Glossary of Scheduling Terms
The following terms are used frequently throughout this manual in the online help in reference to scheduling.
Alternate Course
(see Course Alternate)
Alternate Request
A course requested by a student that can be substituted when the regular course request cannot be scheduled. Alternate requests are processed by the student scheduler (Scheduling > Student Schedules > Student Scheduler > Schedule Students) if a student cannot be scheduled into every regular request and there are open periods in the student's schedule. Related term: Regular Course Request.
Block
A group of course-sections defined in the Course Catalog that can be scheduled based on a single course request. A block course allows you to schedule students together as a group for two or more courses. Blocks can also be set up so that the students do not have to attend the same sections of all courses, but must be scheduled for all of the block's blockettes. Related terms: Blockette, Course Catalog, and Proxy Block.
Blockette
A course-section within a block. When a block is requested for a student, the student scheduler (Scheduling > Student Schedules > Student Scheduler > Schedule Students) schedules the block's blockettes, not the block itself. In setting up the Course Catalog, blockettes should be created first, and then the block. Related terms: Block, Course Catalog, Course-Section, and Proxy Block.
Class
A session when a course is taught. Class can also refer to the body of students expected to graduate in a particular year, for example, the Class of 2021. This sense of the term is used in eSchoolPlus in relation to class rank. Related term: Session.
Classification Weight
A value used to balance course-section scheduling based on student classifications, such as Multiple Handicaps or Special Education. If your district uses classification weights for scheduling, a student cannot be scheduled into a course-section if the student's classification weight would cause the course-section's maximum weight to be exceeded. Related term: Course-Section.
Course
(see Regular Course)
Course Alternate
A course to substitute if the student scheduler (Scheduling > Student Schedules > Student Scheduler > Schedule Students) is unable to schedule a regular course request for a student. The alternate is defined in the regular course's Course Catalog record. If the regular course and course alternate cannot be scheduled, then the student course alternate is scheduled. Related terms: Regular Course, Student Alternate, and Student/Course Alternate.
Course Catalog
The table used for storing course records, including both courses and blocks. In eSchoolPlus, two types of catalogs can be set up, one for the district and the other for individual buildings. The District Course Catalog can be used to create catalogs for buildings. Similarly, new courses can be added at the building-level, then uploaded to the district catalog for downloading to other Building Course Catalogs. Related terms: Block, Blockette, and Proxy Block.
Course Group
A group of courses used in sequencing to link multiple courses. For example, a Math 9 course group might contain a set of courses, any one of which would meet a student's requirement for Grade 09 Math. You can also create a course group to include all codes for a course when a separate code is used in each building where the course is taught. For example, if Pre-Algebra is taught in multiple middle schools within a district, a Pre-Algebra group could be set up to include all Pre-Algebra course codes used in all buildings. This group could then be used in a sequence to determine whether a student has fulfilled the prerequisite for taking Algebra I. Course groups can be set up for building-level courses and if you use the District Course Catalog, for district-level courses as well. Related term: Course Sequence.
Course Request
(see Regular Course Request )
Course Sequence
A record defining the relationship between either courses or course groups. Sequences can be set up to establish prerequisites for taking a course, as described under Course Group. A sequence could also be used to link courses to determine whether a course can be scheduled with, not with, or before a second course in the same scheduling interval. Sequences can be set up for building-level courses and if you use the District Course Catalog, for district-level courses as well. Related terms: Course Group and Scheduling Interval.
Course-Section
A record in the Master Schedule that determines when, where, and by whom the section is taught. Individual course-sections should be set up for a course that is offered at different times and locations. Course-sections can also be set up to define the blockettes to be scheduled in place of a block. Related terms: Block, Blockette, Master Schedule, and Regular Course.
District Course Request
A future year request entered through Student Career Planner in eSchoolPlus or Home Access Center. These requests use -1 as a generic building number, since students' future year buildings have not yet been assigned. You can import district requests and assign students' next-year registration buildings using the Scheduler Error Scan (Scheduling > Student Schedules > Student Scheduler > Scheduler Error Scan) or the Requests option (Scheduling > Student Schedules > Student > Requests). Related term: Regular Course Request.
