Credit Recovery Updates [E-lert for Aug. 27]

Welcome to the Fall 2010 semester! My name is Jennifer Nobles and I am one of the Credit Recovery/Modular Learning Specialists with the NC Virtual Public School. I've worked with most of you before and look forward to working with some of you for the first time. You are receiving this information because you have students enrolled in Credit Recovery courses. If you are not the current DLA, please let me know and forward this email to the correct person. You'll also want to make sure the information is updated in the registration system.

The NCVPS Credit Recovery staff works closely with the schools providing bi-weekly updates on Credit Recovery students to help keep you informed of their progress. To better serve you, we need some information on the Credit Recovery implementation at your school. I've created a survey to help gather the information. On this survey, you will be able to provide information about you and any other contacts such as lab facilitators that should receive the mastery charts and Credit Recovery updates. If you could take a few moments of your time to complete this survey, I would greatly appreciate it.

Link to survey: https://spreadsheets.google.com/a/ncpublicschools.gov/viewform?formkey=dHVKcjhlUHdFX1k5WGRicFNFbTRVQkE6MQ

Updates for August 27, 2010

1. Teacher contact
You will be receiving emails from our Credit Recovery teachers introducing themselves and thanking you for your support of these students this semester. If you are not the person the teacher should contact or if there is another person the teacher should include in the weekly emails, please let the teacher know. If you have completed the survey mentioned above, we have provided the information to our teachers so they will know the best person to contact. The majority of our teachers work in the f2f classroom during the school day so they will not be available to students one-on-one until the evening times. Every Credit Recovery teacher will be available to work with students at least once a week via our Wimba, our live classroom, or Pronto, our secured instant messaging system, for those students who have computer access at home. For those students with no computer access at home, teachers will call students at least once a week to work one-on-one.

2. Incorrect Contact Information for Students
Some teachers will ask for your help with a new contact number for a student. Our teachers are required to call the student and have come across some disconnected or incorrect numbers. It will be helpful for students to update their contact information in Blackboard as well.

3. Please provide the id and password to your students.
The Blackboard username and password for each student can be found in the registration system. You will need to provide that information to the student. Our teachers can not provide ids and passwords to students. Also, please make sure you have the students logon at http://ncvps.blackboard.com and complete the Getting Started Unit (mentioned below) right away.

4. Getting Started Unit Please note, all students must complete the "Getting Started" unit including the quiz at the end of the section. This unit is setup on Adaptive Release meaning they must master each component before the next will open. Unit 1 will not open until the Getting Started Unit has been mastered. This unit will explain how to move through the course and will help the student have a smooth start to the course.

5. Training We have created several training pieces for those of you that are new to our program. The training folder is located in Blackboard in the DLA Spa under the "Credit Recovery" Tab. Reviewing the information in the training folder will help you understand the foundation and procedures for our program.

Credit Recovery Updates [E-lert for Aug. 6]

1. Last Day to Submit Work:
The last day of the semester is almost here! We are encouraging our students to submit work in Credit Recovery courses by Friday, August 6th. August 9th is the final day of courses for NCVPS. Those students who are close to finishing on August 6th will be extended until August 9th. Please encourage students to work with their teacher on a plan for completing the course by the final date.

2. Final Grade Reports
This is just a reminder that final grades will be provided for those students who master the entire course on August 12th. This is the final grade report for all NCVPS courses, and will appear in the REPORTS section in the NCVPS registration system.

To recap previously stated information, only students who master the entire course will receive a final grade. NCVPS does not provide grades for students who do not master the entire course. We are a mastery learning model, and while we provide a final course grade to schools for students who master the course material, we cannot provide grades for students who do not finish the course. Since the course is self-paced, we do not have an accurate grade to provide unless the entire course is mastered. One assignment could equal a 100 while the student has done no more work. This would be misleading and inaccurate to all. This is why we will provide a NonMastery for those students who do not finish the course on the final grade report.

