PRINCIPALS' MESSAGES 2006
PRINCIPALS' MESSAGES 2006SEPTEMBER 21, 2006
If you want legislators to understand the impact of state funding in schools, there is no better way than to invite them to your school. The National Conference of State Legislatures sponsors an annual event, America’s Legislators Back to School Week, to encourage educators to invite legislators to meet with students to discuss the legislative process and what it is like to serve in the General Assembly. This provides a benefit to the students’ learning, but also a benefit to the representatives who have the opportunity to see first hand the way that laws and resources benefit schools and students. For more information about how to participate in America’s Legislators Back to School activities, please contact Diane Emerson, NC House of Representatives Coordinator, 919.705.0754 or dianee@ncleg.net.
Regards,
June Atkinson
In this Biweekly Principals' Message:
- SBE Ad Hoc Rigor Committee Meeting Summary
- Public Hearing Set to Receive Comment on Dispute Resolution Process for Homeless Students
- IDEA 2004 Regulations Meeting
- Textbook Regional Meetings Scheduled
- Middle Grades Professional Development Opportunity
- State Assistance Teams Applications
- Free Online Professional Development from DPI and LEARN NC
- Holocaust Workshops for Teachers
- General Shelton Leadership Forum
- Donate Classroom Items for Materials Marketplace
- Medicines in My Home
- Nominate a Teacher to be an “American Star in Teaching”
SBE Ad Hoc Rigor Committee Meeting Summary
The State Board of Education's Ad Hoc Committee on Rigor, Relevance, and Relationships met in New Bern on Tuesday, Sept. 5. Agenda items included a follow-up discussion on changing the birth date cut off for starting school and an update on topics related to the graduation project - professional development, the rubric, implementation guides, materials and related matters. Committee members also received a presentation from representatives of the Agriculture Extension Services at NC State University. They requested support for an evaluation system that will evaluate program standards in agriculture education statewide. DPI social studies consultants reported to the committee that their review of the social studies Standard Course of Study resulted in no recommendation for revisions. They will, however, produce some supplementary documents to assist teachers in areas identified by the work group. The next committee meeting will be held in Raleigh on Tuesday, Oct. 3, at 2 p.m., in the Education Building, Raleigh.
Public Hearing Set to Receive Comment on Dispute Resolution Process for
Homeless Students
A public hearing on the proposed rule, Dispute Resolution Process for Homeless Students, will be held Friday, Oct. 6, at 1 p.m., in Room 224 South, Education Building, Raleigh. Anyone who wishes to speak on the rule, which is available online at http://www.ncoah.com/rules/register/Volume21Issue06.pdf, may come at that time. In addition, interested persons may send comments to Harry Wilson, Staff Attorney, State Board of Education, by email, hwilson@dpi.state.nc.us, by fax, 919.807.3198, or by mail, 6302 Mail Service Center, Raleigh, 27699-6302. Comments will be accepted through Nov. 14.
IDEA 2004 Regulations Meeting
The US Dept. of Education, Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services (OSERS), will hold a public meeting on the IDEA 2004 Regulations on Tuesday, Sept. 26, from 6:30-9 p.m., at the Bonnie E. Cone University Center, UNC-Charlotte, 9201 University City Blvd., Charlotte. The meeting is designed to provide participants with important information about the major concepts and principle changes in the new regulations and supports available from OSERS to implement the regulations. For more information, please contact the Exceptional Children’s Assistance Center at 800.962.6817.
Textbook Regional Meetings Scheduled
Textbook Regional Meetings are being held across the state in November for school selection committees. Publishers will be present at these meetings to discuss their materials. Dates and locations are as follows:
- Nov. 6, Crowne Plaza Resort, Asheville
- Nov. 7, Broyhill Inn & Conference Center, Boone
- Nov. 8, Koury Convention Center, Greensboro
- Nov. 14, Crystal Coast Civic Center, Morehead City
- Nov. 15, Greenville Convention Center, Greenville
- Nov. 16, Holiday Inn Bordeaux, Fayetteville
Middle Grades Professional Development Opportunity
The NCDPI’s Middle Grades Education Division staff will conduct five regional workshops that will focus on the 2006 Middle Grades Balanced Curriculum document, which addresses all facets of scheduling and implementation of the NC Standard Course of Study at the middle grades level. This professional development is appropriate for local directors of Middle Grades Education, middle grades teachers of all subject areas, school counselors and administrators. Workshops will be held as follows:
- Oct. 13, Forsyth County
- Oct. 17, Pasquotank County
- Oct. 25, Robeson County
- Nov. 8, Jackson Country
- Nov. 17, Wilkes County
State Assistance Teams Applications
Applications are now being accepted for participation on the 2007-08 State Assistance Teams. NCDPI’s Curriculum and School Reform Services Department will be accepting applications through Nov. 30. Assistance team information and an application can be found online at http://www.ncpublicschools.org/assistanceteams. If you need further information, please contact Sylvia Moore, Curriculum and School Reform Services, 919.807.4009, or by email, smoore@dpi.state.nc.us.
