school nutrition personnel. These new standards will ensure
school nutrition personnel have the knowledge, skills and abilities needed to administer the federallyassisted nutrition programs in compliance with federal and state regulations and in accordance with
nationally-recognized best practices.
The final rule:
• created minimum hiring standards for new school food authority directors/administrators based on the
school district’s size;
• established minimum hiring standards for new state directors of school nutrition programs and state
directors of distributing agencies; and
• required minimum annual professional development standards for all new and current school nutrition
personnel.
Under the new rule, the state education agency has the authority to waive certain hiring requirements
under unique employment market conditions. Should your district have a viable candidate for the
position of school nutrition director/administrator who does not meet the minimum employment
standards, and the district wishes to consider available waiver options, please contact School Nutrition
Services Section Chief Lynn Harvey or 919/807-3506.
NCDPI's School Nutrition Section is committed to providing a variety of professional development
opportunities for school nutrition administrators/directors, supervisors and other central office staff
through the department's School Nutrition Leadership Academy, which is a partnership between the
department and the North Carolina State University’s Center for Continuing and Professional
Development.
The section also routinely identifies web-based professional development opportunities for school
nutrition personnel at the school/site level. These continuing education/professional development
opportunities, along with opportunities provided by the national School Nutrition Association and the
School Nutrition Association of North Carolina, provide quality educational opportunities for little or no
cost to the district or the employees.
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Weekly Message - State Superintendent June Atkinson - Lynda Fuller
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If you have questions about the new professional development standards established by the USDA,
please contact Lynn Harvey at the contact information shown above.
Multi-Tiered System of Support:
Problem Solving Within an MTSS Framework
There are six critical components that may be continually examined to
determine success in building a Multi-Tiered System of Support (MTSS).
Problem solving is the foundational component of this school improvement framework. District and
school teams working toward implementation fidelity will:
- identify gaps between where they are and where they want to be with students’ academics,
behaviors, and social-emotional goals;
- use a consistent problem-solving process across the district, school, grade level, content area and
tiers;
- use data to determine why student groups, subgroups, and individuals are not meeting expectations;
and
- develop and implement detailed plans to address instructional and intervention needs.
NCDPI staff are providing professional development, technical assistance and coaching to strengthen
implementation of MTSS in every district, charter school and state-operated program. Your district has
an opportunity to submit a Readiness Instrument, which will be used to customize this support.
Click here to register a district or a school team for Problem Solving in an MTSS Framework. If you have
questions, please contact Amy Jablonski.
Implementation Science:
The Five Active Implementation Frameworks
Students cannot benefit from services they do not receive. Active
Implementation Frameworks promote the full and effective use of
evidence-based programs and evidence-informed innovations so that
student outcomes are improved.
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Five frameworks guide Active Implementation:
Usable Interventions;
Implementation Stages;
Implementation Drivers;
Implementation Teams; and
Improvement Cycles.
Opportunities to deepen your understanding about Implementation Stages and the Active
Implementation Frameworks may be found in this video module and a handout with definitions and
visuals.
Happening Now …
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Weekly Message - State Superintendent June Atkinson - Lynda Fuller
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The Chatham County District Implementation Team (DIT), a K-3 Formative Assessment Usability
Partner, has moved from the exploration stage to the installation stage of implementation.
During the installation stage, staff revisited their DIT membership according to selection criteria and
added new members to strengthen the infrastructure in support of improved student outcomes. The
Chatham DIT recognizes the value of having voices from a variety of perspectives and has
representatives from PreK, Elementary, Title I, MTSS, K-3 teachers and principals.
If you have questions, please contact Laura Winter.
NCDPI Global Educator Digital Badge
Guidance Webinar
Join NCDPI staff for an overview of the Global Educator Digital
Badge process and available resources inclusive of the expanded
educator categories (other teachers, principals and central office
administrators) eligible for the Digital Badge.
The same webinar will be offered at two times on Tuesday, March 15: 10 – 11 a.m. or 4 – 5 p.m. (click
on the time to register for the session you want to attend).
ACT Testing Preparation Links
The March 1 ACT test date is right around the corner for high
school students. The following information will be shared with high
school principals and teachers so that they may emphasize the
importance of this test with teachers and students respectively.
Teachers also can help students do a final review before this
important examination.
Below are links to math practice questions that are interactive, two
full sample tests that include all content areas, and a practice website that includes a breakdown of
math topics with review videos. These resources may be used in classrooms or provided to students for
at-home preparation. With your help, our students can reach the college and career readiness
benchmarks!
Sample mathematics questions from ACT:
Set 1
Set 2
Set 3
Set 4
Set 5
Free practice tests for all content areas (includes answer keys):
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Weekly Message - State Superintendent June Atkinson - Lynda Fuller
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2015-16
2014-15
There also is a website with free tutorials, questions and videos to help students review in class or on
their own, and one for general ACT information.
Title III Joins the NCCCIP
Title III staff with the NC Comprehensive Continuous Improvement Plan (CCIP) are excited to announce
that beginning in the 2016-17 school year, the Title III application will be part of the consolidated
application in the web-based grants management system, the CCIP.
This move allows staff to streamline the application process and to build capacity to serve English
learners through collaboration. Please see the FAQ available online for more information.
Summer Leadership Conference 2016
Summer Leadership Conference 2016 will be held June 19-22 at
the Omni Grove Park Inn, Asheville.
The NCSSA Superintendents' Retreat also will be a part of the conference and will begin on
Sunday, June 19. In addition, we will be hosting a New Administrators' Institute this year, which also
begins on Sunday, June 19. Keynote speakers are Robert Putnam (author of Our Kids: The American
Dream in Crisis), Steve Dembo (Building Bolder Schools: It Doesn’t Hurt to be First, Discovery
Education), and Donna Beegle (author of See Poverty, Be the Difference).
Conference information, including hotels, online registration, tentative agenda, and speaker bios are
available online. Questions may be directed to Jan Webster (828.774.5681 ext, 21) or Vicki
Wilson (828.774.5681 ext. 22).
Two Schools Nominated for “Green
Ribbon Schools” Award
Congratulations to Sandy Grove Middle (Hoke County Schools) and Wiley International Studies Magnet
Elementary (Wake County Schools) for recently being selected to represent North Carolina in the U.S.
Department of Education’s Green Ribbon Schools Award program.
These schools were selected because of their exemplary efforts in providing healthy learning facilities
and a strong education program. The Green Ribbon Schools Award is the first comprehensive federal
policy for schools related to environment, health and education. Since 2012, four North Carolina public
schools and two school districts have received the national award.
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Weekly Message - State Superintendent June Atkinson - Lynda Fuller
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2015 Public School Law Book
The 2015 edition of Public School Laws of North Carolina is now available to purchase through NCDPI
Publications Sales. Public School Laws of North Carolina contains statutes, case notes and opinions of
the Attorney General through the 2015 session. It also includes statutes other than 115C (LexisNexis
Edition).
The book costs $37 and may be ordered by calling 919/807-3470, or visiting the Publications Sales
website.
Latest Messages Online
Feb. 11, 2016 Home Base Biweekly Update
Feb. 12, 2016 Finance Officers’ Newsletter
Feb. 16, 2016 Web Highlights
Feb. 18, 2016 Principals’ Biweekly Message
Feb. 19, 2016 Finance Officers’ Newsletter
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