3. Students unable to move forward

If you have a Credit Recovery student that states he or she is unable to move forward in a course for any reason, please contact Jeff Page at jeffrey.page@ncpublicschools.gov. Jeff can help the DLA and/or lab facilitator to determine where or what the student can do next. Students should never be sitting with nothing to work on at any time! While Jeff is out today and tomorrow, contact the teacher first and if you cannot contact the teacher send your concerns to me.

4. Mastery Charts and Status Reports

As mentioned before, mastery charts are messaged to the students within Blackboard and emailed to parents and DLAs on Mondays. You will receive a mastery chart email this Monday, August 2nd. A status report will be available in the registration system on Wednesday, August 4th.

Credit Recovery Updates [E-lert for July 28]

1. Last Day to Submit Work:
The last day of the semester is almost here! We are encouraging our students to submit work in Credit Recovery courses by Friday, August 6th. August 9th is the final day of courses for NCVPS. Those students who are close to finishing on August 6th will be extended until August 9th. Please encourage students to work with their teacher on a plan for completing the course by the final date.

2. Final Grade Reports
This is just a reminder that final grades will be provided for those students who master the entire course on August 12th. This is the final grade report for all NCVPS courses, and will appear in the REPORTS section in the NCVPS registration system.

To recap previously stated information, only students who master the entire course will receive a final grade. NCVPS does not provide grades for students who do not master the entire course. We are a mastery learning model, and while we provide a final course grade to schools for students who master the course material, we cannot provide grades for students who do not finish the course. Since the course is self-paced, we do not have an accurate grade to provide unless the entire course is mastered. One assignment could equal a 100 while the student has done no more work. This would be misleading and inaccurate to all. This is why we will provide a NonMastery for those students who do not finish the course on the final grade report.

3. Students unable to move forward

If you have a Credit Recovery student that states he or she is unable to move forward in a course for any reason, please contact Jeff Page at jeffrey.page@ncpublicschools.gov. Jeff can help the DLA and/or lab facilitator to determine where or what the student can do next. Students should never be sitting with nothing to work on at any time! While Jeff is out today and tomorrow, contact the teacher first and if you cannot contact the teacher send your concerns to me.

4. Mastery Charts and Status Reports

As mentioned before, mastery charts are messaged to the students within Blackboard and emailed to parents and DLAs on Mondays. You will receive a mastery chart email this Monday, August 2nd. A status report will be available in the registration system on Wednesday, August 4th.

Credit Recovery Updates [E-lert for June 25]

We are excited to work with all of you this summer and want to make it as productive as possible. To make sure that happens, we can start by ensuring we have the correct contact for the summer. If you are not a summer contact for your school, please let us know the correct contact. You can do that by either filling out the survey linked below with the correct information or by sending me an email. Our Credit Recovery teachers send weekly mastery charts by email to the school contact so it is imperative we have the correct person listed. You'll also want to make sure the information is provided to the Virtual Learning Consultant for your region so you may need to copy them on the email as well.

For those of you that are new to the NCVPS Credit Recovery program, we have created several "training" pieces and published them in the DLA Spa under the Credit Recovery tab (located in Blackboard). I recommend you spend a few moments going through the training folder as it will help you understand the foundation and procedures for our program. If you do not have access to the DLA Spa, please contact your Virtual Learning Consultant (Adam Renfro, Connie Joyner, James Bell, Melissa Davis) for assistance.

Credit Recovery Update [E-lert for May 21]

Important Info Regarding Last Day to Submit Work and Final Grade Reports

1) Mastery Charts and Status Reports
The mastery charts were messaged to the students within Blackboard and emailed to parents and DLAs by 5pm on Monday, May 17th. The Status Report was made available in the registration system on Tuesday, May 18th. Mastery Charts and Status Reports will be provided bi-weekly during the spring semester. For the Mastery Chart schedule, click the following link: http://www.scribd.com/doc/18170808/Mastery-Chart-Schedule

2) Last Day To Submit Work and Final Grade Reports
The end of the semester is less than two weeks away. The last day for students to submit work in Credit Recovery courses is Friday, May 28th. May 31st is a holiday and June 1st is the final day of class for NCVPS. Those students who are close to finishing on May 28th will be extended until June 1st. Final grades for those who finish will be sent to schools on June 2nd. A Non-Mastery or NM will be reported for those students that do not finish the course. Please encourage students to work with their teacher on a plan for completing the course by the final date.

