May 26, 2015
TO
LEA Superintendents
Curriculum and Instruction Leaders
FROM
Tracy S. Weeks, Ph.D.
Chief Academic and Digital Learning Officer
Academic and Digital Learning
Jennifer Curtis, Ed.D.
Section Chief, K-12 Mathematics
SREB MATH READY COURSE SUMMER TRAINING
The Department of Public Instruction is pleased to announce the continued partnership with the Southern
Regional Education Board (SREB) as we enter our second full year of implementation of a new fourth
course, Essentials in College (ECM), also known as SREB Math READY. Grant funding to continue
implementation of ECM has been secured to provide professional development to an additional 120 high
school math teachers across North Carolina who will be teaching the course in the 2015-16 school year.
This year, the training is extended to three days. Trainings will be held in Clemmons, Wake Forest, and
North Wilkesboro during the months of June and July. Registration is being handled via Eventbrite, an
on-line registration system. We highly recommend attendance for staff members who will be serving as
first-time teachers of the new course. It is expected that all teachers who attend the professional
development will be implementing the course in the 2015-16 school year. A flyer with a course description
is attached for your use and review.
This course is approved as a fourth Math credit for graduation in North Carolina and meets the minimum
admission course requirements for UNC schools. It can also be used as an elective for students who need
more advanced Algebra practice before higher-level mathematics.
SREB offers a full curriculum in digital format including teacher and student materials. It is available for
download at www.sreb.org. There will also be on-going support throughout the year for teachers, via regular
webinars, to insure successful implementation.
This training is at no cost to districts; however, all travel expenses incurred will be the responsibility of the
participants. Stipends will be provided to all participants based on the distance traveled to the training site.
Those traveling from distances greater than 35 miles away from the training site will receive a stipend of
$120 per day. Printed MapQuest directions and a hotel receipt will be required to receive this stipend. All
other participants, including those that live more than 35 miles away and choose to commute or stay in
K-12 CURRICULUM AND INSTRUCTION
MATHEMATICS SECTION
6352 Mail Service Center, Raleigh, North Carolina 27699-6352 | (919) 807-3846 | Fax (919) 807-3826
AN EQUAL OPPORTUNITY/AFFIRMATIVE ACTION EMPLOYER
unpaid accommodations, will receive a stipend in the amount of $30 per day. Meals during the training are
provided.
REGISTRATION LINKS:
Please disseminate the registration link to teachers who you intend to send to the training. There are only
120 slots available statewide on a first come, first served basis. Please only share with the teachers you wish
to attend or the district-level supervisor who will select the participants.
Professional Development Locations and Links
June 23-25, 2015
Village Inn Event Center (Clemmons, NC)
https://sreb-summer-2015-clemmons.eventbrite.com
July 8-10, 2015
Heritage High School (Wake Forest, NC)
https://sreb-summer-2015-wakeforest.eventbrite.com
July 28-30, 2015
Stone Center for Performing Arts (North Wilkesboro, NC)
https://sreb-summer-2015-wilkesboro.eventbrite.com
If you have any questions, please contact Dr. Jennifer Curtis at Jennifer.curtis@dpi.nc.gov or 919-807-3838.
TSW/JC/rk
The North Carolina Department of Public Instruction Presents:
The Southern Regional
Education Board (SREB)
Math Ready Course!
The North Carolina Department of Public Instruction (NCDPI) believes that every child should get an
education that properly prepares him or her for the next big steps after graduation—college, career,
and adulthood. To accomplish this, NCDPI is committed to providing strategies and developing
tools needed to ensure each child’s success.
What is the SREB Math Ready course?
The SREB Math Ready course emphasizes understanding mathematics concepts rather than just memorizing
procedures. Students will learn the context behind procedures: for example, why they should use a certain
formula or method to solve a problem. This equips them with higher-order thinking skills enabling them to
apply math skills, functions, and concepts in different situations. Additionally, it prepares students for collegelevel math assignments. The course contains eight units: exponentials, quadratics, equations, measurement,
number operations, systems, linear functions, and statistics (optional); the quadratics unit was developed by
North Carolina teachers. Math Ready is designed primarily for high school students, juniors and seniors, not
planning to major in a STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) area beyond high school.
