The NCCAT Research and Development program offers educators an opportunity to meet in a residential setting devoid of distraction to create and advance departmental, school, or district-wide projects. These projects might consist of new programming, research, planning, or curricula. Gather a team together to create or refine your own innovative approaches to early grades literacy or digital learning. Early grades literacy or digital learning projects will be given preference. All projects will be considered. Come prepared to share your knowledge and progress with other teams from around our state.
The application process requires submission of a project proposal from your team, and an NCCAT application from each individual. Teachers, administrators, central office personnel and district coordinators are encouraged to apply.

Only Watauga County teacher leaders and administrators selected by their superintendent are eligible.
Standard I of The North Carolina Professional Teaching Standards requires that teachers demonstrate leadership that extends beyond their own students. They should mentor other teachers, work to advance the profession, advocate for positive change in policy and practice, and participate in the implementation of educational initiatives. Those duties, however, are more often associated with administrators. One of the grand ironies of education is that the most effective practitioners are often rewarded with promotions that take them away from their practice. If ambitious, creative, effective teachers could remain in the classroom while still finding means to have a school- or district-wide impact, the entire system would benefit. In this seminar, teacher leaders and district administrators will examine their work settings and their roles in them. Teachers will develop means to integrate intellectual growth and leadership skills into their classrooms and those of their colleagues, as well as explore the many options open to classroom teacher-leaders. They also will step out of their comfort zones for a day of engaging with the US Coast Guard to examine their teamwork and leadership models. Teachers and administrators will work together to create an action plan for attaining a necessary outcome at their school or district level. This program is made possible by a generous grant from BB&T.


Register for NCCAT program "BB&T Teacher Leadership Institute: Watauga County" by clicking here for an electronic registration form.

The average teacher spends about 20% of the time attempting to regain students’ attention—that’s one full day of instruction every week lost to non-instructional activity. Participants in this workshop will receive a crash course in behavior management. They will learn the four basic causes of most student misbehavior and how to address each. They will also practice making transitions from one activity to another. By the end of this daylong program (9am to 3pm), participants should feel more confident and possess a plan for organizing and managing their classrooms. Teachers at all grade levels and in all subject areas are encouraged to attend.

The NCCAT Research and Development Teams program offers educators an opportunity to meet in a residential setting devoid of distraction to create and advance departmental, school, or district-wide projects. These projects might consist of new programming, research, planning, or curricula. Gather a team together to create or refine your own innovative approaches to early grades literacy or digital learning. Early grades literacy or digital learning projects will be given preference. All projects will be considered. Come prepared to share your knowledge and progress with other teams from around our state.
The application process requires submission of a project proposal from your team, and an NCCAT application from each individual. Teachers, administrators, central office personnel and district coordinators are encouraged to apply.

As we aim to bring delayed readers up to grade level, we cannot allow other students to languish. Nor do we want to organize our instruction in such a way that our struggling students feel stigmatized. How do teachers balance the emotional and instructional needs of all their students? That is the question we will attack in this program. Teachers will spend several days immersed in a variety of differentiation activities and then craft specific plans and activities for differentiating in their own classrooms. Although activities will be geared toward K–3 standards, the skills are completely transferable and teachers at all levels are encouraged to attend.