Teacher and Student Associations
Can you upgrade another specific account to the “head administrator” access level?
Yes. There should be a very limited number of head admin accounts, however, since their actions can override each other.
What file format/extension should the data files be saved in?
Although you can work in Excel to create tables with the required fields and data, when you upload, you must save the files in comma separated values (CSV) format. Filenames must end in .csv. Perform a Save as... and select .csv as the format type before uploading the file. For more information about creating input files, see Creating Data Files.
Do I need to include a header row in the data file?
Yes, include the header row as the first row in the file. For more information about creating input files, see Creating Data Files.
What are the different user_type values that are valid in the data file?
Valid values for the user_type field are 1, 2, 3, or 4.
|
This user type… |
is associated with this access level… |
that has access to… |
and is typical for this type of role… |
|
1 |
Teacher Level |
Students in their class list |
Homeroom/Subject area teacher |
|
2 |
Building Level |
All students within the building(s) they are associated with |
Principal |
|
3 |
District Level |
All students within the district |
District reading specialist, superintendent |
|
4 |
Admin |
The Admin tab that allows this user to create new accounts, adjust settings in the system, upload a new roster, and complete similar types of system functions |
Another website administrator, district data warehouse administrator, or district assessment administrator |
For more information on user types, see “Understanding Access Levels” on page 4.
What codes should we input for the ethnicity, SPED, and so forth columns in the students data file?
You are welcome to use any format you desire; however, Riverside Insights suggests using the actual text value representing the classifications instead of a code (if possible). If you are unable to employ this approach, use any codes your district has already established. If there are any unrecognized values following successful roster upload, easyCBM allows you to match them with predefined federal-guideline values. See Mapping Demographic Values for more information.
There is a student in my third-grade class who has been enrolled as a fourth grader, but he really is in third grade (and needs to take the third-grade Benchmarks). Can you fix this?
You can make these changes under the Student Records section of the Admin tab.
If the district has opted to allow teachers to create temporary student records, then a teacher can update the grade level (and first and last name) by accessing the student’s record through the Students tab. The record will still need to be merged, however, with the student's actual ID, which calls for action on the part of the administrator. .
Note: Changes to a student’s demographic information in easyCBM also need to be made in the district Student Information System; otherwise, these changes will be overwritten the next time the district roster is imported into the system.
For more information about updating an existing student record, see Working with Existing Student Records.
For the Employee IDs, do we include every teacher who may test a student as well as school staff who will need to view the student's test scores? Do we also need to include IDs for the district administrative staff?
Each user account in the system can have students directly associated with their account (see Employee IDs column in the teacher_students associations file). Having a student directly associated with a teacher account makes it easier to put the student into subgroups with other students, enter Benchmark or Progress Monitoring scores for the student, or view group or individual reports.
Only the employee ID of accounts where that student appears under the user's main class list are needed for a student. Building-level users and District-level users do not need to be directly associated with any student records because they can “drill down” and view any other accounts/students associated with their buildings. If a building user regularly works with a small group of students, however, and administers assessments, he or she may have students associated with them as well.
To expedite online testing, assessors need to know the username of the employee directly associated with the students they are testing. If a teacher is administering the tests to his or her own students, this is simply their own username. In some districts, outside assessors are hired to administer the assessments. The first step in testing a student online is to enter his or her teacher's username (that is, the username of any employee ID directly associated with that student). For example, if an administrative user was helping test a different teacher's classroom, the administrator would have students enter their teacher's username to start the process. For students who are to receive progress monitoring, it is helpful to include any reading/math specialists who plan to work directly with the student in the teacher_students associations file—it takes fewer steps to enter data/view reports for students associated with your own account.
Do you support classroom identifiers so that teachers with multiple classes can organize their students by class?
Currently, easyCBM is structured a bit differently from the traditional “teachers associated to classes” and “students associated to classes.” Rather, students are directly associated to teacher accounts, and from that teacher account, students can be sub-grouped, as necessary, for instructional groups. This feature allows student groups to be fluid, with students potentially moving in and out of different instructional groups. Currently, this function is accomplished manually through the Students tab.
For more information about grouping students, see the easyCBM User’s Guide.
