2021 Twice Retained

Please share with the appropriate staff the attachment from Amy Rhyne, Ed. S, Office of Early Learning. 

• 2021 Twice Retained.pdf

Imagine Math Classrooms Receive Recognition

Mathematics classrooms across the state with students recording high usage of Imagine Math lessons were identified for recognition by Imagine Learning throughout November and December in 2020. Classrooms where students averaged passing 5 or more lessons were randomly selected as winners. Each selected classroom is recognized as an Imagine Math Classroom of the Month. Congratulations to the students, teachers, and schools for this honor.

Teacher: Destiny Feemster

Class: NC Math 1

School: Southwest Middle School

District: Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools

Teacher: Nickie Holloman

Class: Grade 5 Math

School: Pine Level Elementary

District: Johnston County Public Schools

Teacher: Marie Hauser

Class: Advanced Math 7

School: Mount Airy Middle

District: Mount Airy City Schools

Teacher: Clint Byers

Class: Grade 8 Math

Charter School: Two Rivers Community School

Teacher: Katie Wright – 3 (A-F)

Class: Grade 4 Math

School: C.C. Wright Elementary School

District: Wilkes County Schools

Reminder:  TIMS Update

PowerSchool and NCDPI have determined that adding quotes in fields throws off the alignment of data within the TIMS Report. Please do not add quotes in any PowerSchool fields.  Prior to exporting the TIMS report, please verify and remove quotes from all contact and transportation fields within your PowerSchool instance. Before importing into TIMS, please verify that the exported file has no lines which begin and end with quotes. If quotes exist the student records must be corrected and the file exported again.

Also, please ensure the CR/LF line delimiter is used when creating files.

Reminder:  DAT Tags Causing Performance Issues

PowerSchool has identified DAT tags that will cause performance issues with your instance if they are used incorrectly.  The DAT tags mentioned in this message specifically address the GPA Student Screen. 

A PSU used the ~(att;rar;S1) DAT under GPA Student Screens and it caused performance issues. Because the GPA / Quick Lookup page options are not CC specific, but rather Student record specific, this tag is invalid as an entry on the GPA Student Screens.  Once the DAT was removed, system performance returned to normal. 

Please be reminded that DAT tags have a specific use — usually within the reporting functions of PowerSchool. The best examples are using them for Class Rosters, Form Letters, or Report Cards. There are certain DAT tags that may not work anywhere else within PowerSchool, e.g., Object Reports or Quick Export.

For more information, please review the following article:

https://help.powerschool.com/t5/PowerSchool-SIS-Administrator/Class-Roster-Report-PDF-DAT-Codes/ta-p/12295

For questions or concerns regarding the use of DAT tags within your instance, please submit a case to PowerSchool support.

Reminder:  P-EBT Clarification

On 1/21/2021, there was a presentation to Superintendents and Charter Schools discussing the P-EBT project. In the presentation, there was a slide about Expectations of PSUs; these expectations included (1) the formation of a Team of Stakeholders to inform community partners and (2) the designation of a Point of Contact to oversee data issues at the local level.  The content of the slide is shown below:: 

• Establish a local P-EBT Team of Stakeholders to inform community partners and state agencies (Administrator, School Nutrition Director, Social Worker, Guidance counselor, Public Information Officers, Principal Representative, etc.); provide contact information to DPI to streamline communications with team members 
• Designate a Point of Contact to oversee P-EBT data administration; this role will ideally be the PowerSchool Coordinator 
• Identify this person by name and share the contact via a Google form that DPI will send out in the coming days 
• Continue to prepare student attendance data ahead of submission to DPI 
• Continue to confirm or correct student guardian and address information

It was suggested that the SIS coordinator would ideally fit the role of Point of Contact due to their having access to all the necessary information. This was not a statement that the SIS Coordinator needed to be that person just a suggestion. A PSU has the ability to form their own team and Point of Contact with the people of their choice. The Point of Contact’s purpose is to help investigate any anomalies that are produced once NCDPI pulls the data, e.g., incorrect address or phone number. 

The P-EBT state monthly data pull from DPI will be looking at the following information from the student record: 

• Mother/Father 
• Address 
• Phone Number 
• Attendance
• Entry/Exit Dates

It is very important that this data is accurate to ensure that students are receiving their benefits. In PowerSchool’s SQL reports 5 tab, DPI created several reports for you to find those students who have no information in the address, mother, and father fields. These reports can be found under the Data Audits report section Null Address and Null Mother and Father. 

It is important to do frequent audits on attendance data to make sure it is up to date and accurate. 

NCDPI is certainly cognizant of the burden that the Covid virus has placed on all of us.  We, like all of you, are hopeful that these unprecedented times will end soon.  While we do not want to add to the great efforts put forth by those of you on the front lines, we do feel compelled to remind everyone of the importance of accurate, complete, timely data and their submission.  

