The Plans module in Otus allows administrators to design district-specific academic, behavioral, or personalized learning plans for any student and track their progress across classes and school years. It all starts when an administrator creates a template.
❗️ Templates can only be created in administrator accounts. Teachers can add students and updates to a student's plan.
💡 New to Plans? Start with the Plans Overview before diving in.
🛠️ Before You Begin
Make sure you have:
Log into you administrator account in Otus
Access to the Plans module from the left-hand navigation menu
Any grading scales you plan to use are already configured in Control Center
📋 Create the Template
Step 1: Navigate to the Plans module from the left-hand menu.
Step 2: Select Create Template in the top right corner.
✏️ Enter Title and Settings
Title: Enter a Title for the plan. (60-character limit)
Status: Select a Status scale from the dropdown menu.
The status scale allows educators to identify the overall status of the plan for each student.
The scale used here can differ from individual item scales (see Step 3 below).
Scales are drawn from the grading scales available in your district.
❗️ The grading scale cannot be changed once the plan has been published.
Description: Enter a Template Description to describe the goals and objectives of the plan.
You can format your description with different text styles, bullets, and links. (5,000-character limit)
💡 Tip: Include specific instructions about items in the Plan, examples showing what should be entered in columns, and/or the expected goals or results.
Customize: Set your Customization toggle:
ON (default) - Allows teachers and administrators to show or hide certain plan items for specific students.
OFF - No items in the plan can be hidden or shown by any teacher or administrator, including the administrator who authored the plan.
💡 Customization can be toggled ON or OFF again after publishing. Learn more about editing a published template.
Student Attributes: Select the student attributes to include (optional).
📂 Add Sections
Each template is organized into sections, and each section contains items tracked across customizable columns.
Enter a Section Title (Required).
Enter a Section Description (Optional).
📝 Add Items and Columns
Each row in a section is an item, which is what you want to track. Each item is made up of columns, which is how you will track it.
Enter an Items column heading (Required - 140-character limit).
Enter a Status column heading (Required - 140-character limit).
Name the item (Required - 140-character limit).
Select a scale for the item to establish the grading scale used for that item.
Each item's scale can be unique or match the template's overall status scale.
Connect third-party data by choosing a third-party dataset and assessment to automate updated scores into your plan. (optional)
❗️Scales cannot be changed after publishing. Learn more.
Use the Clone or Delete options to manage items as needed.
❗️ Use caution when deleting from a published template. Learn more.
Use the column controls to delete or move columns left or right.
❗️ Use caution when deleting from a published template. Learn more.
Add additional column types as needed: Text, Status, Dropdown, or Date.
❗️ A minimum of one column is required per section.
Select Add Item to add new rows to the section.
Select Add Section to create additional sections.
💡 Which column type should I choose?
Status: Best for tracking performance or progress over time. Also enables data visualizations for current student status within an item.
Dropdown: Best for limited, one-time selections that do not require analysis or progress tracking (e.g., staff member names, intervention frequencies, curricular resources).
Text: Best when there is a large variety of possible entries. Supports bold, italics, underline, and hyperlink formatting.
🔁 Reorder/Clone/Delete Sections
Reorder:
Step 1: Click Reorder Sections.
Step 2: Click and drag the section to the desired position.
Step 3: Click Save.
Clone:
Step 1: Select the ellipsis menu (⋯) next to the section you want to copy.
Step 2: Click Clone Section.
The cloned section will appear at the end of the section list. Scroll to the bottom to view, edit, and reorder it.
Delete:
Step 1: Select the ellipsis menu (⋯) next to the section you want to remove.
Step 2: Click Delete Section.
❗️ Use caution when deleting a section from a published template. Learn more.
👁️ Preview/Save/Publish
Preview: Click Preview to see what a published template looks like before going live.
Save as Draft: Click Save to save your progress as a draft. The template will appear in the template list with a Draft tag until it is published. The draft tag will be removed as soon as it is published.
Publish: Click Publish to make the template available to all teachers and administrators in the district.
💡 Tip: Complete the template entirely before publishing. If changes need to be made after publishing, follow the guidance in Editing Published Plan Templates.
🔒 Set Plan Permissions
By default, only the administrator who created the plan template can adjust its permissions. However, you can allow other administrators to manage permissions.
Step 1: Select the ellipsis menu (⋯) next to the plan template.
Step 2: Click Permissions.
Step 3: Configure each permission type
Permission types:
➡️ General Permissions: Toggle ON to allow other administrator users to update the plan template permissions.
➡️ Student Permissions: Give students access to view their plan, view notes or items attached to their plan, or provide status updates.
➡️ Family Permissions: Give family users access to view their linked student's plans, view notes or attached items, or provide status updates.
➡️ Educator Permissions: Choose to allow other administrators or teachers to edit permissions for individual plans.
⭐️ Example Template
Otus Live
Click here to view a video from our Otus Live series on how to get started with plans and how to create a plan template.
Click here to view a video from our Otus Live series on how to get started with plans and how to create a plan template.
FAQ
Click here to view frequently asked questions.
Click here to view frequently asked questions.
Once published, who can see this template?
All teachers and administrators in the district can see and add students to the plan. Learn more here.
Can we create a grading scale that is only used for plans (and not used in assessments)?
Yes! From the Main Admin account, in Control Center, create the desired grading scale and keep the boxes for Viewing and Creating Assessments unchecked. More information can be found here.