rethinking k-12, part 4: solutions to advance your digital

Learn how unified edtech can help you accelerate student learning, simplify school operations, and support

teachers for a brighter future in education.

Rethinking K-12, Part 4:

Solutions To Advance Your Digital

Transformation for the 2021/22 School Year

2www.PowerSchool.com . 1-877-873-1550 .

PowerSchool is enabling this transformation by investingin technology, innovation, people, and processes.

We are partnering with other industry leaders to make sure we provide the best guidance and support to make our customers successful. Because we believe that overcoming challenges makes us stronger, and the past year has

prepared the entire ecosystem of K-12 education to make a quantum leap forward.

The next few years will be transformative, and PowerSchool is here to help you overcome today’s challenges with technology you can build on for tomorrow. Our unified solutions work together to address learning loss, empower teachers,

personalize learning, and keep districts running during COVID and beyond.


Continue your digital transformation and emerge stronger.We put together this series as a guide to help you prepare in advance of the 2021/22 school year.

In the third part of this series, we addressed your key questions about why now’s the time to continue your digital transformation with the right solutions as you prepare for the upcoming school year and beyond. Now, we'll look at technology solutions you can acquire with federal K-12 relief funds to move education forward at your school or district.

In this part, we'll explore proven solutions for:

• Addressing learning loss and accelerating learning gains

• Continuing the learning

• Improving remote operations

• Supporting teachers


Addressing Learning Loss and Accelerating Learning Gains With Federal K-12 Relief Funds

Over the past year, shifting learning models led to missed instructional time. Due to this unavoidable reality, many teachers are now focusing on accelerating learning gains as they work to help students meet their learning goals. ESSER II funds from the American Rescue Plan can support educators' efforts to identify and address learning gaps.

Technology solutions qualify for this once-in-a-generation funding if they:

• Gauge students' academic progress using high-quality assessments

• Assist educators in meeting students' needs through personalized instruction

• Implement evidence-based methods of meeting comprehensive student needs

• Provide information and assistance to families on how to best support students

• Track attendance and improve student engagement in distance education

Schools and districts can also use federal funds to invest in technology to specifically address educational inequities. This includes supporting low-income students, students with disabilities, English learners, racial and ethnic minorities, students experiencing homelessness, and children in foster care.



Get the technology solutions you need to accelerate learning gains

You can have a comprehensive solution that aggregates all of your data— from classroom and staff information to operational data—and gives educators, administrators, and staff a clear view of everything in one place.

Unified ClassroomTM Performance Matters:

Help teachers gauge student progress and personalize instruction to each student's needs.

• Get an extensive assessment management solution

• Leverage pre-made item and assessment banks aligned to state standards to get a clearer view of instructional needs by question, standard, and DOK level

• Support a whole-child approach by comparing local assessment data to attendance, behavior, third-party assessment results, and SEL survey responses

Unified InsightsTM Powered by Hoonuit:

Give teachers more insights to work with.

• Get a fully comprehensive analytics platform

• See actionable insights across all aspects of student performance to better personalize instruction for students and staff

• View intuitive dashboards made for administrators, principals, and educators

A complete view of your data also enables individualized staff development. With data visualizations available by school, grade, course, section, teacher, and/or demographic group, you can easily identify and support teacher and staff learning needs.



Combining tools into a single solution helps you focus on student learning

Unified technology is powerful. That's why our solutions provide educators and district staff access to breakthrough analytics that integrate all K-12 system data sources, including:

• SIS

• LMS

• Assessment

• Analytics

Combined, your data becomes more impactful by enabling a truly holistic approach to student learning.



Here's what our customers say:

‘‘Most teachers are not prepared to be data scientists and

analyze data. PowerSchool allows us to organize that data

in a meaningful and visual way that's easy to use. Our

organization can ask the right questions to drive change

and significantly impact student success.’’

ANTHONY PADRNOS | Executive Director of Technology, Osseo Area Schools, MN

‘‘Hilliard City Schools has been using Performance Matters

for several years, and we continue to be impressed with how well

the system keeps pace with the increasingly sophisticated ways we

use data to drive student achievement. We're now using it to create

classroom assessments, district benchmark tests, and department

assessments. And we're beginning to create teacher-led verbal

assessments for early elementary. Our fellow Ohio districts are

going to be amazed at how quickly Performance Matters helps them

identify the actionable insights they need to shape curriculum and

deliver effective, personalized interventions.’’

