Opt-in to Home Base Suite for 2018-19 

Has your district/school opted into Home Base?  Find out by visiting the 2018 Home Base Opt-in Status list that is updated weekly.

The full suite of Home Base offers many advantages to classroom teachers and staff, including

• Formative assessment items for many high school Career and Technical Education courses,
• Access to over 55 fully developed courses on the NC Canvas Commons including NCVPS and DLCs for Teachers content,
• Updates to Local Professional Development Tracking & Course Creation, Attendance Tracking, and much much more!

Remember, only district finance officers and charter school principals may submit requests through the online opt-in tool for their district/school, SO PLEASE SPREAD THE WORD!

If you have questions concerning the 2018-19 Home Base Opt-in process, visit our updated 2018-19 Home Base Opt-in FAQs.  You may also contact Yolanda Wilson, Home Base Opt-in Administrator, at (919) 807-3485 or yolanda.wilson@dpi.nc.gov

Ready for PowerTeacher Pro?

All NC public schools have or are in the process of moving to PowerTeacher Pro; a leading-edge solution for successful education that optimizes both standards-based and traditional grading so you never have to struggle to align grading methods.  Attributes of this robust and flexible grading tool include

• Anytime, anywhere access
• User friendly interface
• Flexible data views
• Quick fill technology
• District level configuration
• Interface with parent and student portals and much, much more!

If you have not had the opportunity to use PowerTeacher Pro, get ready for a pleasant surprise!  PowerTeacher Pro will be completely implemented into all NC public schools in the 2018-19 school year.

Canvas Corner

Update on PowerTeacher Pro for Cohort II

Canvas and PowerTeacher Pro Integration Guide. Canvas Admins need to complete the survey from Instructure if you are moving to PowerTeacher Pro for 2018-19 by May 18.

Home Base April Meet-Up Summary

We had a very successful first round of Canvas content at our April meet-ups. Be sure to check out this summary to stay updated on everything we talked about and the dates for meet-ups in 2018-19.

Instructure Offers Free Course Templates for Teacher Appreciation Week

Two free custom course templates are available for all educators in honor of Teacher Appreciation Week. One template is designed for K-5 users and one is for 6-12 users.

Discover Schoolnet

Schoolnet Updates

Date Change for May Schoolnet Webinars

Our May Webinars will be held on Tuesday, May 15, from 10 to 11 a.m. and from 3 to 4 p.m. Join us to explore how to create student groups to impact instructional and reporting needs. Visit the Home Base Calendar to register.

ELA and K-8 Math New Standards Update

Pearson is working with Certica to create mappings from the current ELA and K-8 Math standards to the new standards that will be implemented on July 1st. All assessment items and instructional materials will be automatically realigned when the new standards are uploaded into our production site for Schoolnet (prior to the July 1st implementation date).
ALL created assessments (my classroom, shared classroom, school, and district benchmarks) that have been created for ELA and/or K-8 Math will need to be updated once the new standards are live prior to use in 2018-2019. Best practice is to create a copy of the test and check the alignment of each item on the assessment with the new standards. We are in the process of creating documentation to assist you in communicating this process to your staff.

Home Base April Meet-Up Summary

We had a wonderful round of meet-ups in April. Be sure to check out this summary to stay updated on everything we talked about and the dates for meet-ups in 2018-2019

Schoolnet Storyteller: Preparing for Online Testing with Schoolnet

Katherine White is a fifth grade Science/ELA and STEM teacher at Anderson Creek Academy in Harnett County. White uses Schoolnet with her students to help them prepare for online testing. 

“My school uses the MAPS test, which is computerized.  So I feel that my students are better prepared for that by taking tests on the computer," White says. "I also know that EOG’s are moving to computerized, so using computer-based testing better prepares them for that as well.”

White has found that Schoolnet allows her to create a variety of assessment types, from quick, formative checks to end-of-the-year comprehensive reviews.

She says she depends on the detailed analytics after her students complete an assessment to drive her instruction, adding, “I also use questions that many get wrong again as classwork so they all get more exposure to those questions - we also review these at the end of the week, so they get the question broken down and answered for them as we review it.”

We appreciate White sharing how she uses Schoolnet and offering some timely ideas as we approach the end of the year.

We want to include more Schoolnet Storytellers in our 2018-19 cycle of newsletters. Please fill out this brief form to nominate an educator at your school/district to be featured in future newsletters.

Truenorthlogic

TNL End of Year (EOY) Webinar

NCEES Webinar: Administrator End of Year Process  

Audience: Administrators

Webinar Outcomes: Topics to be outlined include reviewing the Teacher Evaluation Process and responsibilities, managing completion reports for staff, and reviewing the end of Year for the Principal Evaluation Plan. Participants will be encouraged to share best practices and lessons learned during the 2017-18 school year and changes they're planning for the upcoming 2018-19 school year.

Date: Tuesday, May 15

Time: 4-5 p.m.

Registration Link: https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/2853642080496273666

TNL Planning PD Webinar

NCEES Webinar: Using The PD System to Plan for Next Year

Audience: Teachers, Principals

Webinar Outcomes: Participants will explore a continuous improvement process for planning their professional growth utilizing the online PD System. Ideas for using the PD System as a PLC will also be examined.

Date: Tuesday, June 5

Time: 4-5 p.m.

Registration Link: https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/9094069857520521218

LEAs & Charters! TNL/NCEES SURVEY is extended through May 18

We Want to HEAR from YOU!

This survey is for LEA/Charter District and Site Administrators of the Truenorthlogic NCEES system. Please share with any lead administrators and site admins. Your input is HIGHLY VALUED!
What do you like about TNL/NCEES? What do you not like?
Do you need more training on how to use NCEES?
Are you able to support and guide your staff through evaluations and professional development in NCEES?
What improvements to processes, reporting and PD are needed?
Are there other products out there that might work better?
We need your thoughts, comments, criticisms! 

Click here to Start the NCEES Survey!

Your responses help us plan, prepare and offer needed support to our North Carolina LEAs and Charters.

Questions about this survey? Please contact NCDPI TNL Lead Cami Narron (cami.narron@dpi.nc.gov)

THANK YOU!

NEW for CHARTER Admins/HR/Payroll - approved Payroll Object Code 153 for classified staff access to TNL/NCEES

Charter payrolls that follow NC Public School's Chart of Accounts PRC 036 may now use salary object code 153-Administrative Specialist (Central Support) for classified staff to gain access TNL/NCEES.
NCDPI heard from Charters that classified staff District Administrators could not access TNL/NCEES due to allowable account codes used by the charter were limited to program report code (PRC) 036. Their classified admin were limited to object code 151-Office Support which is not recognized for staff to access TNL/NCEES.

NCDPI's School Business Administration has now approved and updated the Chart of Accounts to include the following two 153 Administrative Specialist object/purpose codes:
1-5400-036-153
1-6610-036-153

A full list of all approved TNL/NCEES access codes can be found here: NCEES Data V5.

To view the updated version of the Chart of Accounts click here.