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Set Up Data Synchronization

Introduction

This section describes the setup and configuration required for synchronizing data between PowerSchool and PASI in real-time.

Important: Setting up connectivity is a pre-requisite to setting up data synchronization. Therefore, make sure that the Alberta Education digital certificates for PASI Core are active.

Configure PASI Direct Connect

Configure the settings on the PASI Configuration page.

  1. On the start page, under Setup, click System. The System Administrator page appears.
  2. Under Server, click System Settings. The System Settings page appears.
  3. Click Plugin Management Configuration. The Plugin Management Dashboard page appears.
  4. Click PASI Direct Connect. The PASI Direct Connect Setup page appears.
  5. Under Function, click Additional PASI Settings. The PASI Configuration page appears with links to each setup section.
  6. Click the appropriate link and complete the required setup. Note: See below for information about each setup section.
  7. When your setup is complete, click Update Properties.

Caller Information Settings

The Caller Information page provides a view of the system user information that is sent as part of every request made to PASI during the data synchronization process. This is defaulted automatically during PASI Direct Connect setup.

Field

Description

Product

The name of the SIS. This is set by default to PowerSchool.

Manufacturer

The manufacturer of the SIS. This is set by default to PowerSchool Group LLC.

Build

The PowerSchool version.

Version

The PowerSchool build.

Local ID

The PASI to PowerSchool synchronization system user ID. This defaults as pasisync<district number>.

Name

The PASI to PowerSchool synchronization system user name. This defaults to the name of the school division.

IP Address

The IP address of the school authority's PowerSchool task master server.

Organization Code

Indicates the school authority's organization code in A.NNNN format.

  • A = Authority
  • NNNN = 4 digit School/School Authority code from Alberta Education Ministry
    For example, for Peace Wapiti School Division this is set to A.0177.

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Synchronization Settings

The Synchronization Settings page provides the ability to set up and control the initial, regular, and hash synchronization processes and associated timing.

Field

Description

General

An asterisk ( * ) indicates that a manual restart of PowerSchool or PowerTeacher service is required.


Event Monitoring*

Indicates whether Event Monitoring is on or off.

This field is for display only. To activate or deactivate Event Monitoring, refer to the Enable Event Monitoring section.

Process as District*

Indicates whether the initial and regular synchronization processes run at a district level or by individual schools.

  • Yes, indicates process at a district-level. This is the default.
  • No, indicates process by individual schools.

Maximum Attempts

Indicates the maximum number of attempts for student synchronization. Allows any number from 1 to 100, and defaults to 50.
If data is not synchronized on the first attempt, the system continues to retry until the maximum attempt number is reached.

Keep Synchronization History

Indicates the number of historical records to keep in the synchronization queue. Allows any number from 1 to 1000, and defaults to 100.

Current School Year for Synchronization

Indicates the current school year that PASI accepts enrolments for. For example, 2017-2018. This field is read-only, and is used as a reference point for the historical enrolment years to process. Initially, the field is set to 0000-0000. After connectivity is established and initial synchronization completed, it is automatically set using the Get Accepted Registration service from PASI.

The next school year, if available for pre-registered enrolments, is always included as part of the regular synchronization process.

Historical Years for School Enrolment Integration

Indicates the number of historical school years to be included as part of the School Enrolment synchronization. Up to 2 years of historical enrolments can be synchronized with PASI. This defaults to 0, which is the recommended value from the PASI Readiness team.

For example, if the current year is 2017-2018 then the historical years are:

1st historical year = 2016-2017

2nd historical year = 2015-2016

This value automatically increments each year during the End of Year (EOY) Process.

Historical Years for School Course Marks Integration

Indicates the number of historical school years to be included as part of the School Course Marks (SCM) synchronization. Up to 2 years of historical data can be synchronized with PASI.

This setting is read-only and is managed by PowerSchool.
Historical Years for Diploma Exam IntegrationIndicates the number of historical school years to be included as part of the Diploma Exam synchronization. Up to 2 years of historical data can be synchronized with PASI.

Regular Synchronization

Start Delay (minutes)

Indicates the number of minutes after PowerSchool startup that synchronization begins. Allows any number from 1 to 30, and defaults to 5.

PowerSchool Data Events Polling Interval (seconds)

Indicates the number of minutes (converted into seconds) that events/transactions in PowerSchool are submitted to PASI. Allows any number from 30 to 300, and defaults to 60. PASI Readiness team recommends 30 seconds.

PASI Data Available Wait Time (minutes)

Enter the number of minutes the data between PowerSchool and PASI is refreshed. Allows any number from 1 to 30, and defaults to 5, which is the recommended value from the PASI Readiness team.

