TEACHERS' MESSAGES 2008
TEACHERS' MESSAGES 2008JULY 24, 2008 - Teachers' Biweekly Messages
Earlier this month, I hosted a "Graduation Awareness Roundtable Meeting" that included key legislators, local superintendents and representatives from major education associations and advocacy groups. My goal in this was to issue a call to action and to develop strategies for Graduation Awareness Week to be held Sept. 7-13. We are developing a variety of materials, including logos/clipart, a proclamation by Gov. Mike Easley, a news release, a student pledge card, a community support agreement, and a LEA/local school board benchmark agreement. Once these materials are completed, they will be made available online for you to use as appropriate. Dropping out of school can be a million dollar mistake for students who make that choice. Research shows that though most students drop out of school in their ninth and tenth grade years, the seeds for dropping out are planted as early as the fifth grade. It is crucial that we all work together to drive home the message that a high school diploma - at a minimum - is crucial to a child's future success. I am committed to helping schools achieve a 100 percent graduation rate. It's going to take all of us working together to make steady progress toward that goal.
Regards,
June Atkinson
In this Biweekly Teachers' Message:
State Board Meeting Highlights
The State Board of Education met earlier this month via conference call and took a number of actions including approving changes to North Carolina's NCLB Consolidated State Application Accountability Workbook, and adopting the new Teacher Evaluation Instrument. Complete Board highlights are posted online at www.ncpublicschools.org/sbehighlights.
Preliminary AYP Results Posted
On Monday, NCDPI made the Preliminary 2007-08 AYP results page live (www.ncpublicschools.org/nclb/abcayp/ayp). This page is designed as a convenience to help citizens locate the preliminary information regarding 2007-08 AYP results. The results are only for 3-8 grades mathematics and 10th grade reading/language arts and mathematics. Reading results for elementary and middle schools will be released in November.
Recipients for 2007 Presidential Awards for Excellence in Mathematics
and Science Teaching Named
Congratulations to Rachel Willingham, a mathematics teacher at North Henderson High (Henderson County Schools), and Michael Bowman, a science teacher at Madison High (Madison County Schools), for recently being named the 2007 North Carolina Presidential Awardees. The Presidential Awards for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching is a national award administered for the White House by the National Science Foundation. Each year, the program recognizes outstanding mathematics and science teachers from across the United States and four U.S. jurisdictions for their contributions in the classroom and to their profession. In addition to honoring individual achievement, the goal of the program is to expand and exemplify the definition of excellent science and mathematics teaching. Each teacher will receive a citation signed by the President of the United States, a $10,000 educational grant from the National Science Foundation, and a trip to Washington, DC for a week of celebration through events and professional development activities.
Online Instructional Opportunities for Teachers
Want to teach an online course in your school? Master teaching in Moodle, LEARN NC's course management system, to customize one of our courses for your own classroom. This is a great way to develop capacity within your school or school system to offer K-12 and professional development courses online. This online course lasts 3 weeks and is worth 2.0 CEUs. It begins Aug. 5 and there is a $150 registration fee.
"Facilitating Online Collaboration," part of LEARN NC's Carolina Online Teacher Program, will help teachers develop strategies to spark online communication, moderate online discussion, and accomplish instructional goals within the virtual classroom. Communication is the lifeblood of online courses--learn how to make the most of it. This online course lasts three weeks and is worth 2 CEUs. This course begins Aug. 6 and there is a $150 registration feel.
For full course descriptions or to register, please visit www.learnnc.org/courses.
Sales Tax Holiday
North Carolina's Annual Sales Tax Holiday will begin Friday, Aug. 1 and end Sunday, Aug. 3. Clothing, footwear, and school supplies of $100 or less per item; school instructional materials of $300 or less per item; sports and recreation equipment of $50 or less per item, computers of $3,500 or less per item; and computer supplies of $250 or less per item will be exempt. For more details, please go online to the North Carolina Department of Revenue's Web site at http://www.dornc.com/taxes/sales/salestax_holiday.html.
If you'd like to review past Teachers' Biweekly Messages sent to the listserv group, just go online to http://www.ncpublicschools.org/teachersarchive/.