North Carolina Digital-Age Learning Initiative

The North Carolina Digital Learning Progress Rubric for Charter Schools is a strategic planning tool, or “roadmap,” intended to support North Carolina’s educators, charter schools, and communities in the transition to digital-age teaching and learning. The rubric describes a vision for a high quality, digital-age charter school, and is designed especially to help school teams reflect on the current stage of their transition, create sustainable plans, experiment with innovations, determine next steps, and track their progress. It is hoped that one day this rubric will no longer be needed – that the strategic, careful use of digital tools to create deep learning opportunities for all students will be a normal part of the every-day work in classrooms and charter schools across North Carolina.

The North Carolina Digital Learning Progress Rubric for Schools is a strategic planning tool, or “roadmap,” intended to support North Carolina’s educators, schools, districts, and communities in the transition to digital-age teaching and learning. The rubric describes a vision for a high quality, digital-age school, and is designed especially to help school teams reflect on the current stage of their transition, create sustainable plans, experiment with innovations, determine next steps, and track their progress. It is hoped that one day this rubric will no longer be needed – that the strategic, careful use of digital tools to create deep learning opportunities for all students will be a normal part of the every-day work in classrooms, schools, and districts across North Carolina.

Digital inequities—or the divide amongst students who have and do not have access to digital resources —has become a national concern among K-12 educators in recent years. Research has documented the impacts of differential access to technology, however, as many districts and schools across the country move closer to fully transitioning to digital-age learning, digital inequity among K-12 students has become a more salient concern.

North Carolina is committed to providing the personalized digital-age education K-12 students need to be successful in college, in careers, and as globally engaged productive citizens. North Carolina already has made significant progress through statewide and local efforts. Recent legislative actions that address preparing educators for digital learning, providing digital resources, and ensuring technology access across all schools, as well as the goals of the State Board of Education Strategic Plan, are important steps in moving forward, and many schools and districts1 also have digital learning initiatives well underway. However, much remains to be done to ensure that all students throughout the state have equitable access to high-quality digital learning.

The quality review checklist and rubric presented in this document are designed to support educators in evaluating digital learning resources intended for classroom use.