Race to the Top (RttT) Monthly Report for US Department of Education (USED) NC RttT February 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): •
Conducted 2 webinars for LEAs/charters on 2/10 to cover process for accessing newly released RttT funds •
Assisting LEAs/charters in establishing approved detailed RttT budgets •
Assisted in drafting 3 additional initiative budget and/or DSW Amendments •
Completed analysis of LEA/charter RttT initially budgeted expenditures; established database to facilitate further analyses •
All RttT Project Coordinators attended training in use of intranet collaborative site & began using shared drive to manage RttT project documentation •
Developed draft pamphlet to serve as key internal and external College & Career: Ready, Set, Go!/RttT communications vehicle (intend to finalize by 2/25) •
Updated internal NC DPI audience re progress on CCRSG/RttT through standing newsletter (“FYI@DPI”) •
Presented monthly RttT status report to SBE (2/3) •
Addressed GETC subcommittee request(s); presented to GETC subcommittees (2/3) •
Served on Third Way panel discussion in Washington, DC re RttT implementation (2/16) •
Will present to NC Network of Grantmakers (2/23) regarding ways in which they might supplement RttT funding for State and/or local initiatives Standards & Assessments: Standards •
Presented proposed updated Healthful Living Standards to SBE •
Posted Crosswalk Instructional Tool on the Accountability Curriculum Reform Effort (ACRE) website NC DPI / NC RttT PMO Page 1 of 7 2/22/2011 •
Met with Curriculum and Instruction (C&I) and Educator Recruitment and Development (ERD) divisions to plan the development and deployment of 2011 Summer Institutes on Common Core and Essential Standards •
Held joint meeting with C&I and ERD to plan training adult learners and writing online modules •
Posted Summer Institute flier and registration information for external stakeholders •
Presented to over 200 educators on Common Core Standards (1-­‐day training in Cumberland County) •
Presenting on Common Core and Essential Standards (2 days, 2/21-­‐22, in Dare County) Assessments •
Visited 11 schooldistrict to gather and share information regarding implementation of online assessments Data Systems to Improve Instruction: •
IIS Lead Project Coordinator assigned (replaced employee who left) •
Posted Instructional Improvement System (IIS) Request for Proposals (RFP) for planning support •
Drafted IIS Lead IT Project Manager RFP Great Teachers & Principals: •
Executed contracts/allotments for Northeast Leadership Academy, Sandhills Leadership Academy, Piedmont-­‐Triad Leadership Academy, and New Teacher Support Initiative •
Recruited and conducted interviews for Sandhills Leadership Academy Director •
Initiated contracts for the Teach For America expansion, additional evaluation instruments, online professional development (PD) modules on the Common Core and Essential Standards, training on online facilitation for new PD leaders, online modules on the principal and superintendent evaluation tool, continued development of online PD repository, and preliminary design of the Professional Development System (PDS). •
Matriculated 58 new corps members to 2011 Teach For America – Eastern NC Corps with interviews scheduled March 8-­‐17 •
Accepted applications for the second cohort of the Distinguished Leadership in Practice from all 8 NC regions (due March 1) •
Drafted initial plans for North Carolina Teacher Corps •
Initiating Requests for Proposals for strategic staffing initiative and design and validation of student growth measure •
Collaborating with school districts to identify professional development leaders to attend summer training institutes •
Collaborating with multiple divisions within the NCDPI to plan upcoming PD opportunities; planning includes content development, deployment, and integration of technology for the launching of new standards this summer •
Developing design templates for use by teacher workgroups in non-­‐tested subjects NC DPI / NC RttT PMO Page 2 of 7 2/22/2011 •
11/15 PD leaders now in place working with Educator Recruitment and Development team •
Finalized policy (SBE approved) governing compensation model for low-­‐performing schools Turning Around the Lowest-­‐Achieving Schools: •
Completed Comprehensive Needs Assessments for 10 identified schools, 1 district (Washington County) •
Continued work on hiring for RttT positions: o 2 Instructional Resource Coach (IRC) positions filled (all IRC positions now filled) o 1 additional District Transformation Coach (DTC) assigned (Anson County) o Agreement made/contract in process for DTC for Durham Public Schools o 1 additional School Transformation Coach interview conducted with Durham o Placed 1 STC and 1 Instructional Coach (IC) temporarily in Weldon City o Interviewing weekly for ICs, DTCs, and STCs o Completed interviewing and recommended 2 program assistants •
Held transition meetings with 1 additional district – Anson County •
Interim support identified for selected schools/districts until hiring process is complete for permanent positions •
Continued delivering PD and Coaching for currently served schools/districts •
Continued working to assign PD and Coaching staff to newly served schools •
Continued designing summer in-­‐service PD for identified schools and districts •
Sent letters to all partnered districts and the 176 schools describing again the services that they will receive and information about summer professional development NC Education Cloud: •
Provided NC Education Cloud regional updates for Regions 3, 5, 7, & 8 (meetings are intended to assist in aligning all RttT initiatives) •
Finalized online interactive interview instrument for gathering data in Phase 1 Site Interviews •
Began LEA Site Interviews in regions 1 and 2; interviewed the following LEAs: o Martin o Washington o Camden o Currituck o Perquimans o Edenton/Chowan o Wayne o Sampson o Greene o Craven o Carteret o New Hanover NC DPI / NC RttT PMO Page 3 of 7 2/22/2011 •
Confirmed LEA membership for NC Shared Services Advisory Committee (Committee composed of two members per region from all eight regions; includes superintendents, assistant superintendents, chief technology officers, instructional technology directors, and Charter School IT directors) •
