WHAT'S NEW

JANUARY 27, 2012 - NCDPI WEB HIGHLIGHTS

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Dr. Harrison Sees 2012 as New Beginning for Public Education in Latest Blog
In a new blog that highlights the latest news for the NC Race to the Top program, State Board of Education Chairman Dr. Bill Harrison outlines changes that are coming in the 2012-13 academic year. Learn how these changes will impact what students learn, how that learning will be measured and how teachers will be evaluated by visiting http://www.ncpublicschools.org/rttt/point/.

ACT Resources Now Available on the Accountability Services Website
A new section has been added to the Accountability Services website that provides resources to help students and their families prepare for the ACT College Admission Assessment. To view the material, please visit http://www.ncpublicschools.org/accountability/act/.

Educator Effectiveness Data on the Web
Educator Effectiveness data is now available to review online at http://www.ncpublicschools.org/recruitment/effectiveness/. The reports show ratings of the performance of all teachers who were evaluated in the 2010-11 school year. This group includes mostly new teachers, some veteran teachers and principals and assistant principals. District reports are available under the Educator Effectiveness main navigation button on the left side of the page. School districts are clustered together in groups alphabetically. Select an alphabetical grouping to view a list of school districts. Select the Charter School link to view the list of charter schools.

CTE Essential Standards and Career Clusters for 2012 Available Online
To help district Career and Technical Education (CTE) administrators, educators, parents and students plan for the transition from the CTE Standard Course of Study to the Essential Standards and Common Core in the 2012-13 academic year, two documents have been posted to the CTE website at http://www.ncpublicschools.org/cte/. The resources are the "2012 Career and Technical Education Essential Standards" and the "2012 North Carolina Career and Technical Education Career Clusters."

• The 2012 Essential Standards were approved by the State Board of Education in June 2011 and revised in December 2011. The Essential Standards document contains program area and course descriptions and links to Essential Standards by course.
• The "2012 Career Clusters" document defines the state's eight CTE programs that are organized by occupations or career specialties. The Career Clusters have been updated to reflect changes from the CTE Standard Course of Study to the new Essential Standards.

New and Revised Resources Added to the ACRE Website
Several resources have been added recently to the Accountability Curriculum and Reform Effort (ACRE) website.

• Sample graphic organizers for Common Core and Essential Standards. Content-specific organizers for the Essential Standards are available in draft form for Arts Education, World Languages, Social Studies, Science and Healthful Living at http://www.ncpublicschools.org/acre/standards/common-core-tools/#organizers. Sample graphic organizers for the Common Core subjects English Language Arts and Math are available in draft form at http://www.ncpublicschools.org/acre/standards/new-standards/. NCDPI staff is encouraging stakeholders to review the organizers and provide feedback at feedback@dpi.nc.gov.
• Revised unpacking standards for first and second-grade mathematics. Unpacking standards for first and second-grade mathematics have been updated and added to the Common Core Instructional Support Tools website at http://www.ncpublicschools.org/acre/standards/common-core-tools/#unmath. Unpacking standards are documents for educators that define the skills students must master to accomplish specific goals. The documents list the essential standards for each grade level and subject, and provide detailed examples on how to teach a standard.

Featured Publications at NCDPI

To order, please call 800.663.1250 or visit Publication Sales on the web at http://www.ncpublicschools.org/publications/.

What Can a Small Bird Be?
What do you get when you bring 24 talented teenagers and their teachers from North Carolina public schools across the state, drop them off in an art museum for three days, and challenge them to create a book that will teach character education to young children? The answer is "What Can a Small Bird Be?" This beautifully illustrated book tells the story of a little yellow bird that uses character traits such as courage, good judgment, integrity and kindness to lend a helping hand to animal friends in distant lands. The DPI's English Language Arts section and the North Carolina Art Museum sponsored the creative venture as part of the Character Education Teen Residency Project. Under the inspired leadership of the artist Marguerite Jay Gignoux and writer Susie Wilde, the students and teachers met in March 2011. Together, they transformed their ideas into images and words that tell the story of what it means to be a good person.
IS174, 2011, $5

Working in North Carolina Schools - A Look at Employee Benefits
"Working in North Carolina Public Schools" is a new publication that summarizes benefits generally available to state-paid employees and most federally-and locally-paid personnel.
AC105, 2011, $2

Report on Education Legislation from the 2011 Session of the North Carolina General Assembly
The "Report on Education Legislation from the 2011 Session of the North Carolina General Assembly" highlights legislation enacted as of July 19, 2011. This extensive report provides documentation pertaining to education legislation and is arranged with tabs for each topic for quick access. This report does not replace the "Public School Laws of North Carolina" publication.
SL107, 2011, $22.50