PowerSc hool Student I nformation Sys tem

Whats New in PowerSchool 8.0

Powe rSchool 8.0 is a major m ilestone for Powe rSchool custom e rs, and includes ke y adm inistrator feature s that have been highly
re quested. Powe rSchool 8.0 include s database ex te nsion enhance ments de live ring expanded functionality to support Powe rSchool
custom izations, as we ll as docume nt attachm ent for student re cords, allowing all of the ke y documents re late d to a stude nt to be
available e le ctronically in Powe rSchool. Additional fie ld le ve l se curity e nhances your control ove r who can access spe cific fie lds in
Powe rSchool. Support for a ne w Powe rSchool spe cial e ducation plugin allows for a seam le ss inte gration of spe cial education data.
Pe rform ance and usability improve ments can be found throughout Powe rSchool 8.0; including a ne w search feature that mak es finding
and sorting through complex se ts of stude nts a bree ze , and a database upgrade to O racle 12c, which allows for continue d
e nhanceme nt of database pe rformance and de live rs a se cure e nvironm ent for your data.
Key Features and E nhancements

Database Ex tension and Page C ustom ization feature e nhanceme nts

Docum ent attachme nts for student re cords

Additional fie lds supported with fie ld le ve l se curity

Stude nt se arch code s available in start page fie ld list

Enhance d Powe rSchool Search and use r inte rface improvem ents

Powe rSchool spe cial e ducation add-on m odule , powe re d by TIENET

Localization e nhanceme nts

Database Ex tensions enhance ments for data access and e diting

Powe rSchool Installe r supporting an upgrade to O racle 12c

Powe rTe ache r Grade book 2.8 e nhanceme nts

Copyright 2014 Pearson Education, Inc. or its affiliates. All rights reserved.

PowerSc hool Student I nformation Sys tem

Database Extensions
The e nhanced functionality provided in this re le ase includes:
Feature

De scription

Expanded Functionality to Support

PowerSc hool C ustomizations

PowerSc hool 8 .0 provides additional features s upporting the ability to c reate and manage real
databas e extens ions rather than legacy c us tom fields . P lus , PowerSc hool 8 .0 delivers robus t page
c ustomization tools . T his new database extension func tionality allows you to c reate real tables and
fields that are easy to access and will signific antly improve performance. D atabas e extensions
s upport one-to- one and one- to- many data as well as field data typing, and may be bas ed on mos t
databas e tables within PowerSc hool.

M anagement T ools for D atabase

Extensions

PowerSc hool 8 .0 provides the ability to migrate legac y c ustom fields to bec ome databas e
extens ions and integrated data validation. Database extension fields c an be added to c us tom
pages using C us tom Web P age M anagement in the PowerSc hool Sys tem A dminis trator applic ation.
Page fragments may be added at c ommon or c ustom insertion points , and c us tomizations may be
pac kaged and s hared as plugins . T hes e features , designed to improve the performanc e and
scalability and flexibility of P owerSc hool, make it a powerful and c ustomizable s olution capable of
managing the c ommon and unique adminis trative process es of any K-12 c us tomer.
See the Databas e Extens ions Advanced Us er Guide for Power School 8.x available on PowerSourc e
for more information about page c us tomization and plugin c reation features .

E nhanc ements to D ata E xport

M anager

I n P owerSc hool 8 .0 , you can limit and export database extension records us ing the Data Export
M anager. T hes e enhanc ements allow you to c hoose columns from both parent and c hild tables and
filter records based on s pec ific c riteria.

E dit Database Extens ion Records

You can edit database extension records for one- to-one, one- to- many, and independent tables
after making a record s elec tion us ing the D ata Export Manager.

Copyright 2014 Pearson Education, Inc. or its affiliates. All rights reserved.

PowerSc hool Student I nformation Sys tem

Document Attachments
The e nhanced functionality provided in this re le ase includes:
Feature
D oc ument Attac hments

De scription
I t is now possible to attac h doc uments and files direc tly to a s tudents c ore rec ord in the
Adminis trative P ortion of PowerSc hool. See all of a students attachments on one sc reen, or use
the powerful Searc h Attac hments group func tion to s earc h for and manage doc uments for all of
the s tudents in your s elec tion at one time.

Field Level Security

The e nhanced functionality provided in this re le ase includes:
Feature
Field L evel Sec urity

De scription
Field L evel Sec urity has been enhanced to include over 50 additional Students table fields . As with
the s even fields made available previously, Field L evel Sec urity c an be enforc ed in the
Adminis trative P ortion of PowerSc hool, C us tom web pages , Q uic k E xport/Template E xport, as well
as through D ata Access T ags and tlis t.
See Knowledge base a rticle 72328 available on P owerSourc e for a c omplete list of fields now
available to Field L evel Security, along with other important details .

Student Search Codes

The e nhanced functionality provided in this re le ase includes:
Feature
Student Searc h Codes Available in
Start P age Field L ist

De scription
You can now eas ily access s tudent searc h c odes from a new area within the Start Page field lis t.
J us t enter an asteris k * into the field searc h area and the page will automatic ally sc roll to the
Student Searc h Codes area. Y ou c an click on a s tudent s earc h c ode within the field lis t to add it to
the s earch c riteria.

