PowerSchool is a computer program used by teachers to record student information, such as grades and attendance. So far, the new computer system, operated by for-profit “i.e., big education” company Pearson Inc., has been a mess.
It is probably not as bad as an Obamacare insurance exchange website or NC TRACKS, but it is close.
Anyway, I have been monitoring the various technical issues associated with PowerSchool and found the following one to be rather amusing:
| When entering attendance, users get Save Fail error message. | Fix is expected not in the next PowerSchool Upgrade coming in October, but rather the upgrade after that. Escalated to Pearson. They are working on fixes. | Completion date TBD. |
So, the system is failing to save attendance data, but that issue can wait until the upgrade after next. And what does “Escalated to Pearson” mean?
In all seriousness, it is inevitable that a new computer system will encounter technical glitches like this. What concerns me is the amount of time and money being used to correct them.
Teachers must be pulling (or perhaps escalating) their hair out.
