Configure Form Templates

🔐 Account type(s) with default permissions to manage this: Administrator (Specialist permissions may vary)

💻 Tier(s) this is available for: Foundation, Essential, Pro

Form Templates are the foundation of every decision and feedback workflow in Ellevation. Reviewing, selecting, or configuring them before you launch a Cycle helps your team collect consistent, targeted information to support your English learners (ELs).

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In this article:

• Access Pre-Built Form Templates
• Create New Form Templates
• Understand Collect Data and View Data Section Types
• Reorder and Hide Answer Options
• Adding a Custom Rich Text Section
• Add Custom Fields and Field Aliases to a Template
• Update Existing Form Templates
• Edit a Form Template Currently in Use in a Live Cycle
• Copy (Duplicate) Form Templates
• Delete Form Templates
• Configure Templates for Student Records

Access Pre-Built Form Templates

Ellevation provides several pre-built Form Templates aligned with state and federal guidelines and best practices. Using these standardized templates helps your team develop consistent, targeted strategies to support English learners (ELs) across your district.

To access your district's Form Templates:

1. Click the Admin menu icon, then navigate to Forms Settings > Templates.
2. Click the name of a Form Template to preview it.

📝 The Templates Settings screen, accessible via Admin menu > Forms Settings > Templates.

⚠️ Warning

If you are unable to access Ellevation-provided pre-built templates, email [e-mail] for assistance.

Create New Form Templates

When your district needs a template beyond Ellevation's pre-built options, you can build one using the Form Template Builder. Templates are reusable, so the time you invest here streamlines every future Cycle that uses them.

📝 Creating a new Form Template.

To create a new Form Template:

1. Click the Admin menu icon, then navigate to Forms Settings > Templates.
2. Click New Template, enter a name for your template, and click OK. The Form Template Builder opens automatically.
   • To rename the template later, click the Edit button inside the Form Template Builder.
3. In the Add Section panel, search for a section by name in the search box, or browse the categorized list (for example, Academic Progress, Determinations, Language Progress, or Data Blocks), then click a section to add it to your template.
4. Configure the section you added using the controls in the section panel:
   • Section Type: Choose Collect Data to gather new input from the form responder, or View Data to display existing student information for context. See the section on Collect Data and View Data below for details.
   • Configuration: For applicable sections, add an optional Description. Turn on Include Comment to add a comment field, set its Comment Label, and check Require Comment if the comment must be completed before the form can be submitted. Turn on Required to make the form responder answer the question before they can submit.
   • Minimum Selections: For applicable Collect Data sections, set a minimum number of selections a contributor must make before they can submit the form. Contributors must meet the minimum but may select more if needed, and anyone who has not met the minimum receives a prompt before they can complete the form.
   • Customization: Set a Custom Title and edit the Answer Options as needed for the section.
5. Click Back to Add Section to search and add more sections.
6. Arrange sections into the order you want them to appear on the form by clicking the up caret (^) or down caret (⌄) on a section in the preview. Click the x on a section to delete it.
7. [Optional] Configure Acknowledgements. Acknowledgements are statements that contributors must check before signing, for example, "I have read and reviewed the student's language plan."
   • Click Configure to open the Acknowledgements panel.
   • Click Add and type your acknowledgement statement in the text box. Click Add again to include additional statements.
   • Click Update when finished.
8. Click Save in the top-right corner of the Form Template Builder to save your new template.

⚠️ Warning

Some template sections require you to complete all of their settings before you can continue. Any unfinished configurations appear in red and must be resolved before you can save the template or click Back to Add Section.

📝 Required configurations, shown in red, must be completed before adding more sections or saving.

💡 Quick Tip

Before creating a template from scratch, check whether an existing pre-built template covers most of what you need. Duplicating a pre-built template and customizing it is often faster than starting from zero.

Understand Collect Data and View Data Section Types

Each data section in a template can be set to one of two behaviors using the Section Type control when you configure the section:

View Data sections display student information already stored in Ellevation, such as data from previous Forms, giving educators context as they work through the form.

Collect Data sections gather new input from educators completing the form.

For example, if you set an Academic Performance section to View Data, educators completing the form see previously recorded academic performance data. If you set the same section to Collect Data, educators are prompted to enter new academic performance input for that student.

📝 An Academic Performance section set to View Data shown alongside one set to Collect Data.

Reorder and Hide Answer Options

For sections that include answer options, such as Academic Performance, you can control which options contributors see and the order they appear in. Tailoring these before you launch a Cycle keeps the choices focused and relevant to your district's workflow.

You can reorder and hide answer options in Collect Data and View Data sections that use them. You cannot add new answer options to a section (see the note below).

📝 The Answer Options list in a section's Customization settings, with a drag handle to reorder each option and an eye icon to hide it.

Reorder an answer option: Click and drag the drag handle (the six small squares) to the left of an answer option, then drop the option where you want it in the list. The order you set here is the order contributors see on the form.

Hide an answer option: Click the eye icon to the right of an answer option to hide it so it does not appear on the form for contributors.

Click Save in the top-right corner of the Form Template Builder to save your changes.

ℹ️ Note

You can reorder or hide the answer options that come with a section, but you cannot add new ones. The set of answer options available in a section is fixed.

Adding a Custom Rich Text Section

Rich Text sections let you add your own formatted text to a template. Unlike Collect Data and View Data sections, a Rich Text section does not display or collect student data. Use one as a header, or place one directly before a form field to give contributors unique district context or directions.

