Student Records (SIS) Function

Relevant Definitions

A term is the division of the academic year into grading periods. 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.

Classes.  The name of the Class appears on the student's transcript. Classes are sometimes called courses.  However,  PEMS does not use the term 'course' in any of its modules. In general, the word 'course' can refer to a specific class, like Algebra 1, or it may also refer to the set of classes that lead to a degree or certificate.  For example, "I followed a course at the University in wine making" could mean a series of classes. The world "class" also has a secondary meaning.  A student can be in the "second grade class" which would mean all students in a particular classroom.  PEMS uses the word class to mean the subject of study for which units are earned, commonly called a course, such as "Algebra I". A class that is a subject of study for units can have different curriculum that fulfill it.

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.

The SIS

The Student Information System (SIS) manages all student records, which includes student biographical information like date-of-birth, and parent phone numbers as well as student academic information like that which appears on the student's transcripts.  Moodle has course completion information, but not relate those courses to a specific school term.

A student record is created in the SIS for each student that attends the school.  The record is created during the student Intake process.

SIS stores student record for each student.

Transcript

The most important function of the SIS is to provide a student transcript. The transcript shows the classes taken in each term by the student, the grades, and calculates the overall grade point average of the student as well as the term grade point average.

The following image shows a typical transcript document:

The header contains biographical information.  The body of the document shows the specific year and term the classes were taken in and the grade the student achieved.  Various Grade-point averages are calculated.

Student Term Records

Student Terms.  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. 

PEMS develops the information required for the transcript by making a unique record for every grading period (school term) that the student attends the school.  A diagram of the data relationship for school terms is shown below:

For each individual student, there are multiple student term records.  Each student term record is related to only one (school) term record. However, when all the students are considered, the school term record will be related to multiple student term records, one for each student enrolled in that particular term.

(School) Term Table Example

Fall 2022

Spring 2023

Student Table Example

Akash

Jagdish

Ishaan

Student Term Table Example 

(School) Term	Student	Student Term
Fall 2022	Akash	Fall 2022 Akash
Fall 2022	Jagdish	Fall 2022 Jagdish
Fall 2022	Ishaan	Fall 2022 Ishaan
Spring 2023	Akash	Spring 2023 Akash
Spring 2023	Jagdish	Spring 2023 Jagdish
Spring 2023	Ishaan	Spring 2023 Ishaan

  

Enrollments

Students take classes during each term. When a student is enrolled in a class, the record that represents the class that specific student took in that specific term is called the enrollment record.  The enrollment record relates the classes a student takes to the student term record.  The grades a student achieves, A, B, C, D etc. are recorded in the enrollment records.  Class Names, from the related class records appear on the student transcript.

To create the transcript, PEMS creates a report of completed enrollments sorted by student term. 

term

Terms

Fall 2024

Spring 2025

 

student term

Term	Student	student term
Fall 2024	Akash	Fall 2024 Akash
Spring 2025	Akash	Spring 2025 Akash

 

Class List

Class List

English 9A

English 9B

Indian History 1

Indian History 10

Algebra 1

Algebra 2

Enrollments

Student Term	Class	At Grade-level (automated-calculation)	Grade (manual entry-Moodle)
Fall 2024 Akash	English 9A	9	A
Fall 2024 Akash	Indian History 1	9	B
Fall 2024 Akash	Algebra 1	9	A
Spring 2025 Akash	English 9B	9	C
Spring 2025 Akash	Indian History 10	9	A
Spring 2025 Akash	Algebra 2	9	F