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Set constraints

[Applies to elementary [>>] school scheduling.]

Constraints enable a School Administrator to control the PowerSchool SMS automatic scheduler's distribution of students in classes (and, in an elementary school, homerooms) by setting eligibility criteria. For example, using constraints an administrator can limit the class size of a science lab, set up an all-girl physical education class, limit the number of special needs students to 10% of a class roster, or ensure a homeroom has only student for whom English is a second language.

In a secondary school, the administrator can apply two types of constraints:

Note: This type of constraint applies only where automatic scheduling is employed; it does not apply where the administrator assigns students one by one to a class.

Note: When creating student schedules, the Student Loader only considers constraints if the Use Capacity Balancing Constraints or Use Restriction Constraints option is selected on the Student Loader Options page.

A District or School Administrator can define a constraint [>>]. A School Administrator applies a constraint to a specific class or homeroom [>>]. Where a homeroom or class has constraints applied, PowerSchool SMS evaluates each student against the constraints' eligibility criteria at the time an administrator assigns a student to that homerooms or class. If the student does not meet the eligibility criteria, PowerSchool SMS displays an error message.

Note: The administrator can define a constraint for a custom field [>>]. For this constraint to apply, the setting for the Override Constraints permission must be No [>>].

Caution: To ensure accurate results when PowerSchool SMS calculates student eligibility, ensure student information is complete. When PowerSchool SMS processes an eligibility criterium that references a field that is empty, the student meets the criterium only if that criterium employs the "is empty" operator (that is, with any other operator PowerSchool SMS considers the return on that field as false). For example, if a student's Date of Birth field is empty, PowerSchool SMS would evaluate the following criterium as true: "age is empty". However, PowerSchool SMS would evaluate the following criterium as false: "age does not equal 12".

Applying a constraint

Once it is defined [>>], the School Administrator can apply a constraint to a specific class or homeroom. The administrator has several means of applying a constraint:

To apply a constraint to a subject or all homerooms: You can do this if your role is School Administrator.[SA]

1

In the Admin menu, click Scheduling. The Scheduling page appears.

2

Under Step 3, click Constraints. The Constraints page appears [Figure 138].

3

In the # of Classes column, click the number. The Apply Constraint page appears.

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Or, click the number in the # of HR's column.

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Or, select the constraint and from the Actions menu select Apply Constraint.

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Under Selected Subjects/Homerooms:

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To apply the constraint to a subject, ensure that Constraint is for subjects is selected and move available subjects to the Selected subjects column.

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To apply the constraint to all homerooms, ensure that Constraint is for homerooms is selected.

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For Constraint is ____ for selected subjects, select one of the following (also known as the constraint's "strength"):

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Available: The constraint is available for a School Administrator to apply to the selected classes or homerooms.

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Default: PowerSchool SMS automatically applies the constraint to all new classes or homerooms created for the selected subjects and homerooms.

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Mandatory: PowerSchool SMS automatically applies the constraint to all new classes or homerooms created for the selected subjects and homerooms. A School Administrator cannot remove this constraint.

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Click OK.

Figure 138: Constraints page

Figure 139: Apply Constraint page

To apply a constraint to a specific class: You can do this if your role is School Administrator.[SA]

1

In the Admin menu, click Scheduling. The Scheduling page appears.

2

Click Class Setup. The Class Setup page appears.

3

Find and view classes by searching by subject, teacher, or room. The Class Setup page appears.

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Click Display All Records to view all classes available.

4

Under Subject Search Results, select one or more classes. A Class Constraints panel appears.

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Under Class Constraints, move selected Available constraints to Selected constraints.

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Click Save.

Defining a constraint

A School or District Administrator defines a constraint. A constraint defined by a District Administrator is available to all schools in the district. If a School Administrator modifies a district-level constraint for use at a school, PowerSchool SMS creates a school-level definition of the constraint (without modifying the district-level version).

To define a constraint: You can do this if your role is School Administrator.[SA]

1

In the Admin menu, click Scheduling. The Scheduling page appears.

2

Under Step 3, click Constraints. The Constraints page appears [Figure 138].

3

From the Actions menu, select Add Constraint. The Add Constraint page appears.

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To adjust an existing constraint, in the Name column click its name, or select the constraint and from the Actions menu select Edit Constraint. When a School Administrator edits a district-defined constraint, PowerSchool SMS create a school-level copy of that constraint; the district-level constraint stays untouched and is available at the district and school levels).

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To delete a constraint, select the constraint and from the Actions menu select Delete Constraint. A School Administrator cannot delete a district-level constraint.

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The Add/Edit Constraint page has the following options:

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Name: The constraint's name must be unique among those available to a school.

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Defined At: Indicates the level at which the constraint was created: School or District.

