EdLink 360 Process/Checklist

This article outlines the important items that a district or school will need to set up or populate within PowerSchool in order to successfully report their extracts to EdLink. Please also refer to the extensive information and reporting guides provided by LDOE.

Contents

Resources Provided by LDOE

The LDOE provides extensive documentation on the requirements and process for reporting your information to the state. This information is available at the EdLink 360 Support Page maintained by the LDOE. The information on this site should be reviewed to gain an understanding of the new EdLink 360 data warehouse. The site contains:

EdLink 360 user guides for each of the reporting categories (calendars & attendance, student data, staff data)
User guides for maintaining eScholar StaffIDs
EdLink Security Guide
Data submission schedules
FAQ documents (EdLink 360, StaffID, EdLink Security, etc.)
Extract File Layouts and sample extracts
Training calendar, presentation slide decks, and video recordings of past LDOE sessions
Training videos about using the EdLink Dashboard

The LDOE also provides answers to specific questions through their edlink360@la.gov email. Questions regarding the EdLink 360 application and process should be directed to the LDOE. Questions about generating EdLink extracts should be directed to PowerSchool Support at support@powerschool.com.

New Data Flow for School System Submissions to EdLink 360

This EdLink 360 data submission process is compared to the current legacy process below:

• Rather than Data managers downloading files from their local system. SIS and HR systems facilitate the downloading of extract files on an automated schedule.

• Rather than extract files being loaded to the systems (e.g. PEP, SIS, STS, etc.) extract files are dropped on the PowerSchool sFTP server, many on a daily basis.

• During loading, file and data validation occurs, which is the same as the current process. Files and records may be rejected. It is anticipated that many more records will be loaded since only high-level data validations will be performed.

• After the data is loaded, an audit log of possible errors is available for review and downloading, which is the same as the current process.

• Similar to the current process where validation reports are provided to data managers, data quality dashboards are available for further review and validation of the data to ensure it is accurate and complete.

• Similar to the current process a snapshot is taken at specific times of the school year within the EdLink warehouse.

New Data Flow for School System Submissions to EdLink 360

Who Provides the Extracts?

The EdLink 360 project brings together information from several legacy systems. Extracts can come from the Department of Education, your HR/Payroll system, and PowerSchool State Reporting. Districts have to work with their HR/Payroll vendor to generate most of the staff-related extracts. It is critical for the successful processing that both the HR and SIS systems generate the local_staff_key field in the same manner.

1) Extracts Provided by LDOE

2) Extracts Provided by HR/Payroll Systems

Note: for those districts who do not have a system to provide these extracts, the DOE has made available templates that can be manually updated and used to create the required EdLink extracts.

Please reach out to the Department of Education at edlink360@la.gov for more details.

3) Extracts Provided by PowerSchool State Reporting

Getting Started Checklist

Review the EdLink 360 Support Page for an understanding of the EdLink 360 requirements.

Ensure StaffIDs are assigned and are being maintained for the school system staff in your HR and SIS systems.
- For Districts that do not have an HR system, PowerSchool has created the unique staff ID extract that can be used to submit staff information to eScholar (https://docs.powerschool.com/USALA/louisiana-reports-in-powerschool/reports/escholar-staffid-extract).
Review the EdLink 360 Extract Files Delivery Schedule and PowerSchool sFTP Server Folder and Extract File Structures sections in any EdLink user guide for details on the reporting schedule and setting up connections to the server:
- The scheduler feature available within each PowerSchool State Reporting EdLink extract report can be used to set up a recurring generation of the extracts.
- Creating a remote connection to the PowerSchool Unified Insights sFTP and specifying that it be used when generating the extracts enabling automated delivery of the extract files to the PowerSchool sFTP server.
- In addition, files may be delivered to the PowerSchool Unified Insights FTP server via manual procedures.
- Extract files should be delivered nightly in most instances.
- Extract files may be delivered on a different schedule based on volume, snapshot dates, or other measures as established by LDOE.
- Extract files should be delivered no later than 7:00 pm to ensure processing for the next day.
Confirm the school system server that will be used to submit extract files has been whitelisted in order to drop files to the PowerSchool Unified Insights (Hoonuit) sFTP:
- Refer to the section Getting Whitelisted to Submit to the PowerSchool sFTP Server in any EdLink user guide for instructions for whitelisting a server.
- Security Coordinators should verify whether or not their school system server has been whitelisted by emailing edlink36@la.gov. If their school system IP Address has not been whitelisted, Security Coordinators should include the following in an email and send it to LDOE_LEA_Support@powerschool.com:

• In the subject line, include the Sponsor Code and Name (e.g. 001 Acadia Parish) and the IP Address or range of IP Addresses for the School System.

• In the body of the email, include any other pertinent information (e.g. identify other technical contacts and/or vendors who may require whitelisting of their IP Addresses).

Home or private IP addresses cannot be whitelisted. When working from a location other than your school system office, work with your IT staff to set up VPN into your school system office.

