TDEC ReportJanuary 2015 – Discussions

Small School Minder is in Trouble

• Developed by Hunter Systems for the SDA Church for $50,000.

• Each using school pays $50/teacher/year.• About 400 schools using it.• Built on old technology—eight years old.• When STI bought Hunter there were

agreements but they haven’t kept up.• Not willing to put any money into it—

understandably.

STI is proposing Spiral Universe because they bought it to replace Small School

Minder.

Attendance, management, gradebook, notification—phone call, send email, voicemail, SMM – all with one click.

• Cost is about the same as Small School Minder (SSM).• K-12 program—all schools can switch from iNow and use this

program.• Online testing available—scores go directly into gradebook.• Nice parent portal—parents can view lessons• Has plagiarism detector built-in.• Does report cards.• Can build schedule in SIS.• Has student portal.• Directors liked it because it can replace iNow and SSM, is

cloud-based.• Is very customizable.• Will interface with Adventist Learning Community.• Instructions will show with mouse roll-overs.• Will interface with Data Rollup, with zero errors, by the end

of the pilot.• STI is encouraging us to move iNow Schools into Spiral

Universe.• Works well for the flipped classroom.• Can log in through multiple-venues.

Accreditrac Accreditation Workflow Overview—Revision 1.0

Larry got protocols from Mary Camp of the Florida Catholic Conference. Willing to Adapt

online process for NAD for $30,000. John Krumpeter - same man who developed it for the

Florida Catholic Conference• Digital online from start to finish.

• Basic structure is being given to NAD for free and some tweaking will be done.

• Membership in NCPSA by NAD schools eliminates some political messes. It will be @$30/school/year for the certificate.

• Self-study has to be approved by Superintendent.

• It is open and annotated – tracks and keep changes.• Principal has option to change at the end for final version.• It is fixed one-month before visiting committee arrives.

Committee then has access to review the document and can make comments and recommendations.

• The document is collaborative throughout the process.• Purpose is to make the teams smaller and the visits shorter

because the visiting team does all work ahead of time.• Schools can also make changes before the visit.• The chair has an easier job because most of the work is done

ahead of time.• You can attach documentation to the document at any time

during the whole process.• Visiting team can add comments and evidence as well.• Upon completion, it will be sent electronically to the

accrediting body with a summary page for voting by the commission.

• Major commendations and major recommendations are presented to the board and faculty at the end of the evaluation.

• It will be piloted in the 2015-2016 school year.

Accreditrac Accreditation Workflow Overview

Accreditrac Accreditation Workflow Overview

• Facilities observations have to wait until visiting committee is on campus.

• Has to be consistency in what the superintendent approves and doesn’t approve.

• The superintendent review-step will be a hang-up because they’re busy and have lots of schools.

• If the superintendent signs off on the document, but it is poorly done, that reflects back on the superintendent not the school.

Teachers and Copyright Issues

• One-hour - four week graduate course

• For credit or certification• Will be sutomated• Cost of $2000-$5000• Funded through the

TDEC budget through Larry’s office

Robin Brown presented the NPUC’s initiative to connect Language Arts Pathways in small school classrooms through technology and a shared teacher.

One of the intriguing components is the positive student response facilitated by the use of social networking to connect classrooms.

There was discussion regarding the need to support small schools by harnessing collaborative technology and distance education to maximize learning across the Division.

TDEC is willing to partner with the Union Elementary Associates in developing digital resources such as Adventist Learning Community mini-courses, or resources connected to individual lesson plans for subjects such as language arts, math, and science.

Issues with Pathways

• Lack of ready-made materials • Juggling teaching in multi-grade

classrooms • Class prep overload• Need for audience & perspectives• Demands of individualization• Time required for feedback on

writing

NCPU Pilot of Pathways Partners Plugged-In

• Connected students via social networking

• In second year has increased to 17 schools

• Connecting students with other students in a virtual reading and writing workshop

• Facilitates the use of Pathways philosophy

• Ensures Christian approach to reading and writing

The main goal is to blend classroom work

with online environment.

How it Works

• Students login daily to Pathways website

• Students have own course page• The student’s personalized plan

is available• Asynchronous availability• Students select specific activity• Paired with Edomodo• Teacher posts assignment,

videos, discussions

Program Overview

• Rubrics• Writing process• Personal feedback• Multiple drafts/resubmission for

improvement

Focus of Assignments

• Providing an authentic audience of peers• Providing alternative perspectives on

interaction with readings• Reading and writing from a SDA Christian

viewpoint

Safety

• Completely closed• Teacher controlled and managed• Specific training on digital citizenship and netiquette• No personal information shared• Classroom teachers are co-teachers• Parent codes

Role of Classroom Teacher

• Facilitate students sign-up• Allow students class time• Handle the spelling and handwriting aspects• Provide individualized guided reading• Take lesson components into consideration

Challenges

Student Interaction

• Building community• Facilitating meaningful interaction• Getting to know students• Building rapport• Communicate with teachers• Holding students accountable• Shift to higher expectations

• Curriculum development• Digitizing the curriculum• Building a database of lessons• Supplement Pathways materials• Copyright issues• Technology patchwork• Teacher resources unavailable• Copyright• Technology patchwork• Teacher resources unavailable• Copyright• Funding is the bottom line

Challenges

Three studios are available to build partnerships and

relationships.

PHASE ONE — November 1,

2014—beta/demo available—general use materials,

professional development

material.

PHASE TWO —January – March

2015—expanding the resource circle;

communication, news and

announcements, discussion boards, real time chat and

webinars.

PHASE THREE —Late Spring 2015—

Specialty features, database.

http://www.adventisteducation.org/

NAD Elementary Technology Standards Development Team

“The most important thing is to engage in data roll up. They need to understand how

important it is and that once they get the process right, to keep it up.” Larry Blackmer

“I still have SWUC schools who have not verified their Opening Report…” :( Martha Ban