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Program Constraint: Indicates that the constraint applies to the specialized activities or courses outside of regular academic studies, that is, through Program Management. When selected, program-related criteria appear under Select Student Criteria [>>].

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Track Program Attendance for Classes with this Constraint: Ensures that PowerSchool SMS includes these classes in instructional minute calculations.

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Constraint type: Restriction or Capacity Balancing [see >>].

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Under Complete the following phrase to define the constraint, construct the constraint statement:

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Select the constraint strength:

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Select "Must contain" to have PowerSchool SMS automatically not schedule a student who does not satisfy the criteria.

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Select "Should contain" to have PowerSchool SMS automatically attempt schedule a student who satisfies the criteria. However, if another class or homeroom is not available, PowerSchool SMS schedules any student who does not satisfy the criteria.

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Set the constraint range and value:

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"At most": The maximum number of students that can have the specified criteria.

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"All": All students must satisfy the criteria for PowerSchool SMS to schedule them. This option is equivalent to "must contain 100%".

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"No": No students need satisfy the criteria for PowerSchool SMS to schedule them. This option is equivalent to "must contain 0%".

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Set the matching criteria to "Matching" or "Not matching".

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Under Select Student Criteria, set the criteria that a student must satisfy to be eligible to be scheduled into the class or homeroom. Add one or more criteria to Eligibility Criteria as follows [Figure 140]:

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For Category, select the type of data to be added; for example, Attendance, Demographics, Enrollment, Grading, Health.

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For Search By, select a field or function [Figure 141]. Selections available depend on the Category selected.

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Select an appropriate operator, for example, equals, is greater than, is less than.

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Set appropriate values.

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Text is case sensitive.

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Click Add Criteria. PowerSchool SMS adds the criterium to the bottom of the list of criteria, below any selected criterium.

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Work with the Eligibility Criteria until the set is valid and useful:

a

To delete a criterium, select it and click Remove.

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To add a logical operator to define the relationships between criteria, select "Criteria" or an operator and click AND or OR.

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To move a criterium, click and drag it.

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To validate the Eligibility Criteria, click Validate.

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If, under Define Constraint, Program Constraint is selected, specify the programs in which a student must be enrolled:

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Select a Program Category.

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Select a Program.

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Move selected Available sessions to the Selected sessions list.

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[Optional] If the Constraint type is Capacity Balancing, under Select Student Criteria, for Balance By select the characteristic you want to balance across classes.

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Assign the constraint to one or more courses:

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Search for particular courses or click Display All Records.

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Move the course(s) to the Selected Courses list.

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For Constraint Is, select an option:

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Available: The constraint is available to classes for this course. It is not automatically assigned to classes. This is the default choice.

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Default: The constraint is applied by default to newly created classes for this course, but the administrator can remove it for specific classes.

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Mandatory: The constraint is required for all classes for this course and cannot be turned off for any class.

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The administrator can also assign a constraint to a class using the Master Schedule page [>>].

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Click OK.

Figure 140: Constraint Eligibility Criteria building example

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B

Eligibility Criteria tree presentation: Multiple criteria must conform to the "Rule of Two", that is, each operator must have a pair of items nested underneath. Item pairs can be either two criteria or one criteria and an operator (AND/OR).

C

Logical operator: Operators are necessary where there is more than one criterium. For example, if a student must meet all the criteria, the first node under Criteria must be AND; if a student must only meet one of the criteria, the first node should be OR.

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Node: You can re-arrange nodes by clicking a node and dragging it to another location in the statement.

E

Eligibility criteria statement: A plain-language version of the saved/validated criteria.

Figure 141: Criterium function example

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B

Function: A predefined tool used to construct statements about complex data that require you to specify limiting or "where" clauses. For example, if you specify that a student must have a cumulative GPA of 3.5, PowerSchool SMS will look at all cumulative GPA definitions. However, if you use a cumulative GPA function, PowerSchool SMS generates additional Search By sets to enable you to select a specific GPA definition.

C

Where the following conditions apply: Appears when a function is selected. Any limiting terms necessary to extract the appropriate data are preset.

D

Function parameter: The options available for some parameters depend on the level: district or school.At the district level, you can select from a list of values from any school in the district; at the school level, the selection is limited to that of the school.A criterium created at the district using a value that is defined at all schools but one, will exclude any students from that one school.

Caution: To ensure accurate results when PowerSchool SMS calculates student eligibility, ensure student information is complete. When PowerSchool SMS processes an eligibility criterium that references a field that is empty, the student meets the criterium only if that criterium employs the "is empty" operator (that is, with any other operator PowerSchool SMS considers the return on that field as false). For example, if a student's Date of Birth field is empty, PowerSchool SMS would evaluate the following criterium as true: "age is empty". However, PowerSchool SMS would evaluate the following criterium as false: "age does not equal 12".

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