Free Online Professional Development from DPI and LEARN NC
The NCDPI is offering free through LEARN NC a variety of research-based, online professional development courses to educators teaching in North Carolina during the 2006-07 school year. All courses follow a researched model for quality professional development and online learning. LEARN NC has developed over a dozen new courses that focus on two critical areas of need in the state: improving the teaching in core areas and closing the achievement gap for minority students. Topics include United States history, social justice, and global issues as well as subjects where student achievement has been a particular challenge, such as inquiry-based science and mathematics. For more information, please go online to http://www.learnnc.org/announcements/42.
Holocaust Workshops for Teachers
The 2006-07 Holocaust Workshops for Teachers’ schedule has been announced. These one-day, multi-county workshops feature Dr. Karl Schleunes, a historian and Holocaust scholar, and Gizella Abramson, a Holocaust survivor of the Majdanek death camp. Participants will receive a copy of “The Holocaust: a North Carolina Teacher's Resource,” a guide for teaching about the Holocaust at the middle and high school levels. This workshop is open to middle and high school language arts and social studies teachers, and is particularly useful for teaching World History or American History as well as Eastern European history. It is also recommended for middle school language arts teachers teaching “Anne Frank’s Diary” or high school English teachers studying Elie Wiesel’s “Night” and other Holocaust literature. Substitute pay is provided for teachers attending, but space is limited and teachers are encouraged to make early contact with Linda Scher, Workshop Coordinator. Workshops are scheduled as follows:
- Sept. 26, Winton, Hertford County
- Oct. 10, Asheboro, Randolph County
- Oct. 19, Shelby, Cleveland County
- Oct. 26, Marion, McDowell County
- Nov. 9, Wilkesboro, Yadkin County
- Jan. 31, 2007, Winston-Salem, Forsyth County
- Feb. 14, 2007, Raleigh, Wake County
- March 2007, Greenville, Pitt County
General Shelton Leadership Forum
The General Hugh Shelton Leadership Initiative at NC State University will hold its Fifth Annual Shelton Forum, “Leadership From the Top: Shaping the Organizational Culture,” on Friday, Nov. 17, at the McKimmon Conference and Training Center, NC State University, Raleigh. The Shelton Leadership Forum is an annual seminar series that focuses attention on the importance of leadership development. For an agenda and registration information, please go online to http://www.ncsu.edu/project/OPDWebSpace/hughshelton/index.htm. There is a registration fee of $159, which includes lunch. Please contact Debbie Reno, Coordinator of Educational Programs and Training, at 513.0148 or by email, debbie_reno@ncsu.edu, for more details.
Donate Classroom Items for Materials Marketplace
Tired of storing things you never use? The North Carolina Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCCTM) would LOVE to help you with that problem. If you have new or gently used items such as books, technology, cds, posters, manipulatives, games, sample kits, etc., please consider donating them to the Materials Marketplace. The donated items will be sold to pre-service teachers and ILT's for yard sale prices at the NCCTM conference in October to help these teachers build a resource base. Proceeds from the sale go directly back to the Materials Marketplace for next year’s conference. Cross-curricular materials such as science or literature that are easily integrated also are welcome. Please contact Kim Aiello and Shana Runge at ncctmmarketplace@hotmail.com if you have items to donate. You do not have to attend the conference to donate.
Medicines in My Home
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has recently launched an education program for middle school health teachers and their students called "Medicines In My Home" on the safe use of over-the-counter medicine. The program is intended to teach students about how to use over-the-counter medicine safely and effectively. Students will learn the importance of reading and following the Drug Facts’ label, making medicine decisions with a parent or guardian and much more. The program has a teachers’ kit with education tools for classroom learning and a students’ page for online learning. The program is available online at www.fda.gov/medsinmyhome or by calling Mandy Eisemann, U.S. Food and Drug Administration, Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, 301.827.1670, or by email, mandy.eisemann@fda.hhs.gov.
Nominate a Teacher to be an “American Star in Teaching”
The U.S. Department of Education will honor classroom teachers by recognizing the 2006 American Stars of Teaching. The Department's Teacher-to-Teacher Initiative is seeking nominations and information about teachers who are improving student achievement, using innovative strategies, and making a difference in the lives of their students. Teachers across all grade levels and disciplines will be honored. One teacher or team of teachers from each state will be recognized. To learn more, or to nominate a teacher to become an American Star of Teaching, please go online to http://www.ed.gov/teachers/how/tools/initiative/america-stars-factsheet.html