Wednesday, December 7, 2011 If you know someone who would like to be on this listserv, please send their email address to Michael.Yarbrough@dpi.nc.gov. ***PLEASE NOTE: Each entry in this Weekly Update features the email address of at least one contact person or department. For questions, concerns or technical assistance, please email the appropriate contact(s) directly. Thanks! Archived Race to the Top Weekly Updates are available here: http://www.ncpublicschools.org/rttt/updates/ NEW THIS WEEK February/March READY Meetings for NC Principals and Teacher Reps New Teacher Effectiveness and Support Video Upcoming IIS Webinars NEW THIS WEEK February/March READY Meetings for NC Principals and Teachers Superintendent June Atkinson along with members of NCDPI will host regional READY meetings in all eight education regions of North Carolina between Feb. 28 and March 23, 2012. The purpose of these meetings is to provide each principal and a teacher representative from each school with tools for communicating and describing the new Essential Standards and Common Core state standards, the new state accountability model (piloted in 2012-13) and other changes in North Carolina's public schools. The focus of the 3-hour meetings will be on how all of these changes fit together to support learning for students and tools for communicating with their respective school communities. Each principal is being asked to bring one teacher representative from his or her school to these meetings. It is important to note that these meetings are targeted toward principals and teacher representatives to provide them with the tools they need for their specific roles in their schools as they prepare for the Common Core and other changes coming next fall. Local communications directors and public information officers also are being invited to these meetings. Other stakeholders are receiving information and preparation through various avenues of communication and professional development opportunities. MORE INFO: Vanessa Jeter, Vanessa.Jeter@dpi.nc.gov New Teacher Effectiveness and Support Video Ensuring that North Carolina's teachers are READY for the new Common Core and Essential Standards includes taking a "deeper dive" into what they teach, how they teach and how it is reflected in student growth. The new teacher evaluation gives teachers more meaningful insight into their work. Listen to North Carolina teachers describe how this is happening in their own words, along with principals who also find the new evaluation more helpful, in this new video from NCDPI. Visit www.ncpublicschools.org, click on the Career and College: Ready, Set, Go! logo to the left, then the Teacher Effectiveness and Support link at the bottom. MORE INFO: Michael Yarbrough, Michael.Yarbrough@dpi.nc.gov Upcoming IIS Webinars NCDPI is partnering with the North Carolina Association of Educators to present webinars around how the new Instructional Improvement System (IIS) will help teachers assess their students and target curricular resources to meet individual students’ needs. One opportunity is next week (December 13) and the other is February 21. A flyer with detailed information, including how to access the webinars, is attached. MORE INFO: Eric Moore, Eric.Moore@dpi.nc.gov IN CASE YOU MISSED IT… Common Core and North Carolina Essential Standards WikiSpaces Revised Bloom’s Taxonomy Module Released PLAN Assessment in December Special Statement and Information for Text Exemplars UPDATED Professional Development Dates for December UPDATED 2012 Summer Institute Locations and Dates IN CASE YOU MISSED IT… Common Core and North Carolina Essential Standards WikiSpaces The Curriculum and Instruction Division at NCDPI has created WikiSpaces for the Common Core and North Carolina Essential Standards. These collaborative online tools are for viewing and interacting with the various content area consultants, as well as viewing webinar postings and presentations, along with other instructional resources for your use. To join the WikiSpace for the content area of your choice, go to http://www.ncdpi.wikispaces.net/. These spaces are frequently updated with new information, so please check back often. MORE INFO: Maria Pitre-Martin, Maria.Pitremartin@dpi.nc.gov Revised Bloom’s Taxonomy Module Released The Revised Bloom’s Taxonomy module will be released today (November 30) after 5 pm. This module provides an overview of the Cognitive Dimensions, Knowledge