Race to the Top
Progress Update - On-site Review
Part B: In preparation for the on-site program review and Secretary stocktake, States must update
applicable questions (i.e., those for which there is new information) and provide appropriate
documentation to substantiate its responses for all relevant application sub-criterion (e.g. (A)(2) and
(D)(4)). 1
Application sub-criterion:2
(D)(5): Providing Effective Support to Teachers and Principals
STATE’s goals for this sub-criterion:
1. Create, train, and support a cadre of teacher and principal professional development
leaders to establish sustainable professional development capacity statewide.
2. Provide professional development training and coaching for educators (onsite and
remote) throughout the 8 regions of the state supporting the transition to the new
standards, data literacy, NC Educator Evaluation System, and the Instructional
Improvement System.
3. Find, design and/or develop resources (for workshops, professional learning
communities, virtual courses, webinars, etc.) to support effective professional
activities, with the capacity to create additional resources as needed.
4. Develop a statewide leadership development program for existing administrators.
Relevant projects:

Execute the Professional Development Calendar through the Professional
Development Initiative (PDI) Team and Conduct ongoing needs assessments (Fidelity
Support sessions)

Conduct planning institutes for LEA Leadership Teams (Summer Institutes)

Support and maintain the use of online learning opportunities through the
development of e-Learning modules and resources

Facilitate the Distinguished Leadership in Practice Institutes
1
Note that States will only be required to submit documentation for the on-site program review, not for monthly calls. States
should work with their Program Officers to determine relevant state-specific documentation.
2
All highlighted fields will be pre-populated by the Department Program Officer prior to State completion.
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1. Is the State on-track to implement the activities and meet the goals and performance
measures that are included in its approved scope of work for this sub-criterion? If so,
explain why. If not, explain why not.
The State continues to make progress toward meeting the goals and performance measures listed
in its Race to the Top application. Updates on the projects for D5 appear below:
Face-to-Face Professional Development (PD)
Regional Trainings
In order to continue to update the North Carolina educational workforce, the PDI team is
working to deliver its most ambitious calendar of face-to-face offerings to date. The 2013-2014
calendar presents over 325 offerings, as compared to the 2012-2013 calendar with 250 offerings
and the 2011-2012 school year with approximately 125 offerings. These PD topics build on
trainings from previous years and offer more in-depth examination of the NC Educator
Evaluation System (NCEES), Standard Course of Study, and data literacy. NCDPI continues to
maintain an online calendar of these offerings (available at
http://www.ncpublicschools.org/prodev/calendar/), though the calendar has become more userfriendly to enable stakeholders to easily find offerings that best support the needs of their LEA or
charter.
Spring Fidelity Checks
The Spring Fidelity Support sessions occurred in March and April 2013, with the objective of
helping all LEAs and participating charters measure progress made on SMART goals since their
Fall Fidelity Support sessions. NCDPI used the Guskey model to help LEAs gauge which stage
of successful professional development implementation best described their progress. LEAs were
also given a chance to analyze how different types of data could influence their professional
development plans. Districts that developed outstanding programs were asked to share design
insight and resources associated with these programs. For example, Franklin County shared how
school personnel conduct “Data Talks” every Tuesday to review individual students’ progress
and design strategies to assist them. NCDPI stored these presentations along with contact
information for presenters the Fidelity Support wikispaces for all regions to review and
collaborate. At the end of the sessions, each district/charter created a new SMART goal based on
individualized data activities supported by the PDI teams. District teams understood that these
goals would be revisited during SI2013 in Facilitated Team Time (FTT), and the PDI team used
information from the spring fidelity support sessions to influence different aspects of Summer
Institutes 2013 (SI2013).
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Fall Fidelity Checks
The Fall Fidelity Support sessions occurred in October 2013 and had four goals: 1) revisiting
professional development targets established during FTT at Summer Institutes 2013, 2) assisting
districts in self-evaluating progress made in the three month time span since SI2013, 3) applying
the Logic Model to the goals set as a guide to assist LEAs in planning and evaluating their
professional development offerings, and 4) offering feedback to help shape Summer Institutes
2014.