The maintenance and submission of the data for which you are stewards will be critical in the future to determine the impact of the virus on our students' education.  The data submitted and collected during this trying time will be needed for analysis, decision-making, intervention where appropriate and policy decisions in the coming years. 

We ask that you continually review your data to ensure for accuracy and completeness and verify that all policies and guidance are being followed.  Thank you all for your continued dedication to the students, parents, and teachers of North Carolina.  

Reminder:  Scheduling Training

NCDPI and PowerSchool will be offering virtual PowerScheduler training sessions from February 15-18, 2021.  These sessions will consist of 2 simultaneous Prep to Build sessions on February 15-17, 2021, and 2 simultaneous Load Process sessions on February 18-19, 2021. The training sessions will be held from 8:30 AM - 4 PM on the designated days. 

Descriptions of the PowerScheduler sessions being offered can be found here. PowerSchool agendas may also be found on PowerSource at the following links (note: you must have a PowerSource account to view).

• Prep to Build
• Load Process

Sessions will be open to designated scheduling leads within a PSU who need scheduling training. Due to limited seating availability, only 1 person per PSU will be permitted to register for each training (e.g., One per PSU may attend the Prep to Build, and one per PSU may attend the Load Process Training). Each training is seen as a separate event.

Third-Party Management Companies 𝑫𝑶 𝑵𝑶𝑻 𝑸𝑼𝑨𝑳𝑰𝑭𝒀 for this training. (If your company is contracted by/with a PSU to provide SIS services - e.g. ALS, Acadia Northstar, Charter Success Partners, CSUSA, etc., you will not be able to attend. Management companies may email training@powerschool.com to purchase training.)

These training sessions are not intended to be workshops with live school data. These sessions will use training data on a training server to teach the fundamentals of scheduling.

To register for a training session, please fill out the registration form.

Spring 2021 Course Code Webinar Series

Please join the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction (NCDPI) for a Spring 2021 course code webinar series. PowerSchool Data Managers, PowerSchool Coordinators, School Counselors, Career and Technical Education Directors, Career Development Coordinators, CCP Coordinators, and  Curriculum and Instruction/Academic Leaders are encouraged to join the conversations. Please see details below and we look forward to seeing you (virtually) soon! 

SAVE THE DATES! 

Time:  2 - 3 pm EST

Platform:  Webex

Dates and Registration Information:

• February 12th:  Course Codes General Overview - Part A (Join the Webinar Here)
• February 19th:  Course Codes General Overview - Part B (Join the Webinar Here)
• March 5th:  CAA vs. Non-CAA Courses (Join the Webinar Here)
• March 19th:  Graduation Plans, Transcripts, and Endorsements (Join the Webinar Here)
• April 16th:  Generic CTE Course Code Implementation (Join the Webinar Here)
• April 30th:  Generic Course Code Scheduling (Join the Webinar Here)

Questions? Please enter your questions in the Question Collection Form.

Canvas PD Mini-Course - Crafting High Quality Feedback in Canvas

Our next Canvas mini-course is now open for self-registration in NCEES. Learn all about the different ways you can give high quality feedback in Canvas.

This course is designed to be completed in one hour, and upon course completion, 0.1 CEU of Digital Learning Competency Credit will be applied to your transcript in NCEES (within 48 hours).

Register here (must login to NCEdCloud): https://bit.ly/3nxtogw

New Self-Paced Course on Curating Content in #GoOpenNC

We are so excited to try something new with our monthly webinars for #GoOpenNC. The webinar is now available on-demand in a mini Canvas course (you will need to login to NCEES via NCEdCloud to register).

The course is designed to be completed in one hour and NCEES will apply 0.1 CEU of Digital Learning Competency Credit to your transcript within 48 hours of completing the course.  The course is available until May 31, 2021

New Mini-Course: Remix and Add Your Own Content to #GoOpenNC!

Our next #GoOpenNC mini-course is now available for self-registration on NCEES. Learn how to remix and add your own resources to #GoOpenNC.

Each mini-course is designed to take one hour to complete and within 48 hours of course completion, 0.1 CEU of Digital Learning Competency Credit will be applied to your transcript!

Register here (must login to NCEdCloud): https://bit.ly/3amydp9

NCWiseOwl EBSCO Webinars 2020-2021 

PSUs, please share this message with your teachers.

Want to love and utilize NCWiseOwl even more?  Attend the upcoming webinars available from our database vendors! 

