What to Look for in Top K-12 Student Information Systems

The 2024 K-12 Student Information System Buying Guide is now available, outlining what’s in a student information system, what to look for in a new system, and how to choose the best student information system for your unique school or district needs.

In Part 1 of the student information system buying guide, we look at the role your SIS plays, the critical functionality it should provide, and the most important questions to ask about your current SIS. Part 2 highlights the essential elements to look for in student information system functionality so you’re better equipped to evaluate SISs and make the choice that’s right for your organization.

According to G2, a leading software review site, features to look for in the best K-12 student information systems include family communications abilities, and integration with other core products such as your learning management system and classroom management tools.

Part 3 of the SIS Buying Guide explores the top benefits of the award-winning PowerSchool SIS, part of the Student Information Cloud, to consider as you make a final decision on your new SIS. To further help guide your evaluation, we’ve compiled a list of frequently asked questions about PowerSchool SIS.

PowerSchool SIS offers interoperability with a full lineup of PowerSchool education technology for registration and enrollment, special education, assessment, analytics, learning management, finance, HR, and more. PowerSchool SIS also integrates through bi-directional SIS data exchange with a wide range of premium partner products to create a smooth, efficient, and productive edtech ecosystem.

PowerSchool SIS is certified for Schools Interoperability Framework (SIF®), the Ed-Fi Data Standard, and IMS Global’s OneRoster® 1.1 standard. These designations ensure that applications can interact and share data seamlessly in real time, work across platforms over modern technologies, enable automated reporting, offer single sign-on, and more.

With PowerSchool SIS you can: 

• Access an open system with real-time data exchange and bi-directional data flow
• Use a robust set of custom Application Programming Interface (API) plugins for integration with strategic partners in our Independent Software Vendor (ISV) partner program
• Seamlessly switch between PowerSchool products with the App Switcher and SSO 

PowerSchool SIS is your trusted partner committed to protecting the security of your student, class, school, and district data. With a dedicated security team committed to protecting sensitive student and school data, PowerSchool offers 24x7x365 monitoring of applications, databases, cybersecurity, and infrastructure operations.

PowerSchool also offers secure, best-in-class, optional cloud hosting delivered through Microsoft Azure. PowerSchool Hosting can help reduce risk by providing fully redundant infrastructure services, multiple levels of data recovery, and cutting-edge security technologies. Plus, hosting can take the burden off your IT staff for management, maintenance, and security of the SIS.

With PowerSchool SIS you can: 

• Rest assured that your information is stored in a datacenter facility with an extensive series of physical and virtual security measures in place and compliance with IT security standards
• Have confidence that you can always continue operations with a robust and resilient systems backup, disaster recovery, and business continuity capabilities
• Improve security and reduce costs with optional cloud hosting delivered through Microsoft Azure cloud-based technology, with no need to purchase server hardware or pay staff for maintenance 

PowerSchool SIS provides you with the industry’s largest and most complete team dedicated to compliance reporting. Expert state- and provincial-specific teams ensure compliance with reporting requirements for schools and districts, which includes keeping up to date with changes.

The SIS provides a library of pre-built reports as well as the flexibility to adjust for new requirements, including reporting for remote and hybrid attendance.

With PowerSchool SIS you can:  

• Run validation reports before submitting for state or provincial reporting
• Utilize our partnership with Level Data with integration to its State Data Validation Suite
• Work with a compliance team dedicated to your state or provincial reporting needs 

PowerSchool SIS provides dashboards that give teachers a complete view of the whole child by bringing together academic and non-academic data from multiple sources. The system also gives administrators the information they need to make more informed, effective decisions on resources, curriculum, staffing, and more.

