Universal+Access

21st century skills are needed for our teachers to be able to bridge the gap between their teaching styles and the learning styles of our digital natives that are in the classroom. Teachers need to have a stronger committment to understanding why this shift in learning needs to occur. Teachers need to fully embrace web 2.0 tools and understand how these tools are being used in day to day life. Teachers also need to understand what our workforce is looking for in candidates: globally competitive individuals who collaborate and work as teams to accomplish a common goal. Teachers need to be given staff development monthly with new tools as the amount of tools that are out there are growing faster than our teacher's knowledge of tech skills.
 * What skills are needed to transition to digital teaching and learning resources?**

Teachers need to be submerged into the tech skills by having monthly training to ensure skills are being absorbed and understood. Adminstrators need to enforce the teacher evaulation tool that deals with 21st century teaching.
 * How can these skills be delivered and sustained to our LEA teachers and administrators?**

More accountability among others to ensure that the use of skills being taught are being utilitzed within the county. As proffessional development is key here, using it in the classroom is a whole other animal. Usage of skills among colleagues helps to bridge the gap of knowledge skills and actual implementation of the skills. As teachers hold adminstrators
 * How do teachers, administrators, and staff work with colleagues to guide our LEA toward more effective uses of 21st Century tools for teaching, learning, and managing instruction?**

Staff are prepared through staff development that is currently being offered at central office at this time. The current issue is having adminstrators buy in on the entire idea of 21st century learning. If they will hold the teachers accountable for the use and implementation of 21st century learning then would see implementation move in a positive light.
 * How are teachers, administrators, and staff prepared to understand, implement, and assess the span of skills and processes that students need to succeed in the 21st Century?**

Everyone is offered staff development constantly throughout the academic school year. Measurement of usage is a key issue at this point as the NC Teacher Evaluation is subjective and not as concrete as one would hope for.
 * How are teachers, administrators, and staff prepared to apply 21st Century assessment systems to inform instruction and measure 21st Century knowledge, skills, performance, and dispositions?**

Technology has changed rapidly throughout the past decade. While computer labs were once a portal of learning how to use basic programs such as keyboarding, spreadsheets, and presentations, they must now evolve in digital teaching and learning. What are digital teaching and learning resources? They are resources that allow our students to learn at their own pace using the 21st century skills that are constantly evolving in the world wide web. It allows our teachers to have lessons that are more engaging, involve critical thinkings, and becoming more globally competitive. With Digital resources, they have access to more ways to teach and to enhance the students way of learning. This will foster the growth of differentiated instruction for all learners.

Target: creative opportunities for all learners and accelerate the development and adoption of new open technology-based learning tools and courses. || . I. || //t////hey participate, contribute, achieve, and flourish through universal access to people, information and ideas// ||  ||
 * ** Suggested Targets ** || ** Year 1 ** || ** Year 2 ** || ** DPI ** ||
 * Shift from traditional print and paper-based resources to affordable, current online resources ||  ||   ||   ||
 * Utilize procured resources such as NC WiseOwl, and other open education resources ||  ||   ||   ||
 * Use digital content aligned specifically to Common Core and NC Essential Standards ||  ||   ||   ||
 * Ensure equity to digital teaching and learning resources from school to school in your LEA. ||  ||   ||   ||
 * Support the development and use of open educational resources to promote innovative and
 * //All students will be prepared to meet the challenge of a dynamic global society in which//

**I need Vivian to finish the ACRE box to the right with how the tech plan will enhance the ACRE program.** **Renee the 21st Century.** **Karen College and Race to the Top** **I will do IMPACT.** The skills that students will focus on higher order thinking skills, such as application, analyzing, evaluating and creating. || (local & state) || Receipt of this grant, designed to spur public school innovation, is a key component of North Carolina's work to continue its momentum for school improvement. These federal funds are being used to support the Career and College: Ready, Set, Go initiative. In Wilson County, the funds were used to provide wireless connection to the internet and 1:1 ipad computing for Vick and Hearne Elementary schools and Laptop carts for Beddingfield High School to improve these students access to current technology. || http://www.ncpublicschools.org/docs/stateboard/meetings/2011/05/lfi/05lfi01.pdf http://yorkcountyschools.org/technology/techResource/docs/YCSDTechPlanthru2014.pdf http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/media/k12initiative [digital textbooks]
 * ACRE || The North Carolina Accountability and Curriculum Reform Effort-also known as ACRE- is the state's comprehensive initative to redefine the Standard Course of Study for k-12 students, the student assessment program and the school accountability model. In stages over five years ( 2008-2013) the ACRE initative will:
 * Identify the most critical knowledge and skills that students need to learn.
 * Create new student test for grades 3-8 and high school courses that use more open ended questions, more technology and more real world applications of what students learn.
 * Provide a new model for measuring school sucess that gives parents and educators more revelant information abot how well schools are preparing students for college, work and adulthood.
 * Career and College: Ready, Set, Go! || The state of NC is raising the graduation requirements for all students so that they are ready to go to College or into the workforce upon High School graduation, no matter what curriculum path they follow. This means that if a student discovers late in his high school career that they want to go to college, they will be eligible to do so. All students now have to have two years of a Foreign Language and this years freshmen must take Algebra II and it will eventually rise to one Math higher than Algebra II. ||
 * Race to the Top
 * 21st Century || By combining the development of core academic subject knowledge with essential skills along with the necessary support systems, students will be more engaged in the learning process and graduate better prepared to thrive in today's global economy. WCS's plan recognizes and addresses the need for more focus on creativity, critical thinking, communication and collaboration. ||
 * IMPACT Model ||  ||
 * Great Resources:**