A student’s homeroom teacher is usually his or her’s first-period teacher. Homeroom teachers could be teaching any subject. How do we decide which Employee ID to map the student to?
We recommend mapping all teachers who work directly with a student to that student’s records in the teacher_students associations file. This enables every teacher to view all their students’ scores on the easyCBM assessments. Science and social studies teachers find the reports on students’ reading and mathematics performance useful in planning their lessons, just as reading/writing and math teachers do.
Our users' everyday passwords are stored encrypted; what should we do about the passwords column in the users file?
The password column provides users with an initial login password, not necessarily the password they commonly use for other purposes. Most districts assign a generic password (for example, a combination of their employee ID + other text) that each user knows. The district then instructs their teachers to change their password upon initial login to the system. Another option is to create random passwords for everyone and then either inform users of their password or instruct them to use the password reset feature to gain initial access.
For more information about creating input files, see Creating Data Files.
I've uploaded our users list; does easyCBM automatically email everyone in the system their password, or do I have to send out the web link and have folks set up their own passwords by clicking the “Forgot password” link?
easyCBM does not automatically email passwords after you upload the users data file. District administrators may develop a system to accomplish this function by referencing a password for each user included in the 1_users.csv file and then employing an email-merge that would send a form email to everyone along with their password. It also is possible to have users use the password reset feature.
For more information about resetting passwords, see Managing Your Account.
Can staff change their own login passwords once we assign them?
Yes, users are able to change their password under the Account tab once they have successfully logged in to the system. There also is a password reset feature that sends a confirmation link to their email address. For the few teachers who still struggle with this function, passwords can be manually set for user accounts using the Admin tab and then accessing the User Accounts page.
For more information about resetting passwords, see Managing Your Account.
Can a teacher view an online test without taking it as a real student?
Yes, teachers can use the Preview link next to each online measure to view the actual test forms without accessing a real student’s account. In addition, teachers can preview the test forms using the Demo Student record at the very bottom of the Student Name menu. The demo student's grade is determined by the most common grade of the other students in the list. The same tests are available to the demo student as the other students in the list as well. Teachers can use this function for demonstration purposes (for example, on a projection screen, guiding students systematically to the start of their test) or to preview a test.
Important:The tests accessed using the Demo Student link (password: demo) are the exact same tests that real students will be taking. Thus, it is important that assessors not coach students through any of the questions while using the Demo Student account option. Demo student answers are not saved.
For more information about previewing an online test, see the easyCBM online help for Teachers and Assessors.
The reading comprehension Benchmark test is not showing up for students to take online.
All group-administered Benchmark assessments automatically appear on students' lists when they log on to their accounts and the Benchmark window is open. When the Benchmark window is closed, these tests no longer appear to students. Specific benchmark measures are determined by the selected student's grade level, and access is controlled by the dates in the Benchmarking Window Settings (Admin > System Settings).
Users can determine whether a Benchmark period is open by clicking the Measures tab. If the Benchmarks tab is in the front and there is a black arrow above the Fall, Winter, or Spring button, that benchmark window is open.
Once a session is activated, students then have the ability to select from the available online benchmarking measures associated with the corresponding window.
See Updating Benchmark Window Settings for more information.
An online Progress Monitoring test is not showing up for students to select.
For students to take online Progress Monitoring measures in the system, teachers must individually assign the measure they want to a group of students. Once a measure has been assigned to a group, then it is available for all students in that group. Note: Teachers need to un-assign the measure when they no longer want it to appear.
We need to make sure students log in as the correct student. Will they see a list of all other students in the class when they access a test?
The teacher administering the test will need to ensure students are taking their own tests. This is akin to ensuring a student writes his own name on the paper-and-pencil versions. All of the online tests display the student name in the top-right corner of the screen. There is a feature that allows per-student passwords as an optional system setting (note that this requires the Head Admin to allow passwords and to add student passwords to the 2_users.csv file).
See Updating Student Passwords for Online Tests for more information.
We use several systems and not all users will have an employee ID in our Student Information System.
The employee ID is simply a unique identifier to associate students with teachers. The Employee ID column in the teacher_students associations file is used to map each particular student to his or her teachers. When a teacher logs in, his or her class list will be composed of students associated with his or employee ID. For other users who are not directly associated with any students (for example, most Building- and District-level users), IDs may be created specific to easyCBM; the only requirement is that IDs be unique (that is, they may contain numbers, letters, underscore, and so forth).