3) Teacher Contact
As we are approaching the end of the semester, teacher contact with parents is extremely important. Our teachers want to make sure that parents are aware of their child's status and what they need to do to finish the course by May 28th. If the teachers are having trouble contacting a student and/or parent they may reach out to you for assistance and/or advice. We greatly appreciate any assistance you can provide and all that you do to encourage the Credit Recovery students. Please let us know how we can help!

4) Students unable to move forward in course
Also as the end of the semester is approaching, we want to make sure that all students are moving forward. If you have a Credit Recovery student that states he or she is unable to move forward in a course for any reason, please contact Jeff Page at jeffrey.page@ncpublicschools.gov. Jeff can help the DLA and/or lab facilitator to determine where or what the student can do next. Students should never be sitting with nothing to work on at any time!

5) Summer Registration
Just a reminder that we are offering two brand new Credit Recovery courses this summer, Credit Recovery Biology and Credit Recovery World History.

6) Credit Recovery Podcast Series
If you have not listened to the second podcast in our Credit Recovery Podcast Series, please be sure to check it out. This podcast focuses on what you can do if students master the course before the end of the semester based on one lab facilitator's experience at Enloe High School. The podcast can be found at this link:http://www.thevlc.org/2010/04/credit-recovery-podcast-at-your-own.html. Our hope is that you will find the information shared through these interviews valuable to your program at your school.

NCVPS Credit Recovery options for Summer 2010 [E-lert for April 1]

NCVPS Credit Recovery courses for SUMMER 2010 are now available for registration! Below is important information about the NCVPS Credit Recovery program. Please contact Michelle Lourcey (contact information below) with any questions.

Credit Recovery Courses Available for SUMMER 2010 – TWO new courses available!

Algebra I
Algebra II
Biology
Civics and Economics
English I
English II
English III
English IV
Geometry
Physical Science
US History
World History

Credit Recovery Updates [E-lert for March 25]

1. Mastery Charts and Status Reports

The mastery charts were messaged to the students within Blackboard and emailed to parents and DLAs by 5pm on Monday, March 22nd. The Status Report was made available in the registration system on Tuesday, March 23rd. Mastery Charts and Status Reports will be provided bi-weekly during the spring semester. If you are new to this program and this is your first time receiving Mastery charts, you may wish to view this presentation detailing how students are assessed in Credit Recovery and how to "read" Mastery charts and status reports. http://content.flypaper.net/0a56d50a-f6dd-45c1-9032-633cecea4985/preview.aspx For the Mastery Chart schedule, click the following link: http://www.scribd.com/doc/18170808/Mastery-Chart-Schedule

2. Teacher Contact

Just a reminder that the Credit Recovery teachers are required to make weekly contact with your students. If the teachers are having trouble contacting a student they may reach out to you for assistance and/or advice. They may ask if you have an updated number for the student, a work number for the parent, if you know of a good time to contact the student, or even if you could arrange a time during the day that the student could speak with the NCVPS teacher. We greatly appreciate any assistance you can provide and all that you do to encourage the Credit Recovery students.

If you have any questions concerning the updates, please contact Jennifer Nobles at jennifer.nobles@ncpublicschools.gov.