PASI Web Service Timeout

Enter the number of minutes that PowerSchool waits for a response from PASI Web Service. Allows any number from 1 to 30, and defaults to 10.

Regular Synchronization

Click the switch to turn synchronization on or off. The default is OFF.

Hash Synchronization

Hash Synchronization

Click the switch to turn hash synchronization on or off. The default is OFF.

Scheduled Time

Indicates whether the automated Hash Synchronization runs Daily or Hourly. This defaults to Daily.

When setup to run Daily, it is schedule at 1:00 AM.

When setup as Hourly it runs between 4:00 AM to 9:00 PM on the half hour.

Hash On-Demand

Click Run Now to schedule a Hash Synchronization as needed.

Disabled when Hash Synchronization is off.

Core Alerts Reconciliation (Conflicts, Failures, Rejections)

For a list of alerts, see Core Alert Conflicts and Failures for DEM_ENR and Core Alert Conflicts and Failures for SCM

Automatic ReconciliationClick the switch to turn Automatic Reconciliation on or off. The default is OFF.
Schedule Mode (default to Daily)Indicates whether the automated Automatic Reconciliation runs Daily, Weekly or Monthly. Defaults to Daily.
Schedule Time (default to 3:00)
  • When set up to run Monthly, reconciliation is scheduled for the First Sunday of the Month.
  • When Set up to run Weekly, reconciliation is scheduled for every Sunday.
  • When set up to run Daily, reconciliation is scheduled at 3:00 AM.

These settings can be changed as needed.

Full Reconciliation On-Demand

Click Run Now to schedule a Full Reconciliation immediately.

This option runs a Full Reconciliation of all Rejections, Failures and Core Alerts, not just the current synchronization year.

Diploma Exam and Official Marks Updates

Automatic Exam Marks UpdatesClick the switch to turn Automatic Exam Marks Updates on or off. The default is OFF.
Schedule Mode (default to Monthly)Indicates whether the automated Automatic Reconciliation runs Daily, Weekly or Monthly.
Schedule Time (default to 00:00)
  • When set up to run Monthly, updates are scheduled for the First Sunday of the Month.
  • When Set up to run Weekly, updates are scheduled for every Sunday.
  • When set up to run Daily, updates scheduled at 12:00 AM.

These settings can be changed as needed.

Allow Credit UpdateClick the switch to on or off to indicate if the Automatic Exam Marks Updates process is allowed to update credit.
Exam Marks Updates On-Demand

Click Run Now to update the StoredGrades table with the Diploma Exam Mark, Official Mark and Credits returned from PASI as needed.

Selection Criteria:

  • PowerSchool course enrollment has a record in the local copy.
  • Course enrollment is in the current school year.
  • Student has an ASN assigned.
  • Course enrollment is for a diploma course.
  • Course enrollment status is completed.
  • Course enrollment is not deleted.
  • Transcript or Diploma Mark PS_UPDATED is 0.



Diploma Exam and Official Mark Synchronization must be active in order for this process to run.



Daily Document Submission Runtime

Schedule time for automatic submission of documents to PASI.

Daily Document Submission RuntimeIndicates that Daily Document Submission Runtime is enabled.
Schedule Time (20:00)Indicates the scheduled time of document submission.

Demographic and Enrolment Items

Double asterisks ( ** ) indicate that the item is synchronized one way from PASI to PowerSchool only.

Student Synchronization

Indicates that the all the Student Demographic data is being synchronized. This is Enabled by default.

Student Status Synchronization

Indicates that Core Alerts related to the Student Demographic data are being synchronized. This is Enabled by default.

Student Enrolment Synchronization

Indicates that the Student School Enrollment data is being synchronized. This is Enabled by default.

Student Enrolment Status Synchronization

Indicates that Core Alerts related to the Student School Enrollment data are being synchronized. This is Enabled by default.

Student Record Document SynchronizationIndicates that the all the Student Record Documents data is being synchronized. This is Enabled by default.
Student Record Document DCF EventsClick the switch to turn synchronization on or off synchronization of Student Record Documents. The default is Enabled.
Classroom Accommodation SynchronizationIndicates that the all the Classroom Accommodations data is being synchronized. This is Enabled by default.
Classroom Accommodation Status SynchronizationIndicates that Core Alerts related to the Classroom Accommodations data are being synchronized. This is Enabled by default.
Classroom Accommodation DCF EventsClick the switch to turn synchronization on or off synchronization of Classroom Accommodations. The default is Enabled.
Student Attachments DCF EventsClick the switch to turn on or off integration between other products (ie, Enrolment, Special Education etc). The default is Disabled.