For more information about creating data files, see Creating Data Files.
Because not all of the staff accessing this website are teachers and therefore do not have a "teacher" ID, is there a reason that the Username and the Employee ID couldn't be the same?
Having the Employee ID be the same as the username for some users is fine. Letters, numbers, underscores, and so forth are all possible, but it needs to be unique to each user. In the teacher_students associations file, a user's employee ID is used to associate students directly with that teacher account. Building-level and District-level users do not necessarily need to have any students associated directly with their account because they can drill down and view all of the accounts in whichever building they have access to. Employee IDs only need to be associated with students who need to appear in that teacher's class list. For the upload file, this is typically the student's homeroom or subject-area teacher, although many districts will provide an association for every teacher with whom a student works.
For more information about creating data files, see Creating Data Files.
One of our user’s Employee ID has changed.
Under the Admin tab, a User Accounts section allows editing any information for a teacher account. Click on that teacher's account to change the employee ID.
Note: If this teacher account you are editing was associated with any students, then the teacher_students association file now must use the new employee ID as well (uploading gives errors if an employee ID does not exist). To make changes to several accounts at once, a new users file can be created and uploaded so any changes are processed at once.
For more information about changing user accounts, see Working with Existing User Accounts.
Does it make a difference whether a particular teacher will be administering tests or just reviewing test results? At some schools, a test coordinator administers the tests; however, classroom teachers need to review the results for their students. Are employee IDs entered differently if the teacher just needs to view information?
Generally for Teacher Level accounts, we recommend associating a student to the employee ID of any teacher who works with him or her on a daily basis.
Users with Teacher Level access (for example, a classroom teacher) can only enter data or view reports for students directly associated with the user’s employee ID. If the user needs to enter scores or view a report for a student, then the user must directly associate the student to the user’s employee ID.
Users with Building Level access (for example, a principal or a test coordinator) can “drill down” into any other accounts that are associated with the buildings this account has access to. This user can enter scores and view reports for any students within his or her school. This user does not need to be directly associated with any students.
Note: It is easier for a user to enter data and view reports for students who are associated with his or her own account as it saves having to drill down into other people's accounts. For instance, a reading specialist who works with a few students from several different classrooms might like to have those particular students associated directly with his or her account. The specialist can create subgroups that match his or her instructional programming and then enter data and view reports just for those students. Progress monitoring groups can be quite fluid, and these teacher/student associations are not kept in any data system.
Users with District Level access (for example, a staff development specialist) are virtually the same as someone with building-level access, but who is associated with every building in the district. Building-level access allows interactions with one or more buildings while district-level access allows interactions with all buildings. Both levels have the same drill-down capabilities. If the teacher just needs to view information, the employee IDs do not need to be entered differently. Homeroom/classroom teachers should still be associated with their students even if those teachers themselves will not be administering tests to their students, because they still need the ability to see reports for their students.
The following is an example of how a district set up access levels for its users.
District ABC hired several teachers to administer tests to all students during the fall. Because these teachers would be administering tests at several different schools at varying times (and would not be associated with any student record), the district technology administrator set up an account with district-level access for each newly hired teacher.
Upon accessing the system, each newly hired teacher would need to drill-down to access the appropriate school/teacher/test. For online tests, the newly hired teacher would direct students to type in their homeroom teacher's username (with whom they were directly associated), find their name, and take their test. Usually most elementary students are associated with just one employee ID, but sometimes two or three are needed. (For example, middle school students are usually associated with several employee IDs, one for each teacher they see during the day.)
Is it possible for a district to combine computer administration and web data entry, or do we need to use only one data collection system?
Schools are welcome to use any combination of administration formats: teachers can hand score assessments and enter total scores (Benchmark) or item-level data (Benchmark and Progress Monitoring); students can take some or all of the tests (vocabulary, multiple choice reading comprehension, and math) online. On the teacher data entry page, the place for a particular student's score is disabled if that student has already taken the test online. On the online test, a message appears for the student if he or she already has a score entered into the website via a different method, and it won't allow the student to retake the test online. In other words, all of the different input methods work in unison and are protected from overlap.