Keeping Ellevation up to date at key points in the school year ensures your staff sees accurate student data, workflows run on time, and every user has the right level of access. We recommend completing these tasks at the beginning and end of each school year, between semesters, and before any Ellevation training in your district.
Make an editable copy of the Database Update Checklist (Google Doc | Microsoft Word) to complete online, or print and fill in by hand.
Jump to a section:
- Required Tasks for Back-to-School
- Ensure That Student, Staff, and Schedule Data Is Up to Date
- Ensure That Users See Appropriate Information
- Ensure That District Settings Are Correct
- Ensure That Instructional Recommendations Can Be Assigned
- Ensure That Benchmark Assessments Can Be Assigned
Required Tasks for Back-to-School
Start here. These four tasks have the biggest impact on who can access Ellevation and what student data they see. Complete them before moving on to the sections below.
- Update your School Year Start/End Dates. (Update Start/End Dates)
- Manage users to ensure they have the correct access and permissions. (Manage Users)
- If your data is not automated, review and manually update your list of Ellevation users. (Review User List)
- Spot-check data in Ellevation to confirm automations are running and sending updated data. Review a few students' schedules, grade levels, and school assignments. (Spot-Check Data)
If you expect any major changes in your district for back-to-school, such as an SIS transition, administrator turnover, or a school opening or closure, be sure to complete the District End of Year Check-In survey we emailed you in May, or contact your Account Manager or our Help Desk.
💡 Quick Tip
Need extra help with any task in this checklist? Register for a free upcoming webinar or micro-learning session at the Ellevation Resource Center.
Ensure That Student, Staff, and Schedule Data Is Up to Date
Accurate student, staff, and schedule data is the foundation of everything in Ellevation, from Reports and Family Letters to deadline-driven workflows. Use the tasks below to confirm your data is current for the new school year or semester.
Assessment Data Imports
(Assessment Data Imports article)
- Send your most recent standardized test scores via Box or SFTP.
ℹ️ Note
Assessment types and quantities vary by Ellevation tier. If any part of your request cannot be accommodated, our team will follow up with you directly.
When you or someone in your district sends scores via SFTP, you must notify the Ellevation Help Desk to have them imported. This step is not required if you upload scores to Box.
Data Automations
- Ask your district's SIS manager to update your schedule file automation to include student schedules for the current year or semester if it is outdated.
- Notify the Ellevation Help Desk if your SIS manager will pause automations over the summer or school breaks, and remind them to restart automations when they return.
- Complete the District End of Year Check-In survey we emailed you in May, or contact your Account Manager or our Help Desk if your district is transitioning to a new SIS.
Data Communication
- Notify your district's SIS manager if you want to add any new data fields to your SIS export to Ellevation.
- If changes are made to your file, email the Ellevation Help Desk to import the updated data.
- Let your team know when to expect fresh student data in Ellevation.
Ensure That Users See Appropriate Information
Reviewing user access settings at the start of each year helps protect student data privacy and keeps your Dashboards actionable for every role in your district.
Account Settings
- Review and update your School Year Start/End Dates.
Schools List
- Update your list of schools to reflect any openings, closures, or name or LEA changes.
⚠️ Warning
When you or someone in your district updates the Schools list, you must notify the Ellevation Help Desk to have your student and staff file mappings updated.
User Permissions Updates
- Review and update user permissions.
User Updates
- Review and update Account Types for users if manually maintained in Ellevation.
- Review for inactive or deactivated users; activate and invite any users who should have access to Ellevation. If you cannot find users you expect to see, contact the Help Desk for support.
- Review and update School Assignments for users if manually maintained in Ellevation. For bulk updates, email the Help Desk.
ℹ️ Note
The ability to create custom Account Types varies by Ellevation tier. Contact the Help Desk if you have questions about your district's tier.
Single Sign-On
- Consider setting up Single Sign-On via Clever or ClassLink on an internal portal, LMS, or staff website to provide a seamless login experience.
Dashboards
- Create, review, or update custom Dashboards to surface key student data.
- Set a Homepage Dashboard for all users in your district or for subsets of users by Account Type.
ℹ️ Note
For WIDA districts: Existing Dashboard tiles and Student List filters must be manually updated to use the new WIDA ACCESS filter. Learn more.
Ensure That District Settings Are Correct
Updating district settings at the start of the year ensures that deadline-driven workflows fire on schedule, that student decisions are made accurately, and that the right information appears on Reports, Family Letters, and Forms.
ℹ️ Note
Skip any feature or section below that your district does not have or does not use in Ellevation.
Student List Views
- Review and update Views that are tied to a specific time period or school year, including Filters that capture exit criteria, dates, years, or semesters.
Form Settings
New to Forms this school year? Learn more and get started! (Videos / Article)
- Review and update your Forms Templates. (Video / Article)
- Add or review Classroom Modifications in your templates. (Get Started)
- Add or review Testing Accommodations in your templates. (Get Started)
- Review and update your Permissions. (Article)
- Review and update your Course Tagging. (Video / Article)
- Close out (and archive) any live cycles from the previous year. (Article) This will clean up your Cycle page and prevent teachers from seeing the Student Profiles of students they were assigned Forms for in the previous year.
ℹ️ Note
Ellevation recommends creating Form Cycles close to when you plan to make the Cycle "Live" to ensure all intended students are captured and schedule information is most up to date.
Report & Family Letter Configurations
- Update Exit and Graduation rates as required by districts that receive Title III funding to notify families of these rates. (Get Started)
- Review and update date ranges for ELP Tests, Standardized Tests, Goals, EL Services, Language Programs, Classroom Modifications/Instructional Supports, and Designated Supports/Testing Accommodations, if those fields are included in your District Templates. (Get Started)
Ensure That Instructional Recommendations Can Be Assigned
Clearing outdated data and reviewing your configuration lists at the start of each year ensures educators can assign the right instructional recommendations and that accurate information flows through to Reports and Family Letters.
ℹ️ Note
Skip any feature or section that your district does not have or does not use in Ellevation.
Batch Clear Old Data Before a New School Year or Semester
- Batch clear EL/LEP teacher assignments (if manually maintained in Ellevation).
- Batch clear student schedules (if manually maintained in Ellevation).
EL Services
- Review and update your list of EL Services.
Language Programs
- Review and update your list of Language Programs.
Testing Accommodations/Designated Supports
(Testing Accommodations article)
- Review and update your list of Testing Accommodations/Designated Supports.
- Mark any Testing Accommodations/Designated Supports your district no longer uses as inactive.
Standardized Tests
- Review and update your list of Standardized Tests.
- Review and update which Testing Accommodations/Designated Supports are allowed for each Standardized Test.
Classroom Modifications/Instructional Supports
(Classroom Modifications article)
- Review and update your list of Classroom Modifications/Instructional Supports.
Ensure That Benchmark Assessments Can Be Assigned
Setting up Benchmark testing windows before the school year begins ensures educators can monitor EL student growth and adjust instruction at the moments that matter most, up to three times per year across all four language domains.
ℹ️ Note
Ellevation Benchmark requires the Essential, Pro tier. If you don't see Benchmark, check with your Ellevation Administrator.
Benchmark
New to Benchmark this school year? Learn more, train staff, and get started with the Rollout Toolkit above.
- Review and close any previous year's testing windows. (Get Started)
- Determine your beginning-of-year (BOY) testing window dates. Ellevation recommends 2–4 weeks per window. (Get Started)
- Review Benchmark tiers automatically assigned to students based on ELP scores, and adjust as needed. (Get Started)
⚠️ Warning
Use caution when closing testing windows. Once a window is closed, it cannot be reopened.