Portal Navigation & Student Info
The Portal page is the key to navigation throughout Focus. This document provides the framework for administrators to change preferences, run student searches, and look at student demographic data. This document also describes how to build a report using student fields called Advanced Report.
Portal Header
1. Focus /District Logo: Click on the logo to return to the Portal page.
2. Select Student/Staff: This pull-down is available at the top of all screens. Click on the pull-down, select the Students tab or the Staff tab and a list of all students/staff displays. Filter by student/staff name or student/staff ID. Clicking on a student/staff name navigates to the Student/User Info page for the selected student/staff.
3. Screen Name: Displays the name of the screen currently being viewed. Click on the screen name to add the page to Favorites.
4. Username: Displays your first and last name.
5. Profile/Role: Displays your assigned profile or role. A pull-down displays if you have more than one assigned profile, allowing you to switch between your assigned profiles, such as Coach and Teacher.
6. School: Displays the name of your school. If access to more than one school is granted, the school name displays in a pull-down where you can switch between schools, as needed.
7. School Year: Allows changing from the current year to view previous/future years.
8. Marking Period: Allows changing from the current marking period to view previous/future marking periods. Defaults to the currently active marking period.
9. SIS/ ERP: Clicking SIS takes you to the Student Information System. Clicking ERP takes you to Enterprise Resource Planning for finance, human resources, and payroll (depending on your district).
Portal Body
1. Main Menu: The Focus navigation menu is along the left side of the screen. If you hover over any of the menu icons, the menu opens and the menu titles appear. Because you may have different Preferences set up, your menu may be located along the top of the screen.
2. Dashboards/Portals: The district can create various dashboards for different user profiles. These usually contain graphical representations of student/staff data. If you have multiple profiles that have different portal block options, you can select the desired dashboard from the pull-down.
3. Last Login: Security feature that shows the your last date and time of login.
4. Alerts: Profile based system alerts e.g., teachers that have not taken attendance, admin discipline referrals that have not been processed, etc.
5. District & School Announcements: This contains notifications or reminders from both the school and/or district. These can be profile specific.
6. Upcoming Events: District and school calendar of upcoming events.
7. Find a Student/User: Search for a student/user from the Portal page by entering student/user name or ID number. Use the pull-down to select the sub-menu to view.
8. Focus University: Online training videos and help documents available for reference. These are NOT district specific.
9. Favorites/Recent Programs: Quick links to access the programs within the Focus menu that were flagged as Favorites from the screen name. Recent Programs displays a list of the most recently visited screens within Focus. Clicking the link navigates to the corresponding screen, as well as the student previously viewed, if applicable.
Portal Footer
1. Magnifying Glass: Used to filter and search through all of the menu items to quickly locate a specific menu option.
2. Help: Provides contextual help for the open screen. Links to Focus University can be opened in a new window. Allows users to sign up for a Focus University account and receive email notices for webinars.
3. Logout: Closes the Focus application.
By default, Focus times out after 24 minutes of inactivity unless the District has modified the time.
- What button can be used to select to navigate back to the Portal page from any other screen in Focus?
- What are possible alerts that might be seen in the Alerts block?
- How can you search all menu options within Focus for a specific menu/screen?
The My Preferences screen provides administrators with options to customize the display of the portal and information included in student lists.
The page defaults to the Display Options tab. This tab is used primarily to customize the display of the Portal screen.
1. Go to the Users menu and select My Preferences.
The screen defaults to the Display Options tab.
2. Highlight Color: Use these options to choose the highlight colors of menus, tabs and headers in Focus. Please do not select red, as that is the default color when viewing a prior or future school year.
3. Student Info Layout: This option determines how student information is displayed when accessing a student record. The options include One Column, Two Columns, or Three Columns.
4. Display User Images: Select this option to display user photographs.
5. Use Sidebar Menu: Use this option to display the Main Menu along the side of the Portal screen. The district may default the Main Menu to display at the top of the Portal page.
6. Default Filters On: This option turns column filters on by default on all applicable tables throughout the system.
7. Date Format: Select the formatting for the display of dates throughout the system.
8. Default to ERP: Select to default to ERP instead of SIS. This is applicable to users/districts only using ERP.
9. Enable Two Factor Authentication: Select this option to require additional authentication upon logging into Focus via the Google Authenticator application.
10. Click Save to apply any changes made.
The options on this tab determine how to search for students and how student data in student lists displays.
1. Go to the Users menu and select My Preferences.
2. Click the Student Listing tab.
3. Student Sorting: Determines sorting of student Names in a student list. Sorting by Grade, Name puts students in alphabetical order by their grade. Sorting by Enrollment Date, Name places newly enrolled students at the bottom of the list.
4. File Export Type: Select the file type to be used for exporting lists and reports.
5. Default Student Category: Select the tab to be the default (open) tab on the Student Info screen after searching for a student.
