INFORMATION BRIEFS FOR LOCAL SUPERINTENDENTS
DECEMBER 2013
Strategic Plan
State Board Strategic Plan Update
The State Board of Education is updating its strategic plan.
As part of that process, the SBE will
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Develop a final draft version of the plan
Seek and consider input from various stakeholders
Adopt a final version of the in the spring of 2014
See the goldenrod handout (note that this document was subject to
revision based on State Board action this week)
Upcoming Policy
Decisions for
State Board of
Education
Policy Decisions During the Next 12 Months
The following are major policy decisions to be determined by the State
Board of Education during the next 12 month
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Smarter Balanced participation (requires legislation – See grey
handout)
Weighting for Grade Point Calculation (See pink handout)
Next Generation Science Standards
Occupational Course of Study
Additionally, Early Childhood RttT Decisions to be determined during the
next 12 months
 Kindergarten Entrance Exam
 New K-3 Assessments
Education and
Workforce
Innovation Fund
Grants
Competitive School, District and Regional Innovation Grants Offered
The following information is taken from is taken from the website
ncinnovationfund.org regarding Governor McCrory’s Education and
Workforce Innovation Fund grant program:
“The Education and Workforce Innovation Fund seeks to identify sites for
acceleration of successful innovative programs that combine academic rigor
and skills development with the goal of graduating every student both
college and career ready.
Ambitious plans will include accelerated strategies in five core areas:
1. align public schools with business and industry and
colleges/universities;
2. provide greater choice for parents/guardians among high quality
education options;
3. enhance teacher and principal effectiveness;
4. ensure all students possess job-ready skills; and
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leverage technology to drive both student and teacher learning”
Application deadline is December 20, 2015. See the green handouts and
fund website ncinnovationfund.org for further details.
Model Teacher
Contract
Requirements
General Assembly’s Model Teacher Contract Requirement Reviewed
Under SL 2013-360, Section 9.6(e), the North Carolina General Assembly
has required the State Board of Education to develop a model teacher
contract for use by local boards of education.
See the blue handouts for draft rules, model contract, description of the
model teacher contract process and status of this required action.
Home Base
Implementation
Update
Getting up to Speed on Home Base Project
The Home Base project is within budget, but slightly behind
schedule.
Home Base system includes three big pieces
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PowerSchool Student Information System
Schoolnet Instructional Improvement System
Truenorthlogic Educator Evaluation System
Some high-level areas of challenge
 Data – issues arising from importing data from NC WISE
 Configuration – new system allows for great customizability,
but some changes can cause problems
 Product – as with any new product, there are still some issues
to be fixed
See the yellow handout for further details on this project.
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Instructional
Summit on
Student
Performance in
Reading/Math
Instructional Summit on Student Performance in Reading/Math
The Academic Services staff, in response to and in consultation with
associate superintendents over curriculum from LEAs, will convene a
summit to dissect 2012-2013 student achievement data and develop a
strategic plan for moving forward.
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DPI staff will provide support on a variety of data sources
that can be used to differentiate instruction for students.
We will be highlighting steps taken by districts that
demonstrated some success on the new standards.
DPI is currently in the process of securing a site for the
summit, which we hope can be held in January depending on
space availability.
Superintendents: Please list the curriculum and instruction staff
member who will be our primary contact for the summit on the
form provided at your table.
Roster
Verification
Process
DPI Offering Two Roster Verification Windows for 2013-14
School Year
Based on feedback from teachers, administrators and central office
leaders, DPI will be holding two roster verification windows during
the 2013-14 school year.
 First window – Teachers who teach on a semester schedule
will verify rosters for first semester
 Second window – All teachers will verify rosters. Teachers
who teach on a semester schedule will verify rosters for the
second semester. Teachers who teach on a year-long
schedule will verify rosters for the school year.
See the white handout (no border) for more details and dates for the
first roster verification window.
