North Carolina's Standard Course of Study defines the appropriate content standards for each grade level and each high school course to provide a uniform set of learning standards for every public school in North Carolina. These standards define what students know and should be able to do.
Articulated by the North Carolina Professional Teaching Standards Commission, and adopted by the State Board of Education in November 1999, the Core Standards reflect what teachers in North Carolina should know and be able to do.
The North Carolina Standards for School Executives focuses on building a culture of disciplined thought and action that is rooted in the ability to build reelationships among all stakeholders to build trust and create a transparent environment that reduces all stakeholders' sense of vulnerability as they address the challenges for transformational change.
The North Carolina Professional Teaching Standards are the basis for teacher preparation, teacher evaluation, and professional development. Each of these will include the skills and knowledge needed for 21st-century teaching and learning.
The North Carolina Standards for Superintendents builds an executive who builds a culture in which leadership is distributed and encouraged with teachers and others; communication is honest and open; there is focus on the use of data, teamwork, and research-based best practices; and modern tools are used to drive ethical, principled, and goal-oriented action. This culture of disciplined thought is rooted in the ability of the superintendent to build a trusting, transparent environment for all stakeholders.
The Digital Competencies, informed by International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE), International Association for K-12 Online Learning (iNACOL), and the NC Professional Teaching Standards, are to be viewed within the context of the current North Carolina Professional Teaching Standards as extensions in relationship with the ways that digital technologies impact and affect schools. Teachers and administrators should use these competencies to improve their practice and drive student learning within their classrooms.
The North Carolina Professional Teaching Standards Commission developed teaching standards based on a “new vision of teaching” in light of 21st-century opportunities, needs, and demands. These are advanced standards, appropriate for teacher education programs to use as guidelines in developing their graduate-level teaching programs.