Importing Data: The Import File

Importing data into SIMON is very straight forward. Follow these directions and you shouldn't have too much trouble.

IMPORT FILE SPECIFICATION

Your import file must be plain text. If you are working in Excel, choose "Save As" from the file menu and select "Text (Tab Delimited)" as the file type.

You can import data related to schools, teachers, and students. The data that can be included for each type are (in this order):

SCHOOL

Columns: schoolName, principalID, vPrincipalID

Note that the school data can be entered manually. Many find it easier to manually enter this data, especially if you have less than 5 or 6 schools.

schoolName (School Name) - You must include the school name. This must match the name of the school EXACTLY as it appears in the list of schools in RCM.

principalID (Principal ID) - The [teacher] ID number of the school's principal.

vPrincipalID (Vice Principal ID, optional) - The [teacher] ID number of the school's vice principal.

TEACHER

Columns: teacherID, name, school, email, password, defaultReport, accountType, [rID.rLang]

teacherID (Teacher ID Number) - If you include teachers in your import file, the teacher’s ID number MUST be included, and be included as the first parameter (column). This number must be district-wide unique. No two teachers can have the same ID number. SIMON will use this ID to keep track of teachers. This ID number is used by SIMON only. The user will never see this number in Report Card Maker. This must be a integer (numbers only) and cannot have a leading zero.

name (Teacher Name) - The name of the teacher as it will print on the report cards. Note that the end user will have the ability to change this name.

school (Assigned School) - You must include the school name. This must match the name of the school EXACTLY as it appears in the list of schools in RCM.

eMail (eMail Address) - Each teacher must have an eMail address attached to their account. The eMail address is the teacher's login.

password - You should include a password. If you do not supply a password for the teacher, a password will be generated automatically when the teacher is imported.

defaultReport (optional) - You may include a default report. The default report is the report that RCM will open to initially when the teacher logs in.

accountType (Account Type, optional) - The Account Type determines how RCM (and SIMON) will treat this user. You can import any of the following types:

• teacher (or empty) to define a teacher
• principal to denote a principal
• tech (or tech assistant) to define the user as a technology assistant
• admin to make the teacher a SIMON administrator

Custom Field (optional) - If you have data that is displayed on the report cards that is "teacher level data", you can import that data. The column name for this data must the the report ID number, then a period, then the language of the report. For example, 1101.engl or 1241.all .

STUDENT

Columns: studentID, fName, mi, lName, gender, grade, language, teacherID, [r.rID.fID.lang, s.fID.lang]

studentID (Student ID Number) - The student’s ID number MUST be included and be included as the first parameter (column). This number must be district-wide unique. No two students can have the same ID number. SIMON will use this ID to keep track of students. This must be a integer (numbers only) and cannot have a leading zero.

fName (First Name) - The student’s first name.

mi (Middle Initial)- The student’s middle initial (one character only).

lName (Last Name) - The student’s last name.

gender - The student’s gender. Supply a single character only. Supply M for Male, F for Female, or any other letter for a non binary option.

grade (Grade Level) - The student’s grade level. Supply the grade level of the student in abbreviated form only. (N, P, T, K, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, etc.)

language - If the student’s report card should be sent home in Spanish, import “S” or “Spanish”. If the report card should be sent home in English, import “E” or “English”. If you do not supply a language for the student, SIMON will set the student to English. The teacher can override this setting in RCM.

If your report cards in RCM are not in the language you provide, RCM will not be able to display the report card in the selected language. If your report cards in RCM are in English only, skip this column or enter only "E".

teacher ID (Assigned Teacher ID) - The assigned teacher is used to tell SIMON which [homeroom] teacher this student should be placed with. Supply the Teacher’s ID Number.

Custom Field (Report Level Data) - (optional) You can include any data or grades to the student's report card at the report level. For example, if your report card has a place for Special Services, Attendance or Test Scores, you can import this data. The column name for this data is the letter "r", a period, the report ID, a period, the field ID, a period, and the field language. For example, r.1101.1255.engl, or r.3410.1675.all .

If your attempt to import report level data to a report card that does not apply to a student, that data will be skipped and not imported. For example, if you import data to "r.1101.1255.all ", where 1101 is the Kindergarten report card and the grade level of the student is 1st grade, the data will not be imported as the Kindergarten report card does not apply to a first grade student.

Custom Field (Student Level Data) - (optional) You can include any data or grades to the student's report card at the student level. For example, if your report card has a place for ELD Levels or other student level data.. The column name for this data is the letter "s", a period, the field ID, a period, and the field language. For example, s.1610.span, or s.1201.all .