School Guidance FAQ

If a student is homeschooled or enrolled in NDCDE’s diploma program, parents/guardians are already permitted to serve as learning coaches (LC). Parents of homeschool & diploma program students may complete the Learning Coach Exam Change Form if they are not currently their student’s exam administrator, but would like to be.

The local school must provide us with permission for parents to serve as learning coaches. NDCDE has reached out to all local school with which we currently work regarding this issue. We kindly ask that you please be patient while we are awaiting responses, as schools are working tirelessly preparing both short and long-term academic plans.

No. As the state of ND’s sanctioned online provider, when you purchase a course from CDE you are entering into a contractual agreement with CDE to provide instruction and curriculum that is approved in ND. The student still belongs to the local district. In addition, the extension of Executive Order 2020-38 allows districts with distance learning plans to consider students that are distance learning “enrolled” without needing to be physically present in a district building.

No. It certainly can be, however, since the student is still under jurisdiction of the school district, the district may allow another individual (a parent for instance) to serve as a learning coach.

Yes. However, schools are encouraged to communicate with their parents the school policy on approved learning coaches so that parents are aware of who they can place on the enrollment form. School administrators are also provided the opportunity to correct parent enrollment submissions when they receive the emailed enrollment report from NDCDE.

Students can be enrolled in courses at any time and choose a specified start date for the course to begin at the time of enrollment. The end date is auto generated for 20 weeks from the start date. But that can be adjusted as well to match the school’s calendar.

Maybe. If you would like your own course section for these enrollments and you are planning to enroll at least 10 students in the course, please contact NDCDE’s principal, Jenifer Mastrud at 701-515-1279 or by using our Contact NDCDE Staff Form so we may determine if a separate section should be created to better serve your needs prior to enrolling students.

No. All common features (email, file sharing, teams, collaboration etc) available within the ND K12 Office 365 tenant (k12.nd.us) will work between your students and NDCDE.

Maybe. If your school manages its own G-Suite or Office 365 tenant, you will want to make sure they can communicate with users outside of that environment before submitting any enrollments. All NDCDE instructors (and staff) communicate with students via a ND K12 Office 365 identity (k12.nd.us). Your technology coordinator will want to make sure students at your school can send/receive email and share files with users outside of your tenant. This page shows how some G-Suite administrators manage this.

Yes. Any school administrator approved school personnel can do so; however, they would need to have an online store account set-up. To do this, school administration must send the individual’s name, phone number, and email address to our office manager, Laurie Tuma, using our Contact NDCDE Staff Form.

NDCDE applies two methods to assure students assigned IEPs and 504 Plans are identified:

1. NDCDE’s enrollment form asks the enrollee (student, parent or school personnel) to indicate the applicable Plan(s).
2. NDCDE’s teachers conduct an initial assessment of each student assigned to them. The initial assessment identifies many factors that impact student learning, including IEPs and 504 Plans.

Once identified, NDCDE’s administrative staff is assigned to acquire documented details of a student’s Plan(s). Once obtained, the information is provided to the assigned instructor. Based on the information provided, NDCDE instructors determine how the accommodations and/or modifications assigned to the student can be supported within NDCDE’s digital environment. The determinations are shared with the student, and as appropriate and applicable, with the education professional assigned to the IEP or 504 Plan(s). NDCDE instructors are given the authority to communicate directly with the assigned professionals for ongoing consultation.