June 2022 Maintenance Period for PowerSchool

Due to updates that must be completed prior to the start of the new school year and needed security patching, maintenance will be performed on the PowerSchool application beginning 7 p.m. Friday, June 24 through 7 p.m. Saturday, June 25. 

We sincerely apologize for this late notice. Please help us communicate this out to the field by sharing with your staff.

New Technical Contact PowerSchool IPT Certification in August 2022

In collaboration with PowerSchool, the Home Base Team will be offering virtual IPT certification training for new technical contacts from August 1-5, 2022. Seats are limited and will fill up quickly, please register as soon as possible.

• This training will span five full days. 
• Participants will have 90 days to take and pass the required certification test after training. 
• Each PSU is allowed a certain number of technical contacts based on their ADM. 
  
  

If you are unsure of your current technical contacts, please contact PowerSchool Support at 1-855-339-4790. 

NCDPI has created an IPT FAQ document to help answer questions you may have. Please review this document for frequently asked questions about the training and certification.

Those who can attend the DPI offered IPT Training include: 

• Anyone who is replacing a certified technical contact for their PSU.
• A local charter school employee, not employed by a third-party company and has not previously attended IPT training.

Those who cannot attend this training are: 

• Third-party Charter school SIS management company employees
• PSUs wanting additional technical contacts above their desired allocation
• Anyone who has attended training previously. 

Note: Anyone who is not eligible for this training will need to arrange training and certification through the vendor, PowerSchool, and cover the cost incurred. To do so, please reach out to the PowerSchool training team, training@powerschool.com.
    

Those who are eligible for this training session, please fill out the registration form.

𝐑𝐞𝐠𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐜𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐅𝐫𝐢𝐝𝐚𝐲, 𝐉𝐮𝐥𝐲 𝟐𝟐, 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟐 𝐨𝐫 𝐨𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐱 𝐧𝐮𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫 𝐨𝐟 𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐞𝐬 𝐢𝐬 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐝.

New NCEES Information and Resources Site

The North Carolina Educator Evaluation System has a new public site, https://bit.ly/ncees-resources.

This site houses NCEES information and resources to support all educator evaluations in North Carolina. If you cannot find the resource(s) you are searching for, please email: EducatorEffectiveness@dpi.nc.gov.

The NCEES Google Site will be discontinued on June 30, 2022. Please bookmark the new site, https://bit.ly/ncees-resources, and share this information with your NCEES system users.

BOY Features Survey

Good afternoon, NC Schoolnet Users!

This year's BOY Features Survey has been developed for PSUs to select their preferences for a few features this school year:

1. Whether released EOGs, EOCs, and NCFEs will be recommended just to the district (default) or directly to teachers.
2. Whether NCDPI Math Sets and Certica Testlets will be recommended just to the district (default) or directly to teachers.
3. Whether PSUs would like to take advantage of the new Renaissance STAR Assessment Data Sync option.
4. Whether Schoolnet should utilize the term end dates from PowerSchool (default) or custom extended dates.

This form was sent only to the identified Schoolnet lead and backup for each PSU. Form links are generated individually for each PSU to ensure form security and validity.

The form must be submitted by August 30th, 2022, if your PSU wishes to utilize these options. PSUs who do not submit the form will use the default options specified above. If your PSU did not receive the form or has any questions regarding these options, please reach out to me at rebecca.stokes@dpi.nc.gov.

Thank you for your tireless work educating the students of North Carolina Public Schools! Have a great 2022-2023 school year.

EOY Contacts

PowerSchool Coordinators,

Please make sure your EOY contact information is updated.  As of today, there are still some PSUs who have not updated the EOY Contacts page in PowerSchool. It is imperative that the PowerSchool administrator in each district update this page immediately.

Please adhere to the following: 

1. An alternate phone number is required on the EOY Contacts screen for both, the Primary and Secondary contacts (alternate number should not be the same as the primary phone number). If there is a phone extension it should be entered at the end of the Title field (e.g., Title:  PowerSchool Coordinator  x4567).
2. The EOY Contacts screen must have a Primary Contact and a Secondary Contact (Primary and Secondary cannot be the same person).
3. The “Last School Ending Date (mm/dd/yyyy)” field on the EOY Contacts screen must be filled out and the page submitted even if your contacts have not changed from the previous year.
4. The “Login (User Admin Name)” fields on the EOY Contacts screen should match the “Admin Username” on the user’s Admin Access and Roles tab of the Security Settings screen.
   
