January 9, 2013 NEW THIS WEEK • Pearson to Provide Home Base Components • New Professional Development Modules for 2012‐13 • Call for Presenters: Literacy & Math Design Collaborative Networking • Student Achievement Partners (SAP) Publishes New Common Core PD Modules • Archived Webinar on Common Core Literacy Standards for Science, Technical Subjects • Illustrations of Common Core Mathematical Practices in Action • Understanding Language Project Publishes Common Core ELA Unit • NCDPI Professional Development National Conference Presentation • Honors Implementation Guide for Review IN CASE YOU MISSED IT • Guilford, Iredell‐Statesville Win Local RttT Grants • Race to the Top Team Wraps Up READY Outreach Meetings NEW THIS WEEK Pearson to Provide Home Base Components The NC Department of Public Instruction has finalized a contract with Pearson to provide the following instructional improvement components of Home Base: Standards and Curriculum; Instructional Design; Practices and Resources; Assessment; and Data Analysis & Reporting. The NCDPI will begin rollout of the instructional improvement system functionality to all North Carolina public schools in fall 2014. Home Base will provide teachers with collaboration tools, instructional tools and resources, student assessments, learner profiles and reporting tools to help teachers customize lessons and other materials to improve student educational outcomes. A major component of Home Base will be PowerSchool, the new student information system. Home Base implementation aims to save teachers time, improve the quantity of high quality teaching materials, build stronger collaboration among educators, and support and customize educational opportunities for students. The student data collected in PowerSchool will directly integrate with the instructional tools to enable individualized student instruction and eliminate redundant data entry. MORE INFO: Sarah McManus, Learning Systems Division, sarah.mcmanus@dpi.nc.gov. New Professional Development Modules for 2012‐13 The North Carolina Department of Public Instruction has released new online modules to provide teachers, administrators and support personnel with flexible, on‐demand professional development. Please take time to review the contents of these modules. Individuals, schools or districts are encouraged to implement the new modules in ways that best suit their resources, calendars and local professional development plans. Modules are available through NC Education at http://center.ncsu.edu/nc/. The most recent released modules include: • Connecting with Our 21st Century Learners • Digital Literacies in the K‐12 Classroom • Introduction to Data Literacy • Literacy in History/Social Studies, Science and Technical Subjects • North Carolina School Executive Standards and Evaluation Process • Understanding Young Student Behavior in the Classroom For more information on the modules and suggestions for school or districtwide implementation, including best practices and facilitation strategies, please refer to the 2012‐13 Implementation Guide at http://rt3nc.org/pubs/impguide2012/. MORE INFO: Dr. Lynne Johnson, lynne.johnson@dpi.nc.gov, or Dr. Geetanjali Soni, geetanjali.soni@dpi.nc.gov, Educator Recruitment and Development. Call for Presenters: Literacy & Math Design Collaborative Networking Presenters are needed for the First Annual LDC/MDC Networking Conference at the Westin Charlotte Hotel, July 15 through 17. This conference is for teachers and school, district and state leaders who are engaged with or interested in adopting the tools and strategies of the Literacy Design Collaborative (LDC) and the Mathematics Design Collaborative (MDC) to advance students’ grade‐level mastery of rigorous common core state literacy and math standards. For more information, please review the attached document, titled Collaborative Networking Brochure. MORE INFO: Dr. Maria Pitre‐Martin, K‐12 Curriculum and Instruction, maria.pitremartin@dpi.nc.gov. Student Achievement Partners Publishes New Common Core PD modules Student Achievement Partners is a nonprofit founded by three of the contributing authors to the Common Core. This group, which develops tools for effective standards implementation, has released three new Common Core professional development modules designed to support district and school leadership in their transition to the Common Core. SAP initially released four modules in July 2012. The modules are intended for wide use among individual educators, in professional learning communities, or in preparation of professional development in a school or district setting. The time required for each module can be customized. Each module contains a facilitator’s guide, PowerPoint presentations with thorough notes, hands‐on activities, related readings and research, recommended topics for discussion, and web and video resources. Refer to the Facilitator’s Guide for specific instructions on how to use each part of the module. The new modules available are: Why the Common Core? How these Standards are Different: An overview of the background information necessary to understand why the Common Core State Standards were developed and how they are different from previous standards. Introduction to the Literacy Shifts in the Content Areas: An introduction to the key shifts required by the Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts and Literacy, specifically in the content areas (social studies, science, arts, etc.). Deep Dive into the Math Shifts: A deeper dive into the Math shifts for those familiar with the shifts required by the Common Core State Standards for Mathematics. Please visit http://www.achievethecore.org to download these modules. MORE INFO: Dr. Maria Pitre‐Martin, K‐12 Curriculum and Instruction, maria.pitremartin@dpi.nc.gov. Archived Webinar on Common Core Literacy Standards for Science, Technical Subjects Meeting the Demands of the Common Core: Mentoring Readers of Science and Technical Texts, with presenter Doug Buehl, is now available as an archived webinar. Discover why integrating literacy practices into the flow of regular disciplinary instruction is integral to 21st‐century learners. As students strive to meet new rigorous standards, teachers of science, mathematics and technical subjects face