News

Twenty-seven teachers from across North Carolina have been selected as finalists for the North Carolina Center for the Advancement of Teaching (NCCAT) 2024 Empower NC Beginning Teacher of the Year Award for their dedication, innovation, and ability to inspire students to achieve. The award process was developed to honor beginning teachers and to retain teachers who show promise as excellent teachers and education leaders in North Carolina public schools and public charter schools. One of these talented educators will be named the 2024 NCCAT Empower NC Beginning Teacher of the Year after being selected by a panel of judges. They will participate in a week for professional development at NCCAT February 12-16, 2024. The award will be presented on February 15, 2024, at the John W. Bardo Fine and Performing Arts Center on the campus of Western Carolina University in Cullowhee.

Canvas is a useful tool whether it's for fully online courses or to create modules for a blended teaching approach, but who has the time and support to craft great Canvas resources? The "Canvas: Time to Design" program will give teachers exactly that - the time and support needed to accomplish their Canvas design goals. Teachers will learn best practices for building lessons, assignments, discussions, and modules while being supported in their work by colleagues and NCCAT's Digital Learning Specialist. Come with ideas for lessons that need an online component. This professional learning course is designed for teachers in grades 6-12.

The North Carolina Center for the Advancement of Teaching (NCCAT) has received a $3,840 grant from Believe in Reading. This funding will allow the purchase of picture books and expert presenters in conjunction with teacher professional development programming in early-grades literacy. The program "The Power of Picture Books" will take place in Ocracoke from May 20-24. Picture books are powerful and engaging texts that can help all elementary students succeed in language arts, math, science, social studies, and the arts.

Teachers from across North Carolina took part in two programs involving Holocaust education. Approaching the Holocaust is a struggle for many teachers. Finding a way to teach a tragedy of unprecedented magnitude and enduring significance is perplexing even to the most seasoned educator. For more than twenty years the NCCAT Holocaust Education Program has worked to promote Holocaust Education in North Carolina public schools as a part of our continuing effort to promote student understanding of the ways in which our individual and collective actions shape the direction of the present and the world of the future.

In March, North Carolina educators have several opportunities to attend the North Carolina Center for the Advancement of Teaching (NCCAT), a recognized national leader in professional development programming for teachers. Registration for these programs is open now. Applicants are encouraged to register as soon as possible to ensure a spot. From our literacy-focused programs to digital learning to STEM, math, and science, we have plenty of offerings designed to help teachers positively impact student learning across our state.

In February, North Carolina educators have several opportunities to attend the North Carolina Center for the Advancement of Teaching (NCCAT), a recognized national leader in professional development programming for teachers. Registration for these programs is open now. Applicants are encouraged to register as soon as possible to ensure a spot. From our literacy-focused programs to digital learning to STEM, math, and science, we have plenty of offerings designed to help teachers positively impact student learning across our state.

Project Committee will convene a meeting at 4:00 p.m. on Wednesday, December 13, 2023, at the NCCAT Cullowhee campus, located at 276 NCCAT Drive, Cullowhee, NC 28723. The purpose of the meeting is to discuss the NCCAT Cullowhee Campus Capital Project.

NCCAT is currently seeking applications for Math Learning Leaders.  NCCAT Secondary Math Learning Leaders is a statewide network of math educators who lead learning in their district, region, and across North Carolina. This program seeks to equip math leaders as lead learners who build community, foster active collaboration, and facilitate centered reflection and goal-setting. Ideal applicants should have significant experience leading adult learning, 6-12 teaching experience, and be currently employed by a district or charter in NC. Up to two applicants will be selected from each region.

Open to teachers in their first, second, or third year of teaching, this program supports motivated beginning teachers by strengthening their knowledge base and classroom expertise. Join us for "Success from the Start: How to Survive and Thrive in your First Three Years" at NCCAT Ocracoke in January. Teachers will develop their craft by understanding how to teach to the depth of their standards and differentiating for multiple levels of learners.  Beginning educators will also have the opportunities to refine their teaching philosophies and class expectations.  Within this seminar, teachers will identify their most immediate needs for their classrooms, and time will be spent exploring solutions to those needs.

Want to deepen comprehension in your upper grades' classroom? Join us at NCCAT Cullowhee this January for "Comprehension at the Core: Creating Readers and Thinkers Across the Content Areas." This session highlights evidence-based literacy practices aligned to the development of students’ comprehension skills in grades 4-8. Join us as we explore strategies to improve understanding through connections to the Science of Reading, and an emphasis on integrating fluency, vocabulary, and writing into your content area.

Giving Tuesday is a day where everyone, everywhere can do something to support the good causes that mean so much to them. We hope you will consider supporting our work to support teachers and impact students here at NCCAT this #GivingTuesday. NCCAT provides teachers with new knowledge, skills, teaching methods, best practices and information to take back to their classrooms through high-quality professional development. The ultimate result is improved performance and achievement by North Carolina’s students.

In January, North Carolina educators have several opportunities to attend the North Carolina Center for the Advancement of Teaching (NCCAT), a recognized national leader in professional development programming for teachers. Registration for these programs is open now. Applicants are encouraged to register as soon as possible to ensure a spot. From our literacy-focused programs to digital learning to STEM, math, and science, we have plenty of offerings designed to help teachers positively impact student learning across our state.

North Carolina educators have several opportunities from February through May to attend the North Carolina Center for the Advancement of Teaching (NCCAT), a recognized national leader in professional development programming for teachers. Registration for these programs is open now. Applicants are encouraged to register as soon as possible to ensure a spot. Programs are available to North Carolina educators at the Cullowhee and Ocracoke campuses, online, and with NCCAT faculty visiting school districts.

North Carolina educators have several opportunities from February through May to attend the North Carolina Center for the Advancement of Teaching (NCCAT), a recognized national leader in professional development programming for teachers. From our literacy-focused programs to digital learning, to STEM, math, and science, we have plenty of offerings designed to help teachers to positively impact student learning across our state. A NCCAT Spring program preview is now available. Teachers can apply for these programs and more will be on the way. 

Join us December 11-14 at NCCAT Cullowhee for "Recipe for Problem Solving: A Computational Thinking Journey for Educators." This training, led by research scholars from the William and Ida Friday Institute for Education Innovation, will provide K-12 teachers with a comprehensive introduction to computational thinking and practical teaching strategies. Participants will explore the fundamentals of computational thinking, coding, and age-appropriate programming tools to integrate into their classrooms.