Each LEA or charter team discussed their accomplishments and their local priorities for
improving their professional development efforts. The PDI team tried to move teams to discuss
other aspects of evaluating professional development. For example, Cabarrus County had
developed processes for evaluating if teacher behavior had changed in the classroom, but
discovered their processes for evaluating basic aspects of professional development were
lacking. The back and forth discussions were beneficial in helping districts see all elements of
professional development evaluation. The teams enhanced their Goals established during SI2013
by identifying resources needed, roles and responsibilities for completing them, and setting
performance measures for the remainder of the year. While the SMART goals set by LEA and
charter teams represented their diverse needs, they all dealt with how to utilize Home Base to
improve instruction and how to utilize data to inform decision making.
The PDI team used this time with LEA and charter teams to gather information on how SI2014
could be more useful in assisting leadership teams in meeting their professional development
goals such as planning and disseminating information before the beginning of the 2014 calendar
year and to implement professional development strands based on job-alike categories. Planning
is underway for Spring Fidelity Support sessions (which will occur in March 2014). The focus of
these sessions, based on reflective information gathered from the PD Leads, will be on helping
districts make the connection with different student data points related to professional
development. Special emphasis will be placed on equipping districts to move forward and
solidify networks across the regions that will allow them to carry on the work that we have
begun and supported following the end of the RttT grant.
Formative Support
Professional Development Leaders delivered face-to-face and virtual trainings to LEAs as
requested to help them move forward with state initiatives. From July 2013 to December 2013,
Professional Development Leaders delivered 138 sessions in addition to the 325 face-to-face PD
sessions on the PDI calendar described above. The trainings covered topics such as Literacy in
the Content Areas” and“21st Century Skills,” though the most requested session focused on
NCEES and Home Base.
In preparation for the transition to the online NCEES platform, several virtual trainings were
planned to review the observation process, demonstrate how to complete observations using the
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new online platform, introduce the new principal tool which was made available in October
2013, and update users on improvements made to the system. To meet the demands of users,
NCDPI designed virtual trainings from the perspective of different users (District
Administrators, Principals, Superintendents, etc.)
NCDPI continues to hold regular meetings for stakeholder groups to get district and school staff
input on the system and vision for shared content in the TNL system. In addition to these
monthly meetings, NCDPI has been holding webinars for district and school staff to demonstrate
Home Base functionality and gather feedback on the planned features and content resources.
Home Base Support
NCDPI continues to provide training and support for the implementation of Home Base. NCDPI
conducted regional trainings for LEA and charter school trainers beginning in late June/early
July 2013; these sessions occurred in all eight regions of the state using a train-the-trainer model
for lead trainers from all districts and charter schools. The PDI calendar offered 60 sessions to
support both the Instructional Improvement System and the Educator Evaluation system. In
addition, NCDPI conducts weekly webinars to reach a broader audience for continued learning
opportunities on the content standards, classroom and benchmark assessment, and educator
evaluation components of Home Base. The webinars provide demonstrations of the look and
functionality of the systems and introduce how to effectively incorporate Home Base into the
classroom. Plans are underway to adapt further training plans to support Home Base in 2014.
NCDPI migrated the educator evaluation system (and its associated data) from the McREL
online tool to the Truenorthlogic delivery platform into Home Base in October 2013. The
enhanced system contains the Student Academic Growth standard (sixth for teachers and eighth
for principals and assistant principals). This component makes it possible for every educator to
receive a fair, rigorous, data-based evaluation of his/her effectiveness that includes specific
feedback to fuel professional growth.
Truenorthlogic continues to work to develop links between information from the educator
evaluation system and professional development content available in Home Base in March 2014.
These links will enable a teacher to use his/her observation ratings to immediately access
suggestions on ways to improve his or her teaching. This functionality is scheduled to be
available in the late spring 2014.
Summer Institutes
SI2013 built on the knowledge and skills learned from previous Institutes with a focus on
building district-and school-level leadership capacity to change teacher practice and student
outcomes. To accomplish this, NCDPI provided ten, hands-on, highly-engaging, two-day
professional development experiences that supported the transition to the new NC Standard
Course of Study, the North Carolina Educator Evaluation System (NCEES), and the State
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Accountability System, with an emphasis on Data Literacy. NCDPI also featured an
introduction to Home Base, NC’s statewide instructional improvement (IIS) and student
information system (SIS) for teachers, students, parents, and administrators. The guiding
questions for the Summer Institutes were, “How does ‘your content/topic’ help a teacher improve
their practice?” and “How do teachers know the students learned it?”