   

If you have questions or need assistance with your EOY Contacts update, please contact our Home Base Support Center.  

For more EOY details, checkout the End of Year Newsletter published on 05/12/2022.  If you have questions, feel free to contact us at home_base@dpi.nc.gov.

Validate Your Data!!!

Validating your data is critical for a successful EOY process. Through a recent EOY audit, NCDPI discovered that several PSUs still have data errors that need correcting prior to EOY. 

To identify and correct these errors, please navigate to your PSU office and run the Perform EOY Validation Process.

Navigation:  Start Page > System Administrator > End-of-Year Process (a.k.a. Promote Students)

Also, in 2020-2021, the EPV report was added to the state reporting dashboard as an additional resource to assist PSUs in identifying data errors. Please run this report for your schools to validate your data as well.  Running this report does not negate running the Perform EOY Validation Process since the EPV report does not detect errors for school numbers under 300. If you find errors, please correct these errors as soon as possible.

Navigation: Start Page > State Reporting Dashboard > Preliminary EOY Pre-Validation (EPV)

Running the sqlReports is also necessary for detecting errors that are not detected by the EPV reports.  Use the navigation path below to locate these reports.

Navigation:  PSU Office:  Start Page > sqlReports > EOY Audits

For further assistance with EOY processing, please refer to the PowerSchool End of Year User Guide.   A video version of the guide is also available on the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction's YouTube page.

Class Rank Calculation Update

DPI and PowerSchool recently discovered that many users were inadvertently running class rank for current seniors in the next school year (2022-23). This was causing several downstream issues; therefore, last week users were reminded to always run class rank in the current calendar year only. 

PowerSchool ran a script to remove all future-year stored rank records and to prevent this from happening in the future, a new block was put in place that removed the “Recalculate Now” link if users are in the wrong school year. See below.

This is what users will see if they are running rank in the correct year:

PowerSchool Years and Terms at the LEA Office

At the LEA Office level in PowerSchool, the Years and Terms start and end dates MUST encompass the start date of the PSU’s earliest starting school and the end date of the PSU’s latest ending school. This also includes all Program Schools. The start date for Years and Terms at the LEA level should be 7/1 and the end date should be 6/30.

This information has been updated in the PS User Guide: End-of-Year Processing and can be found under Creating Years and Terms in the user guide.

2022–23 Plan Updates

As Individualized Education Programs (IEPs), Section 504 Plans, and English Learner (EL) Plans are reviewed and updated annually, the following updates should be considered for the 2022–23 school year and beyond.

Updates to test names

The test names listed in the chart will be updated in the Every Child Accountability and Tracking System (ECATS) and PowerSchool for the 2022–23 school year.

As schools complete Review of Accommodations Used During Testing (ROA) forms for students, the previous test name will be accepted until a new IEP, Section 504, or EL Plan is developed to reflect the current test name. For example, if a student’s ROA form lists W-APT/WIDA Screener – Listening, those accommodations will be provided for the WIDA Screener for Kindergarten/WIDA Screener – Listening.

Accommodation Name Change

The accommodation name change listed below will be updated in ECATS and PowerSchool for the 2022–23 school year.

Accommodation Changes to the NCEXTEND1 Alternate Assessments

The following accommodations will be made available in ECATS for the 2022–23 school year.

All accommodations needed to complete the NCEXTEND1 alternate assessment should be selected regardless of the test design. Each student should have a Review of Accommodation Used During Testing form generated and completed for each NCEXTEND1 alternate assessment administered. It is important that appropriate documentation of accommodations offered and provided are correctly documented for each student administered all NCEXTEND1 assessments.

Public school units using third party vendors to process Section 504 or EL plans are encouraged to implement these updates in those systems to ensure proper delivery of accommodation information for testing purposes.

Read to Achieve Update - 06/24/2022

Please read and share the latest RtA update with your staff. 