Domains, verbs, and their relationship to instruction, learning, and assessing the North Carolina Essential Standards. (***NOTE: To increase video and flash performance, it is recommended that you use an updated browser such as Google Chrome or Mozilla Firefox. If you are using Internet Explorer, please click on Tools and check Compatibility View.) Additional resources also are available in the module menu. To log into the module, go to https://center.ncsu.edu/nc/. Use your Username and Password as you have with the other modules. If you are a new user, you will be able to create an account on that site. MORE INFO: Tracey Greggs, Tracey.Greggs@dpi.nc.gov PLAN Assessment in December For the first time, all 10th-grade students in North Carolina will take the PLAN assessment, which will be administered between December 5 and 16. PLAN assists 10thgraders in building a foundation for future academic and career success. It is a curriculum-based diagnostic assessment that measures achievement in English, math, reading, and science. PLAN consists of Non-Cognitive and Cognitive measures. Although PLAN is part of the new assessments, it is NOT a component of the accountability measures. The PLAN webinar is now available on the following web pages: http://www.ncpublicschools.org/accountability/ http://www.ncpublicschools.org/acre/redesign/ MORE INFO: Audrey Martin McCoy, Audrey.Martinmccoy@dpi.nc.gov, Tammy Howard, Tammy.Howard@dpi.nc.gov Special Statement and Information for Text Exemplars As a follow-up to the Text Exemplars document posted on the ACRE site, the Department of Public Instruction has provided a Statement Regarding the Use of Level Text and an important note for districts. We invite you to read this additional information located at http://www.ncpublicschools.org/acre/standards/common-coretools/#exemplar. MORE INFO: Julie Joslin, Julie.Joslin@dpi.nc.gov UPDATED Professional Development Dates for December This list includes noted revisions from last week: 8 – Phase III Principal Training on ITES and Common Core/Essential Standards, Region 7, Foothills Higher Education Center, 9am-noon and 1pm-4pm. 8 – NC Professional Teaching Standards Training for Principals and Assistant Principals, Sandhills RESA, 9 am to 4 pm. 9 – NC Professional Teaching Standards for Principals and Assistant Principals, SERESA 12 - Phase III Principal Training on ITES and Common Core/Essential Standards, Region 6, UNCC, 9201 University City Blvd., Charlotte, NC, 9am-12pm and 1pm-4pm (***NOTE: This is a location change from the Nov. 16 Update) 13 – NC Professional Teaching Standards for Principals and Assistant Principals, NERESA, 9 am to 4 pm. 15 – NC Professional Teaching Standards for Principals and Assistant Principals, SWRESA, 9 am to 4 pm. MORE INFO: Yvette Stewart, Yvette.Stewart@dpi.nc.gov UPDATED 2012 Summer Institute Locations and Dates NCDPI is gearing up for the second year of Summer Institute training for each local PD Leadership team. We are excited to announce the location and dates of the 2012 Institutes to mark your calendars and to begin thinking about summer planning in preparation for your teams to attend. Please note that this is a SAVE THE DATE and further details are forthcoming. Additionally, this is a collaborative effort on the part of the agency, so representation from every district and RttT Charter School is critical. Information on Data Literacy, the NC Standard Course of Study, Information and Technology Standards, and the NC Educator Evaluation System will be featured at these trainings. Registration information will launch in February. Locations and dates are as follows: Summer Institute 1 Summer Institute 2 Summer Institute 3 Summer Institute 4 Summer Institute 5 Summer Institute 6 Locations Enka High School 475 Enka Lake Road Candler, NC (Buncombe County) Maiden High School 600 West Main Street Maiden, NC (Catawba County) West Stokes High School 1400 Priddy Road King, NC (Stokes County) Croatan High School 1 Cougar Lane/3355 Hwy 24 Newport, NC (Carteret County) JH Rose High School 600 W. Arlington Blvd Greenville, NC (Pitt County) SanLee Middle School 2309 Tramway Rd. Sanford, NC (Lee County) Dates Thursday, June 21-Friday, June 22 Tuesday, July 10-Wednesday, July 11 Thursday, July 12-Friday, July 13 Tuesday, July 17-Wednesday, July 18 Thursday, July 19-Friday, July 20 Tuesday, July 24-Wednesday, July 25 MORE INFO: Contact Yvette Stewart, Yvette.Stewart@dpi.nc.gov