SI2013 had three goas: 1) to facilitate collaboration and district planning between LEAs/Charter
Schools to ensure statewide success in implementation of RttT initiatives, 2) to build
interdependence among the LEAs and Schools within a region and across the state, and 3) to
help LEAs understand connections between RttT initiatives. Based on the feedback from
Summer Institutes 2012 (SI2012) and the spring 2013 fidelity support sessions, NCDPI made
several changes to the program. First, NCDPI held the events at conference centers instead of
school centers. Second, NCDPI offered session choice with participants having thirty different
sessions to choose from based on their district needs and professional roles served. Also, NCDPI
designed topical sessions to integrate multiple strands (Home Base, Universal Design of
Learning, Professional Teaching Standards, etc.) with less time spent on direct training, and
Facilitated Team Time (FTT) was replicated from SI2012.
SI2013 reserved space for Facilitated Team Time (FTT) so that RttT teams could met and
develop a plan to share Summer Institute information with all LEA and Charter stakeholders. A
NCDPI facilitator assisted participants with accessing resources to support the development of
their implementation plans. A new feature of FTT was the use of Twitter (#ncsi13) to allow
leadership teams to collaborate and share what had been learned during SI2013. Questions used
for Tweetup included:
 What is the most valuable take away from Summer Institutes or Facilitated Team Time?
 What tips do you have to ensure your PD reaches all stakeholders?
 What resources or innovative practices have your LEA/charter found helpful as you
implement PD?
 As you plan your PD rollout, what’s the most critical step to ensure success?
 Shout to someone who has made an impact on you during SI2013.
NCDPI designed the SI wikispaces, http://si2013.ncdpi.wikispaces.net/, to assist leadership team
with pre-registration and allow for pre-work to be assigned in order to improve the learners’
experience in the actual session. SI2013 served 2,962 participants representing leadership teams
from all 115 LEAs and 50 charter schools.
NCDPI has initiated planning for Summer Institutes 2014. This initiative will build on all
previous Institutes by assisting the LEAs and charters to be purveyors in their own learning,
hence the theme, Sustaining Success…Building on Achievement. LEA and charter leadership
teams will create approximately 90% of all professional development offerings. Survey data
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from SI2013, presentation ideas generated during Fall Fidelity Support session, and the
expansion of Facilitated Team Time will influence the content strands for the SI2014 schedule.
Online and Blended Professional Development (OPD)
NCDPI has continued to expand the availability of instructional support tools and materials to
help teachers implement the new standards and assessments. While initial documents and
resources focused on how the new standards linked to previous standards, NCDPI shifted focus
toward providing teachers with resources, such as model lesson plans and instructional
scheduling guides that offer concrete examples of how to address the new standards in
classrooms.
On June 30, 2013, the PDI team released ten additional online professional development
modules which increased the total to 23. The new titles include:
 Data Literacy in Action
 Universal Design For Learning (UDL)
 Literacy in History/Social Studies, Science and Technical Subjects: Part 2
 NC Teacher Evaluation Process
 Building and Sustaining Professional Development [Guskey]
 21st Century Mentoring
 Responsibilities of the 21st Century Teacher (using the 21st Century Framework)
 NC Principal Evaluation Process
 Measures of Student Learning: Grade 9-12
 Measures of Student Learning: Elementary - Middle
Based on feedback from educators, NCDPI has created facilitated versions of two of the online
modules; these revised modules will guide teachers through the activities as a part of a group
instead of assuming teachers will complete the course independently. This facilitated model has
proven popular with educators, so NCDPI has worked to expand the number of offerings of these
two topics, The North Carolina Professional Teaching Standards and Connecting with your 21st
Century Learner.
In addition to the ten new online modules, PDI staff created their version of a MOOC called a
MOOClet. This MOOClet entitled, Effective Digital Strategies in the K-12 classroom, is a six
week course that serves as a model for delivering learning content for a large number of
participants. The MOOClet will be a facilitated course that explores using digital strategies to
support the 4Cs of learning: communication, collaboration, creativity and critical thinking.
