PowerSchool, an educational division of Apple Computer, announced Wednesday the availability of PowerSchool Pro 4.2, an upgrade to its Alternative Education Programs management system.
With this new version, PowerSchool also announced it is now compatible with Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger. PowerSchoolis cross-platform, Web-based system offers a choice in database sophistication, including the ODBC-compliant, Structured Query Language (SQL) relational database option, PowerSchool Premier.
Version 4.2 further provides fundamental reporting capabilities for California AEPs and full-fledged reporting capabilities for the Continuing Education program, eliminating "painstaking manual" tracking and the inaccuracies that can result in inadequate funding.
Additional features include:- Interval Attendance will allow users to enter attendance for a class at specified clock-based intervals, instead of only once per meeting. This feature will save staff time and effort spent on manually associating attendance with specific programs.
- Time Attendance allows the administrator to enter attendance hours and minutes for programs that involve work outside of a specific course, such as independent study or work experience time. This feature allows for heightened assurance that credits are tracked toward timely graduation for students.
- Student Program Enrollment provides a means to associate a particular student to a particular AEP, automatically, and without duplicate data entry.
- Backfill is a necessary feature for the California Continuing Education program in which hours recorded in one week can be credited towards prior weeks where the student did not achieve the maximum number of hours allowed for average daily attendance (ADA). This feature helps maximize funding opportunities.
- ADA Reports will allow schools to streamline AEP data into the proper California ADA forms - automation that saves significant time and effort, and ensures accuracy to drive proper funding.
PowerSchool version 4.2 is scheduled to ship May 17 in time for full implementation prior to the 2005 back-to-school season.