PRINCIPALS' MESSAGES 2005

OCTOBER 20, 2005

The 2005 National Assessment of Educational Progress results released yesterday show that our state's strong mathematics progress held steady this year, but reading scores have dropped since 2003. There is no one magic response to the need to improve the reading skills of our students. Instead, it will take a combination of sustained professional development, instructional support for reading and family and community emphasis on reading. There are a number of initiatives underway now to strengthen reading in our state, and I am confident that these efforts will pay off in the future. In the meantime, I encourage you to review the NAEP information online at www.ncpublicschools.org under "News."

Regards,
June Atkinson

In this Biweekly Principals' Message:

1. Gov. Easley Announces Creation of Thematically-Focused High Schools
2. Resources for Healthy Active Children Policy: Classroom Based Physical Activity
3. Principal Workshop Planned for 2005 HRMS Conference
4. Literacy to Learn: Reading, Writing, and Thinking across the Curriculum
5. Winston-Salem/Forsyth Teacher Named to All-USA Teacher Team
6. Kindertransport Exhibit
7. United Kingdom Teacher Exchange Opportunity
8. General Hugh Shelton National Student Leadership Scholarship
9. Articles of Interest

Gov. Easley Announces Creation of Thematically-Focused High Schools

Gov. Mike Easley this month announced that 12 school districts in North Carolina have received grants to create nine high schools focusing on themes based on local issues, interests, and community or regional characteristics to better prepare students for college. School systems receiving the planning grants include: Alamance-Burlington, Asheboro City, Charlotte-Mecklenburg, Davie County, Moore County, Roanoke Rapids Graded School District, the Roanoke River Consortium (collaboration between the Warren, Halifax, Northampton and Hertford counties' schools), Swain County, and Surry County. Easley said, "Students who learn to make a connection between the courses they take and their real lives will graduate better prepared to meet the academic demands of college or the challenge of the workplace." The districts will receive a total of $223,000 in financial support and services to develop the small, thematically-focused autonomous high schools. Districts receiving grants plan to open the new schools by the fall of 2006.

Resources for Healthy Active Children Policy: Classroom Based Physical Activity

The Carolina Panthers, in partnership with Charlotte Country Day and the NC Department of Public Instruction, are working together to provide a resource for elementary classroom teachers to get kids active. By next school year, grades K-8 are required to offer at least 30 minutes per day of physical activity for students (SBE Policy # HSP-S-000). This requirement can be met through three, 10-minute segments or accomplished in a 30-minute block. The Carolina Panthers Fit Squad was created to provide elementary classroom teachers with a resource to provide this physical activity. To register for the "Fit Squad" program, visit the Carolina Panthers Web site and click the community involvement link. You may also visit http://www.panthers.com/community/commProgramsDetail.jsp?id=20846 for more information. An additional resource to meet the physical activity requirement is "Energizers: Classroom-based Physical Activities" located at www.ncpe4me.com and available to download for free. For more information about either of these products or the Healthy Active Children Policy, please contact Kymm Ballard at kballard@dpi.state.nc.us.

Principal Workshop Planned for 2005 HRMS Conference

A workshop tailored for public school principals has been scheduled for the 2005 HRMS User Group Conference. The Principal Workshop will be a half-day review of information available to principals for current employees including demographics, licensure and renewal credits. In addition, this workshop will introduce principals to the Vacancy Staffing Module. The features to be presented include candidates, interviews, reference checks, ranking, rejection letters and candidate conflicts. Principals may choose from either a morning or afternoon session. The cost for the Principal Workshop is $35. If you are attending the 2005 HRMS User Group Conference, the cost of the workshop is included in the conference fee of $150 (if received before Nov. 14) or $175 (if received after Nov. 14). For further information, including registration, please visit the HRMS Communications Web site at hrmscomm.dpi.state.nc.us or call Jennifer Pugh (jpugh@dpi.state.nc.us) at 919.807.3249.