6. Default User Category: Select the tab in the user record to be the default (open) tab on the User Info screen.
7. Default Employee Category: This option is for ERP only. Select the tab in the employee record to be the default (open) tab on the Employee Info screen.
8. Display student search screen by default, Display customized list by default, Search all schools by default, Search inactive students by default, and Skip the results page when there is only one result: These preferences set various options for student information searches. It is recommended that the first option Display student search screen by default be enabled to allow you to search for students by name, ID or other specific criteria before navigating to the applicable report or data.
9. Student Name Format: Determines how the student’s name appears in student search lists. Nicknames will only appear if listed on the student’s demographic record.
10. Display Student ID in student lists, Display Local ID in student lists, Display grade level in student lists, Display alert icons in student lists, and Display student photos in student lists: These preferences are used to select which information appears along with the student name in student search results.
11. Click Save to apply any changes made.
Focus provides several ways to search for students, both individually and by similar information in student records. The Student Search module appears on many screens throughout Focus.
Option 1: The Select Student/Staff pull-down can be used to find students using names and ID numbers.
Option 2: The Find a Student/User section on the main Portal page is a quick way to search for students. Use the pull-down menu to select a sub-menu to view for that student.
Option 3: Go to the Students menu and select Student Info.
The Search Screen displays when menu options, other than reports and setup, are selected.
1. Navigate to the Find a Student section on the Portal page.
2. Menu: Select which student menu displays when you search for the student, such as Demographics, Absences, Grades, etc.
3. Search All Schools: Select to search for students at all schools to which you have access. Only available if you have access to more than one school.
4. Include Inactive Students: Select to search for students who have withdrawn during the current school year.
5. Include Previous Years Inactive Students: This option displays once Include Inactive Students has been selected. Select to search for students who have been active in the school or district at any time (as long as that previous data is loaded into Focus).
6. More Search Options: Select to search for students based on specific student fields. This will be covered in detail later in this training.
7. Click Search once the search criteria has been set.
Search Criteria: Searches are NOT case sensitive.
| Example | Results |
|---|---|
John Smith johnson, betty |
Full student name (searches are not case sensitive). Multiple student names cannot be listed. |
| Ab |
Students with a last OR first name beginning with “Ab.” |
| ab, |
Students with a last name beginning with “ab.” |
| ,ab |
Students with a first name beginning with “ab.” |
|
Ab,c -or- ab,c |
Students with a last name beginning with “ab” and a first name beginning with “c.” |
|
A b -or- a b |
Students with the first name beginning with an “a” and the last name beginning with a “b.” |
|
1234567 |
Student with the specified local (district) student ID, Texas Unique ID. |
|
1234567 2345678 3456789 |
Students with the specified student ID numbers. Multiple student ID numbers can be entered using a comma or space as a separator. The student numbers can also be copied from an Excel, word or pdf list and pasted directly into a student search box. |
The Student Search screen also provides a link to More Search Options, giving the ability to search by detailed data for a student or a group of students. This feature lists every student data field the administrator has profile permission to view.
Click More Search Options on any Search Screen.
This displays a list of modules that can be opened and closed by clicking the gray triangles. Selecting multiple options will yield very specific search results.
Many pull-down menus include a Filter text box to narrow the selections without scrolling through all of the options. The filter updates the pull-down in real time, enabling the results to be narrowed with full or partial entries. There are links to Check all options and to Clear all options.
If selected in My Preferences, Alert icons may display next to students' names in student lists throughout Focus. Clicking the icon directs you to the student field in Student Info on which the alert is set if you have permission to view that field.
Search for students 3 different ways:
- Pull a list of all students within a school using the Find a Student section on the Portal page.
- Use More Search Options to pull one grade level of students.
- Use More Search Options > Scheduling to pull a list of all students scheduled with a teacher of your choice.
Student sub-menus are quick links to view specific student data.
1. Conduct a student search using any of the options described in the Searching for Students section.
2. Click the student name to open Student Info.
The top sub-menu options vary depending on your profile permissions and active screens (set up by the district).
The left navigation menu displays tabs for categories of student information that differ based on profile permissions. The Filter text box can be used to quickly navigate to a specific category tab or field.
The student record opens to the category set as the default category in My Preferences.
The Enrollment sub-menu displays the student’s enrollment records, previous school information, and grade promotion status.
Click View on a row in the chart to display that record in vertical format.
The Schedule sub-menu displays the student’s current schedule. Viewing by marking period options may be dependent upon the school level; for example, Elementary schools will only see Full Year tab.
The Requests sub-menu displays a secondary student’s course requests which were used to create the schedule.
The Grades sub-menu is used to display the student’s gradebook grades, course history, GPA and class rank.
