Open topic with navigation

The district course catalog

The district sets up the district course catalog, including all subjects and courses, and then assigns the subjects or courses to the schools in the district [>>]. Each school has its own distinct course catalog containing the subjects or courses that have been assigned by the district; each school uses this information to build its schedule. Schools with the elementary school scheduling method [>>] work with subjects and subject elements, while schools that use the secondary school scheduling method work with courses and classes.

If the course catalog is published [see Make the district course catalog available to schools >>], existing secondary school course requests and schedules are not affected by district changes to the course catalog; however, any new course requests and schedules, and changes made to course requests and schedules, are affected by the changed course catalog. If the course catalog is not published, changing the course catalog in the planning calendar does not affect schools. Note: Making changes to the course catalog in the planning calendar does not affect the active calendar, and vice versa.

If the district changes a course's prerequisites or corequisites, how schools are affected is dependent on when the change takes place:

Because the district course catalog is set up and maintained at the district, district-wide information cannot be changed by schools; additions or changes to district-wide subject or course information must be done by the district. However, some secondary school course information that is initially set up at the district can be changed at the school [see Setting course properties >>]. Note: Making changes to courses at the district has different effects on courses at schools depending on when you make the change and which fields you change. To avoid unexpected results, do not make changes to courses at the district while in the active calendar.

Table 55: Permissions to work with the course catalog

Building the course catalog

Building the course catalog involves the following steps.

Setting up the district subject framework 

The subject framework determines which subjects and subjectelements schools with the elementary school scheduling method [>>] will use. Changes made to a subject in the district subject framework are applied to all schools that have that subject in their subject framework.

After determining what subjects and associated subject elements are taught in your district during the school year, you set up the subject framework by creating generic subjects and assigning subject elements, where needed. Generic subjects are the main building blocks of your subject framework; Language Arts, Math, Social Studies, Art, and Physical Education are all generic subjects. Generic subjects are designated as either specialty or core. For example, Language Arts is typically a core subject, while Art is often designated a specialty subject. A subject is an instance of a generic subject associated with a grade level. For example, Math 2 (Math for Grade 2) is a subject associated with the generic subject called Math. For reporting purposes, each subject has its own subject number. For each grade in which a subject element is taught, you can also record a subject element number.

You can divide generic subjects into several subject elements. For example, Language Arts might be divided into Spelling, Reading, and Writing. Both the subject (Language Arts) and the subject elements (Spelling, Reading, and Writing) appear on report cards with grades assigned.

To add subjects to the subject framework:

1

In the control bar under Admin, click District Setup. The District Setup page appears.

2

Under District, click Course Catalog . The Course Catalog Home page appears.

3

Under Step 2, click Subject Framework. The Subject Framework page lists the core and specialty generic subjects taught in your district, along with the associated subject elements.

4

To add a subject to the framework, select an existing subject. Click Add Before or Add After to add the new subject before or after the selected subject. The Add Generic Subject page appears.

=

To edit a generic subject, click the generic subject name. The Edit Generic Subject page appears.

5

Enter the information which includes:

=

Generic subject name: A generic subject name, such as Language Arts.

=

Short name: A short name, such as LA, as it appears on the Grades pages.

=

Designation: Select core or specialty.

=

Grade level: Select the grade levels to which this subject is taught.

6

If applicable, expand the Subject Elements section.

7

In the Subject Element Name column, enter all the subject elements, and select the grade levels for each subject element.

8

Click OK. The subject is added to the framework, along with the subject elements you defined.

To change the display order:

1

From the Edit menu, click Change Order on these pages:

=

Subject Framework

=

Add Generic Subject

=

Edit Generic Subject

2

On the Change Order page, click to highlight a subject element, and click the up and down arrows to change the display order.

3

Click OK.

Note: Before you permanently delete a subject, make sure that subject is not assigned to any school, see Viewing the subjects assigned to a school [>>].

To delete a generic subject:

1

In the Admin menu, click District Setup. The District Setup page appears.

2

Under District , click Course Catalog . The Course Catalog Home page appears.

3

Under Step 2, click Subject Framework.

4

Select the generic subject that you want to delete and click Delete.

5

Click OK.

To delete a subject element:

1

In the Admin menu, click District Setup. The District Setup page appears.

2

Under District , click Course Catalog. The Course Catalog Home page appears.

3

Under Step 2, click Subject Framework. The Subject Framework page appears.

4

Click the generic subject with the subject element you want to delete. In the Edit Generic Subject page appears

5

Select the subject elements you want to delete.

6

From the Actions menu, click Delete Row.

7

Click OK.

Assigning subjects to schools

When you assign a subject to a school, there might be a short delay before the subject appears on the Subject Framework page at the school.

