NC SIS Weekly Email Bulletin

Topics in this issue:

1.    Portrait of a Graduate

2.    OCR/CRDC -  SY21-22 Civil Rights Data Collection Information

3.    February 2023 Home Base Meet Ups

4.    Early Grads Processing

5.    January SIS Coffee Chat

6.    SchoolNet Webinar Update

7.    Accessibility in Canvas Webinar

8.    New Technical Contact PowerSchool IPT Certification in February 2023

9.    PowerSchool Maintenance Window    

10.  PowerSchool Upgrade    

11.  Webinars, Recordings and Trainings

          New Self-Paced PD Courses for Canvas

          Schoolnet Self-Paced PD Course

          Home Base Admin Course

12.  Subscribe to Major Events Status Alerts

13.  NCDPI Technology Support Center

14.  Follow Us on Social Media

The Office of Innovation at NCDPI is interested in showcasing exemplars of the Portrait of a Graduate Competencies as an extension of the Promising Practices Clearinghouse.

As you know, the competencies include Adaptability, Collaboration, Communication, Critical Thinking, Empathy, Learner’s Mindset, and Personal Responsibility. We are seeking to spotlight these competencies from various perspectives, such as leaders being collaborative, teachers being critical thinkers, students being adaptable, etc. We are especially interested in student-based exemplars, as we would like to embed those in the Playbook once the assets (infographics, videos, photos, etc.) are available. 

We will be collecting this information in January on the Portrait of a Graduate Exemplars Google form. If you have any questions, please contact Angie.Mullennix@dpi.nc.gov. The goal is to collect the information via the form in January and then reach back out to the submitter and inquire further via virtual meeting and/or conduct a site visit.

OCR/CRDC -  SY21-22 Civil Rights Data Collection Information

Dear Coordinators,  

Happy New Year!  Please share with other staff as appropriate.  Read this message carefully. 

The Office of Civil Rights Data Collection (CRDC) will be conducted in the 2022-2023 school year.  Data for the collection is from the previous year (School Year 2021-2022).  Note:  PSUs which were not open in the school year 2021-2022 will not participate in this collection. 

To date, the Federal government has not published an official start date or requirements for the collection.  The information from the Federal government may be published as late as the summer of 2023.  NCDPI will notify PSUs once an announcement has been made. 

Despite the delay in requirements from the Office of Civil Rights (OCR), North Carolina PSUs will move forward with data collection, following the documentation from the federal level provided for the school year 2021-2022. Understanding the time constraints posed by EOY, the plan will be to complete the collection phase of the CRDC well in advance of that time frame to allow for ample time for PSUs to verify, add and certify data in the federal submission system.

CRDC PowerSchool Preview Report

The CRDC PowerSchool Preview Report Submission Start and End Dates will be updated to March 1, 2023 to March 31, 2023.  There is no need to run the report before March 1, 2023.

PSUs can begin to prepare for the SY21-22 CRDC by:

•       Updating the CRDC LEA and School level screens in PowerSchool.
•       Verifying or updating the CRDC Coordinator contacts are recorded in EDDIE
  •  As a reminder, all PSUs must have at least one CRDC Coordinator contact in EDDIE

•       Ensuring Section 504 data for SY 2021-2022 has been recorded in the Special Programs section of PowerSchool.
  • Use the Enrolling Students in a Special Program guide to add student records. 
  • PSUs using third party applications for Section 504 will be required to submit Section      504 data to the CRDC on their own if a record is not added to PowerSchool.
  • Section 504 Designation guidance is provided at the local level.  Please contact the PSU 504 Coordinator with any questions.

PSUs will be required to gather and submit the following data for the CRDC:

Review and collect data using the SY2021-2022 CRDC School Form for the following survey questions:

•       OFFN-5: Offenses -Number of Incidents Committed by School Staff
•       OFFN-6: Offenses -Allegations Against School Staff (Resignation or Retirement)
•       OFFN-7: Offenses -Allegations Against School Staff (Determined Responsible)
•       OFFN-8: Offenses -Allegations Against School Staff (Determined Not Responsible)
•       OFFN-9: Offenses -Allegations Against School Staff (Determination Pending)
•       OFFN-10: Offenses -Allegations Against School Staff (Duty Reassignment

Please email nc.ocr.crdc@dpi.nc.gov with any questions you may have. 

Want information about the CRDC, but are not the CRDC Coordinator contact?  Add your information here:  2122 CRDC – Info Only Contacts List

February 2023 Home Base Meet Ups

Mark your calendars for Home Base Meet Ups Feb. 6-9, 2023.  HBMUs will be regionally based, face-to-face for networking, sharing of information, and learning. 

Registration Link. Registrants will be emailed detailed site information closer to meeting dates.

