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    Overview
    ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price

    Skyward Student Management Suite

    Score8.6 out of 10
    N/ASkyward, headquartered in Stevens Point, Wisconsin, offers the Skyward Student Management System, a k-12 student information system which provides classroom tools (e.g. gradebook, attendance tracking, etc), Family Engagement tools with portal, as well as admin and student services task management.N/A

    SumTotal (legacy)

    Score7.9 out of 10
    Enterprise companies (1,001+ employees)
    The SumTotal Talent Expansion Suite included SumTotal (LMS), and was supported by Skillsoft since the October 2014 acquisition. Acquired by Cornerstone OnDemand in 2022, it is a legacy product, and Cornerstone recommends upgrading to their modern platform.N/A
    Pricing
    Skyward Student Management SuiteSumTotal (legacy)
    Editions & Modules
    No answers on this topic
    No answers on this topic
    Offerings
    Pricing Offerings
    Skyward Student Management SuiteSumTotal (legacy)
    Free Trial
    NoNo
    Free/Freemium Version
    NoNo
    Premium Consulting/Integration Services
    NoYes
    Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
    Additional Details——
    More Pricing Information
    Community Pulse
    Skyward Student Management SuiteSumTotal (legacy)
    Considered Both Products
    Skyward
    No answer on this topic
    Discontinued Products
    No answer on this topic
    Key User Insights
    Would buy again
    83%
    Would buy again
    5 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Delivers good value for the price
    No answers on this topic
    No answers on this topic
    Happy with the feature set
    83%
    Happy with the feature set
    5 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    No answers on this topic
    No answers on this topic
    Implementation went as expected
    No answers on this topic
    No answers on this topic
    Features
    Skyward Student Management SuiteSumTotal (legacy)
    Student and Faculty Administration
    Comparison of Student and Faculty Administration features of Skyward Student Management Suite and SumTotal (legacy)
    Feature
    Skyward Student Management Suite
    6.9
    4 Ratings
    19% below category average
    SumTotal (legacy)
    -
    Ratings
    Integrations with 3rd-Party Education Technology5.92 Ratings00 Ratings
    District Communications, such as messaging and alerting7.03 Ratings00 Ratings
    Roster Management8.34 Ratings00 Ratings
    Platform Customization3.12 Ratings00 Ratings
    Teacher Self-Service6.33 Ratings00 Ratings
    Student Data Security8.74 Ratings00 Ratings
    Community Support3.01 Ratings00 Ratings
    Class Scheduling9.02 Ratings00 Ratings
    State and National-level Reporting8.52 Ratings00 Ratings
    Teacher and Parent Mobile Application9.52 Ratings00 Ratings
    Onboarding
    Comparison of Onboarding features of Skyward Student Management Suite and SumTotal (legacy)
    Feature
    Skyward Student Management Suite
    -
    Ratings
    SumTotal (legacy)
    8.2
    2 Ratings
    12% above category average
    New hire portal00 Ratings8.02 Ratings
    Manager tracking tools00 Ratings8.52 Ratings
    Performance and Goals
    Comparison of Performance and Goals features of Skyward Student Management Suite and SumTotal (legacy)
    Feature
    Skyward Student Management Suite
    -
    Ratings
    SumTotal (legacy)
    8.8
    1 Ratings
    18% above category average
    Corporate goal setting00 Ratings9.01 Ratings
    Individual goal setting00 Ratings8.01 Ratings
    Line-of sight-visibility00 Ratings9.01 Ratings
    Performance tracking00 Ratings9.01 Ratings
    Performance Management
    Comparison of Performance Management features of Skyward Student Management Suite and SumTotal (legacy)
    Feature
    Skyward Student Management Suite
    -
    Ratings
    SumTotal (legacy)
    8.2
    2 Ratings
    18% above category average
    Performance plans00 Ratings8.02 Ratings
    Performance improvement plans00 Ratings7.52 Ratings
    Review status tracking00 Ratings7.92 Ratings
    Review reminders00 Ratings8.52 Ratings
    Multiple review frequency00 Ratings9.01 Ratings
    Succession Planning
    Comparison of Succession Planning features of Skyward Student Management Suite and SumTotal (legacy)
    Feature
    Skyward Student Management Suite
    -
    Ratings
    SumTotal (legacy)
    7.0
    1 Ratings
    3% above category average
    Create succession plans/pools00 Ratings8.01 Ratings
    Candidate search00 Ratings7.01 Ratings
    Candidate development00 Ratings6.01 Ratings
    Recruiting / ATS
    Comparison of Recruiting / ATS features of Skyward Student Management Suite and SumTotal (legacy)
    Feature
    Skyward Student Management Suite
    -
    Ratings
    SumTotal (legacy)
    7.8
    2 Ratings
    9% above category average
    Job Requisition Management00 Ratings8.02 Ratings
    Company Website Posting00 Ratings7.52 Ratings