Credit Recovery Updates [E-lert for March 11]

1. Mastery Charts and Status Reports

The mastery charts were messaged to the students within Blackboard and emailed to parents and DLAs by 5pm on Monday, March 8th. The Status Report was made available in the registration system on Tuesday, March 9th. Mastery Charts and Status Reports will be provided bi-weekly during the spring semester. If you are new to this program and this is your first time receiving Mastery charts, you may wish to view this presentation detailing how students are assessed in Credit Recovery and how to "read" Mastery charts and status reports. http://content.flypaper.net/0a56d50a-f6dd-45c1-9032-633cecea4985/preview.aspx For the Mastery Chart schedule, click the following link: http://www.scribd.com/doc/18170808/Mastery-Chart-Schedule

2. Teacher Contact

The Credit Recovery teachers are required to make weekly contact with their students. A lot of teachers connect with their students on Pronto. However, if the student does not have access to a computer at home, the teachers may contact by phone. If the teacher does not have correct contact information or cannot reach the student and/or parent, it becomes difficult. You may receive a request for help from teachers with this piece of the program. If you are able to provide additional contact information or advice on how/when to contact the parents, it would be very helpful!

Credit Recovery Updates [E-lert for Feb. 25]

1. Mastery Charts and Status Reports
The first mastery charts were messaged to the students within Blackboard and emailed to parents and DLAs by 5pm on Monday, February 8th. The Status Report was made available in the registration system on Tuesday, February 9th. Mastery Charts and Status Reports will be provided bi-weekly during the spring semester. If you are new to this program and this is your first time receiving Mastery charts, you may wish to view this presentation detailing how students are assessed in Credit Recovery and how to "read" Mastery charts and status reports. http://content.flypaper.net/0a56d50a-f6dd-45c1-9032-633cecea4985/preview.aspx For the Mastery Chart schedule, click the following link: http://www.scribd.com/doc/18170808/Mastery-Chart-Schedule

2. Teacher Contact
The Credit Recovery teachers are required to make weekly contact with their students. Many teachers connect with their students on Pronto. However, if the student does not have access to a computer at home, the teachers may contact by phone. If the teacher does not have correct contact information or cannot reach the student and/or parent, it becomes difficult. You may receive a request for help from teachers with this piece of the program. If you are able to provide additional contact information or advice on how/when to contact the parents, it would be very helpful!

3. Training
We have created several training pieces for those of you that are new to our program. The training folder is located in Blackboard in the DLA Spa under the "Credit Recovery" Tab. Reviewing the information in the training folder will help you understand the foundation and procedures for our program.

Credit Recovery Update [E-lert for Feb. 10]

1. Mastery Charts and Status Reports
The first mastery charts were messaged to the students within Blackboard and emailed to parents and DLAs by 5pm on Monday, February 8th. The Status Report was made available in the registration system on Tuesday, February 9th. Mastery Charts and Status Reports will be provided bi-weekly during the spring semester. If you are new to this program and this is your first time receiving Mastery charts, you may wish to view this presentation detailing how students are assessed in Credit Recovery and how to "read" Mastery charts and status reports. http://content.flypaper.net/0a56d50a-f6dd-45c1-9032-633cecea4985/preview.aspx For the Mastery Chart schedule, click the following link: http://www.scribd.com/doc/18170808/Mastery-Chart-Schedule

2. Incorrect Contact Information for Students
Credit Recovery teachers are required to make weekly contact with students. Incorrect contact information for the student will make that difficult. Some teachers may email and ask for your help with a new contact number for a student. It will be very helpful if you could update student contact information in the registration system and ask students to update their contact information in Blackboard as well.

3. Registration
Please know that you can still register students for NCVPS Credit Recovery courses through Feb. 19! Here are your directions:

First, make sure that the student's information is in the registration system. You will need to input all information, just like a regular registration, except you can't enroll the student into a class. Once you have all the student's information into the registration system, please send the following to Michelle Lourcey (mlourcey@dpi.state.nc.us):

An Excel spreadsheet for the students with the following columns:
Student's last name
Student's first name
Student's school
Student's LEA
The Credit Recovery course to be enrolled in.

If Michelle receives this spreadsheet by early afternoon, the student will be enrolled by the next morning. Please contact Michelle Lourcey with any questions!

