RESPONSE TO JOINT LEGISLATIVE

EDUCATION OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE:

REMOTE TEACHING AND LEARNING

Dr. David Stegall

Deputy Superintendent of Innovation
Department of Public Instruction

Freebird McKinney
Director of Legislative and Community Affairs
NC State Board of Education
 Response to Joint Legislative Education
Oversight Committee

State Board of Education/ Department of Public Instruction’s

Response to Joint Legislative Education Oversight Committee

Based on Letter to Chairman Eric Davis on October 13, 2020 and

Presentation on October 6, 2020

• As a response to the letter from the leadership of the Joint Education

Oversight Committee and the COVID Education Committee, the State
Board of Education submits the following information to support your
understanding of the complexities schools are facing during the COVD-
19 pandemic and how they are addressing the needs of NC’s students.

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 RESPONSES TO QUESTIONS FROM
OCTOBER 13, 2020 LETTER

• NCDPI worked with the NC School Superintendents

Association’s (NCSSA) Board of Directors to gather a
sampling of district responses to provide insight into the
questions posed.

• This NCSSA representative sampling is from across all

eight regions of the state, with data reflecting as of mid-
November.

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 What percentage of districts and
students are learning all virtually?

• School districts have remained flexible to meet public

health and community needs.

• Districts are changing their Plan status (Plan A-B-C) to

support as many students coming back into buildings as
safely as possible. As a result, the number of students
learning all virtual is constantly changing.

• On average, 36% of students are learning all virtual.

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 What percentage of districts and
students are learning all virtually?

• Based on the NC School Board Association

posted list updated on November 24th, 2020
– 82% of Local Education Agencies (94 of 115 LEAs)
are on some combination of Plan A or B with a of
students learning face-to-face and some remote.
– 18% of LEAs (21 of 115) are still fully on Plan C
with all students learning remotely.
• As of November 30, 2020, there are 429,744
students (29%) learning fully offsite in LEAs that
are on Plan C fully or partially, based on student
enrollment.

• Please review the NC School Board Association’s

“NC School Re-openings for 2020-2021” (as of 5
11/24/2020) for individual district plans and dates.
 How much synchronous learning time is
being offered to students?

• On average, 4 hours of asynchronous learning

time is being offered to students.

• The range is 2 - 6.5 hours/day.

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 In virtual learning environments, what
percentage of students are regularly attending
learning?

• On average, 81% of students are regularly

attending learning.

• The range is 64% - 93%.

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 What percentage of districts and
students are learning in person?

• On average, 59% of students are learning in person.

• Based on the NC School Board Association posted list

updated on November 24th, 2020, 82% of Local
Education Agencies (94 of 115 LEAs) are in either Plan A
or B with some combination of students learning face-to-
face or remote.

• Twenty-one (18%) LEAs are on Plan C with all students

learning remotely.

• Please review the NC School Board Association’s “NC

School Re-openings for 2020-2021” (as of 11/24/2020)
for individual district plans and dates.
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 How much learning time is being
offered to students?

• On average, face-to-face learning is being offered to

students 6 hours/day; ranging from 5.5 - 6 hours/day.
• On average, synchronous remote learning is being
offered to students 5 hours/day; ranging from 3.5 - 6
hours/day.
• On average, asynchronous remote learning is being
offered to students 4 hours/day; ranging from 3 - 4.5
hours/day.

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 In in-person learning environments, what
percentage of students are regularly attending
learning?

• On average, 89% of students are regularly

attending learning in-person, with a range from
80% - 96%.

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 Changes in Average Daily Membership
and Average Daily Attendance

• Average Daily Membership Change from 2019

to 2020, Month 2: 3.36% decrease
19-20 Month 2 20-21 Month 2 From 19-20 to 20-21
Enrollment Change
ADM ADM % Change in ADM

1,535,871 1,484,306 3.36% decrease 51,565 decrease

• Average Daily Attendance Change from 2019 to

2020, Month 2: 0.39% decrease

20-21 Month 2 19-20 Month From 19-20 to 20-21

ADA 2 ADA % Change in ADA

95.12% 95.51% 0.39% decrease

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 What percentage of students are unaccounted
for in our schools?

• Less than 1% of students are unaccounted for in

NC’s public schools, with a range reporting from
.7% to less than 1%.

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 How many incidents of COVID outbreaks
are reported from in-person schools?

• Please review the NC Department of Health and Human

Services “School Cluster Report” for information regarding
COVID-19 clusters and cases in schools (as of 11/28/2020.)

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 How many incidents of COVID outbreaks
are reported from in-person schools?