To assign subjects to schools using the Assign to Schools page:

1

In the Admin menu, click District Setup. The District Setup page appears.

2

Under District , click Course Catalog. The Course Catalog Home page appears.

3

Under Step 2, click Subject Framework. The Subject Framework page appears.

4

Select the subject you want to assign.

5

From the Actions menu, click Assign to Schools.

6

To search for a school, in the School Name field, enter part of the school name, or from the Category dropdown, select a school category. Click Search.

=

The school name is case sensitive.

=

To list all schools that use elementary school scheduling, leave both School Name and Category blank, and click Search.

7

In the Available Schools list, select the schools, and click the right-arrow to move them to the Assign to Schools list.

8

Click OK.

Viewing the subjects assigned to a school

You can use the View School Assignment page to display the subjects assigned to a specific school. You can also use this page to assign or unassign subjects to schools.

To assign subjects to schools using the View School Assignment page:

1

In the Admin menu, click District Setup. The District Setup page appears.

2

Under District , click Course Catalog. The Course Catalog Home page appears.

3

Under Step 2, click Subject Framework. The Subject Framework page appears.

4

Click the generic subject name link of the subject you want to work with. The Edit Generic Subject page appears.

5

From the Actions menu, click View School Assignment. The School Assignment page appears.

=

The School Assignment list shows the schools that have been assigned this subject.

6

To assign this subject to a school, select the school in the Available Schools list and click right-arrow to move it to the School Assignment list.

7

Click OK.

=

To remove a subject from a school, select the school in the School Assignment list and click the right-arrow to move it to the Available Schools list.

Setting up courses

Schools with the secondary school scheduling method use courses for scheduling [>>]. As a District Administrator, you set up the course catalog and its courses and then assign the courses to schools.You can assign the same course to multiple schools; however, each school has its own distinct list of courses.

Before you set up the course catalog, make sure you have defined the Setup Lists [>>] shown in []:

Table 56: Setup Lists for course catalog

Note: Changes to these Setup Lists apply to both the active and planning calendar, including all planning schedules in the planning calendar.

Accessing the course list page

The following table shows the ways you can access the Course List page and what is available.

Table 57: Course List Page access

Setting up the course list

Create the courses that will form the course list for the district. You can assign each course to one or more schools that use the secondary school method of scheduling.

To create courses:

1

Navigate to the Course List page [>>] .

2

Click Add Course. The Course Detail page appears.

=

To edit a course, click the course number.

3

Define the course details, which include:

=

Course number: The course number must be unique and you cannot use course numbers from previous years. The course number can contain alphabetic characters, for example, "101A". Caution: Once assigned and saved, you cannot change this number.

=

Course state number: A state-assigned number, if required.

=

Course name: A descriptive name for the course.

=

Course short name: An abbreviated name, up to 10 characters long, for the course.

=

Course alternate name: An optional alternate to the course name.

=

Course description: A short description of the course.

=

Course subject area: The applicable subject area, as selected from those set up for the district [>>].

=

Course type: The applicable type of course as selected from those set up for the district [>>].

=

Recommended grade levels: The grade levels appropriate for this course.

=

Course Is: Indicates that the course is one of the following: Required, Elective, or Study hall. A course designated "Study hall" cannot have grades collected for it.

=

Collect Attendance: Indicates that attendance is taken for the course. Note: The Collect Attendance check box only appears for schools when this option is selected by the district for this course.

=

Inactive: You can make courses inactive for now, and then make them active later, for example, in the next term. Or you can make a course inactive in preparation for deleting it. You cannot assign an inactive course to schools. If a course is already assigned to schools, but no classes have been created for the course, making it inactive unassigns the course from schools. Making a course inactive does not change any classes or schedules that have been set up in the schools.

4

Click Save.

5

In the control bar, click Course Scheduling. The Course Scheduling page appears.

6

Under General Scheduling, complete the information, which includes:

=

Scheduling load: This value is added to the scheduling load values for student course requests to determine whether the student has a full course load for the year. This field is also used to determine a teacher's scheduling load [>>]. The total scheduling load for a student or teacher cannot exceed 99.99. Note: If you set the scheduling load for course to 1.0, students could take 99 courses before they reach the maximum allowed. If you set the scheduling load for courses to 20, students could only take four courses before they reach the maximum allowed.

=

Maximum Students, Minimum Students, Optimal Students: The maximum, minimum, and optimal number of students that the class for this course should have. Schools can change these values on the Scheduling > Course Request Tally page by selecting these columns from Edit > Choose columns. Using the Course Request Tally page to change these fields only affects the planning schedule in which the change is made. It does not affect other planning schedules, other schools, or the district. If the district changes these values after the course has been published, the changes are not reflected in schools.

