Race to the Top (RttT) Monthly Report for US Department of Education (USED) NC RttT March 2011 Please provide information in the following areas: • Activities completed this month • Activities projected for the month ahead • Changes requested to plan or timelines outlined in state scope of work • Changes being considered to key project personnel • Areas in which Technical Assistance/USED support could be used Activities Completed this Month RttT Management (includes Project Management, Budget, Communications): •
Planned several State Initiative-­‐focused webinars to inform LEAs’/charters’ development of their Detailed Scopes of Work (DSW) for the 2011-­‐12 submission (first webinar: 3/28 & 3/30) •
Continued processing amended LEA/Charter School DSWs and budgets (for initial budget approval) •
Submitted NC Teacher Corpsamendment to USED (3/22) •
Presented monthly RttT status report to State Board of Education (SBE) and the Governor’s Education Transformation Commission (GETC) (3/3) •
Presented RttT Communications Plan to full GETC at monthly meeting (3/3) •
Executed contract with public relations firm and held two meetings to develop RttT message for teachers, principals, parents and other audiences •
Developed communications package for RttT, which will be amended as work with public relations firm continues Standards & Assessments: Standards •
Developed Zoomerang survey to use (beginning 4/8) for gathering internal and external committee feedback on Draft 1 of the Common Core and Essential Standards Summer Institute modules and implementation guide •
Prepared Unpacking Standards document to be posted on 4/1 for district use •
Developed initial plans for a 2-­‐day (8/15-­‐16) Common Core and Essential Standards training with District and School Transformation division (per their request) on “How to Help Administrators Support Teachers with the New Standards” •
Conducted 4 Summer Institute informational webinars (3/21-­‐24) for districtand charter teams •
Posted Healthful Living Essential Standards to ACRE site NC DPI / NC RttT PMO Page 1 of 8 3/30/2011 Assessments •
Completed final 3 (of 19 total) planned site visitsto interview LEAs regarding use of online assessments •
Consolidated LEA responses regarding use of online assessments.Completed outline for Best Practices Guide. •
Developed and launched online assessment webpage to provide resources and information on online assessments and to store the Best Practices Guide •
Continued to videotape content and grade-­‐specific classroom demonstrations of formative examples to be embedded within the North Carolina Formative Assessment Learning Online Network (NC FALCON) Data Systems to Improve Instruction: •
Received and evaluated bids for Instructional Improvement System (IIS) Request for Proposal (RFP) for planning resources (will selectvendor by 4/11) •
Hired IIS assistant project coordinator (per USED-­‐approved section C3 amendment) to assist IIS Lead Project Coordinator •
Released RFP for IIS IT Lead Project Manager (to oversee day-­‐to-­‐day implementation of IIS); bids due 4/7 Great Teachers & Principals: •
Nearing execution on contracts for the following: o Teach For America expansion o Additional evaluation instruments o Online PD modules on the Common Core and Essential Standards o Training on online facilitation for new PD leaders o Online modules on the principal and superintendent evaluation tool o Continued development of online PD repository o Development of the educator preparation program report card for institutions of higher education (IHE), revision of the IHE report on public school involvement and, and continous review of the program revisioning process o Regional Education Service Alliances hosting the face-­‐to-­‐face professional development and teacher effectiveness meetings o Distinguished Leadership in Practice expansion for current principals •
Completed contracts for Regional Leadership Academies •
Completed RFP for strategic staffing assistance for local education agencies •
Submitted amendment for modification to NC Teacher Corps (D3) NC DPI / NC RttT PMO Page 2 of 8 3/30/2011 •
Drafted amendment for professional development evaluation (D5), professional development tracking system, Distinguished Leadership in Practice program •
Drafted RFP for validation of student growth measure and professional development tracking system •
Conducted 4 Summer Institute informational webinars (3/21-­‐24) for district and charter teams •
design templates for use by teacher workgroups focused on non-­‐tested subjects; grouping all subjects into relevant workgroups •
Completed training, including online facilitator training, and deployment for thirteen of fifteen professional development leaders and two online module developers •
Conducted first round of interviews for online module web content manager •
Conducted interviews to identify Kenan Fellows to serve in all 8 regionsas professional development leaders within schools •
Continuing hiring process for two remaining professional development leaders and online module developer, and two web content managers •
Added two additional Professional Development Summer Institutes for the Common Core to accommodate the needs of the LEAs and Charter Schools •
Continued collaboration with multiple divisions within the NCDPI to develop online modules and integrate technology for statewide Summer Institutes •
Completed site visits to Charlotte, NC and Memphis, TN to inform work of Teacher Effectiveness Work Group •
Deployed initial diagnostic needs assessment (3/31) to all 115 LEAs and 33 Charter Schools through RttT Coordinator and Professional Development Contacts to identify professional development needs for upcoming school year •
Established the Leadership Academy Quality Assurance Committee to oversee alignment, implementation, informational needs, and issues or concerns of the three leadership academies NC Virtual Public Schools: •
Prepared draft amendment to State DSW for internal review (many project activities on hold pending USED approval of budget amendment) •
