PSU 2012 PowerSchool 101 PowerSchool 101 PowerSchool is a web-based application either installed on a server at your school district or hosted for your school district in a server facility that Pearson maintains. As a web-based application, PowerSchool functions in real time, meaning that users see information the instant that it is updated in the system. PowerSchool provides tools for the following stakeholders in your school district: School administrators and staff Teachers Substitutes Parents and students After completing this course, you will be able to: Explain how each stakeholder group uses PowerSchool Use PowerSchool as a school administrator Understand the basics of using PowerTeacher Understand how parents and students use the PowerSchool Student and Parent Portals Signing In To sign in to PowerSchool, administrator (admin) users enter the Internet address of the PowerSchool server followed by /admin in the address field of the web browser. For each of the four types of stakeholders in PowerSchool, you use different sign-in procedures. Activity 1 Signing In Practice signing in to the four different areas of PowerSchool using the server address provided by your trainer. Begin by opening your Internet web browser. 1. Enter the Internet address of the PowerSchool server in the address field of your web browser 2. Add /admin to the end of the Internet address of the PowerSchool server, 3. Enter your assigned admin username and password separated by a semicolon, and click Sign In You are now signed in to PowerSchool as an admin user. 4. Click Sign Out 5. At the end of the Internet address of the PowerSchool server, replace /admin with /teachers 6. Enter your assigned teacher username and password, and click Sign In You are now signed in to PowerSchool as a teacher user. 7. Click Sign Out 8. At the end of the Internet address of the PowerSchool server, replace /teachers with /subs 9. Choose Apple Grove High School and your teacher s name 10. Enter sub and click Sign In You are now signed in to PowerSchool as a substitute teacher user.
11. Click Sign Out 12. At the end of the Internet address of the PowerSchool server, replace /subs with /public and press Enter 13. Enter your assigned student username and password, and click Sign In You are now signed in to PowerSchool as a student user. 14. Click Sign Out Admin Users What admin users view in PowerSchool depends on their security access. The PowerSchool administrator creates security groups and specifies what each group can view and which items each group can edit. Each school district can set up their own security groups and the level of access for each group. Admin users should work with PowerSchool administrators to ensure that secretaries, registrars, counselors, and other school personnel receive the necessary group security permissions so they can perform tasks such as recording attendance, entering student information, and enrolling students. Searching for Students and Using Student Pages On the Start Page, administrators use the Search Students and Browse Students sections to search for students and access student pages. Enter a student s last name or full name with last name, comma, then first name, and click the Search icon. If the student is in the database, the student page appears. Enter search commands in the Search field to find specific data from the records. Admin users can also search using the Browse Students section. Select the last name initial of a student you want to find, or click a grade level, a gender, or all students. The list of search results displays student names for you to choose from. From the student pages menu, choose pages relating to demographic information, grades and attendance, administrative records including fees and incidents, enrollment functions, and the student s scheduling information. The student pages menu begins with two items that administrators use frequently. The Quick Lookup page shows last week s attendance and the current week s attendance for a student, and grades and attendance information for each of the student s classes in the current term. Use the Print a Report page to choose from a list of reports to print for that student. In addition to working with individual students, administrators can work with groups of students, such as all 10th graders. In the Browse Students section, click 10. Beneath the list of student names, open the Group Functions menu and choose a function, such as Print Mailing Labels. To choose specific students in the current selection, select the group function Select Students by Hand first. Activity 2 Searching for a Student Get familiar with the student search functions by searching first for a single student, and then for a group of students. 1. Enter the server address followed by /admin in the address field of your web browser, and press Enter 2. Enter your assigned admin username followed by a semicolon and your password, such as YourUsername;YourPassword 3. Click Sign In 4. On the Start Page, in the Search Students field, enter your assigned student name 5. Click the Search icon Copyright 2012 Pearson Page 2
