Gradebook Passback is available for districts who utilize PowerSchool as their Student Information System to transfer points-based assessments and scores nightly from Otus to PowerSchool Gradebook.
* At this time, PowerSchool only supports the passback of points-based assessment scores and does not support the passback of standard scores.
If you wish to set up this integration, please contact the Otus team. You can expect to work closely with a member of our team throughout the process. The basic steps are outlined in the sections below:
Article Table of Contents
Identify Assessment Category Mapping
When teachers create an assessment in Otus, they must select an assessment “type.” The Otus assessment type will map scores back to the corresponding district category in PowerSchool. Below is an example category mapping from Otus to PowerSchool:
The Otus team will confirm the desired category mapping for your district. The PowerSchool categories must be district-level (not specific to a site or grade level) and they must be active in participating teachers' PowerSchool accounts in order for grades to sync to PowerSchool.
💡 Tips from the Otus team:
The categories will map as defined by the district and teachers can change the category, if desired, once the grade has been sent to PowerSchool.
One way to achieve different category mappings by site or grade level is to define a new "generic" PowerSchool category (for example, Otus Assessment) for assessment types that you would like mapped in multiple ways. Then, after the scores are passed back, the teachers can adjust the Otus Assessment category to something else locally in PowerSchool. For example, a generic category mapping for Otus types Test and Quiz might look like this:
Determine a Passback Effective Date
The Effective Date is the date that points-based scores will begin syncing from Otus to PowerSchool once the integration is complete.
Any assessments that have been assigned on or after the effective date and within the current grading period will transfer to PowerSchool.
This date can be in the past, present, or future. Selecting a date from the past means that assessment scores from that date and moving forward will flow to PowerSchool.
Provide PowerSchool API Credentials
If Otus does not already have your PowerSchool API credentials, then you will need to ensure the DataSense PowerSchool plugin is installed and provide us with your PowerSchool URL, Client ID, and Client Secret. The Otus team will provide you with a link to a secure folder to safely upload this information.
See this article for more details about the PowerSchool plugin and API credentials:
Add Teachers to the PowerSchool Grade Passback Group in Otus
In order for teachers' assessment scores to passback, participating teachers must be members of the PowerSchool Grade Passback Teacher Group in Otus:
Once your PowerSchool Grade Passback Teacher Group is created in Otus, you may add participating teachers to the group by following the steps in this article:
Teachers can be added to this group throughout the school year and no additional work is required. Adding a new teacher to the group is all that is needed for their scores to begin passing back each night.
❗️IMPORTANT NOTE: In order for grades to pass back to PowerSchool, the user who has assigned the assessment must be included in the PowerSchool Grade Passback Teacher Group in Otus.
💡 Tips from the Otus Team:
Otus recommends adding to the PowerSchool Grade Passback group any teacher, co-teacher, or administrator who may be assigning assessments in Otus.
Assessments assigned directly to a class from an Otus Administrator (who is not in your SIS) will not passback to the gradebook. This assessment should be assigned to the class by the teacher or co-teacher.
Next Steps
Once the above information has been collected, the Otus team will take it from there! You can expect the team to update you once the configuration is complete and ready for initial testing.
Please be sure to review the teacher's guide to Gradebook Passback (click the button below) and share this article with participating teachers in your district. This will ensure that your team follows the correct steps to successfully utilize this feature.