COMMUNICATIONS PLAN • NEW ACCOUNTABILITY MODEL February 25, 2013 Task/Audience Timeline Who Status 1.0 READY Outreach Round 3 – webinars to share the latest updates on READY statewide initiative with educators, including update on New Accountability 4/8/13‐5/6/13 Michael Yarbrough and Communications Staff; content will come from academic services; and HB leadership 2.0 Work with media months in advance of October release of new test scores by providing fact sheets and other types of information around how the new assessments are being made; include sample test items 3/13‐10/13 Lynda Fuller/Sara Clark/Michael Yarbrough 3/13‐6/13 3.0 Develop presentations for local school boards/PTAs/site‐based teams and other parent/community support groups Michael/Lynda/Vanessa /READY communications team For distribution 4.0 Develop tabloid/insert for N&O and/or other NIE publications that would include in summer publications centerfold explaining the A‐F model; overview of tests (including a chart showing typical student’s test load); investigating web banners/buttons/stickers for distribution Michael/Lynda/Vanessa /READY communications team Prepared by 5/13 Michael/Lynda/Vanessa 5.0 FAQ to be disseminated widely and /READY included in publications/READY website, for wide communications team etc., explaining why test scores are lower, distribution how and why schools are rated A‐F, etc. 6.0 Meeting with PIOs at NCDPI 6/13/13 Vanessa/Lynda/Michael 7.0 Webinars for various audiences, including Summer 2013 teachers, administrators, business community (NCBCE, etc.) RttT leadership team 8.0 Meetings with key editorial boards Spring/Summer 2013 RttT leadership team 9.0 One‐on‐one meetings with key association leaders (PTA, etc.) Spring/Summer 2013 RttT leadership team 10.0 UNC‐TV Open House, an hour‐long show with news segments and live presentations from leadership team, to update Common Core/Home Base/new accountability and assessments September 2013 Michael/Vanessa/READ
Y communications team/RttT leadership team NC Department of Public Instruction – Division of Communications and Information Services 10.0 Letters and other communications to parents explaining new assessments, expected lower scores, new accountability, etc. September 2013 Lynda/Michael/Vanessa Key Communications Issues to be Addressed • There is confusion and misunderstanding among the broad public school community and the general public regarding the type, number and purpose of student assessments. Distinctions among and between student accountability, school accountability, college/career readiness and teacher evaluation assessments are not clearly understood. • Historically, North Carolina has seen dips in student performance when new, more challenging assessments are put in place. For example, in 2005‐06, the percentage of students at or above Level III in both Reading and Mathematics, grades 3‐8, dropped from 80.9 percent proficient in 2004‐05 to 62.5 percent proficient in 2005‐06 when mathematics standards changed. We saw a similar drop in 2007‐08 when new reading standards were put in place. We expect that the results of the new assessments will show a similar drop‐off in student performance. • North Carolina will have a new school accountability model with results reported out for the first time in the fall of 2013. While details of this are being clarified and finalized, we anticipate that there will be significant communication needs to help teachers, administrators, parents, students, news media and communities understand what the General Assembly’s new A‐F categories of performance mean for schools. NC Department of Public Instruction – Division of Communications and Information Services