Doubleton
A regular course that will likely have only two course-sections set up. Courses are defined as doubletons in the Course Catalog. During the scheduling process, the Conflict Matrix report can be run to analyze singletons and doubletons since courses with fewer sections generally have a greater potential for conflicts. Related terms: Course-Section, Regular Course, and Singleton.
House/Team
A designation applied to a group of students for scheduling the students as a group. House/team codes are defined in Registration's House/Teams table and are assigned to students in the Building and Next Year panels of their Registration pages. If your building uses multiple bell schedules, you can also assign house/team codes to timetables. Timetables are applied to course-sections in either the Course Catalog or if overrides are allowed, in the Master Schedule. Related terms: Course Catalog, Master Schedule, Multiple Bell Schedule, and Timetable.
Interval
(see Scheduling Interval)
Master Schedule
The table used in eSchoolPlus for storing information for the course-sections in which students can be scheduled. This can include the sessions for regular course-sections or the blockettes that should be scheduled for a block. A Master Schedule record defines general information for a course-section, such as building, maximum seating, and grade restrictions, as well as specifics, such as the class period, room, marking periods, and mark types that apply to the section. The Master Schedule record for a block course can also contain the block's blockettes. In this case, you must set up Master Schedule records for the blockettes first before creating the record for the block. Related terms: Block, Blockette, Course-Section, and Session.
Modeling
The simulation of a schedule based on student requests on the Requests page (Scheduling > Student Schedules > Student > Requests). Additionally, when you add and drop courses and make other changes to a student's schedule, a model is created to enable you to cancel the changes if needed. If the model is acceptable, you can keep it as the student's schedule. Typically, this is done in the current year for individual students, as opposed to next year scheduling for multiple students. Related Term: Regular Course Request.
Multiple Bell Schedule
A schedule that uses house/teams and multiple timetables to enable different bell schedules to be used in the same building. For example, students on one house/team can be dismissed from Period 1 at 8:00 and students on another house/team at 8:10, thereby limiting hallway traffic during period changes. Under this form of scheduling, teams are assigned to timetables, students are assigned to teams, and teams (and their timetables) are assigned to course-sections. If teams in a building have timetables with different start and end times, a separate course-section must be set up for each team/period. Related terms: House/Team, Period, and Timetable.
Multiple Building Scheduling
The scheduling of students who also take courses in buildings other than their buildings of enrollment. In this case, you must schedule the course by running one of the Schedule Entry options (Scheduling > Student Schedules > Student > Schedule Entry) or the Scheduled Course Load/Unload/Lock/Erase option (Scheduling > Student Schedules > Student Utilities > Scheduled Course Load/Unload/Lock/Erase). Note, however, that the system does not validate for conflicts with courses already scheduled in the enrollment building. In addition, if the MBS building uses the Multiple Bell Schedule feature, then the student needs to be assigned a house/team that applies to the course being scheduled. Related terms: House/Team and Timetable.
Period
A segment of the school day, as defined in the Periods table (Administration > Scheduling Setup > Setup > Scheduling Periods). A period is associated with specific times in a cycle day in the Timetable. eSchoolPlus uses two types of periods: attendance periods and scheduling periods. Attendance periods identify when attendance may be taken. Scheduling periods determine when classes meet. Attendance and scheduling periods are often the same, but can be different. Related terms: House/Team, Multiple Bell Schedule, and Timetable.
Proxy Block (or Proxy Course)
A block containing a list of courses (blockettes) that should be scheduled when the proxy is requested for a group of students. For example, you can create a Grade 06 proxy block that includes the set of courses that should be scheduled for all 6th grade students. A proxy block does not force students to take the blockette courses as a group and instead enables them to be scheduled individually into the different sections. Including a block course with a proxy block is also useful, for example, if you want to group students for some but not all courses, and you have multiple course-sections of the block course that include the blockette courses you want to group. Related terms: Block, Blockette, and Course-Section.
