PEMS Terminology
Academic Years
The years the school is in operation. Academic years can be defined before the school is in operation. In this case the academic years are used to keep records on classes a student wants to transfer into the school that were taken at other schools prior to enrollment.
Terms
A term is the division of the academic year into periods of schooling. Terms may be semesters or quarters. The term record is a record that indicates the start and end date of each term. Multiple terms are related to academic years. Terms are also related to a Term Label record.
Term Labels
The names of the terms a school is running, like Spring, Fall, etc. The number of Term Label records indicates the number of terms the school operates. Term Labels indicate if that term is required or optional, like a summer term.
Student Terms
The school defines its terms with a start and end date, there is one term record for every term the school operates.
A student term record contains student-specific information about how the student performed academically in the term, such as the student's grade point average for that term. All the classes a student takes (enrollment records) are linked to the student term. A student has a term record created for each term they are in attendance.
Grade Level
A grade level is the student's year in school, first grade, second grade, third grade and so on. The term 'grade level is used to differentiate between the grade or mark a student received in a class and the year the student is in.
Grade Span
A grade span covers multiple years of school and can be defined by the administrator. A plan can not exceed a grade span. The purpose of defining grade spans is to help set academic goals and gates.
Schools
Schools refer to legal definitions in a jurisdiction of various grade levels. In the US this is Elementary School, grades K through 5, Middle School grades 6 through 8, and high school, grades 9 through 12.
Other Schools
Other Schools are the schools that student attend prior to starting at the school. Other schools will provide transcripts that must in incorporated into the student record. For this reason, each enrollment record on the transcript may be related to an 'other school' to show where the credit was transferred in from.
Class List
This is the list of classes the school offers. Note: class does not refer to a group of students at a grade level, it refers to a specific subject being taught, like Algebra I or World History.
Curriculum
Curriculum general refers to the books and exercises used by the teacher to further the student's knowledge. In Moodle, the curriculum is a Moodle Course. Any class may be taught with multiple curriculum, or different text books, so that there are multiple Moodle courses that may be used to teach a Class, as listed in the PEMS.
Subject
Subjects are families of classes. For example, Algebra I, Geometry, and Algebra II are all in the subject of Math. Schools can define any subjects they need, and identify any class as belonging to that subject area. Subjects are mainly used to assist the administration in checking the student is meeting requirements when creating a plan .
Enrollment
The term enrollment has two meanings in the USA.
- Enrollment is used to describe the process where a student joins the school
- Enrollment is also used to describe when a student enrolls in a specific class in a specific term
The term "Enrollment Process" will refer to the processes that are triggered with a student decides to come to the school.
The term "enrollments records" will describe the table in the database the keeps information of which classes students are taking in which term.
In summary, Enrollment is the process of signing up for a class. An enrollment record in the PEMS is the class as student takes in a specific term, and stores the student's final grade. The set of completed enrollments is the information displayed on the student's transcript.
Transcript
A transcript is a report of completed enrollments. Transcripts are formatted in various ways to use the minimum amount of paper. A transcript shows the classes the student has taken at the school, the grades received and the units earned.
Plans
The plans are sometimes referred to as "Programs of Study." Plans are defined by the administrator as a series of classes taken across all subjects to meet an educational objective or graduation requirements over a grade span. Any number of plans may be developed, and a student may be assigned only one plan at a time. The plan contains the information needed to auto-enroll student in their classes (create enrollment records) in each term covered by the plan.