RICH BOETTNER | Chief Technology Officer, Hilliard City Schools, OH



Continuing the Learning With Federal K-12 Relief Funds

In response to last year's disruptions and the shift to virtual learning, many districts are prioritizing the ability to more quickly adjust and adapt. Adopting reliable teaching and learning tools for the future minimizes the potential for disruptions and ensures learning continuity.

Fortunately, districts can use ESSER funds to purchase technology solutions for:

• Planning for and coordinating learning during long-term closures

• Summer learning and supplemental afterschool programs, including providing classroom instruction or online learning during summer months

• Developing and implementing procedures and systems to improve school and district preparedness and response efforts

• Facilitating regular and substantive educational interactions between students and their classroom teachers

A higher level of preparedness and the ability to deliver synchronous and asynchronous instruction to students and staff sets your school or district up for success.



Get the technology solutions you need to continue the learning

With PowerSchool, schools and districts can better support teachers, students, and families as they strive to continue the learning at home, at school, or wherever they are. Best of all, you can access all our unified tools in one place.

Unified ClassroomTM Schoology Learning:

Provide rich, engaging content wherever students are learning.

• Use the leading K-12 LMS that serves millions of students

• Enable interactive, personalized learning

• Provide staff with built-in professional learning communities (PLCs) to increase communication and collaboration

• Support in-person instruction, flipped classrooms, virtual academies, and hybrid learning

Unified ClassroomTM Performance Matters:

Monitor instructional effectiveness with short formative and benchmark assessments.

• Provide students with access to assessments directly alongside additional course materials in Schoology Learning

• Adjust instructional strategy based on real-time reporting by question, standard, and DOK level

• Clearly identify trends in student data with views of attendance, behavior, local and third-party assessment results, and SEL survey data

Unified InsightsTM Powered by Hoonuit:

Optimize school data operations to better serve teachers and students.

• Provide a comprehensive view of student data to teachers

• Better understand overall adoption of digital learning initiatives

• Combine academics, attendance, and behavior data in one view

• Use predictive at-risk analysis to guide instructional interventions



PowerSchool SIS:

Take advantage of the most widely used and dependable SIS.

• Your system of record for all staff and student data

• The heart of your integrated edtech ecosystem

Unified ClassroomTM Special Programs:

Enable teachers to take a whole child approach.

• Combine student data points for a comprehensive view

• Get state-specific special program documentation


The PowerSchool ecosystem saves teachers time by providing all the classroom solutions they need in just one place. It also increases time spent on instruction thanks to deepening integration throughout the ecosystem.

How our unified technology makes more time for learning:

• Student alerts from PowerSchool SIS are available when building and delivering instruction in Schoology Learning

• Teachers can take PowerSchool SIS attendance directly in Schoology Learning

• Assignments, scores (traditional and standards-based), and categories writeback from Schoology Learning to the PowerSchool SIS PowerTeacher Pro gradebook

• Teachers can administer short formative and comprehensive assessments from Performance Matters within Schoology Learning course content

• Teachers can access special program documentation from Unified Classroom Special Programs within Schoology Learning

• Students and staff can navigate throughout their PowerSchool ecosystem quickly and efficiently, thanks to AppSwitcher

• Roster data from PowerSchool SIS flows throughout the PowerSchool ecosystem to ensure that your data is accurate



‘‘The ease of use of Schoology Learning and the ability for us

to bring everything together under one umbrella changed

the game for us.’’

BILL BASS | Innovation Coordinator, Parkway C-2 School District, MO

‘‘We believe Performance Matters has played a noteworthy role

in our success. [With Performance Matters], we have a platform

to create and administer assessments that are aligned to state

standards. This gives our students valuable practice, while giving

our teachers valuable data in order to revise their instruction

based on results.’

ALISSA HINGSON | Director or Teaching and Learning Services,

Lafayette County Schools, FL

‘‘[Unified InsightsTM Powered by Hoonuit] was the only option that

literally encompassed everything a school district does.’’