Regular Course
A course defined as a record in the Course Catalog that will have sessions scheduled in the Master Schedule. Course records can also be created for scheduling study halls and lunch. Related terms: Course Catalog, Course-Section, and Study Hall.
Regular Course Request
A request that the student scheduler (Scheduling > Student Schedules > Student Scheduler > Schedule Students) should attempt to schedule before trying alternates. Related terms: District Course Request, Student Alternate, and Student/Course Alternate.
Scheduling Interval
The scheduling time period identifying when the course is scheduled, such as a full year or semester. Intervals are defined in the Scheduling Intervals option (Administration > Scheduling Setup > Setup > Scheduling Intervals). An interval indicates how many times a year a building goes through the scheduling process. It also determines the requests and marking periods that will be processed in scheduling.
Session
Indicates when and where a course-section meets, as defined in the Master Schedule. Session information includes periods within the day, cycle days, marking periods, room number, primary and secondary staff, and mark reporting settings. Since sessions can span multiple periods, most course-sections require only one session. Additional sessions are needed if classes meet in different periods on different days or in non-consecutive periods. Related terms: Course-Section, Master Schedule, and Period.
Singleton
A regular course that will likely have only one course-section set up. Courses are defined as singletons in the Course Catalog. During the scheduling process, the Conflict Matrix report can be run to analyze singletons (and doubletons) since courses with fewer sections generally have a greater potential for producing conflicts. Related terms: Course-Section, Doubleton, and Regular Course.
Staff Date Tracking
For state reporting purposes, some districts are required to manage staff changes by entering start and end dates for primary and secondary staff assignments. If staff date tracking is used in your school district, the Master Schedule's Primary Staff and Secondary Staff fields will be hyperlinks for opening the Staff Date Tracking window where date range records can be entered.
The Staff Date Tracking window includes start and end dates for the staff assignments. Your state reporting requirements will determine the other fields that display. For more information, refer to your state reporting documentation or your state reporting team lead at PowerSchool.
State Course
A course defined by your state and identified by a state code. If your state requires these codes in printing transcripts or filing state reports, you must set up course equivalency information in Scheduling's State Courses table (Scheduling > Courses > District Courses > State Courses) to map Course Catalog codes to the state codes. Besides descriptions and local codes, state course records can also store marks and credit information drawn from their course equivalents, although this depends on your district's procedures.
Student Alternate
An alternate request that can be used in place of any course that cannot be scheduled. Related terms: Alternate Request, Course Alternate, and Student/Course Alternate.
Student/Course Alternate
A request by a student for an alternate course if a specific regular course cannot be scheduled. For example, a student requests Psychology and indicates that if this cannot be scheduled, then schedule Sociology. Related terms: Alternate Request, Course Alternate, and Student Alternate.
Student Linking
For state reporting purposes, some districts are required to define which students are being served by a secondary staff member when the students are being pulled out of a class or the staff member is being pushed into the class. Master Schedule records (Scheduling > Courses > Course Sections > Master Schedule) enable linking if your district needs to link students to their secondary staff members for these purposes. For information on your state reporting requirements, refer to your state reporting documentation or your state reporting team lead at PowerSchool. See also: Master Schedule.
Study Hall
A study period scheduled during a student's open period. eSchoolPlus supports two types of study halls. You can use the Schedule Study Halls option (Scheduling > Student Schedules > Student Scheduler > Schedule Study Halls) to fill in open periods with study halls. You can also set up study halls as regular course-sections in the Course Catalog, which allows them to be scheduled as course requests. Related terms: Course Catalog and Period.
Timetable
A record listing the start and end times of periods, as defined in the Scheduling Timetables option (Administration > Scheduling Setup > Setup > Scheduling Timetables). Periods determine when course-sections meet. If your building uses multiple bell schedules, you can assign timetables to house/teams and define unique start and end times for the periods in each team's timetable. Related terms: House/Team, Multiple Bell Schedule, and Period.