SPSM-NL_24.10.1.0 Release Notes | PowerSchool Special Programs

Date of Release: , 2024

Reference	Summary	Release Note
SPEDSM-103881	AFM Advisor Application and AFM Acquisition Form	Added a field for the teacher's email address that will be automatically populated. Updated title to Office Use- EDU - Program Development. Changed “Declined” to “Not Approved”. The Comments section is now optional. When a document is changed from Review to Final status, the names of the staff who created the form will be automatically populated in the staff referenced in the document. Updated title in the AFM Acquisition form to: Office Use - EDU - Program Development.
SPEDSM-103867	Alternate Curriculum Record	Deleted the "Accommodations Required: Yes No" section beneath School Year. Added a "Personnel Responsible for teaching and learning" section with staff ID lookup and duplication ability across from course developers. Replaced the textbox for Domain with a Keyword table. Replaced the textbox for the strand with a keyword table based on the domain selection. Deleted the "Personnel Responsible" section within the specific learning outcomes. Added a Privacy Notice to the Learning Resources title: "Learning Resources (Identify any assistive technology and alternate format materials required)." Added an action for staff to create only one document per year, which the admin can edit to disable. Implemented design changes to enhance performance.
SPEDSM-103513	Assessment team member report	Changed the title from “Speech Language Pathology Assessment Report” to “Assessment Report”. Moved the SLP Assessment Report from “Speech Language pathology” section to the “Assessment” section. Added a new field at the top for “Identify your role” with dropdown options for different roles. The title of the report, “(Role) Assessment Report,” has been updated based on the selected role. Added a field “Is this a Team Member report?” with Yes and No checkboxes. Renamed “Lead Accessor Name” to “Assessor Name”. Added a statement on confidentiality and assessment results. Made “Reason for Referral” an optional field and added a new required field for “Background Information”. Renamed “Score/results” to “Score/Results/Behaviour” in the assessment tools section. Removed “Summary of Scores/Results/Behaviour” and “Interpretation of Data” fields in the assessment tools section. Made the field “Indicate any new or pre-existing diagnosis, if applicable” optional. Renamed “Summary of Speech/Comprehensive Assessment Findings” to “Interpretation and Summary of Assessment Findings”. Made specific recommendation fields optional and removed signature fields. Added a new section for “Additional Information” with an “Appendix/Additional Information” field for optional data upload. Renamed “Office Use Only” section to “School Office Use Only”. Renamed “Results discussed with and signed by Parent/Guardian” to “Results discussed with Parent/Guardian”. Deleted “Report signed by the student”, “Date assessment process completed”, and “Lead assessor completing this section and date” fields.
SPEDSM-103884	AT Device Replacement Application – DHH [ATDRADHH]	Added the ability to create more than one application. Moved the “School year” field and renamed it to “School Year for which AT is requested”. Added a new field under identifying information: School deployed to. Added a checkbox labeled "Not Applicable" for Personal FM system; statement related to Soundfield System deleted. The Audio shoes field is now optional. Removed an extra field from the Program Specialist section; title "Guidance counselor" is auto-populated. Updated the Office Use section to include the Office Use Only - For Department of Education Use subsection.
SPEDSM-103875	Comprehensive Assessment Report	Updated the Comprehensive Assessment Report with the following changes: Added a text box for “Professional Credentials” under the Lead Assessor's name. Added "Statement of Confidentiality and Assessment Results" after the Professional Credentials section. Combined sections A, B, and C into one section titled “Background Information (Developmental, medical, etc.)” with a large text box. Moved Section D to its own section titled "Academic History and Description of the Student’s Learning Profile" with a large text box. Updated "Summary of Observations of the Student in multiple school settings" to a field with a large text box. This is a required field. Changed the title "Description of Assessment Tool" to "Description of Assessment Tool, Student Observations and Results." Updated the title "School Office Use Only." Converted all text boxes to large text boxes. Added stylized options to specific fields, making them long text boxes.