Since August 2013, the PDI team has worked to move all modules to the Home Base
Professional Development System which is set to launch in March 2014. Eight of the transferred
modules will be converted to facilitated courses due the popularity of this format. In August
2013, NCDPI added two contractors to the PDI team in order to support this work. In addition to
the transferring of completed modules, the PDI team has begun to work to convert some of the
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wikispaces components into online learning mini modules. The teams have identified 6 potential
wikispaces to convert to mini modules. This effort will preserve the work of the team after the
RttT initiative ends.
In order to test the new PD system offered through Home Base, the PDI team converted one
online module, Universal Design of Learning, into a four week facilitated course delivered
through the new online platform. Two sections of the course with a maximum participation of 30
educators each were filled to capacity within two days of the weeklong registration period. The
course concluded in December 2013 and NCDPI is in the process of reviewing feedback from
the course.
The PDI team has started production on eight new modules to be released June 2014. Tentative
topics include: Foundations of Reading, Classroom Management, Best Practices of Best
Teachers, Instructional Design and Assessment, etc. Additional information on the online
professional development modules can be found on the NCDPI website (https://www.rt3nc.org/).
Distinguished Leadership in Practice (DLP) Program
The NC DLP program employs a non-traditional, blended approach to professional development
that allows participants to critically examine the meaning and application of school leadership
through a problem-based, real-world approach. NC DLP offers cohort-based, experiential
programs for principals, assistant principals, and superintendents.
Sessions for principals and assistant principals are facilitated by 14 highly-qualified individuals
who are former or current principals. Overall, principals receive a total of 250 hours of
professional development (approximately 60 hours of face-to-face work and 190 hours of online
work). The fourth cohort of principals began in April 2013 with 174 principals. To date, DLP
has served 560 principals, and 364 assistant principals in the state of North Carolina.
As previously mentioned, to address the need for leadership development for superintendents
following the implementation of the NC Superintendents evaluation, the NC Superintendents
Academy has begun with 34 superintendents currently participating. The kickoff occurred in
June 2013. The overall purpose of the program is to support the growth, expansion, and
enhancement of superintendents based on North Carolina standards for superintendents. The
program is designed to guide superintendents as they reflect on and improve their effectiveness
as district leaders; focus the personal leadership goals of the superintendents and link personal
goals with district and state goals; guide and facilitate the professional development of
superintendents toward advanced levels of executive leadership as defined by the North Carolina
Standards for Superintendents.
The other need identified by the state is to support the digital transformation of teaching and
learning within schools statewide. NCDPI has partnered with the NC Association of School
Administrators to develop an online, two-year, face-to-face program, referred to as the “Next
Generation” Principals Program, to help principals understand how to establish a culture of
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effective digital learning in their schools. These principals are leaders ready to apply their
leadership knowledge and skills to the critical task of creating the next generation of schools to
prepare our students for their lives in the global information age. The inaugural cohort is
scheduled to begin in January 2014.
2. Does the State have evidence indicating the quality of implementation for this subcriterion? What is/has the State doing/done as a result of this information?
The State believes that the PDI and provisions of other support resources for teachers and
principals has been strong and effective.
Professional Development Training and Coaching for Educators
Data in the latest PD report from the RttT Evaluation team (October 2013 draft) showed that
most of the participants surveyed agreed or strongly agreed that the NCDPI-RESA events
incorporated certain traits of high-quality professional development (87%-95%). Ninety-five
percent of respondents felt that the sessions had clear objectives, and 93% agreed or strongly
agreed that the session was relevant to their professional development needs. Almost all
respondents (93%) also felt that the session they attended had adequate opportunities for
participants to share their knowledge and experiences. Ninety-three percent of respondents felt
that the face-to-face PD sessions increased their knowledge of the material presented. Almost all
NCDPI-RESA participants rated the overall quality of each session type as good or excellent
(Corn et.al, p.28). When asked about the most beneficial aspects of the NCDPI-RESA sessions,
common responses included access to resources, including knowledgeable NCDPI staff;
increased understanding of new Common Core State Standards and North Carolina Essential
Standards; and the opportunity to practice skills they learned during the sessions (Corn et.al,
p.27).