ADRIENNE USHER | Assistant Superintendent, Bullitt County Public Schools (BCPS), KY



‘‘We're using Schoology Learning to provide distance learning

support and instructional professional development. We also have

several discussion groups to help everyone stay connected. More

teachers are excited about the LMS now that they have seen some

of the ways it can benefit students at home.’’

SEAN COFFRON | Instructional Technology Training Specialist,

Manassas City Public Schools, VA



Preparing School Operations With Federal K-12 Relief Funds

Shifting to remote operations wasn't easy for most districts. In the business office, staff struggled to accurately pay teachers on time, process POs, pay external vendors, and track all the unplanned expenses.

Flexible, interoperable, and scalable platforms can set schools and districts up for success in the future. Because of this, K-12 federal relief funds can be used to purchase technology that supports streamlined operational improvements, like:

• Tracking student attendance and improving student engagement in distance education

• Digitizing core business processes such as payroll, purchasing, budget management, and compliance reporting

• Ensuring real-time access to financial and HR data to optimize decision-making and keep everyone informed

• Connecting PowerSchool SIS data with your financial and HR data to better monitor initiatives like Per Pupil Equity (PPE)

• Providing employee self-service access to critical functions like payroll, benefits, purchasing, and expenses



Get the technology solutions you need to prepare your school operations for 2021/22

Simplify student data management, finance, HR, and all school operations with flexible, unified PowerSchool solutions that save time, money, and frustration while supporting your unique operational needs.

PowerSchool SIS:

Flexible and configurable to simplify remote operations.

• Create district-defined attendance codes

• Assemble complex master schedules

• Configure grading policies, custom reports, and new fields

• Keep families engaged through the Parent Portal

PowerSchool Enrollment & Enrollment Express:

Customizable online enrollment to suit your school or district.

• Collect all required student data and documents online

• Simplify the enrollment experience for families

• Enable automatic updating to your SIS



PowerSchool Ecollect Forms:

Easily collect the data you need throughout the year.

• Build custom online forms

• Edit form templates on the fly

• Conduct surveys, wellness checks, and more

Unified AdministrationTM eFinancePlus:

Integrate finance, HR, and payroll.

• Make sure everyone gets paid on time and accurately

• Enable self-service purchases and payments

• Make data-driven personnel management decisions




‘‘It's really important to have data interoperability when you're

vetting systems. You have to make sure solutions and the

exchange of data are secure—that your students, parents, and

your teachers are going to access one platform, and that the

platform can speak to all the applications. We want to get away

from everyone having separate, disparate systems that become

a nightmare to manage. We want consolidation and one point of

entry and also security. I think it's important moving forward for

us to follow those standards of data privacy and security.’’

JULIE PEDRAZA | Supervisor, MIS, Brownsville ISD, TX

‘‘I’ve interacted with PowerSchool SIS for a long time, and I’ve

always liked it because it’s very customizable and flexible. We

researched a lot of products, and the ones that were 100 percent

integrated with PowerSchool Ecollect Forms and Enrollment

Express made the most sense.’’

JOSEPH KNIGHT | Data Coordinator, Regional School Unit 13, ME

‘‘As we continue to use eFinancePlus, we are seeing the benefits

in reduced costs and increased efficiencies from the all-in-one

software. We are happy we decided to move our district forward

with eFinancePlus.’’

DAVID BOLLHEIMER | Fiscal Support, Northwestern Local Schools, OH



Supporting TeachersWith Federal K-12 Relief Funds

Teachers lead the charge in accelerating student learning as we recover from school closures during the pandemic. They’ve also taken the brunt of many challenges along the way, including learning new skills for remote teaching, increased stress, and persistent uncertainties.

Schools and districts can take this opportunity to support teachers by using K-12 relief funds for:

• Technology that makes it easier for educators to connect with their students and provide personalized instruction

• Providing mental health services and supports, including SEL training to help teachers build resilience

• Planning and implementing activities around summer learning and supplemental afterschool programs

• Recruiting and hiring teachers to fill gaps caused by the worsening nationwide teacher shortage

It’s time to move from the status quo to a solution that supports teachers effectively, so they can better support their students.



Get the technology solutions you need to support teachers

An integrated solution can address all your talent management functions, including quickly hiring qualified staff to help, scaling up effective professional development for all, and supporting teachers with capable substitutes.

