DPI is committed to providing equitable, inclusive literacy instruction for all by:

• Aligning core curriculum, instruction, and assessments with Science of Reading.
• Providing appropriate literacy interventions to address difficulty with reading development.
• Implementing practices based on the Science of Reading in every classroom every day.
• Providing aligned resources to parents, guardians and family members.

mCLASS is built on decades of research at the Center on Teaching and Learning at the University of Oregon, a national center for early childhood assessment and instruction. The measures are already in use in many districts in North Carolina. With the additional mCLASS suite including reporting, grouping, lessons and caregiver support, DPI’s early literacy goals for North Carolina students will be met.

North Carolina mCLASS DIBELS 8 requirements

DIBELS 8th Edition fulfills legislative requirements for K-3 students with sub test measures for:

• Phonemic awareness
• Phonics
• Fluency
• Vocabulary
• Comprehension

For the above reasons, the state will begin using DIBELS 8 data for EVAAS purposes effective 2021-22 from MOY-EOY for Kindergarten, BOY-EOY for all 1-2 teachers, and BOG-EOG for grade 3.

Amplify assessment invalidation process

1. Teacher requests approval for an invalidation from a school-level administrator and provides a valid reason for requesting the invalidation.
2. School-level administrators reach out to the district Read to Achieve (RtA) contact to approve the invalidation.
3. District RtA contact approves the request and notifies the school-level administrator who notifies the teacher.
4. Teacher invalidates assessment.

Amplify is excited to announce that the mCLASS platform will be updated to provide a more streamlined experience. When teachers log in, they will arrive at Educator Home, where they will find a new, more efficient way to access their assessment, reporting, and instructional tools in fewer clicks. mCLASS students logging in will arrive at Student Home, where they will be able to complete assigned mCLASS assessments. These updates will take place on July 1, 2023. 

A brief tour of Educator Home for Admin and Specialists can be found here.

A brief tour of Educator Home for Teachers can be found here. 

Additional information on accessing mCLASS after July 1 during Reading Camp can be found in the Reading Camp section below.  

As defined by the Excellent Public Schools Act of 2021, “Reading camp” means an additional educational program outside of the instructional calendar provided by the local school administrative unit as a literacy intervention that shall be offered to:

(i) any third-grade student who does not demonstrate reading proficiency and (ii) any second-grade student who demonstrates difficulty with reading development. Local school administrative units may offer a reading camp as a literacy intervention to any first-grade student who demonstrates difficulty with reading development.

Getting started with Reading Camp

Amplify is excited to announce an update to the assessment process for Reading Camp for the 2022-23 school year. A summer benchmark window will be available in the assessment system for the dates selected on your Reading Camp Survey. 

• The pre-assessment for Reading Camp will be the student mCLASS EOY Composite score. 
• The post-assessment for Reading Camp will be Summer Benchmark in mCLASS.
  • The summer benchmark window is accessed the same way BOY, MOY, and EOY are, under mCLASS Assessment on the teacher device. 

Post-July 1, 2023

Click here for guidance around assessing for Reading Camp during the 22-23 school year. 

Click here for enrollment guidance if your district is enrolling students at their home schools for Reading Camp. 

Click here for enrollment guidance if your district is hosting Reading Camp sites, combining students from multiple schools for Reading Camp. 

Click here for guidance around Reading Camp for Charter Schools.

Reading Camp Webinar Recordings

NC Reading Camp Office Hours for June 15, 2023, 11 am – 12 pm EST and June 21, 2023, 1 pm – 2 pm EST and NC Charter School Reading Camp Office Hours for June 22, 2023, 11 am – 12 pm EST are closed. View the Reading Camp 2023 session recording.

Each night, DPI extracts rostering files from PowerSchool and sends them to Amplify. Changes in PowerSchool are captured in mCLASS the next day. As a reminder, no manual changes can take place in mCLASS.

Additional troubleshooting documents around enrollment can be found here:

• Creating groups in mCLASS
• Coding RtA Reading Retained Students
• PowerSchool roles for RtA 
• mCLASS Student Troubleshooting Tips

mCLASS gives you instant results and clear next steps for each student. Quick and actionable reports provide detailed insight into students’ reading development across foundational literacy skills for teachers, specialists, administrators, and caregivers.

View the mCLASS Reporting Guide to learn more.

Additional resources around mCLASS reporting can be found under the Training tile on mCLASS home (mCLASS Reporting icon upon login to NCEdCloud).

We at Amplify and the team at the University of Oregon are here to provide continued guidance and support around collecting and using DIBELS® 8th Edition data.

This guide offers recommendations for benchmark assessment with DIBELS as well as tips for interpreting benchmark data during our unpredictable school disruptions.

North Carolina remote assessment guidance

Amplify Service Hub Now Live:
The Service Hub is an online portal which allows district- and school-level administrators to create support tickets, check on ticket status, and view reports related to support cases. Educators who have an RtA Admin role have access to the Service Hub. You can access the Service Hub here. Log in with the SSO Login icon and search for North Carolina Public Schools. Your NCEdCloud credentials will enable you to access the Service Hub.

Learn about navigating, viewing insights, and more in the

Amplify Service Hub Overview.

mCLASS Lectura is available for all students enrolled in a Dual Language program. When mCLASS Lectura is used with D8 teachers have access to the dual language report. This report provides side-by-side data of the student’s performance in Spanish and English. 

Then mCLASS suggests actual strategies and specific activities to promote cross-linguistic transfer for bilingual students.

If you have students that would benefit from this assessment but are not enrolled in a dual language program, individual licenses can be purchased. Please reach out to your CSM and Jennifer Eason, your Account Executive, for more information.

To continue your own professional learning around the Science of Reading, subscribe and join with your colleagues.

Science of Reading: The Podcast delivers the latest insights from researchers and practitioners in early reading. Further your professional development with each episode by subscribing and downloading them now.

Science of Reading: The Community is built for those committed to fostering conversation around the Science of Reading and implementing best practices in the classroom (including the virtual classroom).

What does classroom instruction look like when it is based on Science of Reading practices? We’ve outlined a Science of Reading action plan to guide your evaluation in our new FREE ebook, Science of Reading: Making the shift.

The mCLASS Home Connect website houses literacy resources for parents and caregivers, including at-home lessons organized by skill to help students at home during remote learning. Our mCLASS parent/caregiver letters in English and Spanish ensure that families know how to best support their child.

Interested in learning more?

Amplify and NC DPI are collaborating on this FAQ. Please continue to check back, as we are updating this based on questions we receive about mCLASS and the current NC implementation.

FAQ Link

Get in touch with us to learn more about bringing other high-quality Amplify programs to your school or district.