Single Sign On

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In order to establish a Single Sign On experience, PowerSchool Special Programs and PowerSchool SIS use the OpenID protocol for authentication. PowerSchool SIS acts as an identity provider (IdP). Special Programs relies on this identity provider so that the user does not need to log into PowerSchool Special Programs separately. In order for this to work, the user that is logged into PowerSchool must also exist in PowerSchool Special Programs with the correct OpenID information, which would have previously been imported into PowerSchool Special Programs via the data integration process.

Single Sign On for Staff

A staff’s Single Sign On credentials can be found on their staff profile within PowerSchool Special Programs.

1. Click Search > Staff
2. Enter the information for the staff member you are looking for, and then click Search
3. Click the “profile” icon for the staff member you wish to see

PowerSchool Special Programs is capable of managing multiple PowerSchool login credentials within one PowerSchool Special Programs staff profile. This is important since a staff member in PowerSchool Special Programs may have both a PowerSchool Admin portal user and a PowerTeacher portal user.

Single Sign On for Parents/Guardians

A Parent’s Single Sign On credentials can be found on the profile of a Student to which they are associated within PowerSchool SIS.

1. Click Search > Students
2. Enter the information for the student of the Parent you are looking for, and then click Search
3. Click the “profile” icon for the student you wish to see
4. With your mouse, hover over the profile section name to activate the “fly-out” menu.
5. Click Student Guardians

PowerSchool SSO accounts for this student will be listed here along with other relevant information for the account such as their OpenID information 

Dual Access Credentials

In the event that PowerSchool SIS is unavailable, unless otherwise configured, PowerSchool Special Programs will be unreachable as well, since traditional Single Sign On relies on users signing into PowerSchool first in order to access PowerSchool Special Programs.
Dual Access allows users to access PowerSchool Special Programs directly, thereby bypassing PowerSchool’s login method, and using a separate set of credentials to log into PowerSchool Special Programs.

Staff Dual Login

For staff to log into PowerSchool Special Programs, the ability to do so must be configured by a configuration specialist. If you are unsure if this is done, please consult your PowerSchool Special Programs representative.
Once this has been configured, within PowerSchool Special Programs, each staff’s profile must be enabled to take advantage of this feature. This can be done either on an individual basis or by security groups.

1. Click Search > Staff
2. Enter the information for the staff member you are looking for, and then click Search
3. Click the “padlock” icon for the staff member you wish to see
4. Click Edit Security
5. Change the Login Status from “Activated (external SSO)” to “Activated (Temporary Password)”
   If so desired, a temporary password can be manually set at this time
6. Click Accept

It is at this time that the user can sign in to the front end of PowerSchool Special Programs and set their permanent PowerSchool Special Programs password with the temporary password that was provided. 
As a note, PowerSchool Special Programs does not recognize that the user is “Active” in PowerSchool Special Programs until the user has set their permanent password. This means that PowerSchool’s Single Sign On into PowerSchool Special Programs will not work until this is done.

Via Security Group

1. Select “Security” from the “Administration” menu.
2. Click the name of the security group.
3. Click the “Members” tab.
4. Click More > Activate Temporary Logins
5. Check the checkboxes for any staff for whom to activate logins.

It is at this time that the user can sign in to the front end of PowerSchool Special Programs and set their permanent PowerSchool Special Programs password with the temporary password that was provided.

As a note, PowerSchool Special Programs does not recognize that the user is “Active” in PowerSchool Special Programs until the user has set their permanent password. This means that PowerSchool’s Single Sign On into PowerSchool Special Programs will not work until this is done.

Parent/Guardian Dual Login

For parent/guardians to log into PowerSchool Special Programs, each student’s security profile must have parent/guardians access enabled. This can be done either on an individual basis or by student search.

1. Click Search > Students
2. Enter the information for the student of the Parent you are looking for, and then click “Search”
3. Click the “padlock” icon for the student you wish to see
4. Click Edit Security
5. Change the Login Status to “Activated (temporary password)”
   If so desired, a temporary password can be manually set at this time
6. Click Accept

It is at this time that the user can sign in to the front end of PowerSchool Special Programs and set their permanent PowerSchool Special Programs password with the temporary password that was provided.

Unlike assigning temporary logins for staff, this will not prevent parents and guardians from accessing PowerSchool Special Programs from PowerSchool’s Single Sign On.

Via Student Search

1. Select Administration > Security
2. Click the “Student/Parent Security
3. Use the Quick Search Form on the Student/Parent Security tab to search for the students for whom to enable parent access. For example, if you wanted to enable parent access for all fifth graders, select “Fifth Grade” for the “Grade” field and click the Search button
4. Mark the checkboxes for the students for whom you want to enable parent access for. Then click the appropriate button above the list to activate the parent logins for the students you have checked.

It is at this time that the user can login to the front end of PowerSchool Special Programs and set their permanent PowerSchool Special Programs password with the temporary password that was provided.

Unlike assigning temporary logins for staff, this will not prevent parents and guardians from accessing PowerSchool Special Programs from PowerSchool’s Single Sign On.

Assume System Admin Role

Some operations in PowerSchool Special Programs require password authentication to complete the action. An example of this is deleting curriculum – it is a dangerous operation so the software requires that the user types in their password to confirm their identity before the operation is completed.

However, when using SSO to access Special Programs, the user’s password is stored in an external system, so verification of correctness is not possible. To solve this, staff can be given the privilege to assume the system admin role to perform these operations.

When a user has this privilege, they have access to a menu item that they can assume the system admin role.

Clicking that menu item prompts the user to enter a reason for assuming the role and also requires that they enter the correct password for the system admin user.
Upon entering the correct password, the user now has system admin privileges to complete any operations that require those privileges. Only users that have the correct password will be able to assume the role – that is how a district would control who can do this.