Britannica School: REGISTRATION and RECORDINGS

• Britannica School for Remote Learning 
• Britannica School for Parents 
• Britannica Basics for Elementary Educators 
• Britannica Basics for Secondary Educators 
• Sharing Britannica Content on Google Platforms 
• Preparing Digital Content Sets for Instruction 
• Britannica Tools to Support Reluctant Readers 
• Britannica School - STEAM in Focus 
• Britannica School - Arts & Humanities in Focus 
• Britannica Tools to Support English Language Learners 
  
  

EBSCO: REGISTRATION and RECORDINGS

• EBSCO Reference Center Exploration 
• EBSCO Online Classroom Tools and Integration Tips 
• EBSCO Accessibility and Usability Features within EBSCO Resources
• EBSCO Working with EBSCO eBooks
  
  

Please visit the NCWiseOwl  Toolkit  professional learning section for detailed descriptions and registration links.  www.ncwiseowl.org

Friday Wrap Up

Did You Know?

February 3, 2021

#GoOpenNC

Check out this collection of Open Education Resources for Black History Month on #GoOpenNC. We invite you to add to the collection by adding the keyword tag "Black History Month" to any appropriate resource you see on #GoOpenNC (look for the keyword box on the bottom right corner of every resource). Bonus points if you upload a lesson plan or activity that you are using this month and add it to the collection. Together, we can make a difference and fill our classrooms with culturally responsive instructional materials!

Link to collection: https://goopennc.oercommons.org/curated-collections/241

Canvas

The amazing #CanvasLMS Community has developed a Course Evaluation Checklist that addresses:

Course Information

Course Content

Assessment of Student Learning

Course Accessibility

Take a look at the checklist and see where your courses are right now and where you would like them to be. The checklist offers links to resources and guides to help you improve your course. Even better, the checklist is editable so your school or district can make it their own and focus on specific areas.

Link: https://community.canvaslms.com/.../Course.../ba-p/280349

SchoolNet

There are many ways to add calculators to a Schoolnet test or individual question. In addition to the built-in calculators in Schoolnet, it's also possible to embed the DESMOS calculator as seen in NCTest into individual questions! See this Quick Reference Document for instructions.

Schoolnet QRD - How to Embed Desmos Calculator in a Test Question - Google Docs

January 27, 2021

#GoOpenNC

Learn how to create and remix your own Open Education Resources on #GoOpenNC with our self-paced course that is available to all NC Educators in NCEES. This course will take one hour and you will earn 0.1 Digital Learning Competency Credit.

Use this link to register (must be signed into NCEdCloud): https://ncees.homebase.ncpublicschools.gov/.../pres.../28845

Canvas

#CanvasLMS has shared an online friendly course homepage and module course template that you can download and import for free into your Canvas course. Don't start with a blank Canvas...if your school or district does not provide you with a course template, check out this free resource!

https://community.canvaslms.com/.../2020.../ba-p/275304

Learning.com

Learning.com has two resource guides on their site that covers safety

topics to equip parents with information needed to be "Web aware":

1)Online Safety Guide for Parents 
2) Cyberbullying Prevention Guide

HB Update - Feb. 2, 2021

Today we're thrilled to kick off Classroom Connection, the next phase of our At-Home Learning partnership with NC Public Schools, to support your child's virtual learning experience!

This short-form learning series features your PBS KIDS favorites alongside engaging math and literacy lessons developed by and featuring North Carolina teachers and aligned with state curriculum standards, aimed at Pre-K through third grade students.

You can catch the Classroom Connection programming over the air on PBS NC and streamed online at pbsnc.org/athomelearning. We're kicking things off with literacy lessons on Tuesdays, at 8 AM and 9 AM, with repeat lessons on Fridays, and we'll be adding math lessons to the schedule on Mondays beginning next month!

Thank you to our partners, the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction (NC DPI) and the Friday Institute for Educational Innovation, for their commitment to this exciting project!

Follow Us on Social Media!

Follow us on Facebook and begin receiving "Did You Know" tips featuring each Home Base product. 

These messages will include upcoming changes, tips and even hidden treasures within each product to make your job easier.  If you are not following us on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, click on the links below and begin today!  Make sure you share this information with other staff within your school.

Instagram:  @nchomebase         Facebook:  @nchomebase       Twitter:  @nchomebase

NCDPI Technology Support Center

NCDPI's Technology Support Center continues to meet your support needs for:

• Schoolnet 
• NCEES/Unified Talent
• IAM/SSO (NCEdCloud) 
• Staff & Student UID (eScholar)

Support availability:

Web (NEW URL):  https://ncgov.servicenowservices.com/sp_dpi   -  24/7

Phone:  919-716-1840, Monday - Friday, 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. (excluding state holidays)

Technical support for SIS needs is handled directly by PowerSchool support using chat, phone, or by opening a case ticket.