Happy New Year to all North Carolina educators!
For those of you who I haven’t yet had the pleasure of meeting, I wanted to take this time at the start of a new year to introduce myself. My name is Catherine Truitt, and I have the honor of serving as your state superintendent. Here are a few fast facts about me:
- Taught middle school and high school English for 10 years, including three in Johnston County
- Served as a turnaround coach in urban schools for three years
- Am a military spouse
- Have one daughter in college and a son and daughter in Wake County Public Schools
- Led WGU North Carolina (non-profit, online university) for three years
- My first time running for any office was for this role!
I’m not sure anyone anticipates beginning their journey as state superintendent of K-12 public schools in the midst of a pandemic (and at a point in time when there are no students physically in schools!) but this was the starting point for us one year ago. In January 2021, there were many hurdles to overcome and unexpected bridges to cross, but I think about how far we have come since then, and I am filled with gratitude and hope.
Since stepping into this role last January, the Department of Public Instruction (DPI) has worked collaboratively with many key partners. We laid the framework to ensure we were helping students recover from unfinished learning, and we collectively identified our “North Star” – which is the idea that our focus is, and will always be, on students.
Guided by our North Star, the team came together last year to map out a framework for the months ahead. An idea was born: Operation Polaris. Operation Polaris became the agency’s 4-year strategic vision, outlining how North Carolina public schools would overcome the difficulties of the pandemic while working to tackle many of the long-standing challenges facing North Carolina public education. Each of the six education priorities identified within Operation Polaris is critical to improving outcomes for the 1.5 million students in our state. To ensure progress was underway in each of these key areas, workgroups were convened of diverse stakeholders and goals were established.
The new year presents a time to reflect on that work. In the spirit of reflection, I’d like to share with you the progress made last year in the areas identified within Operation Polaris. The information below is a testament to your hard work and serves as a light for us all as we embark on a new year – a new season – of education in our state.
We know that for every and any path students take upon graduation, it begins with a teacher. It begins with you. Throughout your career, you have continued to put students first both inside and out of the classroom. I join everyone here at DPI in thanking you for your service to public education in North Carolina.
I wish you all a happy and healthy 2022, and I look forward to all we can accomplish in the year ahead.
Sincerely,
Catherine Truitt
N.C. Superintendent of Public Instruction
Beginning with the Office of Learning Recovery and Acceleration (OLR):
This newly created office was launched in 2021 to address the impact of lost instructional time and to provide hands-on support to districts. The office developed, implemented, and evaluated state and district-run interventions, while providing real-time feedback to districts in need. Through regularly established meetings with internal and external stakeholders, the OLR reached a consensus on major learning-recovery strategies and outcomes for students. The OLR supported districts with a menu of evidence-based solutions that could be applied to their specific needs and circumstances, and through the rollout of ESSER II funding, developed summer learning opportunities including Summer Bridge Academies and Career Launch Summer Workforce programs.
- In 2022: the OLR will have a full slate of research and development activities including: gathering input and building consensus on OLR Research and Evaluation priorities from Superintendents/District Leaders, Local School Boards, School Leaders, Teachers and NCGA Education Chairs ARP Committee of Practitioners. They will also release the first comprehensive evaluation of "lost instructional time,” deliver summer learning programs, and partner with researchers to evaluate the impact of recovery programming.
The District and Regional Support (DRS):
Through this office, regional directors and district leadership coaches worked with the Office of Learning Recovery and Federal Programs to directly assist districts in completing applications for ESSER II and ESSER III funds. The District and Regional Support team also created a complete continuum of services and supports that can be provided to districts in need based on feedback gathered from schools and/or through data and Diagnostic Services tools. A school and district model was developed and debuted to help identify schools in need of intensive intervention, while defining the supports offered and the steps for engagement. This model provides customized and differentiated regional and district specific supports. Lastly, this team is in the process of piloting a leadership academy, the North Carolina Instructional Leadership Academy (NCILA), in a district that is receiving intensive support and is also developing a plan to expand this work.
- In 2022: District and Regional Support will expand its work to include new supports for district central offices and instructional support at the classroom level. The NC Instructional Leadership Academy will be expanded to provide opportunities for assistant principals in its pilot district, and a plan will be developed to provide leadership-development opportunities for all principals and assistant principals in intensive-support districts.
Importantly, Operation Polaris was designed to address more than just the effects of COVID—it was also created to identify other long-standing challenges facing the education system. This is why there are four other priorities outlined: Literacy, Human Capital, Accountability and Testing, and Student Support Services. If we are going to improve outcomes in public education, we must consider these four areas as each impacts our North Star. In 2021, important work began within each of these four priorities, and there is more on the horizon. To recap…
Literacy.
Over the past year the Literacy Workgroup has laid a framework so that all pre-k through fifth grade teachers will be trained in the Science of Reading by Spring 2025 with the assignment of all NC school districts to three final cohorts to undergo training. Additionally, the Academic Standards Division has worked in collaboration with the Office of Early Learning to develop the first approved Literacy Standards draft for stakeholder feedback, which was shared at the NCPAPA and AIM Conferences. Lastly, the Literacy Workgroup continues to work closely with the UNC System to align Science of Reading efforts with its educator preparation programs, as well as aligning the teacher licensure process for future implementation.
- In 2022: this workgroup will further develop the communication plan, as well as turnover and sustainability planning.
Human Capital.
Work is underway to identify recommendations for changes in statute related to principal licensure requirements. In addition, a partnership with the Council of Chief State School Officers has been established to help ensure that all students, especially those with special needs, are appropriately served by well-trained principals. Requests for proposals for a new licensure system/process are being actively sought, constituting a major step in a long-awaited process. Data visualizations for principal preparation programs are being developed to help improve decision-making and determine effectiveness.
- In 2022: this workgroup will aim to finalize the scope of work and critical next steps for updating the classified salary grades with classification and compensation revisions from the North Carolina Office of Human Resources.
Accountability and Testing.
Educators know that measuring school quality solely based on achievement and growth is not an accurate reflection of the myriad ways schools serve students. Throughout the past year, the Accountability and Testing Workgroup has convened stakeholders and charted a path towards a new, multi-measured accountability system. Unveiling the Portrait of a Graduate in November, the Workgroup identified a partner to facilitate this work that will kick off in 2022, laying the groundwork for a new accountability system. The Accountability and Testing Workgroup organized two subgroups to focus on 1) the new accountability system and 2) a competency-based student assessment system.
- In 2022: this workgroup will convene and engage eight regional and two virtual stakeholder meetings to identify the skills, attributes and mindsets that North Carolina students need to be ready for the post-secondary plan of their choice. The North Carolina Portrait of a Graduate will debut in the summer of 2022.
Student Support Services.
The pandemic revealed the multiple ways schools service students’ non-academic needs, including providing nutrition, transportation, school safety, and broadband. The development of the Student Services Deliverables Template has been a major component of defining and aligning the work for each area and identifying work already underway. Each section of this workgroup continues to identify the experts in the various areas who are assisting in the refinement of the work. Key legislation in the state budget has allowed for major progress in addressing school safety with funding to support a school training facility as well as funding for the Needs-Based Public School Capital Fund to address district needs as identified in the state’s recent Five-Year Facility Needs Survey.
- In 2022: this workgroup will focus on the goals that create actual deliverables to address the social emotional and nutritional needs of students. As the pandemic has revealed the significant impact of these two areas on student learning, this workgroup will engage the Office of Learning Recovery to aid districts and assist students in confronting and solving these major impediments to student learning.
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