Click the percentages and/or letter grades to get a detailed view of all of the assignments/scores for that course/period.
Click Print Assignment Grades to get a detailed view of all of the assignments for each period.
Assignments with scores and additional information will appear by class period and teacher.
Both View Details Report and Print Assignment Grades show all of the same information students would see.
Click View Detailed Report to display a student’s course history.
The Course History screen provides detailed course information.
The Absences sub-menu displays an Absence Summary of the student’s attendance. The Absences sub-menu displays days where there is an absent code in at least one period or a comment for the day. To display attendance for all days, use the Attendance Chart.
The Referrals sub-menu provides a list of referrals the student has received along with some additional discipline related information. View options vary based on profile permissions.
The Test History sub-menu displays a list of all standardized tests the student has taken that have been imported into Focus.
Displays the total number of local and state assessments in the record.
Filters the test results to find a specific test.
View score details by clicking the gray arrow for any test.
The Grad sub-menu provides an overview of a student’s progress towards satisfying graduation requirements based upon their cohort year and/or assigned graduation requirement program.
Click Evaluate other programs to view the student’s progress in other graduation programs.
If the district is using any SSS program, this menu provides access to forms for programs like ESE, 504 and/or MTSS that may be in use by the district. Menu options are profile-driven.
If the district is using the Focus School Choice module, this menu will provide access to any Choice applications for the student along with the acceptance status among other information.
If the district is utilizing the Focus K12 Billing module, this menu will provide access to options to invoice students for products, courses, etc. among other financial transaction information.
The Student Breakdown Report displays selected data from any one or two student fields in a column graph, pie chart or list view. Administrators can only view data for the student fields to which they have profile permissions.
1. Go to the Students menu and select Student Breakdown.
2. Choose a student field from the pull-down.
3. Select an additional student field from the Breakdown Further? pull-down, if applicable.
4. Select the Effective Date if different from the current date.
5. Click Go. The results display in a Column graph by default.
Hover over a section in the graph to display a pop-up of the title of the student field and the number of students meeting the defined criteria.
Download a PDF of the graph by selecting the Download link in the center of the graph.
Click a section of the graph to display a Student List of all students meeting the defined criteria.
Select the Pie tab to display a pie graph.
Select the List tab to display the information in a table format.
- Select ELL English Language Learner from the first student field pull-down.
- Select Grade level from the second student field pull-down.
- Hover over a section of the graph to display the pop-up of the student field and number of students that meet the defined criteria.
- Select the Pie tab to display a Pie graph.
- Select the List tab to display the information in a table format.
Advanced Reports are typically created with a specific subgroup of students in mind who meet a specific set of criteria. Specific fields of data that may change over time are selected to be included as columns in the report. The report updates with the most current data if there were changes since the last time it was run. Advanced Reports roll from school year to school year until the user deletes them.
1. Go to the Students menu and select Advanced Report.
2. Define the subgroup of students by clicking More Search Options and making selections.
3. Define the data that will populate the columns in the report from Available Fields.
Click Student Demo to expand the tab to select demographic fields such as student name, ID, grade level, etc.
4. To add fields to include in report, click the green plus sign or click and drag the blue field over to the Fields to include in Report section.
Click Student Demo again to collapse the tab after making selections.
5. Continue to click on the tab names to find and select the data fields that are to be included in the report. Optionally, use the Filter text box to enter text for quick searching.
6. Rearrange the fields to include in the report by clicking and dragging the blue fields in the order the columns should appear in the report.
7. Remove a selected field by clicking the red X.
8. Decide whether to Search All Schools and/or to Include Inactive Students.
9. Click Run Report after all report criteria have been selected.
10. View the report results. If satisfied, go to the next step. If not satisfied, skip the next step and go to step 12.
11. Save the report by clicking Create Report at the bottom of the screen.
a. A pop-up appears requesting a title. Enter a Title for the report and click OK.
12. If the report does not display students, does not pull in the selected data, or if more/less data is necessary, click Modify Report. This will cause the original More Search Options criteria to be lost but will retain the Fields to include in Report.
13. Reset the More Search Options criteria (or change if no students were pulled into the report).
14. Add, delete, or rearrange the data fields depending on the results that are displayed in the report (if applicable to achieve necessary report results).
15. Click Run Report and view the results.
If satisfied, see the instructions in step 11. If not satisfied, repeat the previous steps starting with number 12 until necessary results are attained.
The results of an Advanced Report can also be downloaded and saved as a static report prior to clicking Create Report. To download, click on the Excel icon that displays in the header next to the total number of students.
A saved report can be modified to add more fields or add a filter; a new sub-report can then be created by selecting the option Save as a New Report Instead in the Confirm Overwrite of Existing Saved Report window. Selecting Save & Overwrite loses the original report parameters.