    Publish to Social Media00 Ratings7.92 Ratings
    Job Search Site Posting00 Ratings8.52 Ratings
    Duplicate Candidate Prevention00 Ratings6.52 Ratings
    Applicant Tracking00 Ratings8.02 Ratings
    Notifications and Alerts00 Ratings8.52 Ratings
    Learning Management
    Comparison of Learning Management features of Skyward Student Management Suite and SumTotal (legacy)
    Feature
    Skyward Student Management Suite
    -
    Ratings
    SumTotal (legacy)
    6.5
    1 Ratings
    8% below category average
    Course authoring00 Ratings9.01 Ratings
    Course catalog or library00 Ratings4.01 Ratings
    Player/Portal00 Ratings10.01 Ratings
    Progress tracking & certifications00 Ratings6.01 Ratings
    Assignments00 Ratings6.01 Ratings
    Compliance management00 Ratings8.01 Ratings
    Learning administration00 Ratings4.01 Ratings
    Learning reporting & analytics00 Ratings5.01 Ratings
    Best Alternatives
    Skyward Student Management SuiteSumTotal (legacy)
    Small Businesses
    No answers on this topic
    No answers on this topic
    Medium-sized Companies
    Schoolmint Hero
    Score9.7 out of 10
    ClearCo
    Score7.9 out of 10
    Enterprises
    Schoolmint Hero
    Score9.7 out of 10
    Cornerstone Galaxy
    Score8.1 out of 10
    All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
    User Ratings
    Skyward Student Management SuiteSumTotal (legacy)
    Likelihood to Recommend
    8.6
    (17 ratings)
    7.5
    (9 ratings)
    Likelihood to Renew
    9.0
    (2 ratings)
    6.0
    (5 ratings)
    Usability
    7.0
    (2 ratings)
    2.0
    (2 ratings)
    Support Rating
    6.0
    (2 ratings)
    3.0
    (2 ratings)
    Implementation Rating
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    User Testimonials
    Skyward Student Management SuiteSumTotal (legacy)
    Likelihood to Recommend
    Skyward
    There is nothing specific that I would say sets it apart from any other LMS, but once you are used to the user interface and various features, it does everything that is needed and integrates well enough with other software to function. Probably isn't necessary in a smaller setting, but for multiple building districts, it is certainly robust enough to handle data collection and storage.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Discontinued Products
    Very good for learning and development and training of employees. For Applicant tracking, recuirement, onboarding, and enablement, I prefer SAP SuccessFactors or Skillate. I also found that the SumTotal app is not very friendly on android and crashes sometimes and it is not optimized for mobile. Hence I end up never using it.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Pros
    Skyward
    • Flexibility. This multitude of fields available makes it easy to capture data the way we want or need to.
    • Quick response to trouble tickets. The company strives to reach out to the customer within an hour and start the process of resolution.
    • User focused. Improvements to the system always look at how the end user experience can be enhanced.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Discontinued Products
    • Assign complete learning plans to users so they don't have to spend time searching for courses.
    • Export learner's transcripts so managers can easily see their employee's progress.
    • Embed Social Media feeds that are relevant to their business.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Cons
    Skyward
    • Confusion when it comes to student grades- sometimes there are two different letter grades for a student for what is posted as "TR1" and "PR1." How does a teacher know which of these grades will be posted to a student's report card? How does a teacher know what the student's actual grade is for a particular course?
    • Switching between the Educator Access Plus and Student Management tabs can be complicated, especially for those new to the system. Why can't everything be in one place?
    • I recognize that Skyward logs out after a certain period of inactivity to preserve privacy of users, but is there a way to change those settings so that Skyward does not log out as frequently? It is difficult to keep having to log back in completely again.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Discontinued Products
    • Reporting
    • Mass importing of manual checks to be issued in California
    • Ability to fund pay cards immediately
    • Perform gross-up calculations within the payroll system automatically
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Likelihood to Renew
    Skyward
    It is the system I am most comfortable with, so having to learn a new system outweighs any problems I have with Skyward.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Discontinued Products
