NC SIS Weekly Email Bulletin

North Carolina Public Schools sent this bulletin at 09/04/2020 03:44 PM EDT

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September 4, 2020

Digital Teaching and Learning

DISTRICT SUPPORT

NC SIS Weekly Email Bulletin

In this issue:

1. State Reporting Reminder

2. Annual Military Student Identifier Collection

3. Students in the FTE School - Reminder

4. Month 1 PMR Issue

5. 2020-2021 Webinars

6. Friday Round Up Featuring: International Children's Digital Library

7. NCDPI Technology Support Center

State Reporting Reminder

The Fall School Start-Time and End-Time Collection is due September 15, 2020.

Remember to enter the school start-time and end-time in PowerSchool according to the quick reference document attached in the link below before running the 2020 -2021 report. The report should be approved at the School Level and District Level in PowerSchool. Contact studentaccounting@dpi.nc.gov for further questions.

QRD: School Start Times and End Times

https://files.nc.gov/dpi/documents/school_info/PS_QRD_SET.pdf

Annual Military Student Identifier Collection

The military student identifier is a required annual collection of data on military-connected students. The data collection should be updated by providing a form (paper or electronic) to the parent once at the beginning of each school year. LEAs are required to enter and update the data from these forms into PowerSchool. NC DPI recommends completing these updates by December 15, 2020. A QRD is available for PowerSchool functionality on the military student identifier. An updated sample form is also available.

When reviewing this information please keep the following in mind.

IMPORTANT: The field options must be in place as described even if the form has been edited for local use. There must be room for six relationships included on the local form. The form must also describe these specific values:

Relationship: Mother, Father, Stepfather, Stepmother, Guardian, Sibling, Other
Branches: Air Force, Army, Coast Guard, Marine Corps, Navy
Status Options: Active Duty, Activated Guard/Reserve, National Guard, Reserves, Retired Military, Disabled Veteran, Veteran, Federal Civil Service, Deceased, Deceased – KIA, Foreign Military
Pay Grade (Optional): Enlisted (“E 1” through “E 9” separately), Warrant Officer (“W 1” through “W 5” separately), Officer (“O 1” through “O 10” separately). E 1, E 2, E 3, E 4, E 5, E 6, E 7, E 8, E 9, W 1, W 2, W 3, W 4, W 5, O 1, O 2, O 3, O 4, O 5, O 6, O 7, O 8, O 9, and O 10 are the required value list names. Previously, some systems interpreted this too literally, so we’re providing the value list. Any dashes should be removed and replaced with the space.
Military Installation (Optional): The facility where the service member fulfills their duty role in the military. [text field in PS] (e.g., Fort Bragg, NG Raleigh Armory, Knightdale Reserve Center etc.)
Unit or Squadron (NOT REQUIRED): This field will be repurposed as a “Note” labelled text field in a future version of PowerSchool and will still be optional.

Students in the FTE School - Reminder

NCDPI has discovered that some schools have students in their DPI FTE school. NCDPI would like to inform all PSUs that the DPI FTE school should not be used as a holding school during the school year and there should not be any student records in this school within your instance. This school may be used as a temporary holding school during the EOY process, but students must be moved back to their previous school and transferred out as a no-show within your instance after EOY. Failure to remove these students causes double enrollment in ECATS, resulting in record transfer issues. Please see page 7 of the End-of-Year User Guide for instructions.

What is a No-Show student?

When a student is enrolled in a school but did not show up on the first day of school, they are referred to as a " No-Show".

For the No-Show students to report correctly, the Entry Date must be equal to the Exit Date. Summer No-Show students should have summer entry/withdrawal dates after July 1 and before the first day of school. NCDPI recommends summer dates of 7/6 – 7/6 to avoid enrollment, reporting, and transfer student record issues.

Always ensure student Entry Dates and Exit Dates in PowerSchool are correct. For example, the exit date should never be before the entry date.

Month 1 PMR Issue

NCDPI is aware that PSUs are not able to run their Month 1 PMR. This issue was reported to the vendor, PowerSchool, and following an investigation, it was determined that this is a statewide issue.

Following discussions between PowerSchool, Student Accounting, and the Division of Digital Teaching and Learning, a fix has been developed and will be released during this month’s regular maintenance window (September 18-21). NCDPI will submit a case to PowerSchool Support to have PMR 1 unlocked for schools in all PSUs following the maintenance window.

Pre-Recorded State Reporting Webinar: https://youtu.be/wyH4sSdmn6g

Live Q&A Follow-up Webinar via Microsoft Teams

Microsoft Teams link to webinar: Join Microsoft Teams Meeting

Please join us for the live webinar Q&A scheduled for September 14, 2020, at 2 PM. In this session, Amanda Cruz and LaShon Creech will join the Home Base Professional Learning Team to answer any questions PS coordinators may have after watching the new PMR / SAR video reference guide.