SREB College
and Career
Readiness
Courses (201415)
SREB Courses for College-Bound Students
SREB College and Career Readiness Courses will provide an option
to districts to support those students whose test scores and school
performance indicate a need for additional knowledge and skill
development for college level success.
 They are not meant for students who need remedial help in
high school. Rather the courses are meant to support those
students whose ACT scores and other performance indicators
suggest that they are not fully college ready. The courses are
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Third Grade
Portfolio
Requirements
designed for high school juniors and seniors.
 The math course is titled Math Ready: Ready for CollegeLevel Math. It will be a fourth math option for graduation,
particularly suited for students considering non-STEM majors
in college. Math Ready focuses on the key standards and the
eight Standards of Mathematical Practices needed for students
to be ready to undertake postsecondary academic or career
preparation in non-STEM fields or majors.
 The disciplinary literacy course, is titled Literacy Ready:
Ready for Reading in All Disciplines. It will qualify as a
college/career elective. Literacy Ready consists of six units:
two in social science, two in English and two in science. The
course focus is on understanding how to read and interpret the
text of the discipline on a college level. The literacy units are
designed to be used as steppingstones, with the second
module in each subject more rigorous than the first unit in
that subject.
Both courses include complete teacher and student materials needed
to support the course curricula and NC DPI will provide training for
teachers. Both courses will be available in 2014-15.
Information about the courses is being prepared for district use,
including
 guidelines for identifying students
 scheduling options to maximize the impact of the courses on
student success.
During the spring and summer of 2014, NCDPI will engage with
districts interested in implementing the courses in the 2014-15 school
year to provide support in teacher training, course materials and
guidance in student selection criteria. Districts interested in offering
these courses should contact Robin McCoy at
robin.mccoy@dpi.nc.gov.
General Assembly’s Read to Achieve Sets Portfolio
Requirements
The third-grade reading portfolio requirements come directly from
the definitions in the Read to Achieve law.
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The definition of a reading portfolio states there should be 3
examples of mastery per standard measured on the EOG.
There are 12 ELA third-grade standards measured on the
EOG. So, a completed portfolio should include 36 passages.
The passages were developed by NC TOPS, the same
organization that develops the EOGs.
The passages are one-page documents with 5 questions that
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all relate to one standard.
Students can complete these passages as a part of independent
work in the classroom.
Instruction does not have to stop. NC DPI encourages
teachers to use these passages as formative assessments.
Teachers should use the first semester of third grade to teach all ELA
standards. Once the second semester starts, teachers can begin to
give portfolio passages to see if students understand and can master
the standards that have been taught. If students are not performing
well on passages involving certain standards, a teacher knows to plan
and implement instructional lessons that will focus in on the deficit
standards.
This formative process helps the teacher realize what supports are
needed to improve understanding and build proficiency.
If LEAs have made the decision to have all third-grade students
complete a portfolio, then the combination of mClass Reading 3D
data on reading skill and comprehension development and the
portfolio passages are sufficient formative assessments.
The data from these two systems informs the teacher about individual
students and helps the teacher decide what kind of instruction is
needed. There is no need to add other benchmarking systems.
Credit by
Demonstrated
Mastery Options
State Board Weighs Options on Credit by Demonstrated Mastery
The State Board discussed changes to its Credit by Demonstrated Mastery
this week as follows
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NCVPS Funding
Flexibility
Option 1 (Recommended by Staff)
o Delay implementation by one year until 2014-15 to inform
student placement in 2015-16
o Permit LEAs to begin implementation in spring 2014 for
student placement in 2014-15 by choice
o Revise to permit LEAs to implement with middle grade
content by choice
Option 2
o Revise policy to have local boards of education determine
access and implementation instead of expectation by SBE
Option 3
o Maintain current policy
Pilot Offers Additional Flexibility
Currently the legislatively established funding formula for NCVPS
projects each LEA's enrollments and pulls from teacher allotments.
