NC 10-Point Scale QRD

The new NC 10-Point Grade Scale Setup QRD is now available and has been published to the NC DPI website.  This document was created to assist PSUs with proper setup of the NC 10-Point Grade Scale and NC Special Code Scale in PowerSchool (SIS) per NC State Board of Education Policy.

OCR/CRDC - PowerSchool CRDC Preview Report Opens Oct. 25, 2021

Please share with other staff as appropriate.

Note:  PSUs that were not open in the school year 2020-2021 are not required to participate in this collection.

All links and documents referenced in this communication can be found on the NCDPI CRDC Documentation and Webinars Events page.

The first step toward Successful CRDC Submission is Downloading the Federal LEA and School Forms

The CRDC answers specific questions posed by the Office of Civil Rights.  All PSUs are required to submit data at the LEA and School level. Download both the LEA Form and School Form to understand definitions and instructions for the data required for reporting.  These documents will be necessary to Validate and Certify data when the Federal Submission Tool opens in December.

• LEA Form
• School Form

The PowerSchool CRDC Preview Report Opens October 25, 2021

The CRDC Preview report in PowerSchool will open on Monday, October 25, 2021.   To begin to facilitate the transfer of data on behalf of all NC PSUs, the report will close December 1, 2021.  If the report has not been run at the LEA Level in PowerSchool or is incomplete, PSUs must submit any remaining data to the Federal Submission Portal on their own.

As noted in the communication sent September 27, 2021, if setup is not completed first, the report will display unexpected results.

• Setting up PowerSchool for the CRDC – published September 14, 2021
• Reviewing the PowerSchool CRDC Preview Report – published October 20, 2021

Note:  There are two known issues that will be updated in November.  These issues are specific to students who are cross enrolled for CRDC courses at a second school.  The first is Algebra I passing counts (grades 7-12), the second is IB program enrollment (grades 9-12).

Non-PowerSchool Data Files

Remember, the CRDC collects more than SIS data. To review data which resides outside of PowerSchool and is included in the CRDC Survey, visit the Non-PowerSchool Data Files tab on the NCDPI CRDC Documentation and Webinar page.

Please review these data files and be prepared to make any updates to the Federal Submission Tool in December.  The previous year files will not be regenerated.

• Certified Teacher Class Counts - published October 12, 2021
• FTE - Pending
• Internet Devices- published October 20, 2021

The CRDC Federal Registration Process was Completed for All PSUs

As a reminder, the registration process of the Federal Submission Tool has been completed by NCDPI on behalf of all PSUs.  CRDC Contact information and the LEA/School Directory have been submitted.  The files are located under the Non-PowerSchool Data Files tab on NCDPI CRDC Documentation and Webinar page.  Please disregard any communications from CRDC Partner Support regarding registration. 

A Civil Rights Data Collection (CRDC) Webinar Events

This two-hour session will be repeated three times during the PowerSchool Preview period.  The webinar will provide a PowerSchool demonstration specific to the CRDC, tips for successful validation and an opportunity to discuss the NCDPI schedule for data upload to the federal submission tool. Users will also have the opportunity to ask about PowerSchool functional processes

• Friday October 29, 2021 - 10am-12pm - Webinar Password:  CRDC2021
• Friday November 5, 2021 - 10am-12pm - Webinar Password:  CRDC2021
• Friday November 19, 2021 - 10am-12pm - Webinar Password:  CRDC2021

Please submit questions or issues as soon as possible to Terra Dominguez at terra.dominguez@dpi.nc.gov.

Read-to-Achieve Update

Please read and share the updated Read-to-Achieve memo dated 10/22/2021.

RTA Memo - 10/22/2021

Resolved:  New Schoolnet Items Missing Images

It was previously communicated that some of the new items added to Schoolnet this year were missing images. The affected items were removed from the system while we worked to correct the issue. All affected items have now been loaded back into the system with their images. To find any of the new items added this school year, search for a date added of 10/12/21.

