Setting up honor roll in PowerSchool involves a structured process of defining academic criteria, running calculations to identify eligible students, and then officially assigning them to the honor roll. This comprehensive approach ensures that student achievements are accurately recognized according to your institution's specific standards.
Key Steps to Configure Honor Roll in PowerSchool
The setup process can be broken down into several distinct phases, from initial criteria definition to final student assignment and reporting.
1. Define Honor Roll Criteria
This foundational step involves specifying the academic benchmarks students must meet to qualify for various honor roll designations.
- What: Determine the precise academic requirements for each honor roll type you wish to establish (e.g., "Principal's List," "Honor Roll," "Dean's List"). These criteria often include academic performance, course load, and sometimes even behavioral standards.
- Where: Typically, these settings are found within the School Setup or District Setup section, often under a Grading or Honor Roll Setup subsection. Here, administrators can create and manage different honor roll definitions.
- Requirements often include:
- Minimum GPA: A specific grade point average threshold (e.g., 3.5, 3.75, 4.0).
- Minimum Course Load: A requirement for the number of courses or credits a student must be enrolled in during the grading period.
- Grade Restrictions: Exclusion of certain grades (e.g., no failing grades (D or F), no incompletes) in any subject.
- Citizenship/Conduct: While less common for academic honor rolls, some institutions may include criteria related to student conduct or attendance.
2. Configure Grade Scales and GPA Calculations
Ensuring that PowerSchool accurately calculates GPAs based on your school's unique grading policies is critical for accurate honor roll eligibility.
- Why: The honor roll calculation relies heavily on the GPA data. If your grade scales or GPA calculation methods are not correctly configured, the eligibility results will be inaccurate.
- How: Verify or set up your Grade Scales and GPA Calculation Methods within the Grading section of PowerSchool. This includes defining how letter grades translate to numerical points and how those points are averaged for GPA.
3. Run Honor Roll Calculation
Once grades are finalized for a given grading period and criteria are defined, PowerSchool can be instructed to identify students who meet the specified honor roll standards.
- What: This process involves running a report or a specialized function within PowerSchool that automatically assesses student data against the predefined honor roll criteria.
- How: After all grades have been posted and verified for a specific grading term (e.g., Quarter 1, Semester 2), navigate to System Reports or the Grading section in PowerSchool. Look for an Honor Roll Calculation report or feature. Select the desired honor roll definition(s) and the relevant grading period. The system will then generate a preliminary list of eligible students.
4. Review and Assign Eligible Students
Following the calculation, PowerSchool presents a list of students identified as eligible. This step allows administrators to review this list and officially assign students to the honor roll, with options to manually adjust as needed.
- Where: The results of the honor roll calculation are typically displayed in an Honor Roll Management interface or a dedicated section for managing eligible students.
- Actions: Within this interface, you will generally see two distinct sections: Eligible Students and Assigned Students.
- To formally assign an eligible student to an honor roll, locate and select one or more students from the Eligible Students list. Then, access the Actions menu and click Assign Students.
- Conversely, if a student was mistakenly assigned or needs to be removed from an honor roll for any reason, navigate to the Assigned Students section. Select the student(s) you wish to remove, and from the Actions menu, click Unassign Students. This flexibility allows for necessary administrative adjustments.
5. Publish and Report Honor Roll
The final step involves generating official documents or lists of the honor roll recipients.
- What: Once students have been officially assigned, you can create various reports, lists, or even integrate the honor roll status into student transcripts or school announcements.
- How: Utilize PowerSchool's robust reporting features to generate custom honor roll lists, print certificates, or export data for public display or internal record-keeping.
Practical Insights and Best Practices
- Regular Review of Criteria: Periodically re-evaluate your honor roll criteria to ensure they remain relevant and align with your school's evolving academic standards and mission.
- Clear Communication: Clearly communicate the honor roll criteria and the recognition process to students, parents, and faculty. Transparency can motivate students and avoid misunderstandings.
- Data Accuracy is Key: Before running any honor roll calculations, double-check that all student grade data, attendance records, and course enrollments are accurate and up-to-date in PowerSchool. Inaccurate data will lead to incorrect eligibility.
- Utilize Test Environments: If your PowerSchool setup includes a sandbox or test environment, use it to test new honor roll criteria or processes before implementing them in your live production system. This helps identify and resolve potential issues without impacting real student data.
- Troubleshooting Tips: If a student appears eligible but doesn't show on the list, or vice versa, meticulously verify their grades, course load, and any specific disqualifying marks (e.g., incomplete grades, failing grades in specific core courses).