SPEDSM-103512	Developmental Skills Inventory (DSI)	Removed the DHH section from the Expanded Core Curriculum (ECC) document. A new document named Developmental Skills Inventory (DSI) replaces it. The following changes were made to the “School Year” field: Classroom Teacher: Added as a required staff lookup field. DHH Itinerant Teacher: Added as a required staff lookup field. Date of Most Recent Audiological Assessment: Added as a required calendar field. Audiologist: Added as a required text field. Mode of Communication: Added as a required dropdown field with the following options: American Sign Language Signed English Oral Other (with a text box for details). The following changes were made: Student Strengths: Required text field. Student Challenges: Required text field. Current APSEA Services: Added as a required checkbox field with Yes and No options (one must be selected). If Yes is selected for Current APSEA Services, the following checkboxes appear (at least one must be selected): ASL Specialist Virtual Learning Series, with fields where Name of PL and Date are required fields. Atlantic Connections, with a field where Date is a required field. APSEA Connect, with a field where Date is a required field. Mentors, with a field where text is a required field. AT/Accessibility Technology Support, with a field where text is a required field. Other, with a field where text is a required field. The following changes were made to the Notes & Developmental Skill Inventory: Additional Notes regarding APSEA service. The text is a required field. Developmental Skill Inventory Areas: Added as a required dropdown field with the following options: Audiology, Self-Determination, and Advocacy Listening Skills Development Communication Development Speech Reading Development Theory of Mind Development Self-Determination and Advocacy Social-Emotional Skills Career Education Family Education Updated the option “Audiology” to “Audiology, Self-Determination, and Advocacy.” The following sections were deleted: Removed Speech Reading Development and its subsections. Removed Self-Determination & Advocacy and its subsections. The following new Subskills Based on Selection were added: If Audiology, Self-Determination, and Advocacy is selected, the following subskills will appear: Understanding Hearing Loss/Level Online Environmental Management Self-Determination Self-Advocacy Interpreting Services If Communication Development is selected, the following subskills will appear: Speech Development Receptive Communication Expressive Communication Linguistic Processing Pragmatic/Social Communication AAC (Augmentative and Alternative Communication/Visually Supported Communication) Linguistic Processing is no longer available as an option and is replaced with ASL Development. If Family Education is selected, the following subskills will appear: Understanding Hearing Amplification Family and Child Interactions Communication Strategies Family Advocacy/Transition Resources and Technology Outcome Duplication: Users can now duplicate the Specific Outcomes section. When duplicated, it includes its progress notes, key, and date fields, allowing multiple outcomes to be tracked independently. This update also applies to the Expanded Core Curriculum (ECC) document. Added one new field and renamed the two existing fields: Added “Other Information” as an optional text field within the Specific Outcome(s) section. Renamed Teacher(s) responsible for ECC to Teacher(s) responsible for Developmental Skills Inventory. In the Office Use section, renamed ECC to DSI.
SPEDSM-103870	Expanded Core Curriculum	Updated the Expanded Core Curriculum document to only include Blind or Visually Impaired (BVI). Deaf or Hard of Hearing (DHH) is transitioning to a new form called Dual Sensory Impairment (DSI). Changes include deleting DHH sections, updating the document title and name to Expanded Core Curriculum (BVI), and duplicating specific outcomes sections to allow for multiple outcomes. Updated current Atlantic Provinces Special Education Authority Services.
SPEDSM-103885	Individualized Transportation Student Application	Added a new question "Does the student have a second residential address that is within the same school zone?" with Yes and No checkboxes to the Individualized Transportation Student Application document. If Yes is selected, a mandatory text box field for providing the second residential address within the same school zone appears. Changes include adding a new area labeled "Verification of Comprehensive Assessment (Select one only)" before the "Application Type" section and another area within the Student Assistant section. The fields "What skills does the student require to safely ride the school bus?" and "Select the educators..." are now required fields. Updated a verification list to "Verification of student programming)" with various options based on the application type. Specific selections related to parent/guardian disability, student accessibility, or student requiring health monitoring trigger modifications to the verification process. Implemented an expansion of checkboxes and wording for certain selections in the document.
