RI Compliance at a Glance

PowerSchool Special Programs Best Practices

When a Software menu path appears in a section, you can navigate to the corresponding location in your model software, provided you have the proper login and security access.

Integration with Student Information Systems (SIS)

Import Layouts

Software menu path: Administration, Configuration, Integration, and then Import Layouts

• Import Layouts bring data down from the SIS and imported it into PowerSchool Special Programs.

• System administrators should routinely check the Last Imported date and ensure no red errors are found.

• To check to see if a layout is enabled, select Continuous Integration Settings from the More menu.

Writeback Export Reports

Software menu path: Reporting, Standard Reports, and then PowerSchool Export or eSPExport

• Writeback Export Reports via the Reporting menu send data to the SIS (eSchoolPlus or PowerSchool SIS) from PowerSchool Special Programs.

• These reports collect the specific special education, gifted, and 504 student data, which is then uploaded to the SIS.

• Each report must be enabled in the application for the data to be exported.

  • To see which reports are enabled, go to Administration, Configuration, Integration, and then Export.

• System administrators should routinely check the Last Successful Export and Last Export Attempted Time Stamp dates are the same. If the dates differ, the export has failed, and the error log must be reviewed to correct the applicable data.

• For more details regarding what student data exports to PowerSchool SIS, see PowerSchool SIS Integration.

PowerSchool recommends system administrators routinely review the enabled export reports and import layouts for any errors. Special Programs can send an email to administrators with a compilation of all integration errors. To set this up:

1. Go to Administration, Configuration, Config Tasks, and choose or create a configuration task.

2. Go to Administration, Configuration, Integration.

3. From the More... menu, choose Continuous Integration Settings.

4. Click the pencil icon to edit the required integration instance.

5. Scroll down to the Notification Email Address and enter your email address there. To send notifications to multiple recipients, enter email addresses separated with a comma (,).

6. Click Accept.

7. Scroll to the bottom, enter your password, and click OK.

Integration failures are not always a problem. Often, integration fails when the SQL server is overloaded or offline for maintenance and when the API server is offline. Failures that happen intermittently at night are often due to network issues. Successful integration runs follow these failures. Contact the PowerSchool support team if integration failures persist throughout the day and are not followed by successful integration runs. It is important to routinely review the error logs and correct the student data as necessary. For more help, log a PowerSchool support ticket.

End of School Year

The system administrator performs the end-of-school-year rollover process and includes settings such as school-year document folders, calendar settings, and progress reporting marking periods.

See End of Year Rollover for more information.

New to PowerSchool Special Programs

When the special education data migration to PowerSchool Special Programs is completed, PowerSchool recommends generating all required state reports.

• Run all reports regardless of when the reports are due to the State.

• Compare the reports to those from your previous special education system to ensure data migrated properly.

• Proper data migration will ensure reports from both systems match. PowerSchool is committed to ensuring your state reporting submissions are accurate, so it is best practice to run the reports as soon as possible during your implementation.

State Reporting

PowerSchool recommends districts run the upcoming state report(s) monthly to ensure data accuracy.

Snapshotting Database for State Reporting

The PowerSchool Special Programs application does not historically track some special education state-reportable data, such as disabilities. The administrator of PowerSchool Special Programs must make a snapshot (a copy) of the live database on or before the 12/1 and end-of-year reporting submissions.

Only one copy of your database can exist as a snapshot.

See Creating/Managing the Reporting Snapshot Database for more information.

• After the snapshot is created and corrections for the reporting period need to be made, make all necessary changes in the snapshot database.

• The system will also prompt the user if the changes need to be pushed to the live database.

State-Mandated Special Education and Gifted Forms

The Special Education and Gifted forms in PowerSchool Special Programs will match the mandated state forms. PowerSchool typically releases state form changes within 6-8 weeks of receiving them. Additional forms such as 504, English Learner, and Response to Instruction (RTI) are not state-mandated.

• Special Education Forms: https://ride.ri.gov/students-families/special-education

• Gifted Forms

Global Settings

Software menu path: Administration, Configuration, Profile Types, and then Globals

Settings to configure the IEP form and define the school year and submission dates for state reports.

Navigate to Profile Types, (GLOBALS), Main menu, Configurable Options section

• Goal Wizard Enabled: Displays additional fields on the goal page of the IEP if Yes is selected.

• IEP Goal Subject Area: Displays a drop-down value on the IEP form if Yes is selected.

Navigate to Profile Types, (GLOBALS), School/Calendar menu

• School Calendar: The dates specified in this area determine the data generated for state reporting.

• Model Configuration Options: Various options about the model.