Unified TalentTM SchoolSpring Job Board:

Recruit among thousands of qualified prospects.

• Tap into the nation’s most popular online K-12 job board

• Post jobs quickly and easily

• Find the candidates your district needs

Unified TalentTM Applicant Tracking:

Speed up the hiring process.

• Improve efficiency through every step

• Simplify the applicant experience

• Review resumes and offer jobs virtually



Unified TalentTM Candidate Assessment:

Choose candidates based on science.

• Use research-backed assessments to review candidates

• Hire those most likely to support student success

• Plan career development from day one

Unified TalentTM Employee Records:

Digitize K-12 HR processes.

• Simplify processes with online records management

• Support collaboration across departments

• Keep all of your data safe and secure online



Unified TalentTM Perform:

Support teachers and staff with clear, collaborative feedback.

• Simplify teacher and staff evaluations

• Conduct virtual teacher observations

• Recommend professional learning courses from within Perform

Unified TalentTM Professional Learning:

Help teachers and staff grow their skills.

• Centralize professional development management

• Automate compliance reporting for teacher certification

• Provide 24/7 access to learning content from anywhere

Unified TalentTM SmartFind Express:

Keep students learning every day.

• Automate callouts and see real-time job statuses

• Let substitutes browse and accept jobs in our mobile app

• Match substitute qualifications to teacher absences




With Unified Talent, you get our most powerful and productive talent management tools to support your teachers.

How our unified technology streamlines K-12 HR:

• Quickly define your budget to enable faster recruiting and hiring decisions

• Recruit and hire the teachers you need from thousands of qualified prospects

• Onboard new hires from anywhere with robust tools for training and documentation

• Make professional learning available from anywhere, 24/7

• Simplify substitute management to keep students learning when teachers are out

PowerSchool is your partner for data-driven, intuitive talent management that helps fuel student achievement.




‘‘Our old model was very involved. We had to review resumes

by hand, sift through the information that wasn’t relevant,

and try to identify the strongest candidates... Using Unified

Talent, we have been able to streamline our recruitment

and applicant processing.’’

VICTORIA FRYE | Director of Employment & Systems, Columbus City Schools, OH

‘‘We began posting with Recruit & Hire for K-6 teaching

candidates and received over 400 applications.’’

KIA BIRDSONG | Human Resources Assistant, Del Mar Union School District, CA

‘‘ Professional learning gets assigned during the onboarding

process according to each new hire's individual needs,

creating a personalized learning experience. Evaluators can

suggest professional learning content while logging observation

results. Communication has vastly improved, with principals

and administrators able to support each teacher's unique

career growth.’’

DEBRA LANE | Director of Talent Development, Alexandria City Public Schools, VA



Our Services Team Helps You Easily Implement Your New Solution We partner with you to ensure a smooth implementation.

Throughout the process, our goal is the same as yours:

Get your new solution up and running so you can serve teachers and students better.

Our Educational Impact Consultants are experts in:

• PowerSchool products

• Educational practices

• Adoption techniques

www.PowerSchool.com . 1-877-873-1550 . 22


Ongoing Training and Support

After implementation, PowerSchool offers multiple strategies to ensure you get the most out of your solution with:

• 24/7 access to continued training and support

• Community-based support and knowledgebase articles

• In-depth product training at PowerSchool University

Get support and training when and how you need it. Our team is available by phone, email, or live chat, and our worldwide community of engaged users is always eager to help.


24www.PowerSchool.com . 1-877-873-1550 . 24www.PowerSchool.com . 1-877-873-1550 .

To learn more, visit:

Now’s the time to act. Make sure you’re ready for back-to-school 2021/22, and give every student the best chance to succeed.

PowerSchool.com/moving-education-forward

www.PowerSchool.com . 1-877-873-1550 . 24

https://www.powerschool.com/moving-education-forward/


PowerSchool is your trustedadvisor that offers:Best-in-class, unified edtech solutions for your entire school or district

Largest peer community for best practices and collaboration

Highest investment in productR&D in the industry

Unmatched expertise in supporting schools and districts of all sizes

PS-TL-eb-005-050421

To learn more, visit www.PowerSchool.com, contact us at [email protected], or call 1-877-873-1550.

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