PowerTeacher Pro Training

The surveys are in, 77 LEAs and 25 charter schools will be participating in Cohort I of the release of PowerTeacher Pro for the 2017-18 school year.

To see who will be part of Cohort I, click here. Using the Map tab at the top of the page, districts represented in green are participating in Cohort I, those in red have indicated they will wait for full implementation in summer 2018, and those districts without shading in either color have not responded.

Training in each region for Cohort I administrators and teachers begins April 24 and will continue into May. Registration and training information was sent Monday, March 27 to the Cohort I contact in your district. 

Registration closes April 14. If you are interested in learning more about the PowerTeacher Pro roll-out, please review the comprehensive PowerTeacher Pro NC Implementation plan. 

Questions should be directed to: Special Projects Manager Hunter Huffman or 919-807-3633.

PowerSchool Boosts Efficiency, Confidence

We learn more every day about how to use technology more effectively to improve teaching and learning for students. Practitioners in schools and districts – from teachers and technology coordinators to data managers and principals – have important lessons to share about their experiences, successes and challenges. 

Debbie Jarman, Administrator of Student Information for Anson County Schools shares her district's experience with PowerSchool, the state's student information system.

Q: What has been your district’s greatest success with PowerSchool?

A: For my department, one of our greatest successes is having the ability – with PowerSchool – to extract data using the many tools. It’s much easier to audit data to catch errors. I’m more confident about our data. The fact that PowerSchool is interconnected with other applications and sources of data gives us greater capability to maintain consistent data throughout all these systems.

PowerSchool offers many search commands and access to tables that gives the ability to pull data out easily. We’re often asked for data for grants and other needs, and it let’s us provide for such requests quickly and efficiently. For example, I am asked for academic data from previous years. “How many 12th graders in 2015-16 took but failed Spanish III?” I am often asked for demographic date. “What is the percentage of students by gender and race for each grade level?” 

Read more ...

Home Base Opt-in Update for 2017-18

We sent out a memo March 27 regarding Home Base Usage Pricing for the 2017-18 school year.  The opt-in tool is not quite ready for release, but as soon as it is available we will send out additional communication. 

In the meantime, if you have any questions, please contact Jamie Woodlief, Project Coordinator, at 919-807-3745 or jamie.woodlief@dpi.nc.gov.

Homework Gap Survey

NC Assessing the Challenges Students Face

Nationally, seven in 10 teachers assign homework that requires Internet access and digital equipment. But an estimated 5 million households in the United States with school-age children do not have Internet access at home, and/or other required resources. Students that fall into this “homework gap”—households where Internet access is limited or unavailable—lag behind in education and are less competitive in the workforce.

The State of North Carolina wants to help ensure that no public school student falls into the homework gap. To do so, the state needs to know the extent of this homework gap and the potential challenges students face in accessing digital resources.

To identify this data, NCDPI Digital Teaching and Learning staff will partner with the Broadband Infrastructure Office and the Friday Institute to conduct a survey of North Carolina households with K-12 students. 

We encourage you to share this survey with parents and caregivers in your community so policymakers and education stakeholders can design solutions to address this issue.

The anonymous, short survey is available in English and Spanish (Encuesta de Accesso a Internet K-12 en el Hogar). The survey closes April 30. If you have questions, concerns or feedback, please contact the Broadband Infrastructure Office or 919-754-6695.

Schoolnet Contract Information

The current Schoolnet contract term is set to expire  June 30, 2018.  This does not mean that the Pearson product is reaching end of life, rather the DPI contract is simply up for renewal.

Please click here to access the Home Base Schoolnet Contract: Process & Next Steps for more information.  If you have any additional questions please contact Yanisha Mann, Instructional Improvement System Consultant, at 919-807-3257 or yanisha.mann@dpi.nc.gov.

Discover Schoolnet

Last week in our "“Wired Wednesday” we had a great discussion about using “year to date” data. We then reviewed how to access NCDPI test specifications to compare with our domain data.

If you missed this webinar, you can access this on the webinar tab of our NC: Home Base Schoolnet Professional Learning Plan.  Our next scheduled webinar is Wednesday, April 12. Please remember to check this splash every other Wednesday for updates and submit concerns to your district representative if a helpdesk ticket is required.

Quick Tips

Classrooms for Teachers

Are you trying to get rid of those “cow,” “marble,” or “black and white” composition books to go paperless? Within Schoolnet, you can use the “student workspaces” area to communicate with your students in a “journal-like” fashion. Students can launch the student workspace area from Schoolnet to place their journals in a folder that teachers can access in the “Student workspace” area of “Classrooms.” One more tree saved and a quicker return for feedback!

Classrooms for Leadership

In the Student workspaces section of the Classrooms, you will also notice you can see the same information teachers see.

Upcoming Professional Learning

Check with your district level Schoolnet lead (click here). They will determine if they have the staff to provide the professional learning or if they need to request a district training. If the lead can host a district training, please have them contact a DTL Regional Consultant for more details.

Upcoming Webinars

Wed, April 12, 3:30-4:30 PM

Click here to find information from past postings.

Still need help? You may also have your LEA/District Schoolnet Lead contact the Home Base Support Center through the Remedy web portal https://nc-myit.us.onbmc.com or 919-807-4357.

NCEES Webinars

Please check out the NCEES Wiki for all of the upcoming webinars scheduled for this school year.  We encourage educators to register and learn more about the NCEES System. 

The NCEES Webinars and Office Hours are scheduled on Tuesday afternoons.  See webinars below:

April 2017

NCEES Webinar: Teachers/Support Staff End of Year Process

Tuesday, April 11, 4:00 - 5:00 PM

PD System: Management and End of Year Activities

Tuesday, April 18, 4:00 - 5:00 PM

Educator Effectiveness Office Hours

Tuesday, April 25, 4:00 - 5:00 PM

April is School Library Month

Help school libraries across the state celebrate School Library Month! Contact your school library to learn about activities they're hosting this month. 

Consider changing your social media banner for the month to show your support. Add a “Twibbon” to your Twitter profile picture, and use #slm17 to share how school libraries empower our students. 

Find complimentary graphics and more information about School Library Month on the American Association of School Librarians' website.