📝 A Rich Text section in the Form Template Builder.

To add a Rich Text section:

1. In the Form Template Builder, type Rich Text in the search bar under the Add Section panel.
2. Enter your content in the rich text editor. You can apply a heading or normal style, apply bold, italic, or underline, and add bulleted or numbered lists.
3. Position the Rich Text section where you want it to appear, for example as a header at the top of the form or immediately before a related form field.
4. Click Save in the top-right corner of the Form Template Builder to save your changes.

💡 Quick Tip

Place a Rich Text section directly above a Collect Data section to explain district-specific expectations for how contributors should respond. This keeps guidance right where educators need it as they complete the form.

Add Custom Fields and Field Aliases to a Template

ℹ️ Note

Custom fields are created and managed under Data Management > Custom Fields. Access to the Custom Fields page is limited to District Administrator account types, and requires the Compliance add on. If you don't see the Custom Fields page, check with your Partner Success Manager.

Beyond Ellevation's standard fields, your district can add fields it has created to a template, and can display a district-specific label for an existing field without changing the field itself.

Add a Custom Field You Created

Once your district creates a custom field under Data Management > Custom Fields, that field is immediately available to add to a form template in the Form Template Builder, the same way you add any other field. For steps to create and manage custom fields, see your district's Custom Fields documentation in the Data Management area.

Alias a Field Name in a Template

Aliasing displays a district-specific label for a field within a template, without changing the field's underlying identity in Ellevation. Use an alias when your district uses different terminology than Ellevation's default field name. If you need to collect information that does not exist in Ellevation at all, create a custom field under Data Management instead.

⚠️ Warning

Template-level field aliases are intended to help you customize your form to reflect your local terminology, rather than to change the meaning of the field. Because these changes only apply to the individual form template, the updated field will not appear elsewhere in Ellevation, including Student Lists or Dashboards. If you need a field to capture entirely different information, we recommend using a Custom Field.

ℹ️ Note

For a field you alias going forward, the Student List displays the field's original Ellevation name rather than the alias. Aliases already applied in the Student List before this change are not affected.

Update Existing Form Templates

You can update existing Form Templates to reflect current needs, for example, refreshing date fields in testing accommodations or classroom support sections at the start of a new school year.

💡 Quick Tip

Ellevation recommends duplicating a template before making edits. This preserves the original and gives you a clean copy to work from.

To update an existing Form Template:

1. Click the Admin menu icon, then navigate to Forms Settings > Templates.
2. Click the name of the Form Template you want to edit. Alternatively, click the ⋮ icon on the template row and select Edit.
3. Configure an existing section by clicking the section you want to edit in the preview panel on the right (the section with the arrow in the screenshot below). In the section panel you can adjust the Configuration options, and edit the Customization fields. Click Save after making changes to a section.
4. [Optional] Update Acknowledgements using the same Configure workflow described in the Create New Form Templates section above.
5. Click Save in the top-right corner of the Form Template Builder to save your changes.

📝 Updating an existing Classroom Modifications section in the Form Template Builder.

Edit a Form Template Currently in Use in a Live Cycle

You can edit a Form Template that is actively in use in a live Cycle. Understanding how those edits affect forms already in progress will help you plan the change carefully.

When you save edits to a template that is currently in use:

• Forms in the Not Started bucket will automatically update to reflect your changes.
• Forms in the In Progress, Done Editing, or Submitted buckets will retain the version of the template that existed before your edits.

⚠️ Warning

Resetting progress on In Progress forms will permanently remove any answers or contributor progress already saved within those forms. This action cannot be undone.

To apply template changes to forms already In Progress, you can reset them:

1. Select all forms in the In Progress bucket.
2. Click Actions, then select Reset Progress. This will remove any contributor progress or answers within those forms, and they will update to reflect the revised template.

📝 Using bulk Reset Progress on forms in the In Progress bucket to apply updated template changes.

Copy (Duplicate) Form Templates

Duplicating a template is the safest way to iterate on an existing design without affecting the original. This is especially useful when preparing templates for a new school year or testing structural changes before rolling them out.

To copy a Form Template:

1. Click the Admin menu icon, then navigate to Forms Settings > Templates.
2. Click the ⋮ icon on the template you want to copy.
3. Select Make a copy.
4. In the Duplicate Template window, enter a name for your new template.
5. Click Duplicate.

📝 Duplicating a Form Template using the three-dot menu.

Delete Form Templates

Deleting a template is permanent and, in some cases, requires additional steps. Ellevation strongly encourages archiving or duplicating templates instead of deleting them.

⚠️ Warning

Templates that have been used in a Cycle are not eligible for deletion. To delete a template associated with a Cycle, you must first delete the Cycle itself. Proceed with caution: deleting a Cycle is also a permanent action.

To delete a Form Template:

1. Click the Admin menu icon, then navigate to Forms Settings > Templates.
2. Click the ⋮ icon on the template you want to delete.
3. Select Delete.

Configure Templates for Student Records

Specific Review and Form sections can update student information directly in Ellevation. See the related articles below to learn which sections impact student records:

Language Programs Configure sections that update Language Programs on student records. Services Configure sections that update Services on student records. Testing Accommodations Configure sections that update Testing Accommodations on student records. Classroom Modifications Configure sections that update Classroom Modifications on student records. Student Goals Configure sections that update student Goals. Review Documents Configure sections that review student documents.