Wednesday, February 8, 2012
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, department or website. 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
 Assistance with the NC Educator Evaluation System (NCEES)
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LiveBinders Provide Self-Study Opportunities, Resources
Recommended High School Sequencing for English/Language Arts Available
Region 5 Wikispace Has a New Name
Race to the Top Teacher and Principal Survey through March 30
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
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READY Regional Outreach Meetings for Principals, Teachers
ARRA Compliance Reminder
Regional Wikispaces
PLAN Interpreting Student Data Training
NEW THIS WEEK
Assistance with the NC Educator Evaluation System (NCEES)
Does your district/school need assistance with the NC Teacher or Principal/Assistant Principal Evaluation
Systems? The Race to the Top Professional Development leaders are available (at no cost) to help your
district/school build capacity and to provide trainings in your region. These professionals have the most
up-to-date information on the evaluation systems, including the online tool. Their contact information
is available at http://www.ncpublicschools.org/profdev/directory/.
MORE INFO:: Eliz Colbert, eliz.colbert@dpi.nc.gov; Robert Sox, Robert.sox@dpi.nc.gov
LiveBinders Provide Self-Study Opportunities, Resources
The Self Study LiveBinder is designed for those who are interested in learning about the English
Language Arts Common Core State Standards. The binder provides an overview of the new standards,
as well as an in-depth description.
The range of tasks offers users an opportunity to determine their own specific needs. Each tab contains
one lesson in which participants may engage in activities, review informative slides, read articles and
view videos. Each lesson features a skills checklist and learning objectives.
The lessons and resources have been taken from the professional development opportunities that have
been offered across the state. More materials will be added to the binder soon, and links will be
continually updated. This tool is best used within a PLC (Professional Learning Community) to enhance
discussion and interaction. The Self-Study LiveBinder can be accessed at
http://www.livebinders.com/edit?id=262077.
The Resources LiveBinder offers an organized collection of resources for the ELA Common Core State
Standards. The goal for the provision of this binder is to inform your district’s professional development
and to add clarity to current initiatives. Resources that will assist educators in implementing the new
standards will be continually added. The Resources LiveBinder can be accessed at
http://www.livebinders.com/edit?id=297779.
MORE INFO: ncdpi.ela@gmail.com
Recommended High School Sequencing for English/Language Arts Available
The scope and sequence of literature for North Carolina high school students allows for a literary
experience that carries not only a global perspective but also an opportunity to view U.S. literature and
literary nonfiction within that global lens. To view this document, go to
http://www.ncpublicschools.org/acre/standards/hs-sequencing/.
This document could be used as an accompaniment to the Text Complexity document located at
http://www.ncpublicschools.org/acre/standards/common-core-tools/ .
MORE INFO: Julie Joslin, Julie.Joslin@dpi.nc.gov
Region 5 Wikispace Has a New Name
In an effort to ensure that all wikispace names and URLs are “evergreen” and not named for
specific individuals, the Region 5 wiki name is changing. The wikispace formerly known as
franharrisburke.ncdpi.wikispaces.net is changing to ncregion5rttt.ncdpi.wikispaces.net.
Visitors to the former domain name will be directed to the new one through March 4. Beyond
that date the new name must be used for access.
Race to the Top Teacher and Principal Survey through March 30
On Feb. 6, 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 March 30th.
This survey 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 UNCGreensboro, RttTSurvey@serve.org.
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
READY Regional Outreach Meetings for Principals, Teachers
Beginning on Feb. 28 and throughout most of March, key leaders from NCDPI will travel to all
eight regions of our state to meet with principals and a teacher representative from each
school in the state. The purpose is to share with them our effort to remodel NC’s system of
public schools. The last time we held meetings of similar scope was during the early years of the
ABCs of Public Education.
Now, with the advent of a new school accountability model, a new Standard Course of Study
and so many other advances for North Carolina, we feel that it is critical that principals and
teachers fully understand what these changes are and how the changes will affect their work.
The focus of our meetings will be around illustrating how all these components fit together to
support educators as they work to promote student achievement for North Carolina students.
We have invited every principal in the state, one teacher of the principal’s choosing, the local
superintendents and the local communications directors to these meetings. Many of you who
do not fall into one of the above categories have requested to attend. While we would very
much like to accommodate everyone, the limited space in our venues prevents this.
This is an effort to provide fair and equitable communication about the significant changes
coming this fall to as many school-level professionals as possible. There will be follow-up
webinars in April that will allow for greater participation (you will receive more information on
this), and one of the sessions will be videotaped for posting on the website. Thank you for your
understanding and cooperation.
MORE INFO: Vanessa Jeter, Vanessa.Jeter@dpi.nc.gov
Regional Wikispaces
Below are links to each regional resource page created by the NCDPI RttT PD Leads designed to
share information and support the work of the district/charter PD teams. This information is
shared and compiled as a result of the training sessions, individual virtual conferences,
district/charter team meetings and more that are held in each region. Please take advantage of
these resources and feel free to contact the RttT PD Leads for additional information.
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Region 1: http://region1rttt.ncdpi.wikispaces.net
Region 2: http://NCRegion2.ncdpi.wikispaces.net
Region 3: http://region3pd.ncdpi.wikispaces.net
Region 4: http://rt3region4.ncdpi.wikispaces.net
Region 5: http://franharrisburke.ncdpi.wikispaces.net
Region 6: http://region6pd.ncdpi.wikispaces.net
Region 7: http://rt3region7.ncdpi.wikispaces.net
Region 8: http://region8wnc.ncdpi.wikispaces.net
MORE INFO: Yvette Stewart, Yvette.Stewart@dpi.nc.gov
ARRA Compliance Reminder
As we continue into Year 2 Race to the Top implementation, it is important that everyone be
reminded that RttT funds are American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) funds.
Therefore, NCDPI and all local school districts and charter schools receiving RttT funding must
comply with ARRA requirements.
The attached document is a list of ARRA requirements. We encourage you to keep these handy
and share with your finance officials to ensure total compliance statewide.
MORE INFO: Sam Fuller, Samiel.Fuller@dpi.nc.gov
PLAN Interpreting Student Data Training
Monday, February 6 kicks off the regional trainings for Interpreting Student Data on the PLAN
assessment. Each district is encouraged to send representatives to this training. Please
reference the attached document to see when and where your regional training will be. The
training will provide guidance on how to effectively interpret the PLAN student report in order
to communicate to students, teachers, and parents areas for academic improvement and
career planning. To register, please contact the RESA director.
MORE INFO: Tracey Greggs, Tracey.Greggs@dpi.nc.gov