• NCDHHS “COVID-19 County Alert System”

• Please review the NC School Board Association’s “NC
School Re-openings for 2020-2021” (as of 11/24/2020)
for individual district reports on COVID outbreaks.
– For example:
• From Oct. 7th to Oct. 30th, Avery County Schools temporarily
closed 1 high school, 1 middle school, 1 elementary school, 3
elementary school classrooms and the eighth grade of a middle
school due to a student or staff person testing positive for COVID-
19.
• Due to a significant number of COVID-19 cases in Dublin Primary
School, East Arcadia School, and Bladenboro Middle School,
public health officials and the superintendent closed the schools
for in-person learning for 2 weeks starting October 19th.
• The Cleveland County Health Department identified multiple
confirmed cases of COVID-19 at Crest High School. The school
was closed from September 30th- October 15th. Until reopening,
students and teachers were engaged via remote learning.
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 How many students who typically qualify for
free and/or reduced lunch regularly receive
meals?

• On average, 53% of students who typically qualify for free and/or

reduced lunch regularly receive meals.

• Since March, the State’s School Nutrition Program has operated under a
series of federal waivers approved by the US Department of Agriculture which
allow maximum flexibility in these programs to address the emergency public
health nutrition needs of food insecure children in North Carolina. These
waivers have transitioned the traditional school-based nutrition programs into
community-based nutrition programs.

• The waivers authorize PSUs to:

• provide breakfast, lunch and a snack to children age 18 and under at no cost to the
child/family;
• provide meals to students who are enrolled in PSUs as well as other children who are not
enrolled, including younger siblings, children who are homeschooled, children who are
enrolled in non-public schools and in other educational settings; and
• provide meals to students and other children without recording the child’s identity through a
personal identifier.

• These flexibilities are intended to reduce the administrative burden on PSUs

and parents while increasing access to meals for all children in need.
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 How many students who typically qualify for
free and/or reduced lunch regularly receive
meals? -Continued-

• Under these circumstances, it is not possible to distinguish the number of

meals provided to students enrolled in PSUs from the number of children in
various community settings who are also receiving meals. PSUs are required
to document the number of meals served and establish standard operating
procedures to ensure meals are provided only for children.

• On average, the NC’s School Nutrition Programs are providing 250,000

meals daily for students/children across the state.

• Since the closure of schools in March, PSUs and community organizations

have provided meals to children/students through:
– (1) curb-side pick-up at designated schools and community sites
– (2) distribution by yellow school buses or other service vehicles
– (3) meal box distribution, including food for multiple days

• Students who attend school under Plans A and B receive meals at school
during the school day; virtual learners have access to meals based on the
three scenarios described above. Parents of virtual learners may pre-order
meals for their children and pick those meals up at a designated school or
site; meals are available for a single day or for multiple days.
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 Budget Updates

• Please provide updates to money allocated from the

COVID Relief Bills, specifically what remains from
those funds and plans to spend before the end of the
calendar year.

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 COVID Relief Funds Expenditures and
Encumbrances as of October 31, 2020

PRC Name Allotment YTD Expenditure Remaining % Remaining

CRF-School Nutrition 75,000,000 43,313,501 31,686,499 42%
CRF-Summer Learning 70,000,000 53,609,705 16,390,295 23%
CRF-Instructional Support 10,000,000 3,657,829 6,342,171 63%
CRF-Service for Exceptional Children 36,777,909 8,401,548 28,376,361 77%
CRF-Low wealth Supplemental Funds 22,000,000 9,434,434 12,565,566 57%
CRF-Nondigital Resources 2,997,917 1,142,075 1,855,842 62%
CRF-Student Computers and Devices 29,996,314 24,815,136 5,181,178 17%
CRF-Personnel Computers and Devices 4,999,946 4,200,767 799,179 16%
CRF-Mobile Wi-Fi for School Buses 1,000,000 266,253 733,747 73%
CRF-Mobile Wi-Fi for Homes and Communities 15,306,407 7,425,667 7,880,740 51%
CRF-Learning Management Platform 1,444,649 1,164,207 280,442 19%
CRF-Cybersecurity 3,452,400 1,508,246 1,944,154 56%
CRF-Covid Direct Appropriations 1,615,000 851,845 763,155 47%
CRF-Personal Protective Equipment 27,000,000 - 27,000,000 100%
CRF-Gaggle Safety Management 1,000,000 - 1,000,000 100%

$ 302,590,542 $ 159,791,214 $ 142,799,328 47%

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 Student Focused Supports

• Public School Units are focusing on the social and

emotional well-being of students and providing support
for student success at home. PSUs are providing:
– focused mental health support and counseling for students in whole-
group, small-group and individual sessions;
– intentional activities and lessons focused on social emotional learning,
such as Three Signature Practices.
– family learning sessions at various times and in various languages on
strategies to support at-home learning and student success.
• NC Department of Public Instruction has also developed
and created multiple resources focused on Social
Emotional Learning, in particular to note a new NCDPI
SEL/Crisis Response Website. The agency is also
providing multiple opportunities for professional
development for teachers and district leaders on social
emotional learning.
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 Devices

• Annually, each LEA and Charter submits the NC Digital Learning

Media Inventory (NCDLMI). One data point collected is the number
of student and staff devices. Due to the pandemic, the report is due
this year on December 30, 2020 instead of June 30, 2020. The
report is public and can be viewed at
http://apps.schools.nc.gov/ords/f?p=237:200

• The 2019-2020 data will be certified and a public report available

March 2021.