School Synchronization **

Indicates that the School Synchronization is enabled.

School Authority Synchronization **

Indicates that the School Authority Synchronization is enabled.

Code Value Synchronization **

Indicates that the Code Values Synchronization is enabled.

Smart Address Match

Indicates that the Smart Address Match feature is enabled.

Student Data Migration Completed

Indicates that the Custom Field Set State AB Migrate Students has been migrated using the Custom Data Field Migration function.

School Course Marks Items

Double asterisks ( ** ) indicate that the item is synchronized one way from PASI to PowerSchool only.

Course Synchronization **

Indicates that the Course Synchronization is enabled.

Course Enrolment Synchronization

Indicates that the Course Enrolment synchronization is Enabled/Disabled.

Course Enrolment Status Synchronization

Indicates that the Course Enrolment Status synchronization is Enabled/Disabled.

Evaluated Mark Synchronization

Indicates that the Evaluated Mark synchronization is Enabled/Disabled.

Evaluated Mark Status Synchronization

Indicates that the Evaluated Mark Status synchronization is Enabled/Disabled.

Section Synchronization

Indicates that the Section synchronization is Enabled/Disabled.

Section Status Synchronization

Indicates that the Section Status synchronization is Enabled/Disabled.

Diploma Exam Items

Double asterisks ( ** ) indicate that the item is synchronized one way from PASI to PowerSchool only.

Diploma Exam Synchronization **Indicates that the Diploma Exam synchronization is Enabled/Disabled.
Diploma Exam Mark SynchronizationIndicates that the Diploma Exam Mark synchronization is Enabled/Disabled.
Diploma Exam Sitting SynchronizationIndicates that the Diploma Exam Sitting synchronization is Enabled/Disabled.
Diploma Exam Mark DCF EventIndicates that the Diploma Exam Mark DCF Event is Enabled/Disabled.
Diploma Exam Sitting DCF EventIndicates that the Diploma Exam Sitting DCF Event is Enabled/Disabled.
Student Transcript Detail Synchronization **Indicates that the Student Transcript Detail synchronization is Enabled/Disabled.

Threading

This section is set up by default and does not require any changes. Please contact PowerSchool Technical Support if a change is required.

Single Threading

The data synchronization process is multi-threaded (simultaneous processing) and therefore this setting is disabled by default.

Thread Count Factor

Indicates the thread count factor used by the processes for data synchronization. The system is optimized to a thread count factor of 10, which is set by default.

Processes

Indicates the number of processes (simultaneous connections) available for data synchronization. The system is optimized to 10 processes, which is set by default.

Archiving

Archive Data Events

Click the switch to turn on or off the automatic archiving of data events. This defaults to OFF. When ON, the archiving of data events is done as a daily maintenance process.

Archive Events Older Than

Indicates the age of the Data Events that are archived (in number of days). Valid values: 30, 60, 90, 120, 180, and 365. This defaults to 365.

Archive Events On-Demand

Click Run Now to schedule a manual archiving of data events as needed.

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Logs

The Log Settings page provides the ability to set up and control the volume of logging. This is required for troubleshooting the communication and data synchronization processes.

To download the log files or for more details, refer to the Synchronization Error Logging section.

Field

Description

Synchronization Extract files

Indicates whether additional Tab-delimited files are generated after Initial or Hash Synchronization.

  • Yes
  • No

This defaults to No.

Runtime Log

Select the logging level from one of the following options:

  • Minimum - Log critical errors
  • Warning - Log errors and warnings
  • Normal - Log errors, warnings and useful information
  • Debug - Log everything (required for Technical Support)
  • Trace - UAT Log everything (for User Acceptance Testing)

By default, the logging level is set to Minimum.

Synchronization Log

Click the switch to turn synchronization logging On/Off. The default is Off.

This log file is required for Technical Support.

Messages Log

Click the switch to turn messages logging On/Off. The default is Off.

This log file is required for Technical Support.

Events Log

Select the logging level from one of the following options:

  • Minimum - Log critical errors
  • Warning - Log errors and warnings
  • Normal - Log errors, warnings and useful information
  • Debug - Log everything (required for Technical Support)

By default, the logging level is set to Minimum.

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Getting Ready for Synchronization

The following processes are required to set up PowerSchool to start synchronizing data with PASI directly.