4. Credit Recovery Survey
The NCVPS Credit Recovery staff works closely with the schools providing bi-weekly updates on Credit Recovery students to help keep you informed of their progress. To better serve you, we need some information on the Credit Recovery implementation at your school. Many of you have already completed the survey linked below. If you have not, please do so as soon as possible. It is also important to make sure the DLA contact information is updated in the registration system as this information is also provided to our teachers.

Link to survey: http://spreadsheets.google.com/viewform?formkey=dERSZVRnVk5QWEwwREVDRTkwQU5ETnc6MA

5. Training
We have created several training pieces for those of you that are new to our program. The training folder is located in Blackboard in the DLA Spa under the "Credit Recovery" Tab. Reviewing the information in the training folder will help you understand the foundation and procedures for our program.

Credit Recovery Update for Feb. 3 [E-lert for Feb. 3]

1. Incorrect Contact Information for Students
Credit Recovery teachers are required to make weekly contact with students. Incorrect contact information for the student will make that difficult. Some teachers may email and ask for your help with a new contact number for a student. It will be very helpful if you could
update student contact information in the registration system and ask students to update their contact information in Blackboard as well.

2. Teacher Contact
The majority of our teachers work in the f2f classroom during the school day so they will not be available to students one-on-one until the evening times. Every Credit Recovery teacher will be available to work with students at least once a week via Pronto, our secured instant
messaging system, for those students who have computer access at home. For those students with no computer access at home, teachers will call students at least once a week to work one-on-one

3. Registration
Please know that you can still register students for NCVPS Credit Recovery courses through Feb. 19! Here are your directions:

First, make sure that the student's information is in the registration system. You will need to input all information, just like a regular registration, except you can't enroll the student into a class. Once you have all the student's information into the registration system, please send the following to Michelle Lourcey
(mlourcey@dpi.state.nc.us):


An Excel spreadsheet for the students with the following columns:
Student's last name
Student's first name
Student's school
Student's LEA
The Credit Recovery course to be enrolled in.

If Michelle receives this speadsheet by early afternoon, the student will be enrolled by the next morning. Please contact Michelle Lourcey with any questions!

4. Credit Recovery Survey
The NCVPS Credit Recovery staff works closely with the schools providing bi-weekly updates on Credit Recovery students to help keep you informed of their progress. To better serve you, we need some information on the Credit Recovery implementation at your school. Many of you have already completed the survey linked below. If you have not, please do so as soon as possible. It is also important to make sure the DLA contact information is updated in the registration system as this information is also provided to our teachers.

Link to survey:
http://spreadsheets.google.com/viewform?formkey=dERSZVRnVk5QWEwwREVDRTkwQU5ETnc6MA

5. Training
We have created several training pieces for those of you that are new to our program. The training folder is located in Blackboard in the DLA Spa under the "Credit Recovery" Tab. Reviewing the information in the training folder will help you understand the foundation and procedures for our program.

We're looking forward to a productive semester! Let us know how we can help!

Thanks!

Jennifer Nobles at jnobles@dpi.state.nc.us

Credit Recovery Enrollment Extended [E-lert for Jan. 28, 2010]

Registration for NCVPS courses will close at on January 29.

Credit Recovery, though, will extend its registration until Feb. 19.

After January 29, DLAs should email Michelle Lourcey at mlourcey@dpi.state.nc.us for directions on registration.

Credit Recovery Update - Day One [E-lert for Jan. 28, 2010]

The NCVPS Credit Recovery staff works closely with the schools providing bi-weekly updates on Credit Recovery students to help keep you informed of their progress. To better serve you, we need some information on the Credit Recovery implementation at your school. We've created a survey to help gather the information. On this survey, you will be able to provide information about the lab facilitators that are working directly with the Credit Recovery students and which school personnel should receive the mastery charts and Credit Recovery updates. If you could take a few moments of your time to complete this survey, we would greatly appreciate it.

