October 3, 2012 If you know someone who would like to be on this list, 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, department or website. For questions, concerns or technical assistance, please email the appropriate contact(s) directly. Thanks! ***LINKS: PC users might need to press the CTRL button when clicking on a hyperlink in this document. Archived Race to the Top Weekly Updates are available online at: http://www.ncpublicschools.org/rttt/updates/ NEW THIS WEEK • Teachers: Register for Webinar on Common Exams • Speak Up National Research Project Assists in RttT Research • What Assessments May Be Administered Online in 2012‐13? • 2012‐2013: Assessment Reminders for Algebra I/Integrated I and ELA • Teachers of Advanced Learners Webinars IN CASE YOU MISSED IT • IIS Team Establishes SLI Sandbox Environment • iPads Compatible with NCTest • Validation Studies for New Evaluation Rubrics • School Administrators: Register for Webinar on Common Exams NEW THIS WEEK Teachers: Register for Webinar on Common Exams Join the NC Department of Public Instruction and the NC Association of Educators for a webinar on the new Common Exams (formerly referred to as Measures of Student Learning). Find out more about the creation of these new assessments, and how they will be used in the sixth standard rating for teachers. The webinar will be held on Wednesday, Oct. 24, from 4:30 to 5:30 p.m. Register at https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/217537432 MORE INFO: Jennifer Preston, RttT Coordinator for Teacher and Leader Effectiveness, jennifer.preston@dpi.nc.gov, or Angela Farthing, NC Association of Educators, Angela.Farthing@ncae.org. What Assessments May Be Administered Online in 2012‐13? End‐of‐Course (EOC) assessments have been available online since 2007. For the 2012‐13 school year, the EOC assessments will continue to be available online along with end‐of‐grade (EOG) science and all NCEXTEND2 assessments. All of the EOC and EOG assessments for the 2012‐13 school year are fully aligned with the Common Core State Standards and NC Essential Standards. The following assessments will be available through the NCTest online assessment system. Algebra I/ Integrated I EOC Biology EOC English II EOC Grades 5 and 8 Science EOG NCEXTEND2 (EOC assessments in Biology, English II, Algebra I/Integrated I, and EOG assessments in English Language Arts, Mathematics, and Grades 5 and 8 Science) Paper‐and‐pencil versions of these assessments will be available for order, but the NCDPI strongly encourages administering these assessments online. MORE INFO: Kayla Siler, Policy Analyst, kayla.siler@dpi.nc.gov or http://www.ncpublicschools.org/accountability/testing/ 2012‐13: Assessment Reminders for Algebra I/Integrated I and ELA Algebra I/Integrated Math I: The following chart provides the required mathematics assessments based on the course of study for the 2012‐13 school year. As a reminder, all students must have a test score for Algebra I or Algebra I/Integrated I by the end of their 10th‐grade year for federal reporting of Annual Measurable Objectives (AMO). 2012‐13 Standards Course Assessment 1 2010 CCSS Algebra I or Integrated I Algebra I/ Integrated I 2010 CCSS Math I (local option) 1 Algebra I/ Integrated I 2010 CCSS Transitional Course2 No Assessment 1 2 The NCEXTEND2 is available for students who meet the eligibility criteria. The 2012‐13 transitional course is recommended for students who were enrolled in Algebra I in 2011‐12 who did not demonstrate mastery of the current content standards. The transitional course is an elective, and it will provide an opportunity for instruction on the Algebra I/Integrated I Common Core State Standards prior to this cohort taking geometry in 2013‐14. English II: Participation in an end‐of‐course assessment is based on enrollment in the course. Students currently enrolled for credit in English II for the 2012‐13 school year, must participate in the English II assessment (i.e., based on the 2010 Common Core State Standards). The 2012‐13 Courses for Credit Requiring the North Carolina READY End‐of‐Course Assessment or READY NCEXTEND2 End‐of‐Course Assessment document provides additional information and a list of course codes that require the administration of the appropriate EOC assessment. This document is available at http://www.ncpublicschools.org/accountability/testing/eoc/. MORE INFO: Kayla Siler, Policy Analyst, kayla.siler@dpi.nc.gov or http://www.ncpublicschools.org/accountability/testing/ Speak Up National Research Project Assists in RttT Research The Speak Up National Research Project provides participating schools, districts and non‐profit organizations with a suite of online surveys and reports to collect authentic feedback from students, educators and parents. In addition, the Project summarizes and shares the national findings with education and policy leaders in Washington and here in North Carolina. The top three reasons schools and districts participate in Speak Up are to: • collect unique data from their stakeholders; • conduct a needs assessment and