You must complete all tasks below in the order indicated before you enabl regular synchronization
  1. Download local PASI data store.
  2. Run Initial Synchronization with the extract file setting turned on.
  3. Resolve data conflicts and re-run Initial Synchronization.
  4. Run manual Hash Synchronization to makes sure that all the data between PASI and PowerSchool is matched.
  5. Enable Event Monitoring and Regular Synchronization


Step 1. Download Local PASI Data Store

This process downloads student and enrolment data from PASI into PowerSchool one time. Although this is a separate process, it must be run before Initial Synchronization to minimize the number of service calls made to PASI during Initial Synchronization.

To download the local PASI data store:

  1. On the PASI Configuration page, click Initial Synchronization. The Initial Synchronization page appears.
  2. Click Download under the Local PASI Data Store section. The Synchronization Queue page appears, which provides the status of the Load Local Copy job.

The local PASI data is stored in Alberta-specific tables in the PowerSchool database. The integrity of these tables must never be altered. These tables are also part of the scheduled database backups. For a list of tables, refer the PASI Direct Connect Table section in the Appendix.

The local PASI data store is mandatory for Initial Synchronization. Therefore, this process must be completed before starting the Initial Synchronization process. If the process terminates in error, then you must re-run the download.

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Step 2. Run Initial Synchronization

The Initial Synchronization process compares and matches data between PowerSchool and PASI for all Student and School Enrollment records available in the years of synchronization. The process gets all the latest PASI data based on the PASI Core version numbers and matches them to students and school enrolments in PowerSchool. Refer to the Records Matching Criteria section for more information. If there are any discrepancies between PowerSchool and PASI then that information is presented for review as Conflict messages. This process does not change any data in either location.

The Local PASI Data Store must be downloaded before running Initial Synchronization.

District/Authority versus School-by-School Processing

The Initial Synchronization process can be run at a district/authority level or school-by-school. This is set by the Process As District setting, on the Synchronization Settings page.

  • When running at a district/authority level, regular synchronization must be turned off.
  • When running school-by-school, regular synchronization can be on, but the school you want to initialize must be set to Inactive status. This setting is controlled by the School Type field on the Edit School page. By default, this field is set to blank which implies that the school is Inactive.

To start the Initial Synchronization process:

  • On the PASI Configuration page, click Initial Synchronization. The Initial Synchronization page appears.

OR

  • If you are set up to run synchronization at THE district/authority level, select the name of your school district/authority and click Run Now. The Synchronization Queue page appears, which provides the status of the Initial Sync – Manual job.
This process is resource intensive and time consuming and can cause 100% CPU utilization, which may slow down response time for other PowerSchool requests. PowerSchool recommends you run this process during minimum load on your PowerSchool server. If the process terminates in error, then you must re-run Initial Synchronization.

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Step 3. Resolve Data Conflicts after Initial Synchronization

The objective of the Initial Synchronization process is to identify differences in data between PowerSchool and PASI. Therefore, the result of this process is Conflict messages. Like Core Alerts, Conflict messages are classified into Student and Enrollment.

The majority of the student conflicts are on data elements that are in PASI but were not collected in PowerSchool in the past, like effective dates on addresses and phone, documentation details on legal identification information, or student disclosure restrictions. The majority of the enrolment conflicts may be due to unmatched school enrolments, exit dates, or summer school enrolments.

To view all data conflicts:

  1. On the start page, click Special Functions. The Special Functions page appears.
  2. Click PASI Core Alerts. The PASI Core Alerts page appears.
  3. Under Filter Results, for Alert type, select Conflict, and in the Status field select Unacknowledged.
  4. Click Get Core Alerts.The results appear. The Conflict Type field also appears under the Filter Results.
  • To narrow results by student or enrolments, select Student or Enrolment from the Status Type filter and select the corresponding Conflict Type filter.

For more details, refer to the Managing Core Alerts and Other Notifications section.

Important: Review all Conflict messages and attempt to resolve them by cleaning up the data. You must re-run Initial Synchronization to clear out Conflict messages that you fix. Repeat this process multiple times until there are no more conflict messages.

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Initial Synchronization Log and Extract Files

The pasi-initialization log file is unique and is created only when the Initial Synchronization process is run. It contains a list of all the data differences between PASI and PowerSchool in one single file.

Additionally, if the Initial Synchronization Extract Files field on the Synchronization Settings page is set to Yes, then four tab-delimited files are created in addition to the pasi-initialization.log file.

  • pasi-init-unmatched-enrolments.tab
  • pasi-init-unmatched-students.tab
  • pasi-init-diff-students.tab
  • pasi-init-diff-enrolments.tab

There are multiple ways to access or download these files.

