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How do I use ClassTag with PowerSchool?
How do I use ClassTag with PowerSchool?
Andrew M. avatar
Written by Andrew M.
Updated over a week ago

There are multiple ways to transfer roster data from PowerSchool to ClassTag. They include:

  1. Daily sync through a 3rd-party service like Clever and ClassLink

  2. Daily sync from the CSV files shared via SFTP (with or without ClassTag’s PowerSchool plug-in)

  3. Manual uploads of the CSV files directly on ClassTag

This article covers the second option - daily sync with CSV files and SFTP.

For roster synchronization, ClassTag can only operate with OneRoster-formatted CSV files.

It is up to you to prepare valid files and send them to ClassTag’s SFTP server.

The plug-in can help you to create the data export templates that you can then use when setting up PowerSchool AutoSend via SFTP.

Once the files are successfully shared with ClassTag, we will ask you to finalize the sync setup following the instructions here - at this stage, you've already completed steps 1 and 2. After the sync is complete, if you're happy with your data, you may leave the sync enabled and it will run automatically once a day. Please note that you can customize the synchronization start time on the SIS Rostering page to make sure the data is synced with ClassTag right after you send the updates via SFTP.

Each synchronization generates a sync report for each file. The reports are available in school or district settings depending on how the sync is set up.

Users do not receive any notifications as a result of the initial sync.

PowerSchool Plug-in

The easiest way to prepare valid OneRoster files would be to use ClassTag’s plug-in for PowerSchool. The plug-in allows you to easily create data export templates that you can use when setting up PowerSchool AutoSend via SFTP. Please note that the plug-in may not work for your particular data configuration in PowerSchool. If that's the case, you may still use other available tools to prepare the OneRoster files.

You will need to send three CSV files to ClassTag. They are:

  • users.csv

  • classes.csv

  • enrollments.csv

To download the ZIP file with the plug-in, please click here.

If you need help with installing the plug-in, please review the plug-in installation guide.

❗ Important note: Please make sure you install the plug-in using the original ZIP file. No need to unzip it or extract the plugin.xml file before the installation.

Please follow the instructions below to create data export templates.

users.csv

Log into your PowerSchool.

Click on Setup>System.

Then click on “Page and Data Management” in “Data Management”

Then click “Export Data” in “Data Export”

Open the “Category” dropdown and select “Additional Data Sets”

In the “Export From” field, select NQ - com.classtag.one_roster_users (NQ stands for Named Queries)

Please select USERS records and adjust labels used on export.

Key things:

  • Make sure to remove the USERS. from every label

  • Make sure the language label is singular

  • Depending on how you manage contact phone numbers, you may want to use the sms label for the USERS.phone field, and the phone label for the USERS.sms field

  • Dcid field is not taking part in the sync, so it may be excluded from the list

Please see the screenshots below for how it needs to be set up.

Once the labels are corrected, please click Next.

Review the data. If it is what you want to share with ClassTag, please click Next.

Update the export summary:

  • File name should be users.csv

  • Line delimiter - CR

  • Field delimiter - Comma

  • Character set - UTF-8

  • Include comma headers - enabled

  • Surround field values in quotes - disabled

Click “Save Template”.

Provide a name, e.g. classtag_users. Save as new.

When the users.csv template is ready, please prepare the classes.csv and enrollments.csv templates.

classes.csv

For the classes.csv file, please select NQ - com.classtag.one_roster_classes in additional data sets.

Select all fields in SECTIONS.

Remove SECTIONS. from every label.

Please see the example below.

Click Next to preview the data.

If the data looks good, please click Next to update the export summary:

  • File name should be classes.csv

  • Line delimiter - CR

  • Field delimiter - Comma

  • Character set - UTF-8

  • Include comma headers - enabled

  • Surround field values in quotes - disabled

Click “Save Template”.

Provide template name - e.g. classtag_classes.

Save as new template.

Next, please prepare the enrollments.csv file.

enrollments.csv

For the enrollments.csv file, please select NQ - com.classtag.one_roster_enrollments in additional data sets.

Select all fields.

Remove CC. from every label.

Please see the example below.

Click Next to preview the data.

If the data looks good, please click Next to update the export summary:

  • File name should be enrollments.csv

  • Line delimiter - CR

  • Field delimiter - Comma

  • Character set - UTF-8

  • Include comma headers - enabled

  • Surround field values in quotes - disabled

Click “Save Template”.

Provide template name - e.g. classtag_enrollments.

Save as a new template.

Once all three templates are ready, please reach out to ClassTag support at customersuccess@classtag.com, let us know you need to get access to ClassTag’s SFTP server, and we will provide you with the SFTP credentials that you can use when setting up AutoSend.

After the steps above are complete, you will need to follow the OneRoster SFTP sync setup guide to finalize the automated synchronization setup.

Processing Student Contacts

ClassTag's plug-in exports guardian information from the PowerSchool's Contacts page.

All files produced with the help of the plug-in follow OneRoster v1.1 specification. OneRoster v1.1 only supports three roles for student contacts. They are:

  • guardian

  • parent

  • relative

Since PowerSchool supports much more relationships and tags than that, the plug-in modifies the Student Information System (SIS) data so that it matches OneRoster v1.1. The following rules are applied to transform PowerSchool Contacts into OneRoster Users:

  • If a Contact's relationship is mother or father, it is transformed into parent role for the User.

  • If a Contact has the legal guardian flag set to true, his role is transformed into guardian role for the User.

When processing the users.csv file, ClassTag only adds Users with roles parent, guardian and relative as student guardians. But since the plug-in doesn't currently set the role to relative for any PowerSchool Contacts, it means that Contacts with relationships like uncle, grandmother, sister and others will not be added as guardians on ClassTag unless they are legal guardian in PowerSchool.

It is also worth mentioning that the legal guardian flag is usually enabled in PowerSchool for some US states, but not all of them. If this field is not enabled in your PowerSchool, then the plug-in will only rely on contact relationships with students.

If the specified rules do not really work for your PowerSchool or you have additional questions, please let us know at customersuccess@classtag.com.

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