The course can be offered as a semester or yearlong option for a fourth math or as an elective bridge course
for students who have finished Math 3.
Why should the SREB Math Ready course be offered?
The U.S. Department of Education (ED) and NCDPI are placing great emphasis on college and career
readiness. According to ED, 4 out of every 10 new college students, including half of those at two-year
institutions, take remedial courses, and many employers comment on the inadequate preparation of high
school graduates. Following the lead of the nation’s governors and state education leaders, many states are
adopting state-developed standards in mathematics that build toward college and career readiness by the
time students graduate from high school. To ensure that all students are learning what they need to succeed
in math, North Carolina continues to seek ways to support students in acquiring the math knowledge and
skills they need to be on track to graduate from high school college- and career-ready.
How did the SREB Readiness Courses come about?
The Southern Regional Education Board has been working for 2 decades toward the objective of
implementing high school courses to help students transition into postsecondary study. As part of the
college- and career-readiness initiative, NCDPI partnered with SREB, which organized a team of states to
collaboratively build readiness courses to address literacy and numeracy skills. These courses were developed
by a group of K–12 and higher education representatives from the first five partner states—Arkansas, Georgia,
Kentucky, North Carolina, and Tennessee. Representatives from
additional partner states assisted in reviewing and revising the
courses before publication.
In November 2013, SREB made the initial classroom versions
of its readiness courses available for any state, district, school,
or teacher to download online , free of charge, and plans
to update the courses based on feedback from classroom
teachers. SREB also plans to work with partner states to
measure student learning and to evaluate course effectiveness.
SREB’s Math Ready course is designed to assist students to
reach their state’s college- and career-readiness level. This
course helps high school students to master the numeracy
skills they need for rigorous learning—preparing them directly
for career-training programs and/or college.
How can you or your staff register for a training
session on SREB’s Math Ready course?
Eventbrite links for registration will be sent to district
curriculum leaders via regional leads and superintendents.
Each training location will have a unique Eventbrite URL
that contains the number of participants allowed by local
education agencies in each region.
When will training be held?
Training will be held in June through +VMZ. The Eventbrite
registration links will contain details on exact locations.
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What are students and
teachers saying about the
SREB Math Ready course?
Students
“I thought statistics was very interesting. It
was a fun unit and was very easy to catch on to
because of the different activities and practices.”
“My other math classes were only notes and
practice problems. In this class, we were up
doing things, asking questions, figuring things
out for ourselves.”
“I really enjoyed the [quadratics] module.
My favorite part was definitely the gummy
bear project where we created a platform to
launch the gummy bears off of while learning
about quadratics (max, min, zeros, roots,
x-intercepts). I learned more through this
module than I have in any math class.”
“I think this module helped a lot. Quadratics
was a very difficult unit before my transitions
class. This module helped prepare me for
college because obviously quadratics is a big
part of College Algebra. Every bit of the module
helped.”
“I liked how we would get into groups and
interact using hands-on learning. I also
liked how we as a group were made to teach
ourselves how a formula works or how to solve
a problem before having it explained to us.”
Teachers
“The kids really got it! I was surprised!”
Note. Content was adapted by SEDL from A Blueprint for Reform: The Reauthorization of the
Elementary and Secondary Education Act (2010) by the U.S. Department of Education; NCDPI’s
READY Initiative (n.d.) [web page]; and SREB’s About Readiness Courses (2014) [web page], in
accordance with the terms of use (ED) and with permission of the above authors.
“Some students who do not readily do their
work stayed engaged all period.”
“The students have been actively engaged in the
lessons and have enjoyed working together and
sharing their responses. Overall, the feedback
from the students has been positive.”