Met with other RttT Initiative Leads and Coordinators to assist in coordination of Cloud and other technologies across the initiatives •
Continued information gathering meetings with large service providers, including MCNC, ITS, NC Live, SAS, Dell, Pearson, Microsoft, and AT&T •
Employed four contractors (NC State University, Friday Institute) and one sub-­‐contractor to begin work on project facilitation, policy work, system architecture, and data collection •
Held NC Education Cloud Kick-­‐Off meeting for internal NC DPI RttT Team members, including Instructional Technology, Connectivity, Regional Leads, Technology Services, NC Virtual Public School, and Friday Institute and MCNC project contractors •
Held Targeted webinar for LEA Superintendents, LEA Chief Finance Officers, LEA technology contacts, and Charter Directors (over 165 participants) •
Began architecture/design work on NC Education Cloud Identity Management component Science, Technology, Engineering, & Math (STEM): •
Assigned NC DPI project coordinator (Director of STEM Education & Leadership) •
Continued conversation with New Schools Project to develop contract for Anchor Schools & Affinity Networks Evaluation: •
Conducted initiative-­‐specific planning sessions to establish detailed work plan for evaluation of each initiative Activities Projected for the Month Ahead RttT Management: •
Plan/schedule State Initiative-­‐focused webinars to inform LEAs’/charters’ development of their Detailed Scopes of Work (DSW) for the 2011-­‐12 submission •
Identify and prepare other initiative budget and/or DSW Amendments, as needed •
Continue to support establishment of LEA/charter RttT budgets •
Add functionality, information to RttT Project Management intranet collaborative site •
Present monthly RttT status report to SBE (3/3) •
Address GETC subcommittee request(s) as needed •
Present RttT Communications Plan to full GETC at monthly meeting (3/3) Standards & Assessments: Standards NC DPI / NC RttT PMO Page 4 of 7 2/22/2011 •
State Board of Education to make decision on approving Healthful Living Standards •
Make Guidance standards accessible for public feedback •
Post registration for district-­‐level and charter school teams to attend Summer Institute informational webinars •
Module and Implementation Design teams will begin weekly meetings to work on the development and design of the 2011 Summer Institute PD (blended approach) for district-­‐level and Charter School teams Assessments •
Continue to conduct district site visits, webinars, and/or surveys to collect information regarding online assessments •
Identify how content-­‐specific examples of formative assessment tasks and tools are embedded within the North Carolina Formative Assessment Learning Online Network (NC FALCON) Data Systems to Improve Instruction: •
Receive bids for IIS RFP for planning resources •
Hire IIS assistant project coordinator (per USED-­‐approved section C3 amendment) to assist IIS Lead Project Coordinator •
Release RFP for IIS IT Lead Project Manager (to oversee day-­‐to-­‐day implementation of IIS) •
Secure internal NC DPI IT support personnel Great Teachers & Principals: •
Conduct Diagnostic Needs Assessment to identify PD needs in each local education agency •
Continue planning for summer training institutes •
Continue work on contracts in progress •
Interview and hire online module developers and remaining PD leaders •
Conduct site visits to research innovative teacher evaluation models •
Evaluate submitted proposals for strategic staffing initiative and design and validation of student growth measure and select vendors •
Work with partners to recruit and interview for the Director of the Piedmont-­‐Triad Leadership Academy •
Work with partners to select participants for the second cohort of Distinguished Leadership in Practice Turning Around the Lowest-­‐Achieving Schools: •
Conduct 52 Comprehensive Needs Assessments in additional identified schools/districts •
Continue work on hiring for RttT positions •
Hold transition meetings with additional new districts •
Deliver ongoing PD and coaching for currently served schools/districts NC DPI / NC RttT PMO Page 5 of 7 2/22/2011 •
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: •
Hire the NC Education Cloud Manager •
Provide Round Table-­‐type collaborative opportunities for Cloud and other RttT technology initiatives at the statewide NCTIES conference (March 2-­‐4) •
Hold first NC Shared Services Advisory Committee meeting at NCTIES conference. •
Hold Consortium/Cooperative Purchasing LEA Advisory Working Group meeting at NCTIES •
Begin low-­‐level glossary of frequently used NC Education Cloud and RttT technology terminology •
Work with SAS Institute to develop a business analytics tool for a “deeper dive” into the data gathered from site interviews •
Develop macro-­‐level messaging for LEA leadership to use with school boards and other community members that is consistent with other more detailed messaging •
Develop whitepaper on NC Education Cloud Identity Management Science, Technology, Engineering, & Math (STEM): •
Establish contract with New Schools Project to deliver anchor schools and affinity networks Evaluation: •
Finalize set of high-­‐level evaluation questions based on feedback from NC DPI, SBE, and GETC •
Continue initiative-­‐specific planning sessions to establish detailed work plan for evaluation of each initiative Changes Requested to Plan or Timelines Outlined in State Detailed Scope of Work (DSW) •
In development: o NC Teacher Corps o Teacher Effectiveness – developing measures of student growth in “non-­‐tested” areas Changes Being Considered to Key Project Personnel •
None NC DPI / NC RttT PMO Page 6 of 7 2/22/2011 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) •
Research on instructional improvement systems (including which components other states are including in their proposals) and forums for sharing information across states – connected with Tate Gould; IES will provide consultation/technical assistance •
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 7 of 7 2/22/2011