Please note: if teachers pulled any of the items with missing images into a test, they will need to remove these items and add them again.

NCEES System District Administrator Access Rights Changes

Attention: NCEES Leads with District Administrator system rights,

On Oct. 31, 2021, vendor PowerSchool will be setting both Assume Identity and Can Assign Access Rights to false for all staff assigned with System District Administrator Rights. This is the next step in creating the Central Office View Only Role (for Superintendents with NCEES DA rights). NCDPI is requesting each district to review and fill out the NCEES System District Administrator Access Rights request form for their NCEES System DA's access rights.

• For information about why this form is going out please view the article, NEW: NCEES Central Office View Only Role for Superintendent DA, in the NCEES Updates Weekly Bulletin, https://lnks.gd/2/ZW2Zpj.
• Please review the following information as this does affect ALL staff (not just Superintendents) that have the District Administrator system access in NCEES.​ 
• Note: This form is to request updates to rights for staff in NCEES that already have been assigned NCEES system District Administrator Access and the district has approved they have additional rights for Assume Identity and/or Can Assign Access Rights to others. 
• Please fill out 1 survey per district prior to Friday, Oct. 29th and NCDPI will give the requests to PS Support for enabling Assume Identity and/or ability to Assign Access Rights to the DA's your district requests to have those rights added back after the Feature Release 21.10.0.0 is implemented on 10/31/2021.
• The form will remain open after the update for districts to request DA access rights as needed throughout the year.
• Specific to Charters - Charters do not have staff with Superintendent Roles. However, DPI does encourage charters to have designated a NCEES System District Administrator to manage the online tool for the district. Charters will need to fill out this form for the designated DA(s) that will need "Assume Identity" and/or "Can Assign Access Rights.
• If a Charter needs a NCEES District Administrator in your district, please submit that request through the ServiceNow Portal.

Click here for the NCEES District Administrator Guide. As these new settings are implemented, NCDPI will update this guide and re-post to reflect the updates.

Questions? Email cami.narron@dpi.nc.gov or Home_Base@dpi.nc.gov.

ALOT Report

Due to necessary work on PowerSchool’s State Reporting, the ALOT report and other state reporting functionality were pushed to production last weekend. Although this functionality is currently appearing in PowerSchool’s State Reporting dashboard, users should not run this report until DPI gives PSUs the green light and instructions to do so. DPI and PowerSchool teams continue to work to resolve some minor glitches before districts are cleared to use the ALOT functionality.

The School Allotment Child Count Transfer (ALOT) reporting, used to determine the movement of Exceptional Children (EC) students from an LEA to a charter or charter to an LEA for the purpose of allocating funds previously handled via the Headcount Transfer System, is being moved to the statewide Student Information System for use this fall as the ALOT report on the State Reporting dashboard. 

We will provide additional details and instructions in the coming weeks.

PowerSchool HBMU FAQ

A Frequently Asked Question document was developed following the September 2021 Home Base Meet Up for PowerSchool and is now released. The document has been thoroughly reviewed by all applicable NCDPI divisions and business owners. While we still have a few unanswered questions, this document is available now and will be updated as additional information is provided to the Home Base team. Please bookmark this link and check back frequently for updates. 

• The September PowerSchool Home Base Meetup recording can be viewed on our YouTube channel at the following link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ad4FcdKWaBk&list=PL6JYMm0YidClhGYklnzj8B9gV81GEEElw&index=2 
• The HBMU opening presentation slide deck is also available here. Recordings and slide decks for all products can be found on slide 8 of the opening slides.
• The PowerSchool HBMU slides can be found at the following link. https://bit.ly/PS_Sept29

Thank you for your patience as we worked through your questions! 

Reminder:  Graduation Date Update

As implemented in the 2020–21 school year, students who graduate on or before August 6 in the 2021–22 school year and subsequent years can be included as a current school year graduate.