PowerSchool SIS facilitates personalized instruction and learning with clear views of student performance, progress, trends, and more. For example, by connecting PowerSchool SIS to Schoology Learning, your teachers can easily access useful data (like student demographic data along with medical, parent, and discipline information) from the SIS right within Schoology. Using Performance Matters, you can view student performance data from local benchmarks, state assessments, third-party diagnostic assessments, attendance, behavior, and even social and emotional learning (SEL) data—all in one place.

Additional connections with PowerSchool Analytics & Insights bring all your district’s disparate data from multiple sources into a single, online reporting dashboard, making it easier to track overall student, school, and district performance to make data-informed decisions.

With PowerSchool SIS you can: 

Access real-time student information, including demographics, attendance, behavior, enrollment and registration, fees, scheduling, graduation planning, and more 

• Give parents the ability to check scores, attendance, assignments, and more with real-time push notifications
• Use robust data import/export functionality to keep your data accurate and up to date
• Connect with other PowerSchool solutions through interoperability to gain deeper data insights

PowerSchool SIS makes it convenient to engage with families. With our mobile app and online parent portal, parents can easily access student information and communicate with teachers on any device, browser, or operating system. The system provides real-time updates on attendance, grades, assignments, and more.

With PowerSchool SIS you can: 

• Give staff online and mobile access, providing families visibility into the academic performance, attendance, schedules, and school bulletins of all their children in one place
• Improve the quality of in-person parent-teacher meetings since all student performance data is continually communicated
• Offer parents the option to receive real-time push notifications of final grades and all attendance 

PowerSchool SIS is easy to learn and use thanks to the careful and thoughtful design of the user interface, which also works on mobile devices. Teachers can easily navigate the platform and find the data they need with just a couple of clicks. And navigation breadcrumbs make it easy for users to navigate back to relevant screens without having to start over from the home page.

PowerSchool SIS’s teacher gradebook, PowerTeacher Pro, provides all the features teachers need in one convenient location. All classes, rosters, student demographic information, grading periods, standards management, grade calculation setup, and grade scales can be automatically loaded into the gradebook, which eliminates any need for teacher setup and saves valuable time., provides all the features teachers need in one place, making it easy to learn and use. All classes, rosters, student demographic information, grading periods, standards management, grade calculation setup, and grade scales can be automatically loaded into the gradebook, which eliminates any need for teacher setup and saves valuable time.

With PowerSchool SIS you can: 

• Navigate easily with a clean, modern, and intuitive interface
• Access full functionality and data from any browser or device, including mobile
• Access a flexible, easy-to-use gradebook from anywhere
• Implement standards-based or traditional grading, or a combination of the two 

PowerSchool SIS is easily configurable by customers at no cost. The system lets you adapt to the needs of a changing K-12 environment, including the ability to support remote operations, virtual or hybrid learning, and the ever-changing requirements of state compliance reporting.

With PowerSchool SIS you can: 

• Configure numerous system settings without coding knowledge or reliance on PowerSchool
• Access an online portal where other users share customizations they’ve created, available to others at no additional cost
• Create district-defined attendance codes, discipline reports, custom report cards, schedules, and transcripts tailored to specific requirements 

PowerSchool offers 18 hours daily of weekday support, including early mornings and evenings, along with weekend phone support. Additional expert support is available through the PowerSchool Community support site, webinars, and community forums. PowerSchool Services also offers customer education options to train at your own pace with 24×7 access to on-demand training, along with live online and in-person classes to match your needs.

With PowerSchool SIS you can: 

• Receive support weekdays (including early morning and evening) via phone, email, web, and live chat, along with phone support on weekends
• Access aggregated, community-based support with an online portal including knowledgebase articles
• Train at your own pace, including online, on-site, at training events, or within a support community

PowerSchool SIS is built to support teachers, drive student growth, and lead you into the future with the ability to scale operations as you grow and face challenges to come. From easy customizations and an intuitive user experience to industry-leading interoperability, security, and support, PowerSchool SIS is the reliable, agile system that gives schools and districts a leg up in addressing today’s challenges and tomorrow’s opportunities.