New PowerSchool Quick Reference Video: PowerTeacher Attendance Tips for 2020-2021 and Beyond

The Home Base Professional Learning Team has a new PowerSchool Quick Reference Video aimed at teachers with a few tips and tricks to help them manage attendance in the 2020-2021 school year and beyond using the new 1R: Present Off-Site attendance code. We hope this will be helpful to PSUs as they navigate this unprecedented new school year. Please feel free to share this video with your teachers as-is or modify it to meet your needs. The video mentions that teachers should speak to their school principal or data manager about attendance expectations if they are unclear about your local expectations. If you are a data manager and you have questions, please feel free to contact us at home_base@dpi.nc.gov or log a ticket with PowerSchool.

See PowerTeacher Attendance Tips for 2020-2021 and Beyond on YouTube.

Become a Home Base Empowered Educator!

To kickoff the 2020-2021 school year, the Home Base Team has created a series of eight 30 minute mini-webinars that are available on demand to help you make the most of Schoolnet, Canvas, and #GoOpenNC! CEU credit and a digital badge can be earned by watching at least two webinars. For more information, please visit bit.ly/homebaseb2school20

Canvas Monthly Webinars

Join us, starting in September, for monthly webinars to learn more about Canvas. Webinars will be one hour long and offered at 3 p.m. and 7 p.m. to help you attend the session that best fits your schedule. Educators who attend a live webinar will receive a CEU certificate for 0.1 CEU that is recommended for Digital Learning Competency Credit. All webinars will be recorded and archived on our YouTube channel to rewatch as needed. To register for our Canvas webinars, please visit: bit.ly/nccanvaswebinars

#GoOpenNC Monthly Webinars

Join us, starting in September, for monthly webinars to learn more about #GoOpenNC. Webinars will be one hour long and offered at 10 a.m., 3 p.m., and 7 p.m. to help you attend the session that best fits your schedule. Educators who attend a live webinar will receive a CEU certificate for 0.1 CEU that is recommended for Digital Learning Competency Credit. All webinars will be recorded and archived on our YouTube channel to rewatch as needed. Make sure you register today for our upcoming webinars!

Schoolnet Monthly Webinars

Join us, starting in September, for monthly webinars to learn more about Schoolnet. Webinars will be one hour long and offered at 10 a.m., 3 p.m., and 7 p.m. to help you attend the session that best fits your schedule. Educators who attend a live webinar will receive a CEU certificate for 0.1 CEU that is recommended for Digital Learning Competency Credit. All webinars will be recorded and archived on our YouTube channel to rewatch as needed. To register for our Schoolnet webinars, please visit: bit.ly/ncschoolnetresources

September Webinars

September Webinars by Topic for all Learning.com PSUs

Using the Digital Literacy Assessment (DLA) to Gauge Your Students’ Understanding of the ISTE Standards for Students – Offered Sept. 9& 10
Tracking Student Growth through Skills Checks – Offered Sept. 15 & 17
- Click here for more information and registration links:ly/lcomvirtualsept2020
#NCBOLD has Learning.com Webinars Join @ncdpiDTL for a series of virtual conferences designed to support NC educators as they develop effective remote/hybrid instruction. #NCBOLD kicks off first event Sept. 15-16. Registration begins Aug. 31. More information coming soon - http://bit.ly/NCBold
- Description: Participants will explore Learning.com’s digital skills curriculum, including the new NC Remote Instruction Sequences, through an interactive, hands-on approach to gain a better understanding of how our ready-made curriculum can help support both remote learning environments and the NC Digital Learning Standards.
- Date: Sept.15, 2020
- Time: 2:00 p.m. - 3:20 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. - 7:50 p.m. (select the time that works best for you)
- Register: https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/rt/6764002429212722958

NCEES September Webinars

NC Educator Effectiveness System (NCEES) Webinars 2020-2021 with registration links, descriptions, dates and times are posted on the NCEES Google site at https://sites.google.com/dpi.nc.gov/ncees-information-and-resource/webinars-2020-21.

Webinars are scheduled for Tuesdays from 4-5 p.m. unless otherwise designated. All will be recorded and posted to DPI's YouTube NCEES Playlist and also on NCEES Google site which will include the presentation links for later viewing.

