Homeroom Dashboards - Creating/Editing Student Groups

The location to create Student Groups is on your dashboard's left-side panel.

QUICK LINKS

It allows you to manage your collection of custom Student Groups with Edit, Delete, Print, Upload, Download, and Copy tools. Use it to make new Static Student Groups or Smart Student Groups. You can directly edit the members of any group or the criteria used to create any smart group. These groups can be accessed anywhere you see a "My Student Groups" list in Homeroom. There are two varieties of student groups, Static and Smart.

Static Student Groups [QUICK LINKS]

Static Student groups contain a specific list of students. The members of these groups do not change unless you manually add or remove them. Therefore, you could track the same students, as static group members, from year to year. Static Student Groups are created when you create a group via the Assessments widget. You can import an external list of students into a Static group. You can also use the features of Smart Student Groups to create a Static group. 

Smart Student Groups  [QUICK LINKS]

More Information on Creating Smart Student Groups

Smart Student Groups are always in flux and change according to the filter criteria you use to define the group.

The members of Smart Student Groups are culled dynamically every night; therefore, the group always contains only those students who currently match the criteria for the group. You can search for students based on various criteria in one or more available filter groups. You can also save a Static Student Group based on the criteria for a Smart Student Group. The Action Gear identifies smart Student Groups to the left of the group name.

Create a New Static Student Group [QUICK LINKS]

Within the Student Group manager, you can create new Static groups using a few different options.

Option 1. From the My Student Groups tab:

To create a group by searching for students by name, click the New Static Group button. Give your group a name, and either click Save to add students later or Save & Edit to add students immediately and save your group.

If you chose Save & Edit, you will be directed to the student search form, where you can search for students by name and select them to manually add them to your group. The Add button populates the list, and the Minus button removes students from the list. When you are finished editing the group, select Back to Groups to return to your list of groups. You may need to refresh the widget to see your new group.

Note: If a student you selected does not show up in the group, you cannot view the student's data. Please see Roles and Permissions for more information.

Option 2. From the Preview Panel Student Queue:

Using the Filter & Create tab, you can filter students by certain criteria and therefore find students who match the parameters of the static group you are trying to create.  

You must add at least one Filter Group and choose criteria. In this example, we have chosen the Student Name filter group and searched for part of a last name.

Open the Preview Panel to view the list of students who match your chosen criteria.

From the Preview Panel, collect individual students into a temporary Student Queue by clicking the dashed circle to the right of their name. The queue remains persistent as you search, so you can collect a few students, add or remove filters, add a few more students, and so on. When you are done selecting students, go to the end of the Preview Panel and select the Student Queue button.

Please note: You can also click the students in your queue to provide you access to the student spotlight right from the Smart Group Preview.

To save the collected students, select the Save as Group button, enter a group name, then select the Save button. 

Please Note: this list does not update nightly and will contain only those students you hand-picked.

Option 3. By Creating/Editing a Smart Group and Saving it as a Static Group:

If you have created or are about to create a Smart Student Group, you can choose to save it as a Static group instead.

Using the Filter & Create tab, choose your filter group(s) parameters.  From the Preview Panel, select Save Student Group.

In the dialog box, enter a group name and then set the Save as Smart Group toggle to No. Then select Save.

If you have already created the Smart Student Group, select it from the My Student Groups tab, then select the Options button. From the drop-down, select Save As. Again, in the dialog box, set the toggle to No, enter a new group name, and then select Save.

Create a New Smart Student Group [QUICK LINKS]

More Information on Creating a New Smart Groups in Student Groups  

Before creating a Smart Group, you should consider what information you are trying to collect for the group and the purpose of the group. Homeroom contains a vast store of student demographic, attendance, behavior, service, and especially assessment information, and filtering that information may cause frustration if you do not clearly identify your end result. Also, Homeroom allows for the conditional statements "and" and "or." The "and" condition means display students matching all the filters chosen. The "or" condition means display students who match any filters chosen. Using either condition will give you a different result. To help with these conditions, many filters have a toggle to switch between "All" or "Any." Also, many filters contain additional conditions like "Currently On" or "Taken." You must select one or more additional conditions for the filter to work.

But School Data Solutions always thinks of our customers first! So to make the process of filtering a group very easy, all selections and conditions are included in drop-down boxes. Just pick and click!

There are three steps to creating a Smart Student group: 1) add filter groups and apply filters, 2) preview the group, and 3) save the group.

Add Filter Groups and Apply Filters

From the Student Groups widget, select the Filter & Create tab, then select one or more Filter Groups.  We recommend your first filter group is Enrollment. Using this filter first will significantly reduce the number of students collected in the Preview Panel and is a solid basis for most student groups you create.

In this example, we look for low credit-earning grades for 9th and 10th graders. By starting with the enrollments filter, we narrow the list of students down to 133.

