PRINCIPALS' MESSAGES 2006

MARCH 16, 2006

Earlier this month, Judge Howard Manning issued a letter to State Board of Education Chairman Howard Lee and me concerning the state's low-performing high schools. His letter is available for you to read on DPI's Web site at www.ncpublicschools.org under News. The message is clear: fix the state's lowest performing high schools and do this right away. NCDPI began working in the winter with 10 high schools identified in Charlotte-Mecklenburg. What we learned there as well as lessons learned through other assistance efforts will form the basis of continuing work with the identified high schools statewide. The goal of this work is to ensure that all North Carolina public high schools open on time in 2006 and are prepared to offer students the learning opportunities they deserve.

Regards,
June Atkinson

In this Biweekly Principals' Message:

1. Writing Across the Curriculum Conference
2. Adolescent Reading Forum to be Held in June
3. High School Courses Offered Online from NC DPI/Distance Learning
4. Professional Development Opportunity for High School Social Studies Teachers: African American Studies
5. Special Thanks
6. Preserve America History Teacher of the Year Award
7. Article of Interest

Writing Across the Curriculum Conference

On April 1, the Capital Area Writing Project at North Carolina State University and UNC-Charlotte's Writing Project, affiliate sites of the National Writing Project, will co-host the second annual one-day conference, "Writing Across the Curriculum." The featured presenter is Dr. Chris Anson, a specialist in Writing to Learn from NC State and director of the Center for Writing and Speaking. Eight breakout sessions will provide teachers additional opportunities to learn more about writing in the content areas, with specific examples from middle and secondary social studies, science, and English courses. For more information and registration forms, please go online to http://community.learnnc.org/dpi/ela/ and click on the appropriate link or contact Barbara Geiger at bugeiger@uptonassociates.com.

Adolescent Reading Forum to be Held in June

NCDPI's Middle Grades Division is sponsoring its first Adolescent Reading Forum on June 19-20 at the Sheraton Imperial Hotel, Research Triangle Park. Organizers hope to make this an annual event. The purpose of the Forum is to focus on issues and needs for developing independent strategic adolescent readers. It is designed for school administrators and teachers across all content areas at the middle grades level. Information regarding the Adolescent Reading Forum, including registration forms, has been mailed to all local superintendents, middle grades ELA supervisors and principals. Space is limited to 200 participants. If you have questions regarding the Forum, please contact Phyllis Blackmon at pblackmon@dpi.state.nc.us or Patricia Chalmers at pchalmers@dpi.state.nc.us.

High School Courses Offered Online from NC DPI/Distance Learning

High school principals interested in participating in the Online High School Courses program will want to complete the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) available online at http://www.ncpublicschools.org/distancelearning/student/index.html and fax it as indicated on the form. This applies to all high schools planning on participating in the online distance learning program. Upon receipt of your fully completed MOU, your designated facilitator will receive an ID and password by email for accessing the registration system. The registration system will be accessible on April 3. A complete online course list will soon be posted on the distance learning Web site. If you have further questions, please contact Sue Scott, Distance Learning, NCDPI, sscott@dpi.state.nc.us.

Professional Development Opportunity for High School Social Studies Teachers: African American Studies

The NCDPI in conjunction with the National Humanities Center will sponsor a two-day professional development opportunity for high school social studies teachers on African American Studies: 1865-1917. This two-day workshop, which is scheduled for April 5-6 is designed for educators who teach the high school elective course African American Studies, and other social studies educators who have an interest in expanding their knowledge of events, issues and contributions related to African Americans. Space will be limited to the first 20 paid registrants. For more information, including workshop registration forms, please go online to http://community.learnnc.org/dpi/socialstudies. Questions regarding the workshop should be directed to Steven Weber via at sweber@dpi.state.nc.us or by phone at 919.807.3828.

Special Thanks

If you participated in the 2006 NC WISE Symposium (Feb. 20-22 in Greensboro), the NC WISE team and NCDPI leadership would like to say a special thanks to you. Based on emails received through the NC WISE system, many of you felt that the meeting was very successful and you counted the participation of LEA representatives as a primary reason for the success of the symposium. Again and again your emails remind us of the value of providing time for practitioners to meet with each other and share ideas. Thanks to all participants and to the conference organizers. You may want to go ahead and mark you calendar for the 2007 Symposium - Feb. 19-21.

Preserve America History Teacher of the Year Award

The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History and Preserve America announce the third annual Preserve America History Teacher of the Year Award, which honors outstanding teachers of American history across the country. One North Carolina educator will be selected as the 2006 state winner. For additional guidelines and application information, please go online to http://www.ncpublicschools.org/curriculum/socialstudies/. The application deadline is April 28. For questions regarding this program, please contact Steven Weber at sweber@dpi.state.nc.us or 919.807.3828, or Judy McInnis at jmcinnis@dpi.state.nc.us or 919.807.3924.

Article of Interest

The following article from the PEN Weekly NewsBlast may be of interest to principals. In "High-Performing After-School Programs Share Five Common Characteristics," researchers found that after-school programs that helped lead to improved achievement doesn't necessarily focus on academics. According to the study, successful after-school programs do not replicate the school day but instead are safety zones where students received homework help and were able to explore new ideas and interests. Students also were able to develop long-term supportive relationships with adults and peers. To read more, please go online to: http://www.sedl.org/pubs/fam107/fam107.pdf (pdf, 370kb)