Infinite Campus vs. PowerSchool eSchoolPLUS

As a classroom teacher, I love not having to rely on just a handwritten grade book anymore. When I input grades, I can print the updated grade book whenever I choose. This keeps my workload down since I don't have to write it in the grade book and then put it on the computer.

Incentivized

PowerSchool eSchoolPLUS is a highly effective data warehouse, with easy input and nearly boundless ways to get to the raw information. For a team with strong capabilities in report writing (say, SQL/IBM Cognos, etc) the opportunity to get to the base of the information and communicate it well is incredibly strong. However, if you are relying on stock reports to get you what you need, it may be imperfect.

Incentivized

• It is very clean (not cluttered with information and buttons)
• It keeps all personal information in one spot
• The message center is helpful, and it is easy to see when there is a new message
• The breakdown of attendance is done very well

Incentivized

• One-stop resource for student data, from test scores to medical alerts.
• Parent information, including contact and custody details, are readily accessible.
• Clean and easy-to-use format makes finding what you need very easy.

Incentivized

• Infinite Campus does not integrate seamlessly with our learning management system. This is a big deal in that using Infinite Campus means our faculty and staff are asked to do more (fatigue) and there is more room for error to occur.
• Infinite Campus' platform is not visually appealing nor does the site design use enough colors and distinction to clearly convey progress to a user.

Incentivized

• It can be difficult to find information when first beginning with it.
• It can take many steps to perform one task.
• Can run slowly on certain networks.

Incentivized

This would be the same reasoning as in the previous question. It is all about having enough bandwidth to run it across your district and buildings.

Incentivized

Reports do run in a reasonable amount of time based upon the number of entries you are working with. You are also able to continue working on other areas while the report is being created so your device is not tied up during this process.

Incentivized

I haven't reached out to Infinite Campus for technical support. We have in-school people who are trained to help us out in the event of a problem. We have had a couple of times where the system has gone down unexpectedly, but our school IT professionals were able to sort it out.

Incentivized

I find these other products to be much more simplified in their set up and user friendly where with Infinite Campus, it requires a good amount of time and patience to acclimate to the set up and arrangement of content. Also, the other products I have reviewed are more appealing to the eye with their color content/contrast, background themes/colors and engaging colors which make the experience enjoyable and calming.

Incentivized

One platform is SKEDULA that would be a direct competitor with eSchoolPLUS. However, the issue with SKEDULA is that they do not have the breadth of tools that eSchoolPLUS and PowerSchool offers. With SKEDULA you can also input grades and marking periods, but the platform they use is harder to use on the website. Their mobile platform is easy, but its web platform is extremely slow to use. They also send you to an alternate website for inputting marking period grades, rather than being able to input final marking period grades and comments directly into the normal grading section of the student/teacher portal. I would rather eSchoolPLUS over SKEDULA as it has more functions and has a much more appealing Menu drop down and links. Navigating the website quickly is important, and that navigation system they have is actually the simplest to understand and use that I've been able to use in education. Moodle is another platform I do use and would recommend to some degree, but it would not be my choice when compared to the variety of functions in scheduling, reporting, and intervention that eSchoolPLUS provides.

Incentivized

There are days when PowerSchool can be very slow when loading. You definitely have to make sure you have the bandwidth in your district to run the platform appropriately.

Incentivized

• Positive impact: Allows us to keep our pacing guides up to date for weekly meetings and information dissemination.
• Positive impact: Allows us to provide our counselors, students, and parents with informative progress reports in a timely manner.
• Negative impact: Takes more time away from our other duties when it takes so long to find the data/information I'm looking for amongst all the classes I need to go through just to get to the one I need. They really should look at a better way to arrange/group the drop down menu for the classes.

Incentivized

• Our Return on Investment is high, as it makes our jobs easier, allowing us more time to troubleshoot and train staff instead of digging for student information.
• Overall our business objective is to store and access student information quickly, efficiently, and securely. eSchoolPLUS allows us to do that.
• eSchoolPLUS has no negative impact on our ROI. Sometimes, after an update, there is a learning curve and bug fixes that need to be worked around, but in general, it is a great product and there is little downtime for our organization.

Incentivized