Wednesday, March 28, 2012
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Archived Race to the Top Weekly Updates are available here:
http://www.ncpublicschools.org/rttt/updates/
NEW THIS WEEK
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NCDigIns Available for Formative Math Assessment
Registration Deadline for 2012 Summer Institutes is Friday
K-12 ELA Common Core State Standards Map
Professional Development Dates for April
NCDigIns Available for Formative Math Assessment
NCDigIns is a tool to help teachers with formative assessment in mathematics. Questions are provided in
a format that is conducive to providing descriptive feedback from the teacher, a peer, or the student
himself or herself.
NCDigIns was developed nearly two years ago when North Carolina teachers analyzed about 450
released test questions in grades 4, 7 and Algebra I to discover:
 What are the common reasons for incorrect answers?
 What problem-solving steps are important for this question?
 What are key skills to understand and review?
 What are sources for more practice?
Key for every question in NCDigIns is the one-page Problem Solving Strategy sheet, based on Polya’s
heuristic. Since NCDigIns went live in October 2010, many NC teachers have reported that the material
and approach are very beneficial. Once teachers are familiar with NCDigIns, they can use the framework
for new problems and develop, with their class, richer answers to the four questions above.
Take a look! Visit http://center.ncsu.edu/nc, then click the login button at the upper right. Click on the
NCDigIns link over in the group on the right. Choose grade 4, 7 or Algebra I. Then select an objective.
Most objectives have five questions each.
Plans are now being made to expand NCDigIns to align with the new Common Core Standards.
MORE INFO: Michael Gallagher, michael.gallagher@dpi.nc.gov
Registration Deadline for 2012 Summer Institutes is Friday
Please be reminded that registration for the 2012 Summer Institutes ends for all LEA and Charter School
leadership teams on Friday, March 30. Due to the volume of registrants this week, RttT Coordinators
for each LEA and RttT Charter (as well as the contact for non-RttT Charter Schools who are sending a
team) should follow up with each team member to be sure they have registered by the deadline. Each
leadership team should:
 have a maximum of 18 members;
 have one person assigned to each content strand; and,
 be registered for the same location.
NCDPI will follow up with you individually if additional information is necessary or if any changes should
be made. Please visit http://www.ncpublicschools.org/profdev/conferences/summerinstitutes/ to
access helpful information to prepare participants for their professional development experience. You
will find information about the purpose of the two-day training session, lodging options around each
location, information about the makeup of the team and a sample agenda. ***If you are a non-public
school, college/university, NCDPI employee, or other non-public institution, please contact Yvette
Stewart for special registration information. Thank you in advance for your cooperation.
MORE INFO: Yvette Stewart, yvette.stewart@dpi.nc.gov
K-12 ELA Common Core State Standards Map
The Common Core State Standards: English Language Arts map is now online. This interactive resource
provides the viewer with the progression of the K-12 ELA Common Core State Standards. It allows the
user to choose the strand and range to narrow or widen the scope – to focus attention on the standards
needing review. This is a helpful tool for educators interested in seeing at a glance grade-by-grade
expectations for students. It can be found at http://rt3nc.org/objects/standards/cclitmap/ela.html
MORE INFO: Julie Joslin, julie.joslin@dpi.nc.gov
Professional Development Dates for April
18 – Fidelity Support Session for PD Leadership Teams, CCRESA (NCSBA Building, Assembly Room)
19 – Common Core ELA and Math PD, Sandhills RESA (Mid Pines Inn)
19 – Fidelity Support Session for PD Leadership Teams, PTEC (Room 1, Special Events Center)
23 – Fidelity Support Session for PD Leadership Teams, SWRESA (UNCC Campus, Barnhardt Center)
24 – Common Core ELA and Math PD, WRESA
25 – Fidelity Support Session for PD Leadership Teams, NERESA (Vernon James Research Center,
Plymouth, NC)
27 – Fidelity Support Session for PD Leadership Teams, WRESA
30 – Fidelity Support Session for PD Leadership Teams, SERESA (Mad Boar Restaurant)
MORE INFO: Yvette Stewart, yvette.stewart@dpi.nc.gov
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
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New ASCD Institutes and Webinars
New Common Core State and North Carolina Essential Standards Instructional Tool
NCEES Webinars in April
IIS Team Presents at CCSA; RFP posted
Professional Development Survey
Race to the Top Teacher and Principal Survey through Friday
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
New ASCD Institutes and Webinars
The Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development (ASCD) is pleased to introduce two new
institute series and a series of free webinars to help educators nationwide implement the new Common
Core State Standards.
