16 NCAC 06C .0381         Beginning Teacher Support Program Requirements

(a)  All public school units must have a Beginning Teacher Support Program (BTSP) and a Beginning Teacher Support Program Plan (BTSP Plan) that has been approved by the public school unit and by NCDPI. The requirements for a BTSP Plan are the following:

(1)           Align with BTSP Standards, which include:

(A)          promoting the commitment of all stakeholders in seeing mentoring and induction programs succeed;

(B)          articulating the process and criteria for mentor selection, discusses mentor roles and responsibilities and delineates foundational mentor training;

(C)          providing protected time to Beginning Teachers (BT) with support to achieve success in the areas set forth by the North Carolina Professional Teaching Standards as described in Rule .0385 of this Section;

(D)          providing BTs professional development that orients them in their new career and supports their efforts to meet the North Carolina Professional Teaching Standards as described in Rule .0385 of this Section; and

(E)           monitoring and supporting BTs and mentoring programs using a formative assessment system to guide their work.

(2)           Document a process to identify and verify all BTs, which includes:

(A)          completing the Recent Graduate Survey by the BT and the Employer Survey by the principal of the school by the end of the first year of teaching as required in G.S. 115C-269.35;

(B)          supporting the licensure process for the BT to convert the IPL to a CPL;

(C)          identifying teachers with fewer than three years of experience;

(D)          collecting BT data as explained in this Rule for the annual State of the Teaching Profession report as stated in G.S. 115C-12(22) for LEAs only.

(3)           Provide an orientation for every BT within the first two weeks of work for the BT;

(4)           Develop a professional development plan (PDP) for each BT as reviewed in Rule .0383 of this Section;

(5)           Assign every BT a mentor who meets the requirements set forth in Rule .0384 of this Section;

(6)           Provide support and training to mentors;

(7)           Complete any required or prescribed professional development for BTs;

(8)           Provide a recognized process for conducting observations and summative evaluations for all BTs;

(9)           Plan for participation and demonstration of proficiency in BTSP monitoring based on the requirements in this Rule; and

(10)         Plan for participation in the annual BTSP Peer Review Process;

(11)         Provide written statement on how personnel files for BTs are filed and secured;

(12)         Plan for a transfer of BT files to subsequent employing public school units and non-public institutions in North Carolina;

(13)         Document local board of education approval of the BTSP Plan; and

(14)         Provide evidence and documentation to establish the validity and instrument crosswalk for public school units that are using an alternative evaluation system to identify mentors.

(b)  All full-time BTs who are pursuing a continuing professional license must participate in a BTSP for three years. A full-time BT is a person employed to fill a vacancy whose regular work week is the number of hours established as full-time for the class of work assigned, but not less than 30 hours per week. For the purposes of this Rule, a "year" is defined as working in a full-time permanent position for six or more calendar months during a North Carolina fiscal year.

(c)  The Regional Education Facilitator (REF) team shall monitor the implementation of the BTSP Plan over a five year cycle. If any areas of noncompliance arise, the public school unit must submit a work plan to address those areas, including strategies and timeline. The REF team must review the work plan and approve the plan if all areas of noncompliance are addressed. The REF team must conduct a technical assistance visit one year after monitoring the BTSP Plan to see if the public school unit has implemented and completed their work plan.

History Note:        Authority G.S. 115C-12; 115C-268.1; 115C-268.5; 115C-270.5; 115C-300.1;

Emergency Adoption Eff. August 20, 2019;

Eff. March 17, 2021.