Please mark your September calendars for these webinars: (Titles are registration links except for #NCBold sessions – click links)

Understanding the Teacher Rubric (2 hours) – Tuesday, Sept. 8, 2020, 3-5 p.m.
- This session will explore the NCEES rubric to identify the range of expectations for supporting and evaluating educator practices, by unpacking the specific language of the elements and descriptors to identify the structural underpinnings of the rubric. Participants will develop a deeper understanding of the performance expectations and process requirements.
Teachers CEUs - My PD, My Transcript – Tuesday, Sept. 15, 2020, 4-5 p.m.
- Participants will learn in this hands-on training NCEES webinar how earned credits (CEUs) can show on the staff’’s “My Transcript”, how to locate and take NCDPI and Locally created Professional Learning Opportunities in NCEES, how to manage “My Courses”, and how to enter Credit Request.
#NCBOLD NCEES Webinars Sept. 15 & 16
Join @ncdpiDTL for a series of virtual conferences designed to support NC educators as they develop effective remote/hybrid instruction. #NCBOLD kicks off first event Sept. 15-16. Registration begins Aug. 31. More information coming soon - http://bit.ly/NCBold
- NCEES CEUs - My Professional Development – Participants will learn how earned credits (CEUs) can show on the staff’s “My Transcript”, how to locate and take NCDPI and Locally created Professional Learning Opportunities in NCEES, how to manage “My Courses”, and how to enter Credit Requests.
  - Click to Register for Sept. 16: 9:30 a.m. - 10:50 a.m.
  - Click to Register for Sept. 16: 2:00 p.m. - 3:20 p.m.
- NCEES- It's all about PDPs and Evals! – In this interactive NCEES session, participants will learn how the evaluation and professional development plan correlate and how to best prepare for observations. What does it all really mean for beginning, residency or experienced teachers or support staff?
  - Click to Register for Sept. 16: 11:00 a.m. - 12:20 p.m.
  - Click to Register for Sept. 16: 3:30 p.m. - 4:50 p.m.
- Instructional Leadership for Principals – Tuesday, Sept. 22, 2020, 4-5 p.m.
  - School administrators are expected to set high standards for the professional practice of 21st century instruction and assessment. This session will focus on the elements of best instructional and school practices, and the collaborative structures within the school for the design of highly engaging schoolwork for students. Evidence, artifacts and questions for the self-assessment and evaluations for School Executive Standard 2, Instructional Leadership will be reviewed.
- PD Office Use to Create Learning Opportunities – Tuesday, Sept. 29, 2020, 4-5 m.
  - This hands-on training webinar will cover in depth how to manage a local NCEES PSU PD Office within NCEES PD component to create all types of Learning Opportunities

NCWiseOwl EBSCO Webinars 2020-2021

PSUs, please share with your teachers the following webinars. Full descriptions can be found in the NCWiseOwl Toolkit. https://ncdpi.instructure.com/courses/1276/pages/professional-learning-ebsco

1. Session Title: Accessibility and Usability Features within EBSCO Resources

REGISTRATION

Date: Tuesday, September 15, 2020 Time: 4:30 PM – 5:30 PM EST

2. Session Title: Working with EBSCO eBooks

REGISTRATION

Date: Wednesday, October 7, 2020 Time: 7 PM – 8 PM EST

3. Session Title: EBSCO Reference Center Exploration

REGISTRATION

Date: Thursday, November 5, 2020 Time: 4:30 PM – 5:30 PM EST

International Children’s Digital Library

With everything from A – Z being accessible virtually nowadays, it is wonderful to have access to a library also. But this is not just any library. This library is a multicultural library that features books that have been carefully selected, are age-rated and includes books from every country in every language. You can even search for books from your childhood to the present.

The focus of the International Children's Digital Library Foundation (ICDL Foundation) is for children and their families to have access to books not only of their culture but other countries as well. According to a paper published in 2005 by the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), “In terms of pedagogy, children learn best in their mother tongue."

The ICDL Foundation aspires to build a collection of books that represents outstanding historical and contemporary books from throughout the world. Their goal is to have every culture and language represented so that every child can know and appreciate children's literature from the world community.

The site offers several ways to search for reading material. You can search by country, recently added books, author, etc. One interesting search option is the White Ravens List. The White Raven label is given to books that deserve worldwide attention because of their universal themes and/or their exceptional artistic, literary style and design. Currently the list features:

3,557 books
Representing 84 countries
In 60 languages

You can choose to register on the site, which is optional. Registering for the site enables you to 1) select the language you prefer 2) return to the last page you were reading 3) save your favorite books in a personal bookshelf 4) access these from any computer, and 4) help improve the ICDL by providing information to aid in expanding the site.

Lastly, ICDL has created a teacher's training manual to explain digital libraries and how they can be useful in the classroom. The ICDL can be accessed by iPhone/iPad Apps and StoryKit which is their family-friendly iPhone app that children can use to create stories on their phone (or iPod Touch) with text, pictures and other story elements.

As with other sites that have been featured, we hope that this can be a valuable tool to assist you this school year both virtually and on-site.

IMPORTANT: Please check PSU policies and consider HIPPA, FERPA, and COPPA laws with regards to student privacy BEFORE implementing any free resources.