    I have transitioned from a position who supported the product to a position where I use the product. I continue to be impressed with the robustness of the product and how efficient it is. It is a user friendly software that can be used to navigate and accomplish tasks to meet organizational requirements.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Usability
    Skyward
    It takes some time to get used to navigating the features and layers, but once you know your way around it, it's pretty good.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Discontinued Products
    I do not find SumTotal to be intuitive. I feel we need to adjust our needs to meet the functionality available in the tool.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Support Rating
    Skyward
    Overall great job, issues were taken care of. People in support do care.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Discontinued Products
    We have our own IT support to assist in SumTotal issues, however, we have had to log in cases directly. Support is mediocre at best.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Implementation Rating
    Skyward
    Yes, I was part of the implementation team.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Discontinued Products
    No answers on this topic
    Alternatives Considered
    Skyward
    I, personally, have not used other Student Management Systems, but having used Skyward, I do not necessarily feel any overwhelming desire to seek out the competitive software programs. Skyward does what it says it will and provides my school district with an easy and organized way to share and access all of the relevant student and family information we need. It serves it's purpose well and meets our needs.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Discontinued Products
    When I came to my company, they had been using a "light" LMS called Articulate. It was cheap and bare bones; i.e. not a lot of features, really just a platform to launch eLearning from and not real interface for student to utilize. When I began to overhaul the training department, this was one of the first things I changed. Articulate would only run courses built in their software, and the software was not 508 compliant. In addition, we had no ability to create learning plans, house transcripts, customize the interface, or manage the students. I made the choice to select and LMS that was a true LMS with all of the features that were critical to our clients' needs. Thus far, SumTotal has been able to support all of our needs, except one; mobile learning that is media rich
    Incentivized
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    Return on Investment
    Skyward
    • Overall, Skyward has had a positive impact. One way is the student information that is shared and available to see. If I need to know something about a student’s academic history, Skyward has it.
    • Another way it has impacted our district is the way it has streamlined all of our payroll information. I can see check histories, different parts of my salary, and the year-end totals all in one place.
    • Skyward has also made a big impact on our district by making it easier to communicate with parents. All the parents’ contact information is available and email is even included in the program.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Discontinued Products
    • Clean front-end user interface for easier course catalog management.
    • Reporting has been more difficult than previous LMS.
    • Audience building has more variables making it more difficult to manage.
    • Slower overall client turnaround due to admin side interface.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    ScreenShots

    SumTotal (legacy) Screenshots

    Screenshot of SumTotal Learning Management: Deliver the learning your organization needs including skilling/upskilling/reskilling, career planning & development. All delivered with our engaging learner experience across all modalities (desktop, tablet & mobile) and in the flow of workScreenshot of SumTotal Onboarding: Foster learning before day one with our robust onboarding solution. Build culture, complete necessary paperwork and begin the path to productivity for all your new and returning employees.Screenshot of SumTotal Performance: Performance management that meets the needs of today’s forward-thinking organizations. Align the goals and performance of your entire workforce with those of the broader organization for better business outcomes.Screenshot of SumTotal Succession: Make succession planning an organizational strength. SumTotal allows you to better understand your workforce now and better plan for your future with our intuitive succession planning tools.Screenshot of SumTotal Recruiting: A modern recruiting solution that delivers a powerful candidate experience, recruiter productivity, job matching and internal mobility.Screenshot of SumTotal Compensation: SumTotal makes compensation planning easier and less time consuming. Build a pay for performance culture that meets your organizations goals and objectives while keeping you competitive in the ever-changing marketplace.