Documentation for Administrators

Navigation for Schedulers

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To effectively schedule students, schedulers must be able to navigate through the menus of Focus and search for students by name or student ID, as well as search for a subset of students. This search may relate to schedules, requests, demographic data, test history, or course history.  In addition to searching, users can take advantage of Advanced Reports, which allow users to compile, view, and track specific student data.

Portal Navigation

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.

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.

Activity

What feature brings you back to the portal page from any other screen in Focus?

What profile specific alerts might be seen in the alerts section? 

How can you quickly locate a menu option?

Searching for Students

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.

Student Info
Search Screen

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.

Portal

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.
More Search Options

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.

Student Info

In More Search Options, there are 4 sections available:  General searching, Focus Menus, Florida Fields, and Student Fields.

  • General Searching - Search by name, student ID, address, calendar or grade level. 
  • Focus Menus - Search criteria based on the Focus Menus. Most commonly used by scheduling teams include:
    • Scheduling - search on a scheduling option such as Scheduled into a course, Requested Course, Scheduled into a section or teacher and more.  
    • Test History - search by test name, score type, score range and administration date. More than one test can be included in the search criteria. 
  • Florida Fields - Search criteria in the Florida (state reporting) Fields section.  State reporting fields from the master schedule, student schedule, and course catalog are available. 
  • Student Fields - Search fields located on the student demographic tabs.

When selecting multiple check boxes from within a tab, the system will look for students meeting any one of the selected criteria (e.g. LY or LP). However, if additional fields from another tab are selected, the students must also meet those additional criteria to be pulled into the search results.

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.

Student Info

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.

Student Info

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.

More Search Options Scenarios

Scenario Directions: Below are examples of instances when the More Search Options feature may be used. Read the scenario, and then use More Search Options to locate the students. Try finding the information before looking at the answers below.

Scenario: 504 Students 

It’s the beginning of the school year, and we want to locate the currently eligible 504 students who have accommodation plans.

1. In the Students menu, select Student Info.

2. Click More Search Options.

3. Scroll to and click on the tab titled 504 Info.

4. Locate the 504 Eligible field.

5. Select the Yes option.

6. Click Search.

Scenario: Exceptional Ed Students

It’s the beginning of the school year, and we want to know of any exceptional education students with an FEFP of “254.”

1. In the Students menu, select Student Info.

2. Click More Search Options.

3. Scroll to and click on the tab titled ESE.

4. Locate the ESE FEFP field.

5. Select the 254 option from the pull-down.

6. Click Search

Scenario: ELL Students

It’s the beginning of the school year, and we want to ensure that all of the active ELL students are scheduled with certified ELL teachers.   We want to search for all “LY” students and look at their schedules.

1. In the Scheduling menu, select Student Schedule.

2. Click More Search Options.

3. Scroll to and click on the tab titled ELL.

4. Locate the English Language Learner field.

5. Select the LEP in LEP classes [LY] option from the pull-down.

6. Click Search

Scenario: Level 1 FSA ELA Students

Students who score a Level 1 on the most recent FSA ELA need to be scheduled into an Intensive Reading class. We want to run a search to identify these students to add a request for Intensive Reading.

1. In the Scheduling menu, select Student Requests.

2. Click More Search Options.

3. Scroll to and click on the tab titled Test History.

4. Select FSA ELA from the Test pull-down.

5. Select the Achievement Level (AL) option from the Score Type pull-down.

6. Enter a Score range between 1 & 1.

7. Ensure Only the Most Recent Administration is displayed in the 2nd Score Type pull-down.

8. Click Search

Scenario: Current Algebra 1 students

All Students in Algebra 1 need Geometry for next year. Identify all students scheduled into Algebra 1.

1. In the Scheduling menu, select Mass Add Request.

2. Click More Search Options.

3. Scroll to and click on the section titled Scheduling.

4. Click on Scheduled into Course(s) Last Year (remember we are working in the upcoming school year; selecting this option also provides access to multiple courses in the event the district uses an 8th or 9th digit for the Algebra 1 course).

5. Select the appropriate Algebra 1 course(s).

6. Click Search

Advanced Reports

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. In the Students menu, select Advanced Report.

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.

Advanced Report

a. A pop-up appears requesting a title. Enter a Title for the report and click OK.

Saved Reports

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.

Activity

1. Create an Advanced Report for one of the More Search Options activities above. Include the following fields in the exact order listed below:

  • Last, First M
  • Grade Level
  • Other fields to display the necessary data based on the group selected. 

2. Run, save and name the report.

3. Go back to the main Portal page and locate the saved report.

4. Add a filter to the report; include only the highest-grade level of students at the school.

5. Export the report to Excel.

6. Resave and name the new report.

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