North Carolina College Application Week

In an effort to further expand statewide college access, the College Foundation of North Carolina (CFNC) and the Carolinas Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers (CACRAO) are pleased to announce that the 2008 North Carolina College Application Week is November 10-14, 2008. The goal of the NC College Application Week is to provide every graduating high school senior the opportunity to apply to college online using CFNC.org. However, the focus is placed on first-generation students and students who may not otherwise apply to college.

 

In 2006, 15 high schools participated in the event and over 900 students submitted online college applications. This past year, the event was expanded to include over 100 high schools across the state, which resulted in more than 12,800 North Carolina students applying to college online, submitting over 21,400 applications.

 

During the College Application Week event, students are encouraged to apply to at least one college onCFNC.org. This initiative is made possible because of CFNC.org, the comprehensive statewide college access portal with applications accepted by all 110 colleges and universities in North Carolina.

 

To participate in the 2008 College Application Week event your school must register at CFNC.org and:

• Identify a site coordinator that will be responsible for planning and implementing the event at your school and who will be available to attend a training session this August/September.

• Invite all seniors at your school to participate, and make efforts to ensure that each student completes at least one college admission application.

• Host the event during normal school hours.

• Make efforts to recruit volunteers to assist the site coordinator and students during the event.

 

To register, please go to the www.CFNC.org website, click on “Register for CFNC Events” and then click on “2008CFNC/CACRAO College App Week Registration.”

U.S. Department of Education Seeks to Amend NCLB

On Tuesday, U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings released 16 proposed regulations that would clarify or amend the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB).

Proposed Changes
The list of Secretary Spellings’ proposed regulations hits on most of the controversial aspects of NCLB, including assessment, accountability, public school choice, and supplemental educational services.  The U.S. Department of Education will accept public comments on its proposed regulations until June 23, 2008.  (Check http://www.ed.gov/index.jhtml for information on how to submit comments.)

Among the proposed changes, Spellings addresses:

• assessments and multiple measures,
• state assessment and accountability systems, 
• minimum subgroup size,
• inclusion of NAEP data on state and local report cards,
• uniform graduation rates,
• inclusion of individual student growth in AYP,
• same subject-same subgroup identification for improvement,
• restructuring,
• timely and clear notification to parents,
• access to information on public school choice and supplemental education services (SES),
• state monitoring of districts’ SES,
• SES provider approval process,
• state monitoring of SES provider effectiveness,
• the cost of parent outreach (for choice and SES),
• use of funds for public school choice and SES, and
• highly qualified special education teachers

Graduation Project Summit

The North Carolina Department of Public Instruction will sponsor a Two-Day North Carolina Graduation Project (NCGP) Summit to be held in conjunction with the Personal and Financial Literacy Summit on June19-20, 2008. Check-in will begin at 8:00 a.m. with the opening session to begin at 9:00 a.m. Sessions will go the first day until 3:30 with an optional Evening Work Session. The second day will be from 8:30 until 1:00. Participants will be provided with a North Carolina Graduation Project Implementation Guide and promotional DVD. Sessions for the Graduation Project participants will focus on aligning the NCGP requirements with elementary and middle school, documenting the NCGP, orienting others to the Project and alignment with the NC Standard Course of Study, Business and NCGP relationships, and preparing NCGP mentors and evaluators, and transitioning current Senior Project schools to the NCGP implementation by 2009-10. High schools, especially those that have not yet received training or are just beginning to implement the NCGP, are strongly encouraged to send a team of up to five individuals to the conference.

 

A non-refundable registration fee of $50.00 per person must be received on or before May 30, 2008. Forms receive dafter May 30, 2008 will be placed on a waiting list and accepted only if space should become available.

 

For registration material please contact Bernadette Cole at 919.907.3847 or bcole@dpi.state.nc.us

We’re Blogging!

In our efforts to continually keep our members better informed the N.C. Principals & Assistant Principals’ Association (NCPAPA) is excited to unveil our newest communication tool, The Principals’ Bulletin. 

 

The Principals’ Bulletin is an informational blog for North Carolina principals and assistant principals that will be updated daily, providing you with timely, useful information including, legislative alerts, professional development opportunities, state and federal policy updates, reminders, and much more. 

 

The education world is forever changing, and new information is available daily.  The visionaries at NCPAPA know that it is important to communicate to our membership on a daily basis, but we didn’t want to inundate your email inboxes.  Both of our national affiliates, the National Association of Elementary School Principals and the National Association of Secondary School Principals, are currently using blogs to communicate to their memberships.  NCPAPA felt it was time for us to venture into using this form of 21^st century communication, ourselves.   

 

You may access the blog by visiting www.ncpapa.org and clicking on The Principals’ Bulletin link.  Or you may save: http://ncpapaprincipalsbulletin.wordpress.com in your favorites menu on your desk top.  It is our hope that a visit to The Principals’ Bulletin will become part of your daily routine.

 

Happy Blogging!