an urgent need to mentor students as readers of the varied texts of their disciplines. The Common Core State Literacy Standards expect students in the STEM disciplines to meet 10 reading standards that assume learners are regularly reading and comprehending complex texts in these disciplines. As a result, all teachers must ensure that students can independently access the knowledge in technical texts. Please visit http://www.achievethecore.org to access the archived webinar. MORE INFO: Dr. Maria Pitre‐Martin, K‐12 Curriculum and Instruction, maria.pitremartin@dpi.nc.gov. Illustrations of Common Core Mathematical Practices in Action Implementing the Mathematical Practice Standards is a project of the Education Development Center to promote teacher learning about the mathematical practices, which are part of the Common Core State Standards in Mathematics. Educators may browse a library of illustrations for all of the practices, each of which includes a mathematics task, student dialogue, teacher reflection questions, mathematical overview and student materials. In addition to the collection of illustrations, the project is interested in identifying people who would like to participate in or lead associated professional development programs during the 2013‐14 and 2014‐15 school years as part of the field‐testing for these materials. In the meantime, the website offers a protocol for using the illustrations on the website for professional learning. Please go to http://mathpractices.edc.org/ for more information. MORE INFO: Dr. Maria Pitre‐Martin, K‐12 Curriculum and Instruction, maria.pitremartin@dpi.nc.gov. Understanding Language Project Publishes Common Core ELA Unit The Understanding Language Project at Stanford University has published an instructional unit aligned with the Common Core ELA that shows instructional approaches that are likely to help English language learners (ELLs) meet the Common Core ELA standards. The unit, Persuasion Across Time and Space, includes more than 230 pages of resources, complete with full student handouts. The lessons address potent literacy goals and build on students’ background knowledge and linguistic resources. Built around a set of famous persuasive speeches, the unit supports students in reading a range of complex texts. The unit invites students to write and speak in a variety of ways and for different audiences and purposes. You may download the full unit from the Understanding Language website at http://ell.stanford.edu/teaching_resources/ela. MORE INFO: Dr. Maria Pitre‐Martin, K‐12 Curriculum and Instruction, maria.pitremartin@dpi.nc.gov. NCDPI Professional Development National Conference Presentation Yvette Stewart (Educator Recruitment and Development, NCDPI), Lauren Bryant and Meredith Walton (Friday Institute, NC RttT Evaluation Team) will present Poster Session: Reaching Success Together: Multiple Perspectives on Enhancing School Achievement and Promoting Positive Student Outcomes for All Students” at the 2013 American Educational Research Association (AERA) Annual Meeting in San Francisco, April 27 through May 1. The poster session highlights the NCDPI’s use of intensive, collaborative professional development to prepare district‐level teams to support educators through the Common Core transition. NCDPI uses a mixed‐methods approach to assess the quality and effectiveness of these efforts. The objective of this effort is to provide insight that is potentially beneficial to other states that are transitioning to Common Core. AERA received more than 13,000 submissions this year. Submissions were reviewed and selected by highly qualified reviewers serving on a review panel comprising the Division H ‐ Research, Evaluation and Assessment in Schools. MORE INFO: Dr. Lynne Johnson, Educator Recruitment and Development, lynne.johnson@dpi.nc.gov Honors Implementation Guide for Review The NCDPI Honors Level Course Planning Team has completed the draft of the Revised Honors Level Course Implementation Guide based upon the Honors Level Course Rubric approved by the State Board of Education last spring. It is now ready for vetting from the field. Please take a moment to review the guide, which can be accessed at http://dpi.state.nc.us/curriculum/links/. Feedback from local districts will be accepted until Jan. 18. Please send feedback to feedback@dpi.nc.gov. MORE INFO: Linda Brannan, Student Support Services, linda.brannan@dpi.nc.gov IN CASE YOU MISSED IT Guilford, Iredell‐Statesville Win Local RttT Grants Congratulations to Guilford County Schools and Iredell‐Statesville Schools. They were two among 16 local districts selected from 372 applicants nationwide to receive a portion of the Race to the Top grant directed to individual school districts. Guilford received $30 million, which will be applied toward tablet devices for middle school students that can track their progress, along with professional development for teachers. Iredell‐Statesville’s $20 million portion will support a blended learning initiative in middle and high schools. MORE INFO: Michael Yarbrough, michael.yarbrough@dpi.nc.gov. Race to the Top Team Wraps Up READY Outreach Meetings Superintendent June Atkinson and the NCDPI Race to the Top team wrapped up the Fall 2012 READY Outreach meetings in Durham on Tuesday, Dec. 11. It was the culmination of a visit to all eight regions across the state that began Nov. 19. Superintendents, principals, teachers and key central office personnel were invited to hear the latest on the state ‘s remodeling efforts around college and career readiness. A total of more than 3,500 attended the sessions to hear Dr. Atkinson and NCDPI leaders share updates regarding the new Common Core, Educator Effectiveness, the new accountability system, and Home Base (formerly known as the Instructional Improvement System), which will provide teachers and administrators with access to all the data and resources they will need with one log‐in. The sessions also included ample time for participants to ask questions. MORE INFO: Michael Yarbrough, Communications and Information, michael.yarbrough@dpi.nc.gov RACE TO THE TOP WEEKLY UPDATE INFO If you know someone who would like to be on this list, please send their email address(es) 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/