NC Digital Learning Initiative Major Accomplishments, 2018-2019 School Year

The NC Digital Learning Initiative is a coordinated framework of state-level actions that support the transition of all public schools to digital-age learning.

	Professional Learning NCDPI’s Digital Teaching and Learning Team: Provided professional learning opportunities across the state for over 4,800 educators on topics including Home Base, digital learning competencies, and digital learning district leadership. 98% of districts and 37 charters participated. The Friday Institute Professional Learning Team: Provided programming and follow-up support to nearly 700 district and school leaders on tracking digital learning transition progress and moving to personalized digital learning. About 76% of districts and 5 charters/others participated in one or more programs.
	Digital Learning Initiative Grants Awarded 10 Planning, 19 Implementation, and 4 Innovation Academy Grants. $2.175M in grants awarded statewide to urban and rural schools, Tier I counties, low-performing districts, and charter schools support over 5,400 educators. Provided technical assistance and supported locally-led professional development and leadership opportunities for grantees, prioritizing personalized learning, micro-credentialing, and student digital literacy.
	Systemic Data Approach Provided legislators and stakeholders a Research Brief and Infographic summarizing existing data on the collective impacts of NCDLI efforts on teaching and learning. Updated the School Connectivity Initiative and the NC Statewide Digital Learning Overview dashboards, including information about Computer Science course offerings. Conducted focus groups with district and school stakeholders across the state and summarized key findings and recommendations about local data needs. Piloted and validated the NC Digital-Age Teaching and Learning Surveys, and developed wrap-around materials to support administration and analysis.
	Home Base Roadmap Developed a Home Base website, with the Home Base suite of tools available to all public school LEAs. Partnered with Learning.com, a K-8 digital literacy curriculum and assessment solution (with reduced rates for economically distressed districts). Awarded a “convenience contract” for Imagine Learning to assist NC students, educators, and parents with math in grades 3-8, and Math 1 & 2.
	Statewide Digital Content Strategy Developed a 2-year strategic plan for digital content in North Carolina. Identified school and district cooperative purchasing requirements. Established recommendations and next steps for collaborative vetting and procurement in North Carolina. Successfully piloted GoOpenNC, a curated library of high-quality instructional resources, with over 120 educators across the state, with planned roll-out in fall 2019.
	Economic Evaluation Created a “Digitalness Index” to and generate a rough longitudinal estimate of a school or district’s capacity for personalized, digital-age learning. Examined the effects of NCDLI through descriptive data on finance; connectivity and bandwidth use; and student mobility, absences, discipline, GPA, achievement, and graduation.
	Educator Preparation Reform Co-hosted a 2-day Digital Learning Research Symposium (October 25-26, 2018) focused on digital learning and educator preparation. Developed and implemented a Digital Learning Progress Rubric for EPPs to identify assets and needs of EPPs for preparing teachers for digital-age learning. Reported on EPP Rubric findings and the professional learning needs of NCICU and UNC faculty.