Received school districtapplications to participate in the project •
Pending approval of the budget amendment, STEM Research Development and Innovation Specialist and STEM Department Chair contracts were contracted and paid with State funds to begin research and development on the virtual courses •
Developed qualifications, job descriptions, and interest applications for lead teachers and contractors (posted application on NCVPS website) Turning Around the Lowest-­‐Achieving Schools: NC DPI / NC RttT PMO Page 3 of 8 3/30/2011 •
Completed Comprehensive Needs Assessments at 51 schools and 1 district (Washington) •
Continued work on hiring for RttT positions: o 1 additional District Transformation Coach (DTC) assigned in Edgecombe o Placed School Transformation Coach (STC) in Durham and Anson o Placed Elementary STC in Robeson o Interviews continuing weekly for Instructional Coaches, DTCs, and STCs •
Held transition meetings with Thomasville City Schools and Greene County •
Identified interim support for selected schools/districts until hiring process is complete for permanent positions •
Continued PD and Coaching for currently served schools/districts •
Assigning PD and Coaching staff in newly served schools-­‐ work with HR to align positions on org chart is ongoing •
Began designing summer in-­‐service for identified schools and districts •
Sent registration forms to all partnered districts and the 176 schools for Summer Professional Development for School Leaders NC Education Cloud: •
Hired NCDPI Cloud Services Manager •
Completed hiring of lead infrastructure and platform architects at the Friday Institute •
Conducted initial 25 Site Interviews lasting at least 4 hours each •
Developed executive summary and initial draft of Identity and Access Management Service description •
Provided Round Table-­‐type collaborative opportunities for Cloud and other RttT technology initiatives at the statewide NCTIES conference (March 2-­‐4) •
Established NC Education Cloud Advisory Committee, comprised of a cross-­‐functional group of 16 LEA and Charter School stakeholders and convened first meeting •
Met with MCNC, Pearson, and Microsoft in separate day-­‐long information sharing sessions •
Met with Consortium of School Networking (COSN), International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE), and State Education Technology Directors’ Association (SETDA) leadership at the COSN annual conference to discuss broad cloud topics including issues related to privacy, total cost of ownership (TCO), support, scaling, and replication •
Held an initial webinar Q&A session on identity and access management service Science, Technology, Engineering, & Math (STEM): •
Met with seven participating health and life sciences affinity network principals to explore the potential for them to become Network high schools related to the Anchor school in the City of Medicine, Durham, North Carolina. NC DPI / NC RttT PMO Page 4 of 8 3/30/2011 •
Developed the summer professional development 2012 calendar for participating STEM affinity network schools •
Presented at a statewide public/private partnership conference; the core work for STEM education through the affinity network initiative consisting of 50 participants •
Met with RttT research and evaluation team (SERVE and Friday Institute) to develop the monitoring and assessment tools related to the STEM component of RttT grant. Evaluation: •
Developed evaluation management structure •
Finalized evaluation teams, project plans of work, and budgets •
Sent letter from State Board Chairman to all school districts describing the districts’role in the evaluation •
The District and School Transformation Research Team, led by Charles Thompson, selected 27 schools that have demonstrated different levels of improvement progress. Three research teams will visit schools that have progressed, fallen back, or demonstrated no progress. Researchers are in the field now and will offer a report in September on baseline measures of DST effectiveness. Another team will follow 9 schools as they receive assistance from Dr. Pat Ashley's group for the first time in this spring. •
The research team is piloting a survey of teachers in the Winston-­‐Salem/Forsyth County Schools. After the initial pilot, the survey will be administered to a random, stratified sample of teachers across the state. The sample will over-­‐represent lowest-­‐achieving and rural schools. Teacher administrators will be hired in each school to assist with survey administration. A question matrix will be used to minimize the burden on teachers and maximize the results. An email survey will also be distributed to allow additional teachers to participate and to increase the response rate. •
The research team has made significant progress in replicating EVAAS methodology on a limited sample of data. The team is meeting with SAS personnel to confirm its methodology. An initial report of results will be available in June. Activities Projected for the Month Ahead RttT Management: •
Finalize Plans/schedules for State Initiative-­‐focused webinars to inform LEAs’/charters’ development of their DSWs for the 2011-­‐12 submission; conduct up to 4 webinars in April •
Submit RttT Monitoring Plan to USED by 4/29 •
Submit amendments for Professional Development (D5), Teacher Effectiveness (D2), Virtual & Blended Courses (D3), RttT Management (A2) to USED •
Identify and prepare other initiative budget and/or DSW Amendments, as needed •
Continue to approve LEA/charter amended DSWs and initial RttT budgets •
Present monthly RttT status report to SBE (4/7) NC DPI / NC RttT PMO Page 5 of 8 3/30/2011 •
Address GETC subcommittee request(s) as needed, including presenting at 4/7 meeting •
Continue work with public relations firm (developing and distributing messages, revising communications package) Standards & Assessments: Standards •
Review feedback from internal and external reviewers of Module 1 and Implementation Guide (Draft 1; 4/18) •