Confirm the Security Coordinator has obtained user credentials for the PowerSchool sFTP:
- Refer to the section Receiving User Credentials to Submit to the PowerSchool sFTP Server in any EdLink user guide for instructions for receiving user credentials.
- The EdLink 360 Data Warehouse is powered by PowerSchool's Unified Insights (Hoonuit) and requires separate credentials from your PowerSchool SIS and PowerSchool State Reporting application. Security Coordinators should include the following in an email and send it to LDOE_LEA_Support@powerschool.com:
  - In the subject line, include the Sponsor Code and Name (e.g. 001 Acadia Parish).
  - In the body of the email, include any other pertinent information (e.g. identify other technical contacts and/or vendors who may need credentials, list the sponsor codes and sponsor names if support is provided for multiple school systems, etc.).

Please do NOT include your password or any previous passwords you have used. Also do not include LDOE staff in this email as they are not allowed to see your credentials due to security reasons.

Using the PowerSchool sFTP credentials provided by the Security Coordinator, ensure you can access your district's folder on the server. Refer to the section Selecting an FTP Client in any EdLink user guide for instructions.
Ensure all the required SIS data has been entered into your system. See Data Setup within PowerSchool State Reporting section below for items to check.
Review the 2020-21 data submission schedule and ensure EdLink 360 extracts are generated automated and/or manually dropped on the PowerSchool sFTP:
- - Ensure the various staff extracts are generated from your HR system.
  - Ensure the SIS related EdLink extracts available from the State tab of ReportWorks are scheduled for generation and download to the PowerSchool sFTP server.
Use the EdLink Dashboard to review results for the downloaded files, and any errors.

Verify and correct data based on errors identified in the EdLink Dashboard, and resubmit the files.
- Most data elements currently in the legacy systems are also included in the EdLink 360 extracts. Please refer to the section, Legacy Systems and Crosswalk to EdLink Extract Files in each user guide provided on the EdLink 360 website. This section maps each data element found in the EdLink 360 extract to the corresponding data element found in the legacy system records. For example data elements included in the enrollments.tsv and enrollments_ext.tsv extracts are mapped to the legacy SIS Enrollment record (record type 040).
- For data element information, please refer to the following sections in each of the EdLink 360 User Guides (Students, Staff, Calendars, and Attendance):
  - APPENDIX A – Data Elements which includes a detailed description of each data element.
  - APPENDIX B – Data Elements and Table Lookups provides a mapping of data elements to certain tables that contain the code sets or values for that data element.
- Online help is available under PowerSchool State Reporting for each EdLink extract, detailing the data sources used to populate each extract field, along with any selection criteria used to retrieve data.

Data Setup within PowerSchool State Reporting

District Setup

It is mandatory to submit a district calendar to EdLink.
- Only one District Calendar should be defined. Having multiple district calendars defined for the school year will cause duplicate records to be submitted in the EdLink calendar file.
- The District Calendar information will be used to report the in session days for the district in the EdLink calendar extract.
- The LA Sponsor Site Calendar information will be used to report the special event days for the district calendar.
- The district calendar is indicated by a site code of 'District' or blank/empty value for the Sponsor Site Calendar:
- Set up any special event days, populating the new calendar date type field for any Holidays, Emergency days or Testing window.
Individual schools should also have a sponsor site calendar defined. School groups may also have a calendar to report.
- Set up any special event days, populating the new calendar date type field for any Holidays, Emergency days or Testing window.
- Calendar Date Type must be specified for any day defined as a Holiday, Testing window or Emergency Day.
Districts must maintain their own values for the defined code sets, being sure to map each entry to an EdLink/LDOE value under the reported value column:
- Calendar Date Types
- Immersion Languages
Courses have some new fields that may require populating:
- Work Based Learning Category
- Work Based Learning Business Name
- Immersion Class Language
To enable automatic download of extracts to EdLink, set up SFTP connection to your district's assigned EdLink folder using PowerSchool's Remote Connection Management feature under System/ System Settings/ Plugin Management Configuration.
- LDOE assigns PowerSchool sFTP credentials. These credentials will be used as the username and password when setting up the Remote connection.
- Districts are also be required to whitelist the server that will be used to send extracts to the PowerSchool Unified Insights sFTP.
- Information on LDOE requirements for establishing the SFTP connection is documented in each EdLink 360 user guide. As of April 2021, the values are as follows:
  - Protocol = SFTP
  - Host = 13.65.236.122
  - Port = 22
  - Authentication Type = Password
  - Finger Print = e4:6d:ac:a1:ef:14:0a:40:46:5b:89:54:d1:7b:06:20
  - Remote Path = File_Extracts
  - Allow download = checked
  - Allow upload = checked

School Setup

Ensure each school's site code is entered under District/Schools/School Info.
Set up school calendar and school sponsor site calendar, and any special event days, populating the new calendar date type field for any Holidays, Testing window or Emergency days.
In order for the attendance calculation to be performed correctly, the district must have set up the following attendance categories and mapped the appropriate attendance codes to these categories. While the District can modify the category description, the codes must be entered exactly as listed below:

Category Code	Category Description
ExcusedNE	Excused Absence - Non-Exempt
Excused	Excused Absence - Excused
Unexcused	Unexcused Absence
TardyLate	Unexcused Tardy - Late to School
TardyLeave	Unexcused Tardy - Early Checkout
Suspension	Suspension

Each state reportable incident must have values specified for the location and time frame fields in order to have the discipline_incidents and discipline_incidents_ext record created.

