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Staff: Overview of Course Planner Programs

Discover how programs are developed to define requirements and how students' chosen courses align with their selected program requirements.

Janelle Safford avatar
Written by Janelle Safford
Updated over a week ago

Programs Overview

Programs allow students to choose a specific area of focus that will be integrated into their graduation plan. Each program outlines requirements detailing the courses a student must complete to finish that program. The availability of programs may differ by school or graduation plans, and districts have the option to mandate one or more programs or to make them optional.

*Note: The term "Programs" may differ according to state mandate or district preference. Some examples are:

  • Programs of Study

  • Endorsements

  • Pathways

  • CTE Pathways

  • Majors

Since programs can have various names, it is beneficial to create a naming scheme that clarifies how we will refer to these programs.

You may only offer one type of program, such as "Programs of Study", or your students might select a "Program of Study" and an "Endorsement". For this reason, SchooLinks allows the creation of multiple types of programs to include several selection slots on graduation plans.

Access Programs

  1. Click Admin in the side navigation bar, then select Course Planner Configuration.

  2. Click the Programs tab found at the top of the page.

Configure Naming Schema

  1. When you access program configuration for the first time, you will be prompted to configure your naming schemes. You can also update this at any time by clicking Naming schemes.

  2. Specify program group and selectable naming schemes, then click Save.

    *Note: SchooLinks refers to individual programs (i.e., pathways, careers, etc.) as "selectable programs" and groupings of those programs as "program groups" (i.e., endorsements, clusters, etc.).

    1. Program names: the name that your district will use for program groups (Program of Study, Cluster, Endorsement, etc.)

    2. Selectable programs: the name that your district will use for selectable programs (Program, Pathway, etc.)

    3. Add multiple naming schemes by clicking +Add naming scheme.

Create a Program Group

Once your naming schemes are established, you will create your first Program Group. Program groups are used to help organize programs. This helps students as they browse programs, since there are often many to choose from.

  1. Click Add program group

  2. Enter the Program group information, then click Save.

    1. Group name

    2. Naming scheme (Refer to Configure Naming Schema above)

    3. Group description

Build a Program

  1. After creating a Program Group, click +Program to add programs to the group.

Add Program Details

Complete the program details listed below, then click Save changes.

*Note: This information must be filled out before requirements can be added.

  1. Program Name: This is the name students will see as a program option, as well as the name that will appear on their course plan if they choose it.

  2. Program Group: The name of the program group from which you initiated the program details will appear here; however, you can click the dropdown to select a different program group.

  3. Requestable by Student: If this box is checked, the program can be seen and selected by students.

    *Note: Counselors can always see and add programs in the graduation plan in a student's course plan, regardless of this setting.

  4. K-5 Description: The description that will be displayed to students in the Elementary platform when viewing program options under the District Pathways page.

  5. 6-12 Description: The description that will be displayed to students when selecting programs in the course planner, the course catalog, and when viewing program options under the District Pathways page.

  6. Schools: Select which schools will offer this program as an option.

    *Note: Only students planning for the selected school(s) will see this program as an offering.

  7. Graduation plans: Select which graduation plans will have this program as an option.

    *Note: Only students assigned to the selected grad plan(s) will see this program as an offering.

  8. Related career clusters: Select career clusters that align with this program. *Note: This will be used to recommend related programs and careers in the District Pathways page.

  9. Grade level: Select which grade levels can select this program as an option.

    *Note: If students are unable to change their program selection beyond a specific grade level, it is recommended to include only those grade levels where students can make edits here.

  10. Grade years: Select grade years that will offer classes for this program.

  11. Program status: Choose Active or Future status.

    • An Active status will make the program visible in course plan selection, the course catalog, and in the District Pathways page.

    • A Future status will only be visible in the course catalog and District Pathways as a future offering. Students will not be able to select the program until the status is changed to Active.

  12. Program visibility timing: Decide if the program will be listed as the first requirement row on a student's plan (before any other requirement), or if it will be displayed after all other core-subject area requirements listed in the grad plan.

Add Program Requirements

This section will allow you to add the course requirements necessary for completing the program.

  1. Click Add Requirement

  2. Add the following basic information, then click Create.

    1. Basic requirement info: Students will see this when selecting programs, making it a great place to share instructions.

    2. Configuration requirement options: There are three different ways to define a requirement. You can choose any combination of these options based on your preferred approach to explaining the requirement and fulfilling tracking needs. Below is a description of each option:

      • Complete a set number of credits from a list of courses

        • When checked, the student will need to take the number of credits entered from the designated list of courses to achieve the requirement. For example, use this when students need to take 1.5 credits of Physical Education to graduate.

      • Complete a set number of courses from a list of courses

        • When checked, the student will need to take the number of credits entered from the designated list of courses to achieve the requirement. For example, use this when students need to take 1.5 credits of Physical Education to graduate.

      • Complete sub-requirements that have a set number of credits or courses

        • When checked, you can define the total number of sub-requirements to be created under the main requirement, and how many of those sub-requirements need to be met in order for the overall requirement to be fulfilled. For example, use this when students must complete 4 credits of Math to graduate; 1 credit must be from Algebra I, 1 credit must be from Geometry, but credits 3 and 4 can come from any additional math course.

    3. Additional configurations: If selected, students will see suggested courses based on the student's chosen career cluster during course planning.

Add Courses to Requirements

Once the requirement structure has been created, you’ll see a new section to add courses and define sub-requirements as needed.

  1. Click +Courses. If courses have already been selected, click the pencil icon to edit the list of courses.

  2. Add and remove courses from the requirement

    1. Filter courses by tag or subject, or search by course name or number

    2. Courses not added to the requirement appear on the left, and courses already added to the requirement appear on the right.

    3. Find courses by pasting a comma or line-separated list of unique course IDs.

    4. Click a course on the left to add it to the requirement, and click a course on the right to remove it from the requirement.

    5. Courses can also be added and removed in bulk by clicking the check mark icon (select all courses) or the X (remove all courses) icon.

    6. If the Include Equivalent Courses box is checked, any course equivalent to what you have already selected will meet the requirement.

Sequence Picker

Once a requirement structure is built and courses are added, the final step is to choose a Sequence Picker. The Sequence Picker is an additional setting to guide students on how and what courses to select based on grade level, student groupings, or various student course trajectories.

Learn more 👉 Configure a Sequence

Add Programs to Graduation Plans

The final step to ensure that programs are selectable by students is to add them to the applicable grad plans. To learn more 👉 Create a Primary Grad Plan

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