District Resource Guide - Polk County School District

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Specific Testing Dates will be shared when released from DOE.
Moodle (Online Learning Management System)
Teacher Evaluation System Training
○ The only available option allowing us to complete the state mandated Teacher Evaluation System Training
on time is the presentation of the instructional materials in an online format.
○ This training must be accomplished during the week of August 15th through the 19th, so time and available
bandwidth are prized.
○ We will be utilizing the Moodle Learning Management System for this training.
● We have added new Moodle and multimedia servers to provide the capacity required.
● Polk County Schools simply cannot afford the massive capital outlay required to provide simultaneous
access to the Teacher Evaluation System Training for all our teachers, so we are forced to stagger its
access through the week.
○ We will be publishing a training schedule, both online and via email.
○ This schedule will ensure best use of our available capacity, while keeping in mind the full agenda all have
during that week.
○ We ask that schools adhere to the published schedule to ensure robust access for all.
Software Development
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We are continuing to roll out additional services to parents, students and staff through the use of our
portals. Some schools have been very involved in the Parent Portal registration process, while others have
not. The opportunity to engage parents in the educational process through this new medium very much
hinges on a school’s well-executed plan to master the concepts related to Parent Portal and get parents
attached to their students. We encourage you to collaborate with your staff before orientation to
understand (or revise when necessary) your school’s current strategy for getting parents attached
to their students.
Students will only be able to access their own grades through the Student Portal this year. (In the
past they could access them directly through Pinnacle PIV. Some schools have not yet distributed student
accounts to students yet, but this change will likely mean that has to be done (at least for secondary
schools). This planned change has been previously communicated to your network manager, both
in-person and via email. A well-planned strategy for distributing those accounts to students will be a key to
success.
Our developers have worked hard this summer to rework the IDEAS product to make it more
user-friendly, and the new version is ready for use. The first thing you’ll notice is the visual difference.
The look and feel has been adjusted to match our District’s current standard look and feel for web-based
software. Other functions have been simplified or enhanced to save time (for example, exporting data to
Excel is now a one-click process, whereas it was a longer, and sometimes more complicated, process
before).
We’re working on some other large projects. For instance, we’re working toward turning on a staff
portal that will allow employees to access pay stubs, leave balances, and temporary duty leave functions
through the Internet. In collaboration with Assessment, Accountability and Evaluation, construction will soon
begin on an early warning system to support the strategic plan by delivering proactive notification to
instructional staff regarding issues affecting instruction. Finally, we are working with the Professional
Learning department to build “Journey,” the system which will handle end-to-end staff evaluations and
observations, as well as professional learning logistics and reporting.
EERS
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Kindergarten: The installation for the Digital Device package, Projector,Screen,DVD,Tuner, Lightspeed
will begin in September and continue till January.