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Initial Synchronization Extract Files Output

pasi-init-diff-students.tab and pasi-init-unmatched-students.tab file headers

Header

last_name (blank if student is unmatched)

first_name (blank if student is unmatched)

middle_name (blank if student is unmatched)

ID (blank if student is unmatched)

Student_Number (blank if student is unmatched)

State_StudentNumber

S_AB_STU_X.AKASurname

S_AB_STU_X.AKAGivenName

S_AB_STU_X.AKAMiddleName

S_AB_STU_X.AKASuffix

S_AB_STU_X.AKAIsExact

studentcorefields.PSCORE_Legal_Last_Name
studentcorefields.PSCORE_Legal_First_Name
studentcorefields.PSCORE_Legal_Middle_Name

S_AB_STU_X.Suffix

S_AB_STU_X.IsExact

S_AB_STU_X.PreferredNameInd

Gender

studentcorefields.PSCORE_Legal_Gender

DOB

S_AB_STU_X.DocNumber

S_AB_STU_X.DocType

S_AB_STU_X.DocIssueDt

Mailing_Street

Mailing_City

Mailing_State

Mailing_Zip

S_AB_STU_X.MailingEffectiveDt
S_AB_STU_X.MailingExpiryDt

S_AB_STU_X.PermanentStreet

S_AB_STU_X.PermanentCity

S_AB_STU_X.PermanentProvince

S_AB_STU_X.PermanentPostalCode

S_AB_STU_X.PermanentCountry

S_AB_STU_X.PermanentEffectiveDt
S_AB_STU_X.PermanentExpiryDt

Home_Phone

S_AB_STU_X.PhoneExt

S_AB_STU_X.PhoneType

S_AB_STU_X.IsListable

S_AB_STU_X.PhoneEffectiveDt
S_AB_STU_X.PhoneExpiryDt

S_AB_STU_X.RegistrationType

S_AB_STU_X.ProtectedStatus

S_AB_STU_X.ProtectedUnder

S_AB_STU_X.ProtectionEffectiveDt

S_AB_STU_X.ProtectionExpiryDt

S_AB_STU_X.ProtectionRestrictions

S_AB_STU_X.Section23Eligibility

S_AB_STU_X.Citizenship

S_AB_STU_X.StuAuthExpDt

S_AB_STU_X.DeceasedStatus

S_AB_STU_X.DeceasedDt

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pasi-init-diff-enrolments.tab and pasi-init-unmatched-enrolments.tab file headers

Header

last_name (blank if student is unmatched)

first_name (blank if student is unmatched)

middle_name (blank if student is unmatched)

ID (blank if student is unmatched)

Student_Number (blank if student is unmatched)

EnrollmentID (blank if student is unmatched)

State_StudentNumber (blank if student is unmatched)

SchoolID

School_Year

Grade_Level

EntryDate

ExitDate

Enroll_Status

S_AB_STU_X.RegistrationType

StudentID

EntryCode

ExitCode

S_AB_STU_X.GrantsProgram1

S_AB_STU_X.GrantsProgram2

S_AB_STU_X.GrantsProgram3

S_AB_STU_X.SpclEduStu1

S_AB_STU_X.SpclEduStu2

S_AB_STU_X.EnrlType1

S_AB_STU_X.EnrlType2

S_AB_STU_X.EnrlType3

S_AB_STU_X.FNMI

S_AB_STU_X.FrenchHours

S_AB_STU_X.ResidentBoard

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Step 4. Run Manual Hash Synchronization

The Hash Synchronization process uses a MD5 hash function to verify that the local PASI Data Store has accurate data from PASI Core. Normally, when data synchronization is working correctly, the hash will always match indicating that the local copy of PASI data is perfectly in sync with the data in PASI Core.

The system looks at local copy and creates a hash value for every object that is synchronized. The objects currently synchronized are:

  • Student
  • Student Status
  • Student Enrolment
  • Student Enrolment Status
  • School
  • School Authority
  • Course

When the Hash request reaches PASI, PASI Core also creates a hash value for all the objects in the request. After generating the hash, it compares them and returns null if they are matched. The only reason for differences in the hash value is if changes were made in PASI and for some reason PowerSchool was not notified. If a difference is found, then PASI provides a list of all the items it has for that object. We have to then compare all that data to our local copy and update it accordingly. Therefore, the Hash Sync process essentially refreshes the local PASI data store.
To run hash synchronization on-demand:

  1. Go to the Synchronization Settings page.
  2. Scroll to the Hash Synchronization section.
  3. Click Run Now next to Hash On-Demand.
    • The Run Now link is only available if the Hash Synchronization is active.
    • The Synchronization Queue page provides the status of the Hash Sync – Manual job. For further information, see the Understanding Hash Synchronization Statuses section.

