This State-specific summary report serves as an assessment of North Carolina's annual Race to the Top implementation. The Year 3 report for Phase 1 and 2 grantees highlights successes and accomplishments, identifies challenges, and provides lessons learned from implementation from approximately September 2012 through September 2013. In Year 3, North Carolina fully implemented new college- and career-ready standards and continued to make progress in implementing the North Carolina Educator Evaluation System (NCEES). Additionally, the State advanced all areas of its comprehensive reform plan, building on progress it made in Years 1 and 2. As educators fully implemented the Standard Course of Study in SY 2012-2013, the State continued to build local capacity for implementation through regional trainings, webinars, and instructional resources shared through online modules and collaborative workspaces. North Carolina also held its third round of annual regional Summer Institutes in summer 2013. The State also made progress in implementing its qualifying evaluation system for teachers and principals, the NCEES, in Year 3. During Year 3, North Carolina continued development and implementation of the technological infrastructure to support its Race to the Top grant. North Carolina continued its efforts to build capacity and raise student achievement in its lowest-achieving schools in SY 2012-2013. Schools and local education agencies (LEAs) received customized support from coaches, and the State developed and provided professional development tailored to leaders in low-performing schools. Student achievement results from SY 2011-2012 and SY 2012-2013 indicate that the State's lowest-achieving schools are making progress in improving student achievement and graduation rates. North Carolina continued to provide educators and other stakeholders with information about the State's reform agenda through READY outreach meetings (see State Success Factors) held in fall 2012 and spring 2013. The State also created and disseminated READY outreach materials to support meeting participants in redelivering information at the local level. As of Year 3, the Evaluation Team had issued 30 reports, which North Carolina has used to inform continuous improvement across Race to the Top initiatives. Delays again impacted North Carolina's major technology initiatives--the Cloud and Home Base--in Year 3. As a result of challenges related to the State's procurement and approval processes, the State has a limited time frame for implementing these initiatives before the end of the grant period. In Year 3, the State encountered challenges with the initial statewide administration of the NC Final Exams. North Carolina reported that challenges were related to logistics and local flexibility for implementation, such as printing issues and variability in whether LEAs counted the results as part of students' grades. The State provided varied and extensive resources and training support to LEAs and educators leading up to and during the first full year of implementation of the CCSS and NCEES in Year 3. Year 4 will present an opportunity for the State to continue to refine implementation of the CCSS and North Carolina Essential Standards, as well as the NCEES based on Year 3 experiences. Ongoing training and support, including regional trainings and online tools and resources, will be provided to LEAs and educators to promote consistent and rigorous implementation of college- and career-ready standards and aligned assessments as well as the teacher and principal evaluation system. The State's Year 3 preparations and awareness-building with LEAs and educators laid the groundwork for full roll-out of the Cloud and Home Base. In SY 2013-2014, most major components are scheduled to be completed and ready for LEAs and schools to access. Support for new teachers and teacher and leader pipelines will continue in Year 4; the State will provide induction support to new teachers throughout the State; the second cohort of North Carolina Teacher Corps members will complete their first year of teaching in SY 2013-2014; and additional Regional Leadership Academies (RLA) graduates will provide potential leaders for low-achieving schools in the State. Coaches will continue to build capacity in low-achieving LEAs and schools, customizing support based on prior years' student achievement data and specific LEA and school needs. The Race to the Top Evaluation Team plans to conclude its work in Year 4, providing the State with analyses of individual initiatives, as well as the State's Race to the Top program overall. As the end of the Race to the Top grant period approaches, North Carolina will continue to work to address the challenge of sustainability around the investments of its Race to the Top plan. A Glossary is provided. [For "Race to the Top. North Carolina Report. Year 2: School Year 2011-2012. [State-Specific Summary Report]," see ED539241.]