Read-to-Achieve Update - 6/24/2022

Attendance Reminders

Attendance During Exam Week(s)

As policies change and new codes are added to meet those changes, it is imperative to review attendance data on a regular basis to ensure proper attendance coding.  Financial Service and Business states that to be considered in attendance, a student (except for hospital/homebound or staggered kindergarten) must be present in the school for the school day or at a place other than the school with the approval of the appropriate school official for the purpose of attending an authorized school activity. Such activities may include field trips, athletic contests, student conventions, musical festivals, or any similar approved activity.

Except as noted above, a student must be present at least one-half of the school's instructional day in order to be recorded present for that day.

NC General Statute 115C-378 states in part that no person shall encourage, entice, or counsel any child of compulsory school age to be unlawfully absent from school.

If a student is exempted from an exam and is not present in the school for the school day or not at a place other than the school with the approval of the appropriate school official for the purpose of attending an authorized school activity, the student is absent.

For more information, questions or concerns, please contact Student Accounting at studentaccounting@dpi.nc.gov.

PEBT Attendance Code Reminder

As shared on 11/20/21, P-EBT continued in the 2021-2022 school year.  The benefits will be provided only to students enrolled in schools that are approved to participate in the National School Lunch Program. P-EBT eligible students are those students that qualify for free or reduced-price meal benefits or attend a CEP school. Students will be reimbursed based on the individual attendance records with the attendance codes of 1D Quarantine and 1R Present Off-site.

Homebound/Hospital Attendance Code

As previously communicated, a new H/H Attendance Code will go live in PowerSchool on July 1, 2022. The attached technical assistance guide is intended to illustrate appropriate use cases for this code, provide responses to the FAQs submitted since announcing the upcoming release of the code, and an explanation of the documentation necessary to support a homebound/hospital placement through medical necessity or IEP Team decisions. Please be aware that this information is also being shared concurrently with other appropriate district personnel.

For detailed information, please visit the Homebount/Hospital Attendance Code Technical Assistance Guide. 

Reading Camp Attendance

Please see and share the instructions below on how to take attendance during Reading Camp.

In PowerSchool:

Start Page > Student Selection > Special Programs

NC-Summer School - RTA

1. Enter in the beginning date of Reading Camp and enter in the ending date of Reading Camp.  2. Enter in the total number of days students attended in the days present field. 
   
   

Here is the QRD for enrolling students into a Special Program.  Please work with your PS Data Manager/Coordinator in your PSU for assistance or complete a work ticket with PowerSchool.

Reminder:  CTE Concentrator Calculation

A new Run of the CTE Concentrator Calculation Report should be initiated once final grades are stored at the end of the school year. This process will allow newly completed courses to be analyzed for each student and applied to their concentrator status in the report.

Overview of Concentrator Validation Process and Timeline:

• Detailed guidance documents, video support, and FAQs are provided at this link as resources to help with the concentrator validation process and using the CTE Concentrator Calculation Report. 
• Concentrator validation and override requests should be completed by June 24, 2022.

Questions? Please contact Nancy Cross or Misty Wolfe.

Reminder:  OCR/CRDC - Action Required - Section 504 Designation in PowerSchool by June 29

The Office of Civil Rights Data Collection (CRDC) is a mandatory federal report covering a wide variety of previous year data, including counts based on students with a Section 504 designation.

The CRDC SY2021-22 collection will begin in SY2022-23.  It is important to record the Section 504 designation in PowerSchool before EOY. 

How a Section 504 designation is documented and monitored is a local level decision, however; in order for the PowerSchool CRDC Preview report to calculate Section 504 survey questions, there must be Special Program record '504' associated to the student.  There is a quick reference document located at https://www.dpi.nc.gov/documents/student_info/ps-qrd-recording-section-504-in-powerschool-20141009.

If no data exist in PowerSchool regarding Section 504 status for students, PSUs will be required to update CRDC survey questions after NCDPI uploads data on behalf of the state. PSUs who wish to avoid the burdensome manual updates to the CRDC should ensure that all 504 students have been identified in PowerSchool no later than June 29.

Reminder:  Cross PSU Enrollment Pilot Participation

The Home Base SIS team is seeking PSUs willing to participate in a PowerSchool Cross PSU Pilot. The Cross PSU function will involve enrolling students from one PSU into courses at another PSU within PowerSchool and will not include NCVPS.  The projected target date for the pilot is the first semester of the 2022-2023 school year.

