Race to the Top Weekly Update
Wednesday, July 20, 2011
In this issue:

CEDARS Data Warehouse Demonstration Webinar

Wanted: Teacher Input on Student Learning Measures

IIS Planning Continues

CEU Certificates for Summer Institutes

Facilitator’s Guide Online

‘The Call for Change’ Credits and Update

Coming This Fall: Phase 2 Instructional Tools
CEDARS Data Warehouse Demonstration Webinar
Educators will have two webinars to choose from on Wednesday, July 27 (9-11 am or 1-3 pm) to learn about the newly established CEDARS Data Warehouse and reporting tools. CEDARS (Common
Education Data Analysis and Reporting System) is North Carolina’s PK-13 State Longitudinal Data
System (SLDS) and contains consolidated education data from more than 30 data sources at NCDPI.
The webinars are open to all LEA/Charter personnel. They will provide an overview of the types of data available in the CEDARS Data Warehouse and the kinds of built-in, web-based reporting tools that
LEA/Charter personnel can use to access and analyze the data. NCDPI staff also will demonstrate a set of draft LEA/school views, or “dashboards,” that the CEDARS Team has developed for LEA and school use.
Please forward this invitation to anyone in your district or charter school who would benefit from participating. Suggested participants include NC WISE coordinators, data managers, curriculum & instruction staff, testing coordinators, program administrators, and any personnel responsible for data analysis and planning. There is no limit to the number of people who may attend the webinars from each
LEA/Charter.
To register for a webinar, please visit www.ncpublicschools.org/cedars/reporting/webinars .
MORE INFO: Kayla Siler, Kayla.Siler@dpi.nc.gov
.
Wanted: Teacher Input on Student Learning Measures
As part of the Race to the Top initiative, NCDPI is bringing together teachers from across the state to engage in a dynamic discussion around student learning in all grades and subjects. These teachers will play a vital role in the design of measures of student learning that accurately reflect what students know and are able to do in a broad range of classes, ranging from fourth grade social studies to high school physics.
Educators participating in these work groups will receive training on assessment and curriculum to prepare them for their work. Through Race to the Top, NCDPI will reimburse districts for substitute pay for teachers participating in the work groups, and participants will receive reimbursement for travel expenses, as well as meals and overnight accommodations. The first round of training will be held over

two days in late August or early September. It is expected that teachers will need to return to Raleigh for two additional two-day work periods during the 2011 - 2012 school year.
Educators can register for one of the work groups by visiting http://tinyurl.com/NCDPIworkgroups .
MORE INFO: Jennifer Preston, Jennifer.Preston@dpi.nc.gov
IIS Planning Continues
The planning for North Carolina’s Instructional Improvement System (IIS) is in high gear. The IIS is an online resource for students, parents, teachers, and administrators and will house instructional and learning resources, technology ‐ based tools, and other strategies to provide meaningful support and actionable data to make informed decisions related to improving instruction and learning.
Since early June, the IIS planning vendor, the Center for Educational Leadership and Technology (CELT) has met with NCDPI groups as well as external partners to gather requirements and begin shaping the
Request for Proposal(s). Internal planning groups include Curriculum and Instruction, Accountability,
Technology Services, Policy and Strategic Planning, Data Management Group, Career and Technical
Education, Licensure, Educator Recruitment and Development, English as a Second Language, and
Exceptional Children.
External Groups participating are the NC Association of Educators, NC Learning Objective Repository (a project of the NC Community College System), NCSU Technical Outreach for Public Schools (TOPS),
NCSU Friday Institute, SAS, and LearnNC.
Upcoming meetings will include reaching out to parents, schools boards and LEAs via the North Carolina
PTA and NC School Boards Assocation, as well as with district and school staff. We will target principals, assistant principals, and teachers at the regional meetings, but anyone who can contribute a local perspective to the IIS plan is welcome. Meeting dates are Aug. 2-5 in Raleigh, Charlotte, Asheville and Hampstead. Specific times and locations are still being confirmed, so please email the IIS Project
Director, Sarah McManus ( sarah.mcmanus@dpi.nc.gov
) or the IIS Project Coordinator, Eric Moore
( eric.moore@dpi.nc.gov
) for more information.
CEU Certificates for Summer Institutes
We have received questions regarding the receipt of CEU certificates for participation in one of the
Summer Institutes. In order to receive a certificate, we are asking participants to first complete a Summer
Institute Evaluation Survey no later than one week after the Summer Institute in which you have participated.
Here is how it works: Each Summer Institute participant will initial the sign-in sheet at the registration table each morning. After Day 2, your attendance will be verified by the registrar, and you will then be able to access the evaluation survey and CEU certificate.
Only after your full participation has been verified by the attendance roster will you receive access.
Complete the survey and then you will be able to print your CEU certificate, or it will be recorded and logged in the system. The online survey and CEU certificate can be found at https://center.ncsu.edu/nc/ under the 2011 Summer Institute tab. Please be sure your email address is accurate to ensure that you receive future correspondence and information from the system regarding the Summer Institute training.

The remaining deadline dates for completing the survey and receiving your CEU certificate are as follows:
Kinston location: Today (July 20); Stokes location: Friday (July 22); Pasquotank location: July 27;
Catawba location: July 29; Moore location: August 3.
MORE INFO: Beth Ann Williams, Beth.Williams@dpi.nc.gov
, or Yvette
Stewart, Yvette.Stewart@dpi.nc.gov
.
Facilitator’s Guide Online
The Common Core State Standards and Essential Standards 2011 Summer Institute Facilitator's Guide is now online. It also is being provided to all district team members on CD at the Summer Institute trainings, along with a hard copy for each team lead.
The Guide is designed to assist district and charter teams in planning and facilitating the North Carolina
Department of Public Instruction's blended professional development initiatives for the new standards.
Materials and links in the guide, combined with the online learning modules and materials from the
Summer Institutes, provide a framework for locally-delivered professional development. The Guide can be found at http://www.ncpublicschools.org/acre/resources/.
MORE INFO: Yvette Stewart, Yvette.Stewart@dpi.nc.gov.
‘The Call for Change’ Credits and Update
To receive a Certificate of Completion for The Call for Change module, each team member must log in on his/her own computer and begin the process. Please note that several activities intended for team discussion and collaboration are embedded in the module. Local RttT Coordinators should identify the time and location a team should meet to complete this portion. Once the discussion or activity is completed as a team, each team member is to resume working individually.
To take this online module, go to https://center.ncsu.edu/nc and follow the instructions. Once you are logged in, click on the link to New Standards, which lists all courses. Then click on The Call for Change course and enroll. Be sure you have updated your Web Browser and have the latest version of Flash in order to effectively view videos.
ALSO, please note that the spelling of the word “enrol” is the result of the usage of an international platform on which the modules are built and, as such, is correct.
New modules are still under development and will be accessible for LEA use by late summer. MORE
INFO: Tracey Greggs, Tracey.Greggs@dpi.nc.gov
Coming This Fall: Phase 2 Instructional Tools
You’ve seen the Common Core State and North Carolina Essential Standards Crosswalks, Understanding
Standards document ( http://www.corestandards.org/assets/CCSSI_ELA Standards.pdf) , and of course, The Call for Change online module mentioned above. These were Phase 1 Instructional Tools for the new standards. The NCDPI staff now is designing and developing new Phase 2 tools to assist educators as they transition to and implement the new standards. The new Phase 2 instructional tools will be launched in the fall of 2011-summer of 2012. We will provide you information on these tools as they are crafted.
MORE INFO: Tracey Greggs, Tracey.Greggs@dpi.nc.gov