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Step 5. Enable Event Monitoring

Event monitoring provides PASI Direct Connect the ability to track changes in the system as they happen. These changes are queued and are submitted to PASI automatically at regular intervals.

The School Interoperability Framework (SIF) must be enabled to allow event monitoring in PowerSchool.

Important: During Initial Synchronization, Event Monitoring must be turned OFF. Turn on Event Monitoring only when you are ready to do Regular Synchronization.
Follow the steps below to enable SIF.

  1. On the Synchronization Settings page, under General, next to Event Monitoring click Off. The Global API/SIF Settings page appears.
  2. Select Data Event API Services (recommended).
  3. Click Submit. The System Settings page appears.
  4. Restart the PowerSchool/PowerTeacher service.

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Getting Ready for Synchronization for School Course Marks

The processes required to set up PowerSchool to start synchronizing School Course Marks with PASI directly are as follows. All these tasks must be completed in the order mentioned before enabling School Course Marks synchronization.

  1. Enable Synchronization Settings for School Course Marks Integration.
  2. Verify Course Mark Integration Status set to Inactive.
  3. Set up Years & Terms.
  4. Run PASI Data Validation
  5. Run Initial Upload.
  6. Set Course Mark Integration Status to Active
Course Marks are not listed as part of the above process as it is assumed this setup will occur at the beginning of the year. If this setup is being done midyear, please see Course Marks in Initial Upload below.

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Step 1. Enable Synchronization Settings for School Course Marks Integration

To view the synchronization setting for the School Course Marks and verify they are enabled:

  1. From the Start page under Setup heading, click System.The System Administrator page appears.
  2. Under the Server heading, click System Settings.The System Settings page appears.
  3. Click Plugin Management Configuration.The Plugin Management Dashboard page appears.
  4. Click number one, PASI Direct Connect.The PASI Direct Connect Setup page appears.
  5. Under Function, click Additional PASI Settings.The PASI Configuration page appears.
    • It is recommended that you bookmark this page as it is used frequently.
  6. Click Synchronization Settings.The Synchronization Settings page appears.
  7. Under the School Course Marks Items heading, ensure the settings have been enabled.
If the items are not enabled, you can enable them by using the slide bar on the right hand side, and clicking Update Properties at the bottom of the page. Disabling the School Course Mark (SCM) synchronization process is not recommended.

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Step 2. Verify Course Mark Integration Status is Set to Inactive

The Course Mark Integration Status must be set to inactive prior to the Initial Upload to PASI in order to compare.

  1. On the District Office Start Page, under Setup, click District. The District Setup page appears.
  2. Under District Information, click School/School Info.The School/School Info page appears.
  3. Choose a school from the alphabetic list.The Edit School page appears.
  4. Under Other Information and Alberta Information, verify the Course Marks Integration Status is set to Inactive; if it is blank, change it to Inactive and click Submit.
  5. Go to PASI Configuration page, and verify the school is listed there as Inactive, then proceed to the school Start page to set up Years & Terms.

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Step 3. Set Up Years & Terms

The setup for Years & Terms typically occurs using the Scheduler. However, the following steps may be followed to set up the Years & Terms if needed.

  1. From the School's Start page, under Setup, click School.The School Setup page appears.
  2. Under Scheduling, click Years & Terms. The Years & Terms page appears.
  3. Under Year, select the desired school year, and click Edit Terms.The Term Setup page appears.

  4. Click New and complete the fields.

    Field

    Description

    Name of Term

    Identifies a defined period of time of the school year.

    Abbreviation

    Shortened identification of the term.

    First Day of Term

    The first day of the new term.

    Last Day of Term

    The last day of the new term.

    What portion of the school year does this term represent?

    Select from dropdown menu the fraction that best represents the portion of the year the term covers.

    Import File Term #

    The number assigned to the imported file.

    Alberta Information Required for PASI Direct Connect

    Alternate Term Code

    (Required for Sections) – Select from dropdown menu

    Final Mark Store Code

    (Required for Marks)

    Exclude Events

    Check box to exclude events.

  5. Click Submit.

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Step 4. Run PASI Data Validations

Once Years & Terms are set up, the Alberta PASI Data Validations can be performed to ensure the set up is correct.

  1. On the School Start Page, under Functions, click Special Functions.The Special Functions page appears.
  2. Under Alberta PASI Data Validations, click School Terms Validations. The PASI Data Validation Viewer page appears
  3. If an error exits, from the pop-up menu next to Choose Validations, select the error. The Business Rule and Steps to Correct appears below, along with the Results table, which will list the specific incidents of that specific error. This procedure can be done at both the school level and the district level. Validation errors need to be corrected prior to the Initial Upload. If no errors exist, the dropdown menu will contain "No validations."