Students who graduate on or before August 6, 2022 must be added to the 2021–22 Final GDV (GDV2) report in PowerSchool. The due date of the 2021–22 Final GDV submission is set to August 11 to provide time for these graduates to be included. All PSUs must submit the 2021–22 Final GDV by August 11, 2022.

Students who graduate August 7, 2022 or later will be added to the 2022–23 Preliminary GDV report.

Reminder:  Retention Promotion (RP) State Reporting Collection Due Oct. 27 

The RP collects retention and promotion data for students that were in membership on the last instructional day of the 2020-21 school year.  The RP collection period expires October 27, 2021. Please run the report in PowerSchool, review the data for accuracy and approve.

For technical issues with the report, please submit a ticket to PowerSchool Support at http://help.powerschool.com. Questions regarding RP reporting can be sent to Student Accounting at studentaccounting@dpi.nc.gov.   

Reminder:  #GoOpenNC Point of Contact

NCDPI is seeking a #GoOpenNC point of contact for each PSU. We ask that each school or district designate someone within their PSU and submit their information in the survey below. Any questions can be directed to Corey.McNeill@dpi.nc.gov.

Contact Survey Link

Reminder:  Do Not Run Fall Legislative Class Report

While the reporting window is open for the Fall Legislative Class Collection in PowerSchool, the latest logic changes have not been moved to production at this time; therefore, we are asking PSUs to NOT run or approve these reports until further communication has been shared by the Home Base team. Currently, the logic for combination classes are not in production as well as the latest changes to the class maximum enrollment numbers. 

Reminder:  Learning.com Needs Assessment Survey

This survey is designed for district-level administrators/coordinators to provide feedback on what outstanding professional development and support resources are needed to ensure successful implementation of Learning.com. 

Please complete this survey by Friday, October 22, 2021.  The results of this survey will drive professional learning, resources, and communication methods for North Carolina Learning.com participants for the 2021-2022 school year. 

Survey link- https://bit.ly/LCOMNCSurvey2021

If you have any questions, reach out to State Program Manager, Tiffany Kinney at tkinney@learning.com.

Welcome to Home Base - A Quick Video of Who We Are

Each year, PSUs experience an influx of new staff.  The Home Base Team is aware of these changes and has created a short video to help acquaint and reacquaint users with Home Base. 

Please checkout the  "Welcome to Home Base" video which gives a quick overview of what Home Base is and how all its components work together. Feel free to share it with your peers and use it in your trainings. 

Now Available: Keeping It Simple in Schoolnet 23 Self-Paced Course

The first self-paced Schoolnet course for the 2021-2022 school year is now available via NCEES, Canvas, and Home Base! This course is designed to be completed in about an hour and will award 0.1 Digital Learning Competency (DLC) CEUs. During this course, you will learn:

• What is Schoolnet?
• How do teachers and students access Schoolnet?
• How do teachers create Schoolnet assessments using readily available questions, including a look at the redesigned Test Details page?
• How do students take their tests?
• How do teachers analyze the results of Schoolnet assessments?

Complete the Canvas Studio video quiz as you watch, click Submit at the end of the video, and the credit will appear on your NCEES transcript automatically with a score of 80% or higher.

Register for this course: https://bit.ly/kisSN23reg

2021-22 NCEES Webinars

NCEES Webinars are held most Tuesdays from 4-5 PM.

Click on the Titles to Register. Navigate to Webinars 2021-22 to view webinar descriptions.

• Utilizing Staff Groups and PD Playlists  Tues. Oct. 26, 4-5 PM
• Middle of Year Processes for Principals Tues. Nov. 30, 4-5 PM
• Middle of Year Teachers/Support Staff  Tues. Dec. 7, 4-5 PM
• Admin Reporting in NCEES  Tues. Dec. 14, 4-5 PM
• Understanding the Teacher Rubric - 2 hours  

RECORDING - PRESENTATION - FAQs

Follow Us on Social Media!

Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, 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 
• 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.