The Home Base Team will begin the HBMUs in the western part of the state and travel east throughout the week.  Meeting dates and locations are listed below:

• Feb. 6 - NW/W - Rutherford Co. - Rutherford County Schools - 382 W. Main Street, Forest City, NC 28043
• Feb. 7 - PT/SW - Randolph Co. - Randolph CC - 413 Industrial Park Avenue, Asheboro, NC 27205
• Feb. 8 - NC/Sandhills - Bladen County - Bladen CC - 7418 NC Hwy 41W, Dublin, NC 28332
• Feb. 9 - NE/SE - Martin County - Innovation Campus - 411 East Blvd., Williamston, NC 27892

All meetings will begin at 10:00 a.m. and end at 3:00 p.m.  You are free to attend any of the meetings according to your availability and proximity. 

Meeting Goals:

• Foster positive, productive field-based relationships with stakeholders
• Elicit feedback from the field to inform state-level decision makers
• Provide coordination between different DPI-based groups that serve end-users of Home Base Products
• Communicate product-specific information to PSU personnel

Targeted Audience:

• PSU lead contacts for PowerSchool, Schoolnet, Canvas, Learning.com, #GoOpenNC, and NCEES

Early Grads Processing The Home Base team has updated the Early Graduate Process QRD due to recent system changes with the transfer out process. Please be sure to review the updated QRD when processing your early graduates. PS QRD: Early Grauate Process

January SIS Coffee Chat   Please mark your calendars for our next round of regional Coffee Chat sessions. Our goal is continuous improvement and support for your PSU.  We have seen great attendance in our coffee chats and we hope for you to join us!   Click to register:   January 25, 9am-10am- Regions 4 & 5

SchoolNet Webinar Update An additional session has been added to the SchoolNet Webinar Series.  On January 23, 2023, we will host a Technology Enhanced Items session.  Please see and share the infographic below to register.   SchoolNet Webinar registration

Accessibility in Canvas Webinar Wed, Jan. 18, 2023, 3:30 - 4:30 PM   Registration Link   This session will outline the importance of accessibility for all learners within the LMS Canvas. Users will experience tools and strategies within Canvas and other resources to ensure their courses are accessible.

New Technical Contact PowerSchool IPT Certification in February 2023   Registration Closed. The max number of registered attendees has been reached. You may click here to register for the waitlist.   In collaboration with PowerSchool, the Home Base Team will be offering virtual IPT certification training for new technical contacts from February 20-24, 2023. 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.

The PowerSchool application will be brought down for scheduled maintenance for one night only on Friday, January 20, at 6 p.m. and will be returned to service no later than 10:00 a.m. Saturday morning, January 21.  The application will be made accessible to all users once the maintenance is complete.  Please share this message with other staff as appropriate.   Note:  Each year, a list of scheduled maintenance windows are published by NCDPI.  This is published in advance to help teachers and administrators better prepare for temporary outages and loss of access.  Please review the 2022-2023 maintenance schedule and put these dates on your calendar. In most cases, the entire window is not necessary and we can return systems to service earlier than listed. If emergency maintenance is required in addition to these scheduled dates, all users will be notified in advance.

PowerSchool Upgrade A PowerSchool Upgrade has been tentatively scheduled to take place during February 2023.  This will be an upgrade from the current 20.11.4 to 22.11.0.  Prior to this upgrade intensive testing will take place with the QA team.  There are several new functions as well as changes.  If you chose to not use the New Experience view or your users chose to not use it, that option will no longer exist once the upgrade takes place.    PS Release Notes for versions 21.x and 22.x can be found at :  PS Release Notes

New Self-Paced PD Courses for Canvas Digital Teaching and Learning is excited to share two new self-paced professional development courses on the LMS, Canvas.   Growing with Canvas - The Growing with Canvas course is a “Level 1” introduction to all things Canvas. Diving Deeper with Canvas - Educators more familiar with the LMS can utilize the Diving Deeper with Canvas course for specific training on personalized learning, feedback, and course design. If you are interested in these PD opportunities, enrollment information can be found in the NCEES Self-Paced PD Guide.

Schoolnet Self-Paced PD Course

The Continuing to Keep It Simple in Schoolnet 24 course is a “Level 1” introduction to all things Schoolnet. If you are interested in this PD opportunity, enrollment information can be found in the NCEES Self-Paced PD Guide. 

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:   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

Access for PSU PowerSchool SIS Admins 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     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

.

Subscribe to Major Events Status Alerts  Click the following link to subscribe to the Major Events Status Alerts and receive notifications of outages, wide-spread performance issues, downtime for maintenance, and high impact application issues that affect all instances. Note:  Notifications will be received for all PSUs in the state and cannot be limited to a single PSU.

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. 

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

Remember to visit the NC SIS website for additional information including webinars and training documentation.  Follow us on twitter @NCHomeBase. 

 NC SIS

 NC Department of Public Instruction

 Education Building, 7th Floor North

 301 North Wilmington Street

 Raleigh, NC 27601

 Email:  home_base@dpi.nc.gov