PowerTeacher Pro Statewide Adoption Coming in 2018-19 

More than 80 school districts and nearly 30 charter schools across the state have adopted PowerTeacher Pro (PTP) for the current school year. While lessons are still being learned to improve the system and implementation, the feedback is clear: TEACHERS LOVE PTP! Additionally, the much-anticipated passback feature between PowerTeacher Pro with both Canvas and Schoolnet is currently in place for all of our early adopters in Cohort 1! 

Beginning with the 2018-19 school year, all remaining school districts and charter schools will be migrated over from the legacy PowerTeacher Gradebook (PTG) to PTP. While the state will be providing "just in time" training for administrators and teachers in the spring of 2018, it is never too early to begin planning for your local implementation. 

In order to assist school districts and charter schools with their implementation, this online hub has been created with multiple resources, including a common cartridge LMS file (a PTP Canvas course can be accessed via the NC Canvas Commons), implementation guide, an administrator configuration checklist, multiple training videos/QRDs/etc. for teachers and administrators, and much more.

If you have any questions about the implementation of PTP, please contact Hunter Huffman, Special Projects Manager, hunter.huffman@dpi.nc.gov or 919.807.3633. If you need technical support with PTP, please contact the NCDPI support center.

NC K-3 Formative Assessment Process:
Success During the Kindergarten Year 

Teachers, instructional coaches, and administrators in North Carolina’s public schools are sharing how their engagement with the NC K-3 Formative Assessment Process is impacting teaching and learning in classrooms across the state.  Anna Mitchell, a kindergarten teacher at Mary Scroggs Elementary in Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools, shared the following story.  This story illustrates the importance of utilizing formative assessment data and the construct progressions from the Kindergarten Entry Assessment (KEA) portion of the NC K-3 Formative Assessment Process to make instructional decisions for children. 

Anna Mitchell often has students entering kindergarten who are still in the process of building their fine motor skills.  For example, she has observed children using their whole hand to grip a pencil, and was able to support them in building the strength to use optimal grip and manipulation techniques for pencils or scissors.  Through the formative assessment process, Ms. Mitchell is able to gather data and use the construct progressions to meet the children where they are on the developmental continuum and plan instructionally appropriate “next steps” to increase skill development.  She reports that the KEA has provided opportunities to use data to adapt and respond to the instructional needs of students earlier in the year.  The result has been greater improvement throughout the year because the formative assessment process has allowed Ms. Mitchell to focus on fine motor abilities early and attend to students’ needs through an integrated planning approach across developmental domains of learning.

For more information about the K-3 Formative Assessment Process, please visit our website or contact your regional K-3 Education Consultant.