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Step 5. Run Initial Upload for High School

The Initial Upload process loads all the Sections, Course Enrollments and Evaluated Marks that are currently available in PowerSchool into PASI. Sections and Course Enrollments must be loaded in sequence with Sections first, followed by Course Enrollments. Evaluated Marks can be loaded independently.

Important:

  • All sections must be uploaded before course enrolments can be uploaded. Ensure all sections have been uploaded to PASIprep before running the course enrolments upload.
  • Before running the Initial Upload process, log into PASIPrep and ensure that no current school year high school course marks data is present.
  • This process must be run for one school at a time.

To start the Initial Upload process at a high school:

  1. On the PASI Configuration page, click Initial Upload. The Initial Upload page appears with the list of high schools available for upload.
  2. Click Run Now. A dialog box appears.
  3. Select the School and the Upload Type. It is recommended that you run each Upload Type (Sections, Course Enrollments and Evaluated Marks) separately.
  4. The Synchronization Queue page appears, which provides the status of the Initial Sync – Upload job.

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Step 6. Set Course Mark Integration Status to Active

After you have run the Initial Upload you can set the Course Mark Integration Status for the school to Active.

  1. On the PASI Configuration page, click Initial Upload. The Initial Upload page appears with the list of high schools available for upload.
  2. On the top right-hand corner, click the Update Integration Status button. A dialog box appears.
  3. Update the status to of the school to Active and click Confirm.

Caution:

  • The high school must be set to Active. Only then automatic data synchronization occurs between PowerSchool and PASI.
  • When the school is set to Inactive, no events are generated. So any changes to sections, course enrollments and evaluated marks will be lost and not synchronized to PASI.
  • Any changes to course information (such as Course Name, Course Number, Course Credits, Alternate Course Number) will be automatically synchronized to PASI.

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Synchronizing Diploma Exam Courses

Diploma Exam courses are courses that require that the student pass an exam before they can pass the course. Synchronizing Diploma Exam Courses involves the following:

  1. Enable Synchronization Settings.
  2. Synchronize Diploma Exam data.
  3. Confirm that Diploma Exam course section data is correct.

Step 1. Synchronize Diploma Exam Data

  1. From the Start page under Setup heading, click System.The System Administrator page appears.
  2. Under the Server heading, click System Settings.The System Settings page appears.
  3. Click Plugin Management Configuration.The Plugin Management Dashboard page appears.
  4. Click PASI Direct Connect.The PASI Direct Connect Setup page appears.
  5. Under Function, click Additional PASI Settings.The PASI Configuration page appears.
  6. Click DER Initial Download. The DER Initial Synchronization page appears.
  7. Click Run Now. When a confirmation dialog appears, click OK and you are taken to the Synchronization Queue page, where you can see the status of the DER download. When the status is Completed, all applicable diploma exam information in PASI is downloaded into PowerSchool.

Step 2. Enable Synchronization Settings for Diploma Exams

  1. Navigate to Synchronization Settings.The Synchronization Settings page appears.
  2. Under Diploma Exam Items, set all options to Enabled.
  3. Click Update Properties.

Step 3. Confirm Diploma Exam Course Section Data is Correct

  1. Navigate to a diploma exam course and, under Alberta Report Information, confirm that the Diploma Course field is set to Yes.
  2. Navigate to the Course's section and, under Alberta Information, ensure there is a value in the Exam Registration Date and Exam Writing Center fields.

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Using the Reconciliation Process

The reconciliation process is only required if there is existing data in PASIprep for the current school year, prior to turning on SCM Integration for a district. Once Integration is complete, this process does not need to be run again. The process is meant to be ran school by school; it reconciles course enrolment data that is currently in PASIprep against what was in PASIprep before the Initial Upload. This reconciliation ensures that there is nothing missing when data is deleted from PASI and submitted from the Initial Upload.

Required Columns for the Reconciliation Process

For the reconciliation process to function, the following columns must be selected.