• Prior to House Bill 1043, PSUs reported needing 534,011 devices to

provide a school-owned device to each student. Approximately, 66%
had a school issued device for remote learning.

• Based on HB1043 funding, approximately 100,000 devices could be

purchased by PSUs at an average of $300 per computer. For the
$30 million allocation available, DPI received $110 million in
requests.
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 Broadband/ Internet Connectivity

• All of the providers have been helpful—they’ve all

contributed something: free hotspots, public Wi-Fi access
points, reduced pricing, pledges not to terminate service for
non-payment, etc.
• Every county is still struggling with some aspect of
connectivity.
• North Carolina presents an interesting dilemma in solving
the connectivity issue. We have portions of the state that are
not densely enough populated for internet service providers
to provide connections because they would lose money.
• Additionally, we have portions of our state where the
landscape itself (mountains) presents such a large cost to
ISPs they are not willing to provide coverage via fiber.
Cellular coverage does not solve the issue in these
situations either.
• Therefore, in many PSUs, even when they get funding to
provide individual hotspots to students or bus Wi-Fi, there
isn’t coverage, and these are not solutions. 21
 Professional Development

• NCDPI has provided significant professional development to

support teachers, schools and districts as they work to adapt
to the new schooling environment due to COVID-19.

• NCDPI has provided professional development mostly

through virtual options.

• NCDPI will continue to provide technical assistance and

professional development to NC’s public schools.

• Please see the table in APPENDIX A (an overview of

professional development provided by each academic area of
NCDPI.)

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 Virtual School Experiences

• NCDPI has focused on learning from the NC Virtual Public

School (NCVPS) to support the transition to more remote and
virtual learning for our teachers, school and districts.

• NCVPS has been delivering on-going professional development

to assist teachers in instructional design and delivery as has the
Digital Teaching and Learning area, the Friday Institute and
NCBCR.

• NCVPS has shared best practices in remote learning, tips for

engaging students online, teaching techniques for specific
content areas, accessibility strategies as well as an open lunch
hour session every day.

• Educators can click the link and get answers to any question and
support with any challenge. NCVPS continues to be a valuable
resource for the state. All sessions are free and recordings are
on our website at this link.
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 Low-Performing Schools

• The state agency provides a regional support structure to support districts in

the execution of their strategic plans aligned to the broader mission and vision
of the NC State Board of Education.
• This regional team is led by a Regional Case Manager who works directly with
district superintendents and senior level staff to support student advancement
in all schools but also a more focused level of support on low performing
districts and low performing schools.
• Though this approach, Regional Case Managers provide feedback on School
Improvement Plans to school leaders and district staff. Based on these plans
and a district's broader strategic focus, the Regional Case Manager aligns
support in various areas from the Regional Support Team.
• These supports include:
– Federal Programs
– Exceptional Children
– K-3 Literacy
– Multi-Tiered Systems of Supports
– Teacher Development
– CTE
– Digital Learning
– Accountability.

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 Monitoring of Teachers

• NCDPI monitors the state’s teachers with respect to their

licensure and effectiveness (evaluation and student
growth, where applicable).

• Additionally, the state monitors how teachers move from

one public school unit to another and if teachers are
leaving employment with NC public schools.

• This information is reported annually to the General

Assembly in the State of the Teaching Profession Report
(February 2021.)
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 Remote Instruction and
Resources

• NCDPI has developed and maintained a Remote Instruction website with

resources for parents, students, educators and administrators.

• Many professional learning and technical assistance sessions have been

conducted to support PSUs in the development of Remote Instruction Plans,
access to resources, digital-age learning pedagogy and resources available
through the Home Base portal.

• Through a partnership with The Friday Institute, a cohort of 160 coaches have
received in depth training supporting their teaching staff through the
“Coaching during Remote Instruction” series. State-wide virtual conferences,
such as NCBOLD, were also conducted to support hybrid and blended
learning.

• Regionally based Innovative Learning Catalysts provides on-going

professional learning through Moments of Inspiration Podcasts, Podcast PD
NC, Innovative Learning Catalysts PD sessions. NCDPI has partnered with
RESAs to provide targeted professional learning sessions.

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Questions?

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Appendix A: Professional
Learning Opportunities

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Appendix A: Professional
Learning Opportunities

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Appendix A: Professional
Learning Opportunities

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