create a vision for 21st century learning; and • use the data to create and inform technology initiatives or create strategic plans. Across the nation, educators say that Speak Up: • gives them a better understanding of issues important to their stakeholders; • provides a mechanism to empower students to voice their opinions; • provides meaningful input into their planning process; • enhances their ability to implement technology initiatives more closely aligned to students’ expectations and needs; and • helps identify meaningful benchmarks for measuring success. Since 2003, educators from more than 30,000 schools have used the Speak Up data to create and implement their respective visions. Register at http://www.speakup4schools.org/speakup2012 to participate in Speak Up. MORE INFO: Ouida Myers, Instructional Technology, ouida.myers@dpi.nc.gov Teachers of Advanced Learners Webinars NCDPI’s Academically and/or Intellectually Gifted Programs announces professional development webinars focused on “Advanced Content for Teachers of Advanced Learners in Math and Science.” This series is developed in partnership with NC School of Science and Mathematics. These one‐hour webinar sessions are open to all interested personnel. Registration is required. This professional development is geared largely toward teachers in grades 6‐12. Sessions will be archived and posted on NCDPI’s iTunesU site, http://www.ncpublicschools.org/itunesu/. Topics range from Recursion to Biomimicry to Integrating “E” in STEM. Please see attached flier for more information and registration links. The series will run from October 2012 to April 2013. Attend one or all sessions. MORE INFO: Sneha Shah Coltrane, AIG Director, Sneha.ShahColtrane@dpi.nc.gov IN CASE YOU MISSED IT IIS Team Establishes SLI Sandbox Environment The NCDPI IIS Team was successful in setting up the Shared Learning Infrastructure (SLI) Sandbox environment and completed the initial test load of the first data group containing SEA, LEA and school data entities. The SLI is a data integration platform that has potential to enable vendors to more easily write applications that use agency and LEA data, enable sharing of applications and content across LEAs and states, and has potential to give LEAs greater access to their data. North Carolina is the first state to successfully load data to the SLI sandbox environment. MORE INFO: Ben Comer, IIS Project Manager, Ben.Comer@dpi.nc.gov Validation Studies for New Evaluation Rubrics Evaluation rubric validation studies will begin this year for school psychologists, counselors, social workers, library media coordinators and instructional technology facilitators. All NC districts are invited to participate. Due to the large size of some of our districts, it may not be necessary for all staff in the representative areas to participate in the pilot. Our aim is to have some participants from every district in all five studies. Research and Evaluation Associates will facilitate the validation studies led by Dr. Jean Williams. All Human Resources Directors were contacted with this information on Sept. 25. HR Directors were asked to respond directly to Dr. Williams with participant information. MORE INFO: Dr. Jean Williams, Research and Evaluation Associates, jean@centurylink.net, or Dr. Lynne Johnson, Director, Educator Recruitment and Development, lynne.johnson@dpi.nc.gov iPads Compatible with NCTest Effective immediately, iPads now may be used to administer assessments using the online testing system (i.e., NCTest). Schools planning to use iPads must review the technical requirements at http://go.ncsu.edu/nct. Schools that administer an online assessment but do not meet the technical requirements are at risk of providing students items that cannot be manipulated (e.g., technology‐enhanced items), items that do not display with associated artwork (e.g., tables, graphs, symbols), and items that do not fit properly on the screen. Schools should periodically review the technical requirements at http://go.ncsu.edu/nct/ for updates. Communication among district‐level staff and school‐level staff is extremely important when planning online test administrations and all facets of the process should be discussed as early as possible. MORE INFO: Kayla Siler, Policy Analyst, kayla.siler@dpi.nc.gov or http://www.ncpublicschools.org/accountability/testing/ School Administrators: Register for Webinar on Common Exams On Oct. 10, NCPAPA and the NCDPI are hosting a webinar to provide updates and answer questions on the Measures of Student Learning/Common Exams (formerly referred to as Measures of Student Learning). During the hour‐long webinar, NCDPI staff will provide information aligned to frequently asked questions and also provide an opportunity for additional questions. We hope you will join us! Please visit https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/142460961 to register for the webinar. MORE INFO: Jennifer Preston, RttT Coordinator for Teacher and Leader Effectiveness, jennifer.preston@dpi.nc.gov, or Emily Doyle, NCPAPA, edoyle@ncasa.net.