Validating & Correcting
Student Data Isn’t Fun
Chris Warden
West St. Francois County R-IV
A little bit about me…
* Married; have 2 children
* Work at West St. Francois County R-IV
School District in Leadwood, MO
(1hr 20min south of St. Louis)
* My wife is the Elementary School Nurse
* District Technology Director, 1000
students, 100 staff, 500 computers
A little bit about me…
* Third year with PowerSchool
* I wear many hats; including that of
MOSIS/PowerSchool support
* whatthe-tech.com – blog, reviews and
other articles, links, downloads (including
customized PowerSchool nursing pages
and reports that my wife made me do)
Validating & Correcting Student Data
Isn’t Fun:
* It’s really not fun
* Student Information
Pages & Reports
* Custom Pages & Reports
* Developing a Plan for your District
* Staff Responsibilities
* Staff Training
It’s really not fun:
* Keeping up-to-date information in
PowerSchool isn’t a fun job, but somebody
has to do it.
* Who does it though?
* Who updates what?
* What updates what?
* Who is who?
* What is what?
* Who’s using PowerSchool anyway?
It’s really not fun:
For a district to be successful with its student
data, everyone must know what they’re
supposed to be doing in PowerSchool.
It’s not going to be fun.
Student Information Pages:
* When you click on or search for a student…
* Information like addresses, phone numbers,
demographics, attendance, logs, schedule,
state information
Reports:
* Under “Functions,” “Reports,” “Run
Reports”
* Under “Functions,” “Reports” “State
Reports”
Custom Pages & Reports:
* Reports you can create or import into
PowerSchool to make life a little easier
* Pages you can create or import into
PowerSchool to make life a little easier
Developing a Plan for your District:
If we want to know what
we’re supposed to be doing then,
plain and simple, we need a plan.
Staff Responsibilities & Training:
* Who is responsible and for what?
* Who delegates the
responsibilities and how?
* Who should give training?
* Who should get training?
* Why is training so important
in keeping data correct?
Student Information Pages
• Initial Enrollment is key!
• “What should I fill out?” Fill out
EVERYTHING, every field on every
page, not just the “enroll new
student”
• Someone should click on every page
for each student
• Who will do this?
Student Information Pages
• The most important are: Addresses,
Demographics, State/Province – MO, Lunch
(for status), Transfer Info, Scheduling
• …but ALL are still important.
• Who is responsible for what?
• Someone should be responsible for every
field in PowerSchool. You can know that
your data is correct if you can know that
someone is being responsible for it.
Reports
•
•
•
•
“Reports,” “Run Reports”
“Absentee,” “PowerTeacher Attendance”
Audit “Teacher Gradebooks”
“Enrollment Summary” – to check basic
demographics and enrollment numbers
• What other built-in reports do you use?
• You can know that your data is correct if you
can know that someone is running routine,
accurate reports.
State Reports
• “Reports,” “State Reports”
• Use the Reports that are “On Demand” for
auditing
• Prior to running each cycle for MOSIS, run the
cycle reports for auditing sake
• Excel/spreadsheet training perhaps?
• You can know that your MOSIS data is correct
if you can know that someone is being
responsible for checking on it.
State Reports
When state reporting is coming
due, we:
• Send out an email in advance to all those
affected (I.E. counselors, principals, those
responsible for that particular cycle’s
requirements)
• Attach the corresponding DESE
template/spreadsheet to the email and
explain the fields and where they are in
PowerSchool
• No excuses. This is done to “double
check” that the data is up-to-date.
State Reports
When state reporting is coming
due, we:
• Those responsible should go over each item
due and reply back via email when
updated/corrected/validated in PowerSchool
• Have a deadline weeks before the state’s
deadline, so that you can work with the data
and dissolve all the potential MOSIS issues on
time. No excuses. After all, this is done only to
“double check” that the data is up-to-date.
