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January 10, 2023

School Climate Surveys and Ecollect

Ecollect Upgrades in Preparation for School Climate Surveys

Prior to February 27, 2023, which is the first day that School Climate Surveys will be open for response submissions, the technical contact for each individual district will need to submit their own support ticket under their account to request an upgrade to the latest Ecollect product release.

PowerSchool recommends that districts submit upgrade tickets after Jan 22 since that is the next product release date for Ecollect. That said, if any district is upgrading to PS SIS 22.12, PowerSchool recommends that the district upgrade prior to upgrading their SIS, see PS Community article.

The primary point of contact for Ecollect technical questions is the Ecollect Support Team.

Here are some additional links for contacting Ecollect support:

Case Portal:
https://help.powerschool.com/t5/Case-Portal/ct-p/Support-CasePortal

Launch Chat Support:
https://help.powerschool.com/t5/Launch-Chat-Support/ct-p/LaunchChatSupport

PS Ideas Portal:
https://help.powerschool.com/t5/PowerSchool-Ideas-Portal/ct-p/PowerSchool-Ideas-Portal

Employability Credential

Employability Credential Issuance 2023 & Data Entry

The content below has been updated since January 10 to provide additional information.

Four PowerSchool data entry items must be coded for issuance of the Employability Credential:

  • By March 1, 2023, at 4:00 p.m., two data entry items are needed for all students on track to earn the Employability Credential this year, including students who exit early, students exiting in the spring, and students exiting in the summer.
  • Once students have earned the Employability Credential, two additional data entry items are needed by June 15, 2023 at 4:00 p.m. (or August 1 for students earning the Employability Credential during the summer).

Special Education directors or coordinators (or designated staff) will need to ensure that the appropriate PowerSchool administrator(s) within the district know which students should be coded as seeking an Employability Credential.

The two data items that must be coded for students earning the Employability Credential by March 1, 2023, are as follows:

  1. "Seeking Employability Credential (for Transcript)" checkbox
    • Deadline for checking this box for Employability Credential students:
      March 1, 2023 at 4:00 p.m.
    • This is a new checkbox located on the SC Student Information page (Start Page > Student Selection > South Carolina State Information > SC Student Information).
    • Screenshot:
      Checkbox is located on the righthand side under the 'Academic Goals' heading
    • The "Seeking Employability Credential (for Transcript)” checkbox must be checked for students who are seeking the Employability Credential, as well as those who have earned it.
      • Note: The "Seeking Diploma Type (for Transcript)" box may be populated with a value of (blank) – None. The red validation highlighting, if present, is indicating a validation from last year that will soon be updated.
  2. "Postgraduate Student Email"
    • Deadline for populating this field for Employability Credential students:
      March 1, 2023 at 4:00 p.m.
    • This is a field on the student's Demographics page in PowerSchool (Start Page > Student Selection > General Demographics).
    • Screenshot:
      Text box is located underneath the 'Home Phone' text box
    • The "Postgraduate Student Email" field must be populated with a valid email address that the student can access after exiting the high school.
      • Note: Please do not use the student's school/district email address, as such email addresses are often unavailable to students after they have exited high school. This email address will serve as a unique id for the student, which is necessary for both paper and digital issuances, and it will enable the student to claim the credential digitally if desired.

The two data items that must be coded for students earning the Employability Credential by June 15, 2023 (or August 1 for students earning the Employability Credential during the summer), are as follows:

  1. "Employability Credential Earned" checkbox
    • Deadline for checking this box for Employability Credential students:
      June 15, 2023 at 4:00 p.m. (or August 1 for students earning the Employability Credential during the summer)
    • This is a new checkbox located on the SC Student Information page (Start Page > Student Selection > South Carolina State Information > SC Student Information).
    • Screenshot:
      Checkbox is located under the 'Earned' heading under the 'Diploma Earned' section
  2. "Employability Credential Date" checkbox
    • Deadline for checking this box for Employability Credential students:
      June 15, 2023 at 4:00 p.m. (or August 1 for students earning the Employability Credential during the summer)
    • This is a new checkbox located on the SC Student Information page (Start Page > Student Selection > South Carolina State Information > SC Student Information).
    • Screenshot:
      On the right of 'Employability Credential Earned' checkbox, must be entered in MM/DD/YYYY format
    • This field must be populated with the last day of instruction for the student.

Thank you for helping ensure that these steps are taken for students seeking the Employability Credential for 2023! Rosters will be pulled and submitted to the designated vendor to create paper copies of the Employability Credential for graduation and then digital copies of the Employability Credential will be issued later in the summer.

For questions related to the Employability Credential, please contact Kim Watkins at kawatkins@ed.sc.gov. For questions regarding PowerSchool, please contact Wendy Stephens at wstephens@ed.sc.gov.

Role-Based Certifications

The South Carolina Department of Education (SCDE) will continue to fund online PowerSchool Role-Based Certification training for district staff members.

Purpose of Role-Based Certification Courses

The purpose of PowerSchool Role-Based Certification courses is to provide targeted training to school staff whose PowerSchool-related roles have an impact on day-to-day school operations, student data entry, school report card ratings, and district funding.

Who is eligible to take a course?

School and district staff are eligible to take the certification courses.

Which courses will be offered?

  • PowerSchool SIS: Front Office Certification
  • PowerSchool SIS: School Counselor Certification
  • PowerSchool SIS: Certification-Healthcare Professionals
  • PowerSchool SIS: Principal Certification

Any questions or concerns please contact Blythe Branham at babranham@ed.sc.gov.

January ORDA Office Hour

Office Hour Date and Time:
January 18 from 9:00-10:00 a.m. EST – What to Expect for Spring!

Register to attend!

  • Topics to include:
    • School Climate Surveys
    • Ed-Fi Regional Workshop - Part 2
    • New Ed-Fi documentation and support
    • Updates to the SISDEM
    • Early grad “easy button”
    • Employability Credential data entry
    • Diploma Pathways Seals of Distinction data entry
    • SC Seal of Biliteracy data entry

Memos

Memo Archive

Be on the lookout for memos! Individual memos can be found on the School District Memoranda Archive.

Sign up for agency updates if you would like to make sure that you receive notifications of memos when they are released.