 NCVPS would like to provide some additional flexibility to
LEAs on how you might pay for enrollments.
 If your LEA would like to use other funds to pay for some of
your enrollments, such as At Risk funds for Credit Recovery,
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NCVPS has created a process it would like to pilot with a
few districts to allow for this flexibility.
 Note that enrollments paid for from other fund sources will
not be accounted for in future allotment projections.
 If you are interested in being a part of this pilot for the Spring
semester, please contact Tammy Pearson at 919-513-8550 or
tammy.pearson@ncpublicschools.gov
Safe and Healthy
Schools Support
Division Update
On-Line Professional Development Modules for Assisting
Students with Behavioral Issues
Ms. Chris Minard, Mental and Allied Health Consultant for the
Department, and assisted by Ms. Payne, Online Professional Module
Developer, led a statewide team to develop two online professional
development modules to educate teachers and school staff on how
best to assist our K-12 students who may be experiencing behavioral
health issues in the classroom and school.
The modules:
Understanding Student Behavior in the Classroom (6-12)
Understanding Young Student Behavior in the Classroom (PreK-5)
The modules are free to the LEAs and to the user. They provide
CEUs, a printable Teacher’s Guide, resources and strategies to help
all educators to better meet the needs of all students.
Over 7,174 of North Carolina’s educators have taken the modules.
Directions for accessing the modules:
 Go to NC Education – http://center.nesu.edu/nc/
 Click on Login in top right corner of screen
 If you do not have an account please click on Create New
Account found at bottom right of screen
 Once you have created an account you will receive a
verification email
 Once the account is verified go back to
http://center.nesu.edu/nc/
 Log in with new account username and password
 In right side of screen type in Understanding Student
Behavior in the Course Search box
 Select either Understanding Young Student Behavior in the
Classroom or Understanding Student Behavior in the
Classroom by clicking on the title
 You will automatically be enrolled in the module
See the blue border handout
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ACT Alternate
Update on Legislatively Required ACT Alternate
2013 General Assembly Session
SESSION LAW 2013-208
HOUSE BILL 587
During the 2013 General Assembly Session, SECTION 1. G.S.
115C-174.11(c)(4) was modified to specify “The State Board of
Education shall require the administration of an alternate to the ACT
or an alternate to the PLAN precursor test to the ACT to a student
who (i) exhibits severe and pervasive delays in all areas of
conceptual, linguistic, and academic development and in adaptive
behaviors, including communication, daily living skills, and selfcare, (ii) is following the extended content standards of the Standard
Course of Study as provided in G.S. 115C-81, or is following a
course of study that, upon completing high school, may not lead to
admission into a college-level course of study resulting in a college
degree, and (iii) has a written parental request for an alternate
assessment.
(a) The State Board of Education shall ensure that parents of students
enrolled in all public schools, including charter and regional schools,
have the necessary information to make informed decisions regarding
participation in the ACT and the PLAN precursor test to the ACT.
(b) Alternate assessment and ACT assessment results of students
with disabilities shall be included in school accountability reports,
including charter and regional schools, provided by the State Board
of Education."
Implementation Schedule
 Pilot testing for the alternate ACT assessment, referred to as
the College and Career Readiness Alternate Assessment at
Grade 11, shall occur simultaneously with the ACT
administration during the 2013-2014 school year.
 Pilot testing for the alternate PLAN assessment shall occur
simultaneously with the PLAN administration during the
2014-2015 school year.
 Students who participate in the pilot testing shall not be
administered the ACT or PLAN, and where possible, results
from the ACT pilot will be included in the accountability
reports.
 The Grade 11 NCEXTEND1 will continue to be administered
to students who meet its eligibility requirements.
The elimination of the modified assessment (NCEXTEND2) may
impact the continuation of the College and Career Readiness
Alternate Assessment at Grade 11 in 2014-15.
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