The digitization of K-12’s learning resources has gone from being a helpful instructional supplement to the core of the mandated at-home classroom. The applications leveraged by schools require roster data for each user to be able to use their services. 

However, providing application vendors with the necessary information to deliver their services to the right students and teachers can be tedious and time-consuming. In addition to providing a roster of students and teachers, these applications usually require access to a user’s course, grade-level, and school building. What’s more, not every vendor uses the same formatting and templates for transmitting data.

Many districts are still completing data transmissions manually; that is to say, a teacher enters roster data into multiple textbook vendor systems, one student at a time, at the beginning of each school year. This takes time, can hinder student learning with delayed access to the applications, and doesn’t account for ongoing changes to student rosters throughout the school year.

Fortunately, there are targeted rostering solutions to help streamline and automate the data rostering process. At Concensus, we’re proud to partner with Identity Automation, which enables us to provide the all-in-one platform that meets our education customers’ dynamic and growing needs. Our targeted solutions pull up-to-date student roster data from Student Information Systems (SIS) and put it into the various formats required by vendors. The data is then synchronized to the target systems on an ongoing basis. This way, roster information stays up-to-date, enabling schools to maintain accurate license counts and students to get timely access to the right classroom resources. 

Let’s take a closer look at the benefits of automated data rostering and what to look for in a rostering solution.

Automated Rostering Needs a Secure Approach 

While targeted rostering solutions are a step in the right direction, not all solutions put the same emphasis on ensuring secure rostering. For example, rostering vendors require a list that contains basic information about their user population, but sometimes schools send too much of their users’ information. 

Once the service has all of that information, they roster each identity to the school’s third-party provider, but that introduces a lack of data control on the school’s part. Then, it’s gone to a third-party consumer, and there’s no way of knowing how that information may be used beyond the service. Schools have no way to track where their data is going.

That’s why school districts must take an enterprise approach to rostering, one with identity-driven security in mind. Point rostering solutions have limitations—they are convenient, but they don’t address data security. Instead of entrusting data with targeted rostering vendors, school districts should choose a vendor whose roots are in security, restricting that data to their districts.

Typically, rostering vendors offer two capabilities: rostering and single sign-on (SSO). While districts may assume that their data is secure, the fact is that SSO and rostering are more of a convenience play. However, schools need to have processes or solutions in place for managing identities and managing rostering data. 

A rostering vendor whose solution is part of an Identity and Access Management (IaM) system offers significant advantages over point solutions for targeted rostering. IaM solutions are purpose-built to address the security complexities associated with managing identity data. This happens by providing robust identity management capabilities that go well beyond those of basic rostering solutions, such as automated lifecycle management, single sign-on, password management, and identity and access governance, to name a few. One such solution with comprehensive IaM and rostering capabilities and a strong foothold in the K-12 sector is Identity Automation’s RapidIdentity platform.

RapidIdentity Rostering

RapidIdentity Rostering is a prime example of an identity-driven approach to secure, automated rostering. RapidIdentity Rostering is a SaaS integration service, designed explicitly for curriculum departments. 

RapidIdentity Rostering provides quick, reliable sharing and bidirectional syncing of student rosters, grades, and performance data with third-party digital educational applications, including the transformation, combination, and data filtering. 

This means that the schools are in control and can specify which data elements are shared with third-party applications. Districts can choose from a catalog of applications with pre-defined integrations and custom file formats for applications outside of industry standards.

RapidIdentity Rostering gives school districts more control by leveraging self-service capabilities and increased granular control over district data. This control empowers curriculum departments with a critical link between the classroom and district applications, easily synching class roster data in a way that optimizes interdepartmental collaboration and, in turn, the school’s overall learning experience.

Automated Rostering is Streamlined and Secure With RapidIdentity Rostering

There’s no way around it: rostering solutions are now an essential part of enabling digital learning in K12 school districts. With this in mind, districts need to find a vendor whose roots lie in identity-driven security. 

One such vendor is Identity Automation, now leveraging an even more streamlined approach to rostering via RapidIdentity Rostering, along with its comprehensive IaM capabilities. 

To learn more about RapidIdentity Rostering and how it helps districts take a security-driven approach to automated rostering, register for our upcoming webinar with Identity Automation Thursday, June 18th at 1:00 PM CST.

To learn how Identity Automation and Concensus Technologies can give your school district the flexibility to do more with current resources, streamline processes, and better manage your cybersecurity approach, contact the team of IT experts at Concensus today.