7

Under Prerequisites & Corequisites, complete the information, which includes:

=

Prerequisites and corequisites: Specifies the course prerequisites and corequisites set by the district. You can specify one or more prerequisite and corequisite courses for this course. You can enter prerequisites and corequisites either by using the Course Search section to search for courses, select the course, and click Add to Prereqs or Add to Coreqs or by typing the course number in the Course number(s) field and clicking Add to Prereqs or Add to Coreqs. Prerequisites and corequisites selected here are listed in the Selected Prerequisites & Corequisites section. To delete a prerequisite or corequisite, select it and click Remove.

8

Click Save.

9

In the control bar, click Course Grading. The Course Grading page appears.

=

Notes:

=

Course Grading does not apply to study hall courses because study hall courses do not collect grades.

=

Schools can modify school-specific course grading fields [see Setting course properties >>].

10

Define the course grading information, which includes:

=

Collect grades for this course: Specifies whether grades are collected for the course.

=

Max credits: The maximum number of credits a student can achieve for this course. You can enter 0 for courses that do not award credits.

=

Exclude from GPA: If this course is included in any GPA calculations, deselect this check box.

=

Adjustment factor: The Adjustment Factor alters the numeric value of the grade that is used in GPA calculations, typically to give more weight to honors courses. A grade achieved in a difficult course is worth more than the same grade achieved in an easier course. For example, assume you set the adjustment factor to Multiply by 1.5 for Honors English and the school uses a letter grade grading table to mark its courses. If a student gets a B in the course and the grading table indicates that a B has a numeric value of 2.5, the adjusted grade is 2.5 x 1.5, which equals 3.75. The GPA calculation would use the adjusted 3.75 value, not the original 2.5. The student's GPA would be higher than if the Honors English course did not have an Adjustment Factor.

=

Course level: The level of difficulty of the course, for example, "Remedial" or "Honors".

11

Click Save.

To change the display order on the Course List page:

1

On the Course List page, click Change Order from the Edit menu.

2

From the Subject Area dropdown, choose a subject area to list its courses.

3

Click a course, and click the up or down arrow to change its position in the list.

4

Click OK.

Deleting a course

A course must be inactive before you can delete it. For information about making a course inactive, see Setting up the course list [>>].

To delete a course:

1

On the Course List page, select the course you want to delete.

2

From the Actions menu, click Delete Course.

3

Click OK.

Searching for courses

A Course Search panel is available on the Course List page that enables you to find specific courses. The Course Search panel provides two ways to search for courses: Basic and Detail.

A basic search allows you to enter up to three search criteria and the search results return records that match all specified criteria. A Detail search provides more flexibility. You can define multiple criteria and then specify whether records must match all the specified criteria or any of the criteria.

To search for a course:

1

In the Admin menu, click District Setup. The District Setup page appears.

2

Navigate to a page that has a Course Search panel, such as the Course List page.

3

Click the down arrow beside the Course Search title.

4

To use a new search, under Course Search, search for courses.

=

To use a previously defined search criteria, under Search Results, from the List dropdown, select the search criteria that you want to use.

To display inactive and active courses:

1

In the Admin menu, click District Setup. The District Setup page appears.

2

Click Course Catalog. The Course Catalog page appears.

3

Under Step 3, click Courses.

4

From the Edit menu, select Show Inactive Courses. Note: The menu option toggles between Show and Hide.

Assigning courses to schools

You can assign courses to one or many schools. You cannot assign inactive courses. Note: When you assign a course to a school, there might be a short delay before the course appears on the Course List page at the school.

To assign courses to schools:

1

In the Admin menu, click District Setup. The District Setup page appears.

2

Under District , click Course Catalog.The Course Catalog Home page appears.

3

Under Step 3, click Courses. The Course List page shows all the courses that you have set up.

4

If needed, use the Course Search section to search for specific courses. Note: You can also use the List or Group By drop down lists to view specific courses or to view courses by subject area or course type.

5

Select the courses you want to assign and from the Actions menu, click Assign to Schools.

6

To search for a school, in the School Name field, enter part of the school name, or from the Category dropdown, select a school category. Click Search.

=

The school name is case sensitive. Enter upper and lower case letters correctly.

=

To list all schools that use secondary school scheduling, leave both School Name and Category blank, and click Search.

7

In the Available Schools list, select the schools, and click the right-arrow to move them to the Assign Schools list.

8

Click OK.

www.powerschool.com
Tel: 866-434-6276
Email: smssupport@powerschool.com

Copyright 2015-2016 PowerSchool Group LLC and/or its affiliate(s). All rights reserved. All trademarks are either owned or licensed by PowerSchool Group LLC and/or its affiliates.