  • Sections: Courses Offered, Credit Offered, School Year, Section Term, Primary Delivery Method, Language of Instruction, Delivery Schedule, Instructional Mins Offered, and Start Date
  • Evaluated Marks: ASN, Code, Credits, School Year, Mark Value, Mark Value Approved?, Evaluation Method, Mark Evaluation Date, and Funding Requested?
  • Course Enrolments: ASN, Code, Credits Attempted, Section Description, Term, Exit Date, Value, Assignment Date, Approved?, Status, Funding Requested?, and Entry Date

Example: There is a student's mark that is no longer there that was before the delete from PASIprep:

  1. Log into PASIprep
  2. Navigate to Manage Course Enrolments
  3. Click Select All
  4. Click Export to Excel
  5. Name the file in YYYY-NNNN-XX-BeforeDelete.xml format
  6. Delete the course enrolments
Repeat these steps for Sections and Evaluated Marks separately.
  1. Log into PowerSchool
  2. Perform an Initial Upload for a school
  3. Log back into PASIprep
  4. Perform steps 2 – 4
  5. Name the file in YYYY-NNNN-XX-AfterUpload.xml format
  6. Log into PowerSchool
  7. Click System under Setup
  8. Click System Settings under Server
  9. Click Plugin Management Configuration
  10. Click PASI Direct Connect
  11. Click Additional PASI Settings under Function
  12. Click Reconciliation Process
  13. Click Choose File for both the Before Delete and After Upload respectively
  14. Select and option from the pop-up menu that you would like to reconcile
    • Course Marks (CM)
    • Evaluated Marks (EM)
    • Sections (SE)
  15. Click Reconcile

The resulting file will contain a column titled Match Status with the following valid values:

  • Added New to PASI
  • Matched with Data Differences
  • Perfectly Matched
  • Missing from PASI

Based on the results, the data can be corrected as needed.

Steps to follow as of Version 17.3.0:

  1. Log into PASIprep.
  2. Click Courses & Marks.
  3. Click List Course Enrolments.
  4. Select a School, the Current School Year, and All Sections.
  5. In the right-hand corner of the results, click Columns.
  6. Select all the columns available.
  7. Click Export.
  8. Name the file in YYYY-NNNN-XX-BeforeDelete.csv format Important: Do not save the file after opening, simply rename the file without opening it. If you save after opening, you must re-export the data or the file will not reconcile correctly.
  9. Delete the course enrolments from PASIprep
Repeat these steps for Sections and Evaluated Marks separately.
  1. Log into PowerSchool
  2. Perform an Initial Upload for a school
  3. Log back into PASIprep
  4. Perform steps 2 – 9
  5. Name the file in YYYY-NNNN-XX-AfterUpload.csv format
  6. Log into PowerSchool
  7. Click System under Setup
  8. Click System Settings under Server
  9. Click Plugin Management Configuration
  10. Click PASI Direct Connect
  11. Click Additional PASI Settings under Function
  12. Click Reconciliation Process
  13. Click Choose File for both the Before Delete and After Upload respectively
  14. Select and option from the pop-up menu that you would like to reconcile
    • Course Marks (CM)
    • Evaluated Marks (EM)
    • Sections (SE)
  15. Click Reconcile

The resulting file will contain a column titled Match Status with the following valid values:

  • Added New to PASI
  • Matched with Data Differences
  • Perfectly Matched
  • Missing from PASI

Use the validation tool provided above the reconciliation tool to verify the correct columns were exported. Based on the results, the data can be corrected as needed.

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Diploma Exam and Official Marks Updates

The Diploma Exam and Official Marks Updates process looks at the local copy and updates the Historical Grades of a student for every diploma exam mark that has been updated by PASI since the last time this process ran. The process looks for newly updated diploma exam course marks, since the process last ran, and updates the StoredGrades table of the corresponding mark using the Final Mark Store Code.

For the mark to be updated in the StoredGrades table, both the diploma exam mark and official mark must be awarded in the same year.

The Stored Grades are updated based on the following criteria.
  • PowerSchool course enrollment has a record in the local copy.
  • Course enrollment is in the current school year.
  • Student has an ASN assigned.
  • Course enrollment is for a diploma course.
  • Course enrollment status is completed.
  • Course enrollment is not deleted.
  • Transcript or Diploma Mark PS_UPDATED is 0.

To run exam marks updates on-demand:

  1. Go to the Synchronization Settings page.
  2. Scroll to the Diploma Exam and Official Marks Updates section.
  3. Next to Exam Marks Updates On-Demand, click Run Now.
    • The Run Now link is always available. The Automatic Exam Marks Updates is not required to be set to on for districts that do not import diploma exam and official marks into PowerSchool.

Students' diploma exam marks are not always updated on the historical grade when the Exam Marks Updates process is run. Possible reasons for a historical grade not being updated include rewritten exams, exams written in a different semester than the course was taken, and so on. The process will only update a student's historical grade when all data is set correctly. Importing these marks is still available and can be used to supplement the automated process, or you can manually update marks via DDA.

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