A functional demonstration of the product will occur before volunteers for the program make their final commitment.  The PSUs who choose to continue will be expected to:

• Actively participate in the pilot program
• Submit support tickets to report issues
• Participate in product training
• Attend 30 minutes to 1-hour online monitoring sessions of the pilot program weekly to discuss the positive and or negative aspects of the product and its usage.

Note: The frequency of the meetings will be expected to decrease as those piloting the product become more adept with their use of the product.

Please reach out to Russell Dixon via email if you are interested in being part of the PowerSchool Cross PSU Pilot.

NCEdCloud Interface Update Recordings and Training

Thanks again to all who were able to join us for the NCEdCloud Interface Update webinars! In case you missed it, links to the slide deck, webinar recording, and the new NCEdCloud training site are below.

• NCEdCloud UI Update Slide Deck
• NCEdCloud UI Update Webinar Recording
• New NCEdCloud Training Site

As a reminder, this update is scheduled for the July 2022 Home Base Maintenance Window, beginning at 5:00 p.m. on Friday, July 15. A notice will be sent as soon as the update is complete and the NCEdCloud IAM Service has returned. Please contact support@identityautomation.com or john.mairs@dpi.nc.gov with any questions or feedback.

New Home Base Admin Course 

Feedback from PSUs identified a need for resource hubs for the Home Base products. The product managers have created Admin Resource Courses for each area. These resource courses are located in the NCDPI Canvas instance.

Please visit these courses.  Below are the steps to enroll in these courses:

How to access these resources:

• Sign in to the Blue Canvas icon within NCEdCloud
• Using the Global Navigation (on the left), click the Home Base Resources button
• On the menu that opens, select the course(s) you would like to enroll into
• After enrolling, the course will appear on your Canvas Dashboard

Other Information:

• Feel free to provide feedback on these courses. They all contain a feedback button on their homepage.
• We will continue to update these courses as more product information becomes available

Access to NCDPI Canvas for Home Base Resource Hubs

Any PSU PowerSchool SIS admin who does not have access to the NCDPI “Blue” Canvas located in the NCEdCloud portal and would like to have access or grant access to data managers within their PSU, please complete the form below.  In this form, you can enter up to 5 accounts manually or upload a CSV/Excel file if you have more than 5 account requests.

 If you have any questions, please get in touch with Corey McNeill.  

Link to Form

Learning.com Summer PD 2022

Educators,

Dive into Learning.com’s 30 minute videos to help plan for your 2022-2023 school year!  Topics include:

• Lesson Planning Using the EasyTech Learning Cycle
• Redesign Your PD Approach with Online Training Center
• Implementation Models:  Finding Your Fit
• What’s New and What’s Coming - Learn All the Secrets

Click on the Summer PD 2022 link for more details and registration.

NC PSU Staff Self-Paced PD Courses 

For any NC PSU Staff who need CEU credits, DTL now has a database of all current asynchronous NCEES PD opportunities for staff. Find the PD that you need: NC PSU Staff Self-Paced PD Courses.

The listing includes free DPI courses published in NCEES and a resource for retired or on-leave staff currently not active in NCEES.
 

Looking for DLCs? Courses are also sorted by credit type.

Note: The acquiring of CEUs and contact hours is subject to LEA/Charter approval. Staff should follow local guidelines on pre-approvals, completed course approvals or requests to apply for approval of a different credit type on completed PD.

InstructureCon 2022

Canvas has announced that InstructureCon 2022 will be an online and FREE event again this year. The one day conference will be held on Thursday, July 14, 2022.

Check out this page to learn more and sign up to receive updates for registration.

Math Teacher Guides for 6th, 7th and 8th Grade Now on GoOpenNC

New Resource Alert! Math Teacher Guides for 6th, 7th and 8th grade are now live on GoOpenNC. These guides support the use of Rethink Education's courses available on Canvas Commons or GoOpenNC with tips and curricular resources to meet the needs of all students.

View the new middle school grades' math guides and more resources #GoOpen Rethink Ed - Blended Learning Hub.

NCBOLD Registration is Now Open!

Digital Teaching and Learning is hittin’ the road again this summer! The NCBOLD 2022 Summer Roadshow will bring high energy, interactive sessions facilitated and led by NC educators to each region of the state.

An FAQ and Session Guide for NCBold has been provided for your convenience.  Please share it with your staff.

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