Link to survey: http://spreadsheets.google.com/viewform?formkey=dERSZVRnVk5QWEwwREVDRTkwQU5ETnc6MA

Updates for January 25, 2010

1. Teacher contact

You will be receiving emails from our Credit Recovery teachers introducing themselves and thanking you for your support of these students this semester. If you are not the person the teacher should contact or if there is another person the teacher should include in the weekly emails, please let the teacher know. If you have completed the survey mentioned above, we have provided the information to our teachers so they will know the best person to contact.

The majority of our teachers work in the f2f classroom during the school day so they will not be available to students one-on-one until the evening times. Every Credit Recovery teacher will be available to work with students at least once a week via Pronto, our secured instant messaging system, for those students who have computer access at home. For those students with no computer access at home, teachers will call students at least once a week to work one-on-one.

2. Incorrect Contact Information for Students

Some teachers will ask for your help with a new contact number for a student. Our teachers are required to call the student and have come across some disconnected or incorrect numbers. It will be helpful to update this information in the registration system as well. Please let the teacher know if you update the registration system with a quick email so the teachers can check back and get the correct number.

3. Please provide the id and password to your students.

The Blackboard username and password for each student can be found in the registration system. You will need to provide that information to the student. Our teachers can not provide ids and passwords to students. Also, please make sure you have the students logon at http://ncvps.blackboard.com and complete the Getting Started Unit (mentioned below) right away.

Credit Recovery Update [E-lert for Jan. 13]

1. Mastery Charts and Status Reports

Mastery charts were messaged to the students within Blackboard and emailed to parents and DLAs by 5pm on Monday,Decemeber 14th. The Status Reports will be available in the registration system (REPORTS section) on Tuesday, December 15th. Mastery Charts and Status Reports will be provided bi-weekly during the fall semester for all Credit Recovery students. If you are new to this program and this is your first time receiving Mastery charts, you may wish to view this presentation detailing how students are assessed in Credit Recovery and how to "read" Mastery charts and status reports. http://content.flypaper.net/0a56d50a-f6dd-45c1-9032-633cecea4985/preview.aspx For the Mastery Chart schedule, click the following link: http://www.scribd.com/doc/18170808/Mastery-Chart-Schedule

2. Students unable to move forward in course

If you have a Credit Recovery student that states he or she is unable to move forward in a course for any reason, please contact Jeff Page at jnpage@dpi.state.nc.us. Jeff can help the DLA and/or lab facilitator to determine where or what the student can do next. Students should never be sitting with nothing to work on at any time!

3. Last Day To Submit Work

The end of the semester is quickly approaching. The last day for students to submit work in Credit Recovery courses is Thursday, January 14th. Please remind students they can work in their course over the winter break if they have computer access at home. Teachers will be available a day or two over the winter break to grade work and provide feedback. This is a great time for students to get caught up!

Credit Recovery Updates [E-lert Jan. 6]

CR Updates for Jan. 6, 2010.

1. Mastery Charts and Status Reports: Final mastery charts will be messaged to the students within Blackboard and emailed to parents and DLAs by 5pm on Monday, January 11th. The Status Reports will be available in the registration system (REPORTS section) on Tuesday, January 12th. Teachers sent out updates to DLAs and students this week.

2. Last Day To Submit Work: The end of the semester is quickly approaching. The last day for students to submit work in Credit Recovery courses is Thursday, January 14th. Please remind students to communicate with their teacher to determine their status in the course and what they need to do to finish the course by Thursday, January 14th.

3. Information about final grades/NonMastery reporting: To recap previously stated information, only students who master the entire course will receive a final grade. NCVPS does not provide grades for students who do not master the entire course. We are a mastery learning model, and while we provide a final course grade to schools for students who master the course material, we cannot provide grades for students who do not finish the course. Since the course is self-paced, we do not have an accurate grade to provide unless the entire course is mastered. One assignment could equal a 100 while the student has done no more work. This would be misleading and inaccurate to all. This is why we will provide a NonMastery for those students who do not finish the course on the final grade report.

All final grades and NonMasteries will come out on the final grade report on January 20. This is the final grade report for all NCVPS courses, and it will appear in the REPORTS section in the NCVPS registration system.