6. Click PowerSchool to return to the Start Page 7. In the Browse Students section, click A to select all the students whose last names start with the letter A 8. Select Adair, Brandon 9. Under Information, click Demographics 10. Click Emergency/Medical 11. Click Parents 12. Click Quick Lookup 13. Click PowerSchool 14. In the Browse Students section, click Current Selection 15. From the Group Functions menu, choose Select Students By Hand 16. Select a random group of five or more students 17. Click Functions and view the list of group functions you can do with your group of students 18. Click PowerSchool to return to the Start Page Enrolling a Student When admin users enroll a student, the student s last name, Social Security number, home phone number, and date of birth are compared to student information in the database to determine whether the student has been enrolled in the school district before. If no match is found, the student is enrolled. If a possible match is found, a list of possible matches appears. Activity 3 Enrolling a New Student Enroll a new student at the school of your choice. Using your name, follow the steps to enroll yourself into a school. 1. On the Start Page, in the navigation toolbar, click School if you want to switch to a different school 2. Choose a new school 3. On the Start Page, click Enroll New Student 4. Complete the Student s Name, DOB, and Phone Number fields 5. For Student Number, enter you telephone number with no dashes or spaces 6. From the Full-Time Equivalency menu, choose Full Time 7. From the Grade Level menu, choose a grade level 8. From the Entry Code menu, choose an entry code 9. From the District of Residence menu, choose Apple Grove Unified School District 10. In the information for Family Match, select Enroll without Linking or Copying Information 11. Click Submit 12. If the Check for Duplicate Students page appears, review it to confirm that your student does not already exist in the server records, and click Enroll If the new student is not a duplicate in the system, the default student page appears instead. Copyright 2012 Pearson Page 3
Working with Attendance Teachers and substitutes take attendance in class using PowerTeacher, which you ll explore later in this course. Office personnel take attendance by using the Attendance or Enter Attendance student pages, or the Attendance group function. Use the Attendance student page to view a student s attendance information or change a student s attendance for a range of days (for example, if a mother calls and says that her child will be on vacation all next week). Use the Enter Attendance student page to enter or change meeting attendance in the current week for a student. Activity 4 Changing a Student s Attendance Change your student s 1st-period attendance to Tardy Excused before sending him or her to class. Also, you have a note from the student s mother about a dentist appointment this Friday, so set the student s attendance for Friday to Parent Excused. 1. If you changed schools, navigate back to Apple Grove High School using the School menu 2. Search for and select your assigned student 3. Click Enter Attendance 4. From the Current attendance code menu, select TE (Tardy Excused) 5. For today, click the field for the student s first period 6. Next, from the Current attendance code menu, choose P (Parent Excused) 7. In the column for Friday, click Set All to assign the code to all periods 8. Click Submit Printing Reports Form letters, report cards, schedules, and progress reports are examples of reports created in PowerSchool. When you request a report for an individual student, the student s information is retrieved from the PowerSchool server and entered into the report template. Activity 5 Printing a Report for an Individual Student Print a report for your assigned student, such as a student schedule. 1. Click Print A Report 2. From the Which report to print menu, choose PSU - Student Schedule 3. Click Submit 4. Next to Report Queue My Jobs, click Refresh if the status of your report is Running 5. When the status of your report is Completed, click View 6. Click the browser s back arrow to return to PowerSchool 7. Before moving to the next activity, click Sign Out Copyright 2012 Pearson Page 4