Disseminate Module 1 and Implementation Guide feedback to internal and external reviewers (Draft 2; 4/20) •
Continue to develop modules and implementation guide •
Meet with C&I leads to determine dates for development of Instructional Tools (4/5) •
Post 3/21-­‐24webinar recording,along with FAQs from webinar, for district and charter teams •
Present on Common Core during Teachers Teaching Technology mini-­‐conference at WSSU (4/9) Assessments •
Complete initial draft of Best Practices guide (by April 30) Data Systems to Improve Instruction: •
Conduct vendor interviews for IIS Planning Team (select vendor by 4/11) •
Evaluate bids and conduct interviews (4/28, 4/29) for IIS IT Lead Project Manager •
Restart regular meetings with IIS Work Group •
Populate website to communicate vision •
Secure NC DPI IT support personnel by 5/15 Great Teachers & Principals: •
Complete amendments for teacher effectiveness measures in non-­‐tested subjects for the 2011 – 2012 school year, the Distinguished Leadership in Practice program implementation, and the development of a professional development tracking system •
Release RFP(by 4/31) for validation of student growth measure •
Continue development of modules and planning for Summer Institutes •
Conduct monthly meeting with Professional Development Leaders to receive updates on identified needs of LEAs and Charters •
Complete design of templates for use by teacher workgroups in non-­‐tested subjects •
Prepare plans for non-­‐tested subjects, teacher quality reporting, and other items for consideration by the Teacher Effectiveness Work Group NC DPI / NC RttT PMO Page 6 of 8 3/30/2011 NC Virtual Public Schools: •
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Analyze the project-­‐based learning and STEM approach to teaching math and science courses Develop a virtual delivery model for project-­‐based learning and STEM approach for blended courses Determine professional development needs for project-­‐based learning, STEM, mobile teaching and learning, and blended teaching for all of the online and face-­‐to-­‐face teachers Develop a course template and outline based on "chunking of material" into project-­‐based modules to align with the current standard course of study and common core standards Develop course development timeline and process and procedures for teachers and contractors during the development phase Write criteria for the Mobile Web App/App development Request for Proposal(RFP) Document requirements for acquiring mobile devices Identify professional development and support needs for lead teachers, face-­‐to-­‐face teachers and district teams, and contractors Turning Around the Lowest-­‐Achieving Schools: •
Conduct7 Comprehensive Needs Assessments in additional identified schools/districts •
Continue work on hiring for RttT positions (Interviews continuing weekly) •
Hold transition meetings with additional new districts •
Deliver ongoing PD and coaching for currently served schools/districts •
Continue to assign PD and coaching staff for newly served schools -­‐ working with HR to align positions on organizational chart •
Continue to design summer in-­‐service professional development for identified schools and districts NC Education Cloud: • Complete initial 48 site interviews (6 per region) and begin interviews of 6 largest districts • Develop draft implementation and operating plan guiding NC Education Cloud deployment and migration • Provide initial datasets and business intelligence requirements to SAS Institute to inform development of business analytics tools supporting data-­‐driven decisions in infrastructure services • Develop executive summary and draft content management and learning management platform service description • Populate and hold initial meetings of Consortium/Cooperative Purchasing LEA Advisory Working Group, Data Collection and Analysis Working Group and the Identity and Access Management Working Group. Science, Technology, Engineering, & Math (STEM): NC DPI / NC RttT PMO Page 7 of 8 3/30/2011 •
Convene meeting (4/1) of interested biotechnology/agriscience and energy/sustainability affinity network school leaders toexplore the potential for them to become Network high schools for Anchor biotechnology and agriscience schools in Washington, North Carolina. Evaluation: •
Begin evaluation process for the following: o Evaluation of Teacher and Leader Effectiveness Initiatives o Evaluation of Initiatives Related to Supply and Distribution of Teachers and Leaders o Evaluation of School Transformation Initiatives o Evaluation of STEM Anchor School System Development o Evaluation of Local Spending o Evaluation of Overall Impact of Local RttT Funds Changes Requested to Plan or Timelines Outlined in State Detailed Scope of Work (DSW) •
Submitted to USED o Teacher Corps •
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RttT Management – add administrative assistant Teacher Effectiveness-­‐ developing measures of student growth in “non-­‐tested” areas Effective Teachers through Virtual & Blended Courses – approach, timeline, budget Distinguished Leadership In Practice Program -­‐ budget Evaluation of Professional Development – eliminate duplication Professional Development Tracking System (new) – establish deliverables and budget Changes Being Considered to Key Project Personnel •
The NCVPS Executive Director resigned effective April 15, 2011. The Assistant Director (John Brim; currently serving as RttT Project Coordinator) and other NCVPS staff will assume the Executive Directors’ duties until a new Executive Director is hired. Areas in which Technical Assistance/USED Support Could be Used •
Research on use of student growth measures as an indicator of teacher and principal effectiveness (particularly in “non-­‐tested” subjects) •
Sharing of successful Communications strategies and materials – particularly re how to reconcile excitement about RttT with reality of State fiscal cris(e)s and effects on schools NC DPI / NC RttT PMO Page 8 of 8 3/30/2011