Copyright 2014 Pearson Education, Inc. or its affiliates. All rights reserved.

PowerSc hool Student I nformation Sys tem

PowerSchool Enhancements
The e nhanced functionality provided in this re le ase includes:
Feature

De scription

I mproved Student Searc h

T he improved Start P age searc h allows you to s elec t students by hand and have quick acc ess to
group functions . T he new Advanc ed mode allows you to c reate selec tions from multiple searc hes
by being able to add, s ubtrac t, or find s tudents within the previous student s elec tion.

User Interface I mprovements

A new us er interface makes c ontent eas ier to read and eas ier to find with improved table and
menu formats , new icons and images , and better- organized s etup items .

Cus tom I mage on Login Pages

Your dis tric t logo or other image c an now be easily uploaded to appear on all of the PowerSc hool
login pages without needing to cus tomize thos e pages .
For more information, see Knowle dge ba se a rticl e 72465 available on PowerSource.

D elete Student Photo

A Delete P hoto button is now available on the P hoto student sc reen, allowing administrators to
remove outdated or inc orrect s tudent photos without having to direc tly edit the s tudents rec ord in
D irec t D atabase Access (DDA ).

Special Education
The e nhanced functionality provided in this re le ase includes:
Feature
PowerSc hool Special E duc ation

De scription
PowerSc hool Special E duc ation, powered by TIENET is a new optional s pecial educ ation module
that c an be added to P owerSc hool 8 .0 . P owerSc hool Spec ial E ducation, powered by TIENET offers
the ability to manage IEP and s pecial education functions . Contact your PowerSc hool sales
representative for additional information.

Copyright 2014 Pearson Education, Inc. or its affiliates. All rights reserved.

PowerSc hool Student I nformation Sys tem

Language Toolkit
The e nhanced functionality provided in this re le ase includes:
Feature

De scription

Student Searc h Codes L ocalization

Student Searc h Codes lis ted within the Start Page field lis t c an be loc alized to appear in another
language.

N ew Loc alization I mport/E xport

Features

T he P age and D ata Management area in the administration portion of P owerSc hool now inc ludes
new tools to s upport offline translations . Sites that use an external trans lation servic e in order to
trans late PowerSc hool text can export delimited files of text keys or online help text files . When
the external translation servic e has completed their trans lations , their files c an be imported back
into the sys tem in order to c reate a new language pac kage. I f a site wis hes to s hare their
trans lations , they can export an entire language pac kage for a s pecified language and then import
that package into other PowerSc hool ins tanc es .

PowerT eacher G radebook Smart

P ronouns T rans lation

T he s mart pronouns us ed in P owerT eac her G radebook c an now be localized for different
languages . T he s mart pronouns are found within the P owerTeac her G radebook c ategory of the
L anguage Toolkit.
Teac hers c an now use localized s mart pronouns to c reate c omments in languages other than
E nglis h. C urrently only one language at a time is s upported. L ocalized s mart pronouns appear
bas ed on the teac hers preferred language. I n order to us e s mart pronouns in an additional
language, the teac her must sign out and then sign back in with another language. For more
information, see Knowle dge ba se a rticl e 72363, available on P owerSourc e.

PowerT eacher Administrator

T rans lation

PowerT eacher Administrator c an now be translated and dis played in multiple languages . A French
trans lation of P owerT eac her Adminis trator is included in P owerSc hool 8 .0 . I n order to ac tivate the
Frenc h vers ion of P owerT eac her Adminis trator, you mus t have at leas t one French language loc ale
enabled on your sys tem.

Copyright 2014 Pearson Education, Inc. or its affiliates. All rights reserved.

PowerSc hool Student I nformation Sys tem

PowerSchool Installer
The e nhanced functionality provided in this re le ase includes:
Feature
O racle 12c Databas e Upgrade

De scription
PowerSc hool 8 .0 features an update to an O racle 12c databas e. T his allows for c ontinued
enhancement of database performanc e.

PowerTeacher Gradebook
For more information, se e the PowerTeacher Portal User G uide for Powe rSchool 8.x or the System Administrator User Gui de for
Powe rSchool 8.x, or the online he lp. This update was originally re leased with Po werSchoo l 7.11.
Powe rTe ache r Grade book 2.8 includes a ne w way to launch the Gradebook :
Feature

De scription

N ew P owerTeac her G radebook

L aunc her

Teac hers c an now launc h the G radebook using a method that protec ts against Java updates and
does not require browser plugins . A fter running a quick s etup proc ess , teac hers can take
advantage of the new launc h method and enjoy the s ame G radebook features they us e today.

PowerT eacher G radebook Des ktop

Shortc ut

T he new G radebook launc h method provides a des ktop s hortc ut that allows direct s ign- in to the
G radebook.
A dmi nistrator I nstall ers
I nstallers are available for adminis trators to help teac hers with the setup at Start page > Sys tem
Setup > System Settings > PowerT eacher G radebook L aunc h I ns tallers .

Copyright 2014 Pearson Education, Inc. or its affiliates. All rights reserved.