 * Don't go past here to add stuff, stay above this line... PLEASE:-) PUT NOTHING BUT NOTES AND RESEARCH BELOW.**


 * This is where we can post our plan, ideas, and comments as we work on our part of the plan:**

Matthew will complete the essential questions.

Acre: Vivian Career: Karen Rttt: Matthew Common core: Karen 21st Skills: Renee Essential Standards: Karen

Suggested targets: all will complete at least one target

__Common Core Standards__ are national goals that have been developed by the Council of Chief State School Officers [CCSSO] and the National Governor's Association. Forty-four states are members of this consortium currently. They have developed a national common curriculum for grades K-12 in English and Math to provide consistency from school to school, district to district and state to state. Another goal is to make expectations clear to teachers, parents and students. There are also two testing consortiums that will provide national testing for these standards. Science and Social Studies will be added later. A public comment time allowed a variety of stake holders [i.e. NEA, NCTE & NTM] to have input. http://corestandards.org/

__Essential standards__are being developed by the State of NC to support the National Common Core standards. One improvement is teaching subjects with more depth and using the Revised Bloom's Taxonomy to improve thinking skills. http://www.ncpublicschools.org/acre/standards/new-standards/ "The New Essential Standards were written using the Revised Bloom's Taxonomy (RBT) under the guidance of one of the authors of the revision, Lorin Anderson. North Carolina has chosen RBT to help move to the complex thinking expected from 21st Century graduates. The RBT was chosen because it has well-defined verbs and is built on modern cognitive research." from the website.

__Career & College: Ready, Set, Go and Race to the Top__ Is the State of North Carolina's plan for the Federal funds distributed through the Race to the Top grant. Basically the state is raising the graduation requirements for all students so that they are ready to go to College or into the workforce upon High School graduation. This means that if a student discovers late in his high school career that they want to go to college, they will be eligible to do so. All students now have to have two years of a Foreign Language and this years freshmen must take Algebra II and it will eventually rise to a Math higher than Algebra II. http://www.ncpublicschools.org/readysetgo/ " for students? • an updated curriculum based on competitive national and international standards  • better and more frequent feedback for students to make “midcourse corrections” as needed  • more effective teachers  • access to technology to support learning" from the brochure produced by the state.

The American Association of School Librarians has established a set of national 21st standards to correlate with the Common Core Standards. Www.ala.org.aasl/standards. ISTE standards should also be looked at to meet the needs of a global economy.

__21st Century Skills__: Students master content while producing, synthesizing, and evaluating information from a wide variety of subjects and sources with an understanding of and respect for diverse cultures. Twenty-first-century skills are the special abilities children need to develop so that they can be prepared for the challenges of work and life in the 21st century. Th e skills are grouped into three major categories: Learning and Innovation Skills, which include creativity, critical thinking, communication, and collaboration; Information, Media, and Technology Skills, which involve effectively using, managing, and evaluating information from digital technology and communication tools; and Life and Career Skills, which include flexibility and adaptability, self-direction, teamwork, appreciation of diversity, accountability, and leadership. [] Key Ongoing 21st Century Initiatives 1- Learn and Earn/Early College High School 2- NC Teacher Working Conditions Survey 3- NC Graduation Project Newest 21st Century Skills Initiatives 1- NC Professional Educator Standards and Evaluation System 2- NC Promising New Directions: Preparation for Future Learning 3- NC New Literacies Collaborative 4- NC Student STEM Symposium

__** State Board of Education Goals – Future-ready Students for the 21st Century. **__ Goal 1 – North Carolina public schools will produce globally competitive students. Goal 2 – North Carolina public schools will be led by 21st Century professionals. Goal 3 – North Carolina Public School students will be healthy and responsible. Goal 4 – Leadership will guide innovation in North Carolina public schools. Goal 5 – North Carolina public schools will be governed and supported by 21st Century systems.

Target : Students will incorporate increasingly sophisticated software and hardware in preparing research projects for each grade level and/or subjects to better prepare them for the Graduation Project that culminates in 12th grade. A district wide guide for specific subject areas and grade levels using the BIG6 model for research will insure students are building in an authentic manner the skills to do larger and larger projects without fear.