Beginning on Tuesday, May 8, in Salt Lake City, Utah, ASCD will launch a series of six institutes focusing
on supporting implementation of the new English language arts (ELA) standards. A parallel series of six
institutes will commence on May 15 in Jacksonville, Fla., and will focus on the implementation of the
new math standards. Both institute series will end in early June.
In addition to the institutes, ASCD is also offering a series of free webinars focusing on the Common
Core State Standards. The first webinar, scheduled for Tuesday, March 13, at 3:00 p.m. eastern time, is
called Creating Communities of Support for Implementing the Common Core State Standards. This
engaging webinar series continues Wednesday, April 3, at 3:00 p.m. eastern time with Common Core:
Assessment Shifts.
To read the full press release, visit: http://www.ascd.org/news-media/Press-Room/NewsReleases/ASCD-Offers-New-Common-Core-Institute-Series-and-Free-Webinars.aspx.
To speak with members of ASCD’s professional development teams about the association’s efforts to
support the implementation of the new Common Core State Standards, please contact
stephen.wakefield@ascd.org
MORE INFO: Tracey Greggs, tracey.greggs@dpi.nc.gov
New Common Core State and North Carolina Essential Standards Instructional Tool
The Curriculum and Instruction division has developed glossary of terms to be used along with the new
standards. This tool provides educators with terminologies that represent big, powerful concepts and
ideas teacher need to know and understand in order to effectively teach the new standards. The
Glossary of Terms is not meant to be exhaustive, but seeks to address critical terms and definitions
essential in building content knowledge and understanding. To locate the Graphic Organizers, go to
http://www.ncpublicschools.org/acre/standards/support-tools/#glossary
MORE INFO: Tracey Greggs, tracey.greggs@dpi.nc.gov
NCEES Webinars in April
The North Carolina Educator Evaluation System will conduct webinars in April to provide more
information on the new evaluation system for teachers and administrators. You may register at
NCEES.ncdpi.wikispaces.net. All webinars are approximately 60-90 minutes in length. The schedule is as
follows:
April 10, 3 pm - Teacher Summary Rating Form
April 12, 9 am - Principal Summary Rating Form
April 20, 9 am - Professional Development Plans
April 24, 4 pm - Standards 6 and 8
April 26, 9 am - Standards 6 and 8
MORE INFO: Eliz Colbert, eliz.colbert@dpi.nc.gov, or Robert Sox, robert.sox@dpi.nc.gov
IIS Team Presents at CCSA; RFP posted
The Instructional Improvement System (IIS) Team is presenting this week at the Collaborative
Conference for Student Achievement in Greensboro. Dr. Sarah McManus participated as a presenter in
three sessions, including being a panel member in the "Giving Teachers the Tools They Need: The Impact
of Race to the Top Technology Projects on Classroom Instruction" session and a session explaining the
IIS in detail. The team also is scheduled to discuss the Shared Learning Infrastructure (SLI) Learning
Maps and Content Tools that will be available through the Shared Learning Collaborative (SLC).
iscussions and planning will take place from both a technical and business/instructional/academic
perspective.
The RFP for the IIS was posted last month. The team continues to work on the Evaluation Planning for
the RFP. Vendor responses are due back by April 18, with the contract scheduled to be awarded by
September.
MORE INFO: Sarah McManus, sarah.mcmanus@dpi.nc.gov
Professional Development Survey
The Race to the Top evaluation team has finished Round 1 of gathering feedback on the online
professional development learning modules and resources provided by NCDPI. Round 2 is now under
way. The short questionnaire (8-12 items) can be accessed by clicking on the following link:
http://ncsu.qualtrics.com//SE/?SID=SV_0ks8HnXwvDqTHes. Thank you in advance for your
participation!
MORE INFO: Jeni Corn, Director of Evaluation Program, Friday Institute for Educational Innovation at NC
State University, (919) 513-8527 or jocorn@ncsu.edu.
Race to the Top Teacher and Principal Survey through Friday
Last month, principals and teachers at selected schools around the state were emailed a link to
the annual Race to the Top Teacher and Principal Survey. The survey takes 15 to 30 minutes to
complete, and respondents only need their district-provided email address to log in. The survey will be
open through this Friday, March 30th.
This survey is extremely important as it will provide information to the larger RttT Evaluation regarding
the impacts of RttT on educational outcomes as well as teachers’ and principals’ attitudes and behaviors
related to the central reforms of the RttT initiatives – it will not be used to evaluate individual schools or
educators.
MORE INFO: Race to the Top Evaluation, Omnibus Survey Team, SERVE Center at UNC-Greensboro,
RttTSurvey@serve.org.