Please note: If you want to select all the school types simultaneously, select the School Type. It will auto-populate your schools rather than having to select each individual one.

Now we select the Grades & Credits filter group. After making our filter selections, the group was narrowed to 39 students. Please Note: currently, you can only add a filter group once. If you make an error in one of your selections, simply click the "x" to the left of the selection, and it will be removed.

Preview the Group

Now, it's time to review the results. Select the Preview Panel and review the students collected.

(From here, you can select individual students, populate the Student Queue, and create a Static Student Group.)

Save the Group

At this point, being happy with the results of the filter, we can save it. With the Preview Panel open, select the button.

Enter a descriptive name for the group and then select Save. You may need to refresh the widget in order to see the Smart Student group you just created.

Please Note: if a student you selected does not show up in the group, you cannot view the student's data. Please see Roles & Permissions for more information.

Edit a Student Group  [QUICK LINKS]

Homeroom has many functions available to modify and use student groups, including copying, downloading, and importing the list of students. However, these features are unavailable unless you have previously created and Saved either a Static or Smart group. Additionally, there are more functions available for Static groups.

Select a Static or Smart group from the My Student Groups tab. The list of students will be displayed. Now select the Actions button to see options for manipulating the group.

To change the group name, select Change Name, overwrite the existing name with the new one, and select Done.

To remove students, select Remove Students. Select the Minus button to the right of the student name, then select Done.

To delete the group, select Delete this Group. At the dialog box, confirm by selecting Ok. 

To add students, select Add Students to this Group. In the search box, type the name, or portion of the name, of the student you want to add. Select the student from the list with the Add button. When finished, select the Back to Groups button.

Selecting Edit from the Smart group options will display the filter parameters used to create the group. You can modify them as necessary, then select the Options button to either Save, Save As, or Edit Name.

To print out a copy of the students in the group, select Print List of Students. A Print Preview window will open, and the students will be listed in two columns alphabetically. Select Print.

Copy or Share a Student Group  [QUICK LINKS]

The groups in the Student Groups widget comprise your unique collection of groups and are not visible to anyone else. However, you can share or copy your groups with other Homeroom users. Please Note: when you copy/share a group, the recipient must have access to the same set of students to see the entire group.

To copy/share a group with another user or set of users, select the group from the My Student Groups tab of the Student Groups widget. Then, select Copy/Share Group from the Actions button to other Users. Select the Copy to Users by - Roles or Copy/Share to Users by -Search tab. 

Enter the role and school, or enter the name of the person(s) who will receive the group. When ready, select Copy or Share.

Copy: The recipient(s) will have their own copy of the group they may edit/delete that does not impact the originator's copy.

Share: The recipients will have a shared group that, if edited/deleted, will impact the originator's group.

For more information: Copy/Share Student Groups to Another User

Upload Students to a Student Group  [QUICK LINKS]

If you have an existing list of students, for instance, students with particular health issues, you can import the list into the Student Groups widget.

To import a list of students, you must have an existing Static group. It can, but does not have to, contain any students. You must also have a comma-separated value (CSV) file (with the . CSV file extension), which contains only one column, whose header and data must MATCH EXACTLY with one of the following student identifiers:

1. SSID
2. Other ID
3. External Application ID (in Skyward, this is the Internal ID)
4. Student ID (their Homeroom ID, available in Data Admin, under Students)

For this example, we are creating a new group.

From the My Student Groups tab, select the New Static Group button. Enter a meaningful name, and select Save. You may need to refresh the widget.

Select the group from the My Student Groups list. Then select the Actions button. Chose Upload Students to this Group. In the dialog box, select Choose File. Locate your CSV file (usually a spreadsheet), and select Upload.

You will receive a success message and be returned to the dialog box. At this point, you can upload another list or select Cancel. The Static group will be populated with students. You will receive an email from Homeroom notifying you the list was processed and identifying any errors.

Create a Student Group from a File Upload

Download a Student Group with Options  [QUICK LINKS]

You may download a spreadsheet (XLSX) containing a list of the students in a group, as well as a variety of associated student information.

Select the group from the My Students Group tab. From the Actions button, select Download an XLSX of this Group. The Download Options panel will display. You may set any value to Yes or No using the toggles. At the minimum, the student's first and last names will be downloaded. If you select Yes for any toggles, the download will include those values. You may open or close the download categories by selecting the black arrow to the left of the category name. Once you have selected your options, click OK.

You do not have to choose which options you want included in your downloads each time you select the action. Your previous selections are retained.

Download Options categories include

• Student
• Identifiers
• Demographics
• Current Enrollment
• Services
• Risk

If you do not have Services or Risk as options for downloading, please contact your Help Desk at support@schooldata.net.