Literacy to Learn: Reading, Writing, and Thinking across the Curriculum

Announcing Literacy to Learn: Reading, Writing, and Thinking across the Curriculum - three new online courses from the United Star Distance Learning Consortium (USDLC). These courses -- one for elementary, a second for middle and high school, and a third for K-12 specifically on digital literacy -- are designed to help educators learn about and teach 21st century literacy. Course content is delivered via video or audio files. With prior approval from their local school system, teachers may earn up to 6.0 CEU renewal credits per course in Reading or Technology. All courses are free for North Carolina public school educators. For more information, visit the Literacy to Learn Web site during its "open house" from Oct. 17-31 and register to win a "door prize" that will help you take your professional development with you - an iPod (20GB PC + Mac) donated by Apple Computer. Go to www.USDLC-L2L.org and visit as a guest to preview the site. To create a personal account, contact your school system's professional development coordinator for your system site code and password or contact Linda Walters, USDLC Professional Development Coordinator, NCDPI, at 919.807.3497, or by email, lwalters@dpi.state.nc.us.

Winston-Salem/Forsyth Teacher Named to All-USA Teacher Team

Congratulations to Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools' teacher Kathy Lineberger for being named to USA TODAY's 2005 All-USA Teacher Team. Lineberger is one of 19 individuals and one instructional team of four nationwide selected for this honor. She will receive a trophy and $500. Her school, Ward Elementary, will receive $2,000. To read more, please go online to http://www.usatoday.com/news/education/allstars/

Kindertransport Exhibit

The North Carolina Council on the Holocaust is once again offering the Kindertransport Exhibit free of charge to North Carolina middle and high schools. This traveling exhibit contains 17 panels of captioned photographs on the Kindertransport, or Children's Train, the rescue effort that brought approximately 10,000 Jewish children out of Nazi Germany to safety in Great Britain between 1938 and 1940. The exhibit will be available to each school for one week. Schools requesting the exhibit also receive a copy of the award-winning documentary on the Kindertransport "Into the Arms of Strangers: Stories of the Kindertransport,"(2000). Additional information on this documentary, including a teacher's guide, is available online at http://www2.warnerbros.com/intothearmsofstrangers/. Teachers and media center coordinators interested in obtaining more information about this exhibit should contact Amy Davis at adavis@wcpss.net.

The Council on the Holocaust is a state agency within the NCDPI and also provides a number of other services that may be of benefit to local school systems. These include free teacher workshops, lending libraries, an online teacher's guide with classroom resources (available in pdf), a one-hour play on teenaged victims of the Holocaust, and more. Visit the Council's Web site at http://www.ncpublicschools.org/holocaust_council/ for more details.

United Kingdom Teacher Exchange Opportunity

The Fulbright Teacher Exchange Program has announced a new program with the United Kingdom that allows U.S. teachers/administrators to experience the educational practices of the United Kingdom, as well as share their own practices with teachers/administrators from the United Kingdom. Interested applicants should visit the Fulbright Teacher Exchange Program Web site at http://www.fulbrightexchanges.org/View/ViewOtherOpps.asp for more detailed information and an application. The application deadline is Oct. 28.

General Hugh Shelton National Student Leadership Scholarship

The General Hugh Shelton Leadership Initiative is again offering a major four-year college scholarship valued at $10,000 per year (renewable) plus an annual $2,500 stipend for external leadership experiences such as study abroad. Last year, Ryan Nilsen of Wake County won this national scholarship. The mission of the General Hugh Shelton Leadership Initiative is to "inspire, educate, and develop values-based leaders who are committed to personal integrity, professional ethics and selfless service." The application deadline is Nov. 5. For more information, please go online to http://www.ncsu.edu/extension/sheltonleadership/scholarships/nsls.htm

Articles of Interest

The following articles from the PEN Weekly NewsBlast may be of interest to principals. In "Reaching Out to Diverse Families," Chris Ferguson with the Southwest Educational Development Laboratory discusses strategies helpful to schools that want to broaden and deepen involvement beyond the traditional fundraising or party-planning activities. Ferguson said, "All schools can increase their parent and family involvement. It just takes time and innovative strategies to develop a strong, two-way relationship." To read more, please go online to http://www.sedl.org/connections/resources/rb/rb5-diverse.pdf

"Rethinking Parent Conferences," delves into why some parents, particularly those with children in the upper grades, avoid parent-teacher conferences. Shelley Billig of RMC Research Corp. gives three reasons: (1) middle schools often put less effort than elementary schools into forging strong school-family partnerships; (2) communication at the middle level tends to be one-way, mainly from principals and teachers to parents and often dealing with students' poor academic progress and discipline problems; and (3) middle school students often discourage their parents from attending parent-teacher conferences and from being visibly involved in school activities. Economic and social realities also are to blame in some single parent families and with non-English speaking parents. To read more, please go online to http://www.asbj.com/current/research.html