Make the move now to EFT (Electronic Funds Transfer) for 2012-2013. Go to www.ncae.org for more info.
NCAE Advocacy Center
NCAE Advocacy Center is a new resource to provide fast, easy and expert assistance to members with questions about employment concerns. Call 1-855-275-6223 or go to www.askncae.org .
A Brief Primer on Social Networking for School Employees
You have probably seen or heard publicity about teachers using Facebook in controversial ways. For the few of you who may not be familiar with facebook, it’s a social network on the internet where you can post your thoughts, pictures and videos for your friends and family to see, and your friends do the same. The advantage is that you may keep in touch with friends and family in ways you never would have before, and often re-connect with people you have not seen since college – or even grade school! Of course, the risk is that the information you put out there now has a life of its own and you cannot control where or how it is shared with people who are not your “friends.” To be safe, here are some things to remember:
1. Your personal use of social media is not prohibited by the school system as long as you are not using a Johnston County Schools’ owned computer or internet service and certainly not posting items during school hours. Facebook and other social networking MUST be done on your own time, not during your hours of employment.
2. Keep your privacy settings to “private” or “friends only”. If you are a facebook user, check your account settings from time to time. Facebook has made periodic changes in their settings and you must be sure to protect your account.
3. Never, never, never, put anything out over the internet on social networks, email, YouTube, a blog, or any other place you would not want your boss, your mother or your students to see or read.
4. Venting your emotions, using sarcasm and jokes never come across well in writing. Read what you have written and think seriously before you hit “send” or “comment”.
If it’s even slightly risky, or risqué, delete it rather than sending it.
5. Use your personal email at home for private conversations, not a public site. Do not use the school intranet for personal reasons. Do not use your JCS address for anything but work-related business.
6. Let common sense prevail – You’re not going to be fired for sending your spouse a quick message to say you are working late, but e-mailing others in your school with a seething complaint about a co-worker is a different matter. And frankly, most co-workers do not want to receive e-mail invitations to your Tupperware parties, etc. while at work, even if your bosses do not complain.
Facebook makes it fun and easy to keep up with friends and family as well as to follow NCAE and JCAE events on facebook, for up-to-the-minute news effecting education. We encourage members to stay informed and to share the positive events taking place in their schools and communities. As long as you use the internet and social media responsibly and with some plain old common sense, you have nothing to fear. A pic with you and your students hoisting a trophy at a speech competition – perfect! A posting with you using questionable speech while hoisting a trophy from the college dorm “Drink Off,”- perfect way to lose respect as a professional or in extreme cases, to lose your job! Have fun with social networking – just be professional and safe out there!
20 Frequently Asked Questions for the NC Online Educator Evaluation System
1. Who owns the data? NCDPI, as the contracting agency, officially owns the data. They are granting access to the software to the districts; districts control who has access to the data. At the end of each school year, NCDPI needs to be able to download the Summary Rating Forms for each person evaluated in order to prepare reports for the NCSBE and the federal government. It is possible that this will be handled through “report writer” so that only aggregate data will be downloaded. That is still under consideration.
2. Can we transfer data from one site to another? Yes. This is made easier by the use of unique identification numbers for teachers and other staff members. The system allows a principal to transfer records for teachers and a superintendent to transfer records for a principal between and among schools and districts within the state.
3. Who manages the user ids and passwords, and how are they integrated with NCID? McREL will set up the user ids and passwords in order to provide access to the software. Users are asked to create a new password after the first login. The NCID is the link for all records in the system. It will be used when employees transfer from site to site and when records need to be updated.
4. Who is the system administrator and how will access be provided? McREL will administer the system and will provide appropriate administrative privileges to school and district staff members.
5. How are changes in personnel information communicated to the system?
a. The district person who has administrative privileges will be able to make some changes.
b. Some changes will need to be made by McREL.
c. Some changes will be made by uploading data from NCDPI.
6. What data will automatically be reported to NCDPI or the NCSBE or other groups? NCDPI has indicated the need to report information to the federal government on the number of effective and highly effective teachers in each school and district. They may also request customized reports in order to accommodate requests from the SBE. They do not need the permission of the LEAs to access these data because NCDPI is the licensee.
7. We are required to have signatures that verify that we have had a post evaluation conference within the required number of days after the observation. Is it possible to have the electronic signatures at the end of the rubrics during the post-evaluation conference meetings that are time stamped for each observation? Yes. The new feature is operational 2/15/11. Both the Principal and teacher should review the data and sign off at the same time. Then there will be a stamp date. The teacher can still go into the observation and provide comments. The comments once added can not be changed or removed.