SPEDSM-103715	Record of Intervention (7-12)	Updated name to "Record of Intervention (7-12)". Changed form title and document listing to "Record of Intervention (ROI)." Renamed "Initial Decision Date" to "Decision Date" for both intervention and enrichment sections. Reordered sections to have "summary of data analysis" before "goal”. Disabled the ability to create sections. Updated text to replace "RTLR" with "ROI" in the statement about the teaching and learning team's oversight. Changed the field following the student name to auto-populate "Decision Date" from the ROI. Updated the field following the goal to auto-populate "Review Date" from the comments/recommendations section. Retired the repeating section and created a new section for "Record of Intervention". Added "Tiered Approach to Learning" based on user selections of Literacy or Numeracy in Foundational Skill. Deleted "Tiered Approach to Learning" if the user selects Social-Emotional Learning. Data input in the "Record of Intervention (K-6)" section will be available as read-only since there is no repeating section.
SPEDSM-103880	Request to Continue Student Access to AFM	Deleted label and field for student and school information. The "Contact teacher (or Principal if unknown) in new school" option only appears when "New school" is selected. Updated the AFM NL resources area to be a required field. Updated the title to Office Use- EDU - Program Development.
SPEDSM-103876	Service Delivery Team Consultation Request	Within the Reason for Request section, under Section A. Teaching and Learning Team (RTL)/Collaborating Educators (SDM), updated the fourth checkbox and also added a long text box to add a description. It now reads: "Team has concerns about the student’s: (when selected, can choose one or more) Speech, Stuttering, and/or Voice." Changed Responsive Teaching and Learning Record to Record of Intervention (7-12). Added a new option for Record of Pre-Referral Intervention. Deleted the additional information area. The Reason for Consultation section will now auto-populate based on the information entered in Section A or B of the Service Delivery Team Consultation Request: Reason for Request.
SPEDSM-103717	Social-Emotional/Behavioural Support Plan	The previous section has been retired so that the documents in draft and review status remain as it is. The new section Social-Emotional/Behavioural Support Plan ~ 2024 changes include: Reordering the replacement behavior and FBA summary statement. Added a staff lookup feature for the educator filling out the form. Removed the date below the FBA summary statement. Revised the chart to change "Social and Physical Environment" to "Social Environment." Updated the Preventative Strategies section. Updated design to be consistent across other documents.
SPEDSM-103879	Student Access to Alternate Format Materials (AFM) [AFMAccess]	Deleted a statement under the title. Changes were made to the K-6 section, including adding a statement about providing AT without a trial if eligible for AFM. Changed the "Responsive Teaching and Learning Record documenting intervention for Literacy" section to "Record of Intervention (ROI)". Updated the administrator signature line to "Administrator or Designate" and added a staff ID lookup while removing the Name and Date field. Updated the Office Use Section title to "School Office Use Only" and added Position next to "Verified by". Modified the sentence regarding "Acknowledgments of Responsibility" to reflect signing by Student and Parent/Guardian for Assistive Technology applications in K-6. Updated the Office Use Section- EDU title to "Office Use- EDU - Program Development". Added options for scenarios when student does or does not have AT deployed.
SPEDSM-103882	Student Application for Assistive Technology [SRFAT]	The student's district email address will now automatically populate from PowerSchool. Updated verification title to "Current Individual Education Plan". Added a checkbox option labeled "Further information is required". If selected, prompts for comments (textbox) and school contact information, with the position field auto-populating based on staff lookup. Changes were also made in the office use only sections.
SPEDSM-103878	Transition Plan	Changed the email subject line to Transition Plan. Changed signature line for Principal to Administrator or Designate with staff ID lookup in multiple places. Deleted the Date field. Updated title to “School Office Use Only”. School to School area: Deleted Record of Accommodations: Yes/No. Changed signature line for Principal to ‘Administrator or Designate’ with staff ID lookup. Deleted the Date field. Replaced Record of Accommodation with Individual Education Plan in the Required Documents section.