Publishing Data

SIF Events

Most of the data that the state of Massachusetts requires is published through Events. Events are generated in PowerSchool by adding, changing or deleting a record. The SIF Agent is then notified that a record has been changed and publishes the data according to the requirements of the state.

Although most of the data the state requires is published to DESE via SIF Events, there are some instances where the state requests specific data, rather than relying on Events. All filters and settings are handled by the SMP, to ensure that the SMP is unaffected by the core SIF Agent settings.

Note: The state has requested that only records where data has actually changed be sent. When an Event is to be published, the SIF Agent checks the data that is generated from the Event and compares this information with what is on the SIF Dashboard. If the two Events are exactly the same, the SIF Agent suppresses the Event for that zone. If the Events are different, the Event is published according to the rules below.

Add Events

An Add Event contains all the required state elements for the object.There are two scenarios where Add Events are published by the SIF Agent:

1. When a new record has been added into PowerSchool and this record meets the state requirements.
2. When a record has previously not met the state requirements for publishing, but the record has since been updated to meet the necessary requirements.

Note: In some cases, when an Add Event is published for an object there are other objects that have dependencies on the first object. For example, StudentSchoolEnrollment is dependent on StudentPersonal. When a StudentPersonal Event is published as an Add Event, the SIF Agent subsequently publishes all dependent objects as well. For example, if a StudentPersonal record is sent as an Add Event, the SIF Agent also publishes Add Events for StudentSchoolEnrollment, StudentSectionEnrollment and StudentSectionMarks for anything related to that [Students] record.

Change Events

When a change occurs in PowerSchool, a Change Event is published if the following two conditions are met:

1. A previous Add Event has been published, and
2. A record still meets the state requirements.

Note: Under certain circumstances, changing one record will also publish data for another record or SIF Object. For example, when a change is made to an enrollment in a class (which relates to the StudentSectionEnrollment SIF Object), one Event will be generated for the enrollment and another will be generated for the grade (which relates to the StudentSectionMarks SIF Object).

Delete Events

Delete Events are published when:

1. Data that was previously published by the SIF Agent no longer meets Massachusetts requirements for being published.
2. When a record has been deleted within PowerSchool.

When a Delete Event is published, all the required data elements must be published with the record. To accommodate this, the SIF Agent stores a cached copy of the record in the SIFEventsMonitor table with each Add or Change that is published. Then, when the SIF Agent publishes a Delete Event, it retrieves the cached data and publishes it as a SIF Delete.

Note: There are SIF Objects that are dependent on each other, such as StudentPersonal and StudentSchoolEnrollment. If the SIF Agent publishes a Delete Event for any of these dependent objects, it will then subsequently publish Delete Events for the other dependent objects. For example, if a StudentPersonal record is not missing a required element, the SIF Agent will publish Delete Events for StudentPersonal, StudentSchoolEnrollment, StudentSectionEnrollment and StudentSectionMarks for anything related to that student.