Staff Setup

For each teacher, review their Information page and ensure they have the following fields populated: StatePrid, Home School, SSN (if required), Classification Level, and Active checkbox.
Ensure that the Classification Level populated for all teachers that will be reported to EdLink:
- The exception is for Vacant staff. They must have SSN beginning with 999 and NO Classification level entered in order to be reported to EdLink.
Ensure that educators have their State_Prid field populated with their LA unique identifier. This value is generated by LDOE through the eScholar site:
- The unique Staff ID file is normally generated by your HR system. Districts should import the assigned number into the State_Prid field in PowerSchool.
- For Districts that do not have an HR system, PowerSchool has created a unique staff ID extract that can be used to submit staff information to eScholar. The resulting file should have its information imported into PowerSchool using the Data Import feature. You are required to import Teacher names as well as the teacher id and new eScholar assigned unique identifier.
  - https://docs.powerschool.com/USALA/louisiana-reports-in-powerschool/reports/escholar-staffid-extract
For teaching employees that do not require an escholar staffID, ensure their SSN is populated:
- In some cases, the SSN is not collected by the district, but a fake one is entered. Examples are employees with Classification Level 02 that do not have SSN collected by the district should have their SSN set to 998 + District code + 4-digit sequential number, or vacant staff entries that have their SSN set to 999 + District code + 4-digit sequential number.
- The number recorded in PowerSchool SIS must match the value recorded in the HR system in order for data to be successfully reported to EdLink.
Enter any mentor relationships between a resident teacher and another district teacher at the same school using the Mentor Assignment page for the mentor teacher, not the resident teacher:
- Mentor Teachers provide directed support to undergraduate teacher residents through a co-teaching model, post-baccalaureate teacher residents who are teaching while earning their initial license, or experienced teachers in need of support. Their responsibilities include but are not limited to: providing one-on-one coaching, reviewing instructional materials and student work, and leading frequent observation/feedback cycles. They are assigned a Classification Level other than '07'.
- Resident teachers are candidates from teacher preparation programs who are participating in a yearlong residency in a classroom with a teacher of record who holds a valid teaching certificate in the area for which the candidate is pursuing certification. They are assigned a Classification Level of '07'.

Student Setup

Ensure each student has a unique number entered in the State Identification Number (state_studentno) field:
- Use the Student Unique ID extract to create a file to upload to eScholar to get a LASID assigned for each student.
- Import the results file into Powerschool to populate the state_studentNo field.
- https://docs.powerschool.com/USALA/louisiana-reports-in-powerschool/reports/state-student-unique-id-extract
The new homeless services page is available for entry of services information.
The student must have a value entered for the Full Time Equivalency field for attendance extract information to be calculated correctly.
To report information for the discipline files, ensure the incident has a location and time code specified, and the student actions have a duration specified.

Running the Extracts

The online help for each extract has documents with the selection criteria for information to be included in the extract, and information on the data sources for each field of the extract.
Data for the extracts is retrieved from the same fields as you are used to reporting data under the current individual submission process, wherever possible.
Information is included for the entire school year (e.g. all active or inactive students in the year, all classes or teachers in the year).
Pre-registered students are excluded from all EdLink extracts until they become active students.
Attendance information is taken from the attendance conversion information, rolled up nightly.
The EdLink sFTP has a folder for each school system. All eligible schools are to be reported in a single file (e.g. prepared at the District level):
- Extract files should be delivered nightly in most instances.
- Extract files may be delivered on a different schedule based on volume, snapshot dates, or other measures as established by LDOE.
- Extract files should be delivered no later than 7:00 pm to ensure processing for the next day.
The scheduler feature available within each PowerSchool State Reporting EdLink extract report can be used to set up a recurring generation of the extracts.
Each LA EdLink extract has a prompt to select the appropriate Remote Connection defined by the Plug-in.
Use the remote connection to the EdLink sFTP that was created under the System/System Settings/Plugin Management Configuration menu option to specify that this connection be used for the automated delivery of the generated extract files to the EdLink sFTP server.
Extract files may also be delivered to the PowerSchool Unified Insights FTP server via manual procedures.

This presentation also walks through each of the steps to get your EdLink connection set up and reports scheduled.

LA Setting up EdLink Rpts.pdf