More LEAs and charters are turning to the PDI team for assistance with new state priorities.
During the 2012-13 school year, NCDPI and the RESAs collaborated to provide 1,479 hours
(compared to 966 during the 2011-12 school year) of training to 7,326 participants (compared to
3,646 during the 2011-12 school year) across all eight State Board regions (Corn et.al, p.22).
Open-ended comments from the October 2013 draft report about improving NCDPI-RESA
sessions revealed most respondents would not make any changes (Corn et.al, p.31).
Roughly four out of five participants agreed or strongly agreed that the online modules and
webinars for their professional development experience was of high quality, relevant to their
needs, provided useful resources, and was valuable to their practice Corn et. al, p. 34). Feedback
on modules and webinars has influenced how these items are constructed. Several modules now
include discussion forums, wikis, or Google Forms to promote the sharing of ideas and resources
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among educators. NCDPI also added additional supports for educators this year by offering
cohort-based facilitated modules. This addition allowed participants to move through content and
discuss material as a group, as well as receive timely feedback and support from facilitators and
peers.
DLP Program
The RttT Evaluation Team has completed its second evaluation of the Distinguished Leadership
in Practice (DLP) program as of November 2013 and the feedback remains positive. The data
clearly show that the DLP team has designed and implemented a very high-quality program that
aligns to national professional development standards and meets the professional development
needs of the participating school leaders. Participants reported that they are building intended
knowledge and skills, positively impacting school leaders’ practice, and improving the culture in
their schools. Based on self-report ratings from DLP Cohort 2, nearly half (47%) of those who
had room for improvement (rated as Developing, Proficient, or Accomplished, but not
Distinguished) increased their leadership level over the course of their year in DLP. The
demonstrated growth provides evidence that the participants believe they acquired knowledge
and skills (Maxfield, et. al, p.5).
The November 2013 report assessed the impact the program had on participants’ schools.
Eighty-eight percent of DLP Cohort 2 participants strongly agreed or agreed that they had
noticed improvements in their schools’ culture since participating in the DLP program.
Moreover, program completers were significantly more likely than withdrawals to indicate
noticing such improvements (90% vs. 67%). About three-quarters of the DLP Cohort 2
principals (n=95) strongly agreed or agreed that they had noticed improvements in student
achievement since participating in DLP. Moreover, 78% of program completers (n=88) reported
noticing improvements in student performance since participating in DLP, compared to only
56% of those who withdrew (n=9) from the program (Maxfield, et. al, p.6).
3. What obstacles and/or risks could impact the State’s ability to meet its goals and
performance measures related to this sub-criterion?
The State is still on-track to meet all goals and performance measures. The following items have
been identified as risks and measures have been implemented to control for them:
 Technical issues surrounding all three systems located in Home Base have increased the
number of assistance requests for the PDI team. Supports have been established for the
entire PDI team in order to support the high level of requests. Other NCDPI staff
members for each component of Home Base have been identified to help the PDI team
troubleshoot LEA issues.
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
Attrition of current PDI staff is a risk to continuing the level of support currently
available to LEAs and charters. In August 2013, several members of the PDI team were
hired by neighboring LEAs and IHEs. The decision was made to enlist the PDI team to
help recruit full-time, non-contracted positions. As of December 2013, all full-time, noncontracted positions were filled.

While face-to-face professional development activities have consistently rated higher in
customer satisfaction then virtual professional development activities, LEAs and charters
are experiencing difficulties in finding travel money to take advantage of the ambitious
2013-2014 PDI calendar. Virtual professional development activities will become more
common place as resources continue to be depleted. The PDI team is working closely
with the vendor to ensure the Home Base PD system is well marketed and user friendly.
Evaluation: Based on the responses to the previous question, evaluate the State’s
performance and progress to date for this sub-criterion (choose one)
Red (1)
Orange (2)
Yellow (3)
Green (4)3
3
Red – substantially off-track and/or has significant quality concerns; urgent and decisive action is required; Orange –off-track
and/or there are quality concerns; many aspects require significant attention; Yellow –generally on-track and of high or good
quality; only a few aspects require additional attention; Green – on-track with high quality.
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