How New Learning Platforms Can Bust EdTech Myths

The best education enterprise software should constantly improve, even during a pandemic. For Marcy Daniel, Chief Product Officer at PowerSchool, that means better teacher agency, stronger data protections, and greater parent inclusion. On this episode of EdTech Today, Marcy details the latest launch particulars of  PowerSchool Unified Classroom 2021 and lays out the potential for better experiences for teachers, students, and families alike.

“We believe that teachers need all the help and support possible and thanks to evolving technology, and our vision to unify the systems teachers, students, and parents use every day, we can help them get the time and data they need to personalize learning to support every child’s needs,” said Marcy Daniel, PowerSchool Chief Product Officer. “With the launch of Unified Classroom 2021, our vision has become a reality and we are committed to ensuring educators and students are better supported with the tools they need to increase the focus on Whole Child instruction and improve outcomes for every student.”

PowerSchool Unified Classroom 2021 brings together award-winning solutions including Unified Classroom™ Schoology LearningUnified Classroom™ Performance Matters, and Unified Classroom™ Special Programs – all of which can be used with PowerSchool’s market-leading student information system, PowerSchool SIS, for even greater levels of efficiency. Unlike other educational technology providers, only PowerSchool Unified Classroom 2021 offers a solution that meets the needs of K-12 education organizations by:

  1. Delivering a unified user experience and connecting assessment data, special programs information to support students with unique learning needs, social-emotional learning (SEL) survey results, and demographic data with the leading K-12 education-focused learning management system (LMS), which provides teachers time back and a simpler, more complete approach to understanding and addressing the needs of the Whole Child.​
  2. Simplifying data management by providing integrated attendance collection, student alerts including medical alerts and special programs status, traditional and standards-grade pass back, and the ability to have class rosters flow throughout an organization’s PowerSchool ecosystem, so all data becomes more centralized, secure, accurate, and accessible for users based on roles and permissions. ​
  3. Simplifying and reinforcing accountability throughout a school or district by providing alerts, early-warning notifications, and compliance reporting for all students and staff in a single solution.

“We rolled out common assessments in Unified Classroom Performance Matters this year because we needed the data more than ever to monitor loss and impact,” said Dr. Zachary Conrad, Executive Director, Data and Technology, at Lawrence Public Schools USD 497. “We had data in multiple locations and needed to see our common assessment data next to all the other data points to make better decisions for our students. Not only is this seamlessly integrated with Schoology Learning and our PowerSchool SIS, but easy for the students to take assessments and for teachers to use the data.”

“The Unified Classroom Schoology Learning and Unified Classroom Performance Matters assessment integration has helped our teachers keep their content and assessments in one place for students, while still being able to use the many reporting features in Performance Matters,” said Jana Griffith, School Improvement & Accountability Specialist, Loudoun County Public Schools, Virginia. “It particularly helps students stay organized and minimize confusion about where to find tests and assignments because everything is in Schoology Learning.”

Learn more about PowerSchool Unified Classroom 2021 at  https://www.powerschool.com/solutions/unified-classroom/.

Listen to Previous Episodes of EdTech Today!

Follow us on social media for the latest updates in B2B!

Twitter – @MarketScale
Facebook – facebook.com/marketscale
LinkedIn – linkedin.com/company/marketscale

Follow us on social media for the latest updates in B2B!

Image

Latest

student visibility
Why Student Visibility Matters in Today’s Schools
March 3, 2026

School Safety Today podcast, presented by Raptor Technologies. In this episode of School Safety Today by Raptor Technologies, host Dr. Amy Grosso interviews SRO Todd Brendel of Dayton Independent Schools (KY), who shares frontline insights on the importance of knowing where students and staff are throughout the school day. He explains how they manage…

Read More
skilled trades mentorship
Why the Trades Need a Cultural Reset to Attract and Retain the Next Generation
March 3, 2026

The skilled trades are at a critical crossroads. According to an August 2025 report from the Institute for Women’s Policy Research (IWPR), the number of women working in construction and extraction occupations rose to 366,360 in 2024, the highest level ever recorded. Yet despite that growth, women still account for only about 4.3% of construction…

Read More
virtual physical therapy
Virtual Physical Therapy and the Changing Landscape of Athlete Care
March 3, 2026

Virtual care is no longer an experiment—it’s a structural shift in healthcare. Telehealth usage remains significantly higher than pre-2020 levels, and providers across disciplines are rethinking how to deliver higher-quality outcomes without the overhead and insurance constraints of traditional clinics. Meanwhile, recreational and endurance sports participation continues to rise, with millions of Americans registering…

Read More
employer
Why Institution-Wide Employer Alignment Will Define the Next Era of Higher Ed
March 2, 2026

Higher education is at an inflection point. Institutions are facing a demographic cliff in traditional-age enrollment, softening international pipelines, and increasing scrutiny around the return on investment of a degree. At the same time, the World Economic Forum reports that 59 out of every 100 workers globally are projected to require reskilling or upskilling…

Read More