Custom Reports & Pages
• Create Reports for Validation
• Whatthe-tech.com
Custom Reports & Pages
• Directory Student w/ Field (lists the
student’s name with another field, like
birthdate or MOSIS number, fields that
need validity)
• MOSIS Checks (lists the student’s
name and particular data for a MOSIS
field, like remedial hours)
Custom Reports & Pages
• Create your own reports that only deal with 1-3
fields for checking data
• I.E. Create an Object Report that lists the students
and their physical fitness fields under “State – MO”
“Student Core”, to give to the P.E. teacher for
confirmation: ^(MO_AerobicCap),
^(MO_AbdominalStr), ^(MO_UpperBodyStr),
^(MO_Flexibility)
Custom Reports & Pages
• Create custom pages for validation
• PowerDataSolutions.org
• SISresources.com
Custom Reports & Pages
• One Stop Attendance – validate attendance,
powerdatasolutions
• Online Grade Verification – validate grades before
storing, powerdatasolutions
Custom Reports & Pages
• Student Overview Page – matches our paper enrollment form,
so that it can be entered straight from the paper form in the
same order of the paper form
• Custom Reports Menu (powerdatasolutions) – Because the
secretaries run the same monthly reports every month, create
a reports menu page that they can click on to access those
monthly reports. Clicking on one place, instead of several.
• What other custom reports and pages can you use? You can
know that your data is correct if you can know that someone
is routinely working with the data.
Developing a Plan for your District
• “We need a plan…”
• Who will devise this crazy plan?
• Examine every Page and Field (including state
and custom) in PowerSchool, decide who will
maintain what?
• Examine every Report (built-in, state, and
custom) in PowerSchool, decide who will run
what?
• Document it.
Developing a Plan for your District
• “Document it.”
• Create a “PowerSchool Handbook” that will
continually be edited with content. I.E.
Create a Word document, save it as html,
and make it accessible to staff on a website.
• Every time something new comes up, add it
to the handbook.
Developing a Plan for your District
Developing a Plan for your District
Developing a Plan for your District
• So now, every time an issue is addressed in
the district, it can be addressed individually
first, then documented in the handbook.
• “Please refer to the handbook.”
Staff Responsibilities & Training
• Who is responsible and for what?
• Who delegates the responsibilities and
how?
• Who should give training?
• Who should get training?
• Why is training so important in
keeping data correct?
Staff Responsibilities & Training
• Idea! - Have a “Secretary/Counselor
PowerSchool Meeting” where all the
secretaries and counselors meet
together, and go through each area of
PowerSchool to learn who will do what
Staff Responsibilities & Training
• Idea! - Throughout the year, and as
needed, have PowerSchool Admin
meetings, discuss issues you’re having,
new state requirements, new district
policies, anything related to student data
• Idea! – Have a “PowerSchool Admin”
email list, and email everyone with
PowerSchool information as it comes up.
• Keep everyone in the loop!
Staff Responsibilities & Training
• Idea! - At the start of every school
year, have “PowerSchool Boot Camp,”
a refresher course
• The bottom line - Student Data is only
student data because it has been
entered by SOMEONE
• Responsibilities & Training are key!
So, I know this has been boring, it’s not fun after all, but
here’s what Pearson says about Validating and Correcting
Student Data:
From the “Validating Data After Importing” Pearson
documentation:
* Visually review your data to correct/validate it.
* Run reports to check out the data.
* Use DDE, export the data, and review it in Excel.
So, I know this has been boring, it’s not fun after all, but
here’s a Quick Recap:
* Decide what pages and fields will need to be validated and
corrected in PowerSchool?
My answer - ALL OF THEM.
* Decide who will update which pages
and who will update which fields.
* Decide what reports will be used
and who will run what reports.
* Create a plan detailing these decisions.
* Create a handbook, documenting EVERYTHING.
* Inform staff of their responsibilities
and provide them with continual training.
Questions/Comments?
cwarden@westco.k12.mo.us
Whatthe-tech.com