8. Teachers not on a monitored or directed professional improvement plan generally create their own performance plan. Is it possible for those teachers to fill out their own professional development plan and have the principal view the plan prior to the pre-observation conference? Yes. This feature will be operational on 2/15/11.
9. When assigning a peer to conduct peer observations, does the peer have access to see the evaluation data entered by the principal? Does the peer have access to other teachers information than those they are assigned? Peers may only see the information that they personally enter into the system. Nothing more is available to them.
10. Some of our facilities do not have wireless capability. Is it possible to have the system resident on our computers so that we can work off line? This feature will require additional programming above and beyond what we can do as a part of Version 1.0. Since this is a web-based system, the user must have internet access in order to operate the system. We will, however, work on providing this feature in Version 2.0.
11. Is it possible to go back into the system and make changes to individual evaluations (observations) once they have been “Completed/Approved” by the principal? No. Once both the principal and the teacher have electronically signed off on the Summary Evaluation Rating Form, it is “locked” and no changes are allowed except that the teacher may make a comment at a later time. Should that occur, the system will automatically send an e-mail notification to the principal that such a comment has been added.
12. What happens if someone forgets their password? Users have two options to have their passwords reset:
a. Contact the LEA person who has administrative rights and ask to have the password reset.
b. Click on the “I forgot my password” button when they try to login and the software will automatically prompt them how to get a new password.
13. I moved a teacher/principal from one site to another site. Will the password automatically be changed back to 123456 (default password)? No, the password will remain whether it has been changed or not.
14. More-at-Four teachers in non public schools, will they be able to use the software? Yes. The contact person will have to include their names on the spreadsheet that is returned to McREL. We will set up a software account for them and their evaluators so they can be treated as any other NC teacher.
15. Can a teacher’s self-assessment be changed by a principal?Teachers have control over their self-assessment files. Principals may not view these documents unless the teacher gives them permission. Under no circumstances should an evaluator change a self-assessment, whether for a teacher, assistant principal, principal, central office staff member or superintendent.
16. Should I include my counselors, media specialists, school psychologists, etc. in the spreadsheet? No, please remove those people from the spreadsheet. The teacher observation rubric does not apply to them.
17. I have a teacher that travels between two schools and has observations completed at both schools. A.) Can I list them at both schools? B.) Can the principal see the observations at both schools? a. Yes, you may list the teachers at multiple schools.
b. No, the principal can only see the observations at their own school.
18. How do we assign “peer” teachers to do observations through the online system?
a. You do not need to assign peer teachers within the system. When a teacher logs in they have the option to choose “More…”> “Rubric for Evaluating Teachers.” The teacher will be provided with a list of teachers from the school and they should choose the peer teacher that was assigned to them. Teachers cannot view other teachers’ peer evaluations.
19. Who do we contact for Technical Assistance? The contact person is Lisa Maxfield @ McREL. She can be reached at lmaxfield@mcrel.org or 303-632-5561. Help Desk Support available from 7AM-7PM EST.
20. I have a question that has not been answered in any of the above and is not technical in nature. NCAE Administrator and Teacher Members ONLY may contact NCAE at 919-832-3000.
IT’S THE LAW!
The Paperwork Reduction Act says that educators should not have to repeatedly put the same information into forms and reports. There was supposed to be a computer program into which the data could be put once at the beginning of the school year, and then transferred into reports all year. 115C-307 (g) paragraph 3.
There is a statute requiring extra duties (also known as the 3-27 Rule) NOT be given to teachers in their first 3 or last 3 years of service. It just makes good sense not to burden new teachers down with coaching, clubs and other duties while they are trying to learn their craft and veteran teachers should be spending their time helping to mentor them. Remember you cannot be forced to do these duties unless you sign a waiver form. My advice—DO NOT SIGN A WAIVER FORM unless it is something that you really WANT to do, not coerced into doing. 115C-47 (18a) a-c.
Site-Based Decision-Making teams are required to be ELECTED in all schools. These teams are to receive school budgets, control over the professional development chosen for the school, and are supposed to make decisions about the school plan, discipline program, and all aspects of the school with input from the entire staff. 115C-105.27.
Each year educators are to be given a choice of how they wish to be paid. They may choose to receive checks over 10 months or over 12 months. The law does not say they must belong to a credit union or any bank institution whatsoever. 115C-302.1 (b) paragraph 4.
Duty-Free Lunch and Planning Time free of meetings, etc. for all teachers in all schools. 115C-301.1 and 115C-105.27.
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If you have further questions or concerns and you are a NCAE member, call Jack Chrismon, 919-795-9386 or email jchrismon@aol.com .