Teachers In PowerTeacher, teachers view student demographics, schedules, assignments, and grades. On the PowerTeacher Start Page, you ll notice four icons: a chair, utensils, a backpack, and a printer. Click the chair icon to take attendance. After you take attendance, the circle next to the chair turns green. Click the utensils icon to submit meal counts for the day. Click the backpack icon to access the Student Information page. Select a student name to view a student page. To change student pages, click Select screens and select the student page you want to view. Click the printer icon to print student reports. From the Select screens menu, choose Submit Log Entry to record and submit comments regarding student behavior or activities. Click Submit to record the entry and send an email to the principal or designated administrator. Log entries take the place of a discipline referral, and the email notifies the principal that you submitted an entry for a specific student. Log entries are private and cannot be seen by parents or students. From the Select screens menu, choose Teacher Comments to enter comments notifying parents of any issues their child is having in class. All of the student s teachers, as well as office staff, have access to these comments. PowerTeacher Gradebook Teachers use PowerTeacher gradebook to enter assignments, record scores, find student information, set up grading preferences, enter class information for parents and students to view in the PowerSchool Parent and Student Portals, and print reports. Teachers launch the gradebook from PowerTeacher by clicking Gradebook in the left menu, and then Launch Gradebook. In the gradebook, click the tabs across the top to navigate to the different work areas. Use the options in the left panes to customize groups of students and format which categories to view. Change the reporting term, and choose which student modes to work with, if you are using standards-based grading methods. Activity 6 Taking Attendance in PowerTeacher One of the first tasks of the day for a teacher is taking attendance. Open PowerTeacher and take attendance for one class. 1. At the end of the Internet address of the PowerSchool server, replace /admin with /teachers 2. Enter your teacher username and password 3. Click Sign In 4. Click the chair icon for a class 5. From the Current attendance code menu, choose A (Absent) 6. Click the cell for three students to mark them absent 7. From the Current attendance code menu, choose T (Tardy) 8. Click the cell for two students to mark them tardy 9. Click Submit 10. Click Sign Out Copyright 2012 Pearson Page 5
Substitute Teachers Substitute teachers take attendance and enter lunch counts with PowerTeacher Substitute. They also view the daily bulletin. Substitute teachers have access to bulletin messages created for students and parents. They cannot view daily bulletin messages for teachers or administrators. Substitute teachers sign in to the system by entering the Internet address of the district s PowerSchool server followed by /subs in the address field of a web browser. Activity 7 Viewing the Daily Bulletin in PowerTeacher Substitute As a substitute teacher, you are responsible for knowing about important announcements. Sign in as a substitute and check the school bulletin. 1. At the end of the Internet address of the PowerSchool server, replace /teachers with /subs 2. Choose Apple Grove High School and your teacher s name 3. Enter sub, and click Sign In 4. Click View Daily Bulletin 5. Read through the bulletin, then click Sign Out Parents and Students The PowerSchool Parent and Student Portals contain tools to help parents ensure their child s academic success. Parents and students can sign in to the PowerSchool Parent and Student Portals to get grade and attendance information at any time. Even though parents and students have separate sign-in information, they access the same basic information. Parents and students use the PowerSchool Parent and Student Portals to view assignment details and grades, attendance, fee balances, teacher comments, and graduation progress, if applicable. Parents view information for their children only. Activity 8 Viewing Attendance in the PowerSchool Student Portal Sign in as a student, and review your attendance for the current term. 1. At the end of the Internet address of the PowerSchool server, replace /subs with /public and press Enter 2. Enter your student username and password 3. Click Sign In The Grades and Attendance page is the default page. 4. Click the absences total 5. Record the month you were absent the most 6. Click the Attendance History icon 7. Record other attendance codes (besides A and T) that you see 8. Record what the codes mean Copyright 2012 Pearson Page 6
Activity 9 Checking Grades and Assignments in the PowerSchool Student Portal You were sick yesterday. View your grades, and find out if you missed any assignments. 1. Click Grades and Attendance 2. Record the class with the lowest final grade 3. Click a final grade for a class 4. Record which assignments, if any, you are missing 5. To view more information on an assignment, click a blue assignment name Key Points Sign in Add the appropriate sign-in suffix to your PowerSchool server s Internet address Administration Conduct student searches, enroll students, manage attendance, and print reports Teachers Take student attendance, find student information, and record grades in PowerTeacher gradebook Substitutes Take student attendance and read the daily bulletin Parents & students View student attendance, grades, and information Copyright 2012 Pearson Page 7