School Maestro II Internet FAQs
- Can my confidential student information be viewed by others
on the Internet when I upload my data to your server?
Your data is stored locally on your computer in a secured and encrypted
database. When you upload student data, it is encrypted and
then compressed to minimize upload time. The data cannot be
intercepted or decrypted by others. It is uploaded to a secure
directory on a dedicated server and then stored in a secured and
encrypted database.
- If the data is not on our school server, how can it be secure?
The database is secured and encrypted and stored in a secure directory.
Even if someone could physically obtain the file, they could not
read it. No one else has access to the necessary passwords
and user names.
- Can student codes, passwords, and reports be viewed by others
on the Internet?
Student codes and passwords are sent to the server via an SSL (secured
sockets layer) connection. Reports are sent back to the browser
via SSL. SSL is an encrypted communication that is typically
used for protecting credit card information on the Internet.
- Where do the student codes and passwords come from?
School Maestro automatically assigns student codes for each student.
It can also automatically assign unique passwords. If a password
is compromised, you can enter a new one or delete it and have School
Maestro assign a new one.
- If a student has several teachers using School Maestro, does
he need to have a different code and password for each teacher?
If you are using the multiple user version, the student would only
have one code and password. If you are using multiple copies
of School Maestro (group license), then teachers may export codes
and passwords that can be imported by other teachers. The
student/parent can then obtain all of their reports using a single
code and password. They are given a class list to select the
class they want a report for. They can then just click the
Back button in their browser and select a different class without
having to enter a code or password.
- Do I need to have cookies turned on in my browser?
No. If you haven't turned off cookies, the student code will
be saved in a cookie. Parents do not need to enter the student
code every night. Windows will also offer to save the password.
The parent can do this if no one else has access to their computer.
However, if students are sharing computers at school, they should
not have Windows save their password.
- How long is the data maintained on the web site for retrieval?
Report data is kept on-line for 60 days. If you want a shorter
period, you can delete your on-line data by selecting none of the
reports when you upload. If you want a longer period, you
can resubmit your data to get a fresh 60 days.
- I do not want to use all your sample reports or include all
the data that your sample reports do.
You can elect to upload 0, 1, 2, or 3 reports. If you upload
0 reports, your on-line data is deleted. You can elect to
upload any combination of progress report, attendance report, and
homework assignment report. The reports use the same options
that the printed reports in School Maestro use. Each report
has numerous settings that allow you to select what data you want
to include.
- I teach 5 classes but have only entered scores for two of
them today. Do I need to upload data for the other classes?
Whenever you upload data, all of your existing data is deleted and
replaced by the newer data. You need to upload data for all
classes that you want data available for, even if you haven't changed
any data for some of them.
- I work at home and school. Can I upload data from either
location?
Yes, as long as both locations have Internet access. If you
are behind a firewall (proxy server) at school, you need to enter
the proxy server name in School Maestro.
- How do I know if my upload was successful or if my students/parents
can get their reports?
You will receive a confirming email within minutes of uploading
data. You will also receive a daily email that will list all
of your classes and which students/parents have retrieved their
reports for each class.
- I have my own web page. Can I upload the data to my
web server instead of to yours?
No. School Maestro is configured to upload to the R&R EdWare
server. The server requires custom programs to process the
reports. You can put a link on your page that students/parents
can click to get their reports. The link would point to
http://www.rredware.com/smreports.asp.
- I don't want parents and students to have to click through
a bunch of targeted advertising in order to get their reports.
The reports page has no banner ads or advertising.
- I have one parent who believes that nothing on the Internet
has any security and does not want their student's reports posted
on the Internet.
If you manually enter student passwords, just don't enter a password
for that student. If you use School Maestro to auto assign
passwords, delete the password for that student. Data for
students without a password is not posted. When you upload
your data, you will then receive a message informing you that some
students will not be able to retrieve their reports because they
do not have passwords.
- The status email only says that a student's reports were
accessed. How do I know if the student accessed them or his
parents accessed them?
You could furnish the student code and password to only the parent(s).
Or, you could include a comment on the report that has a place for
the parent to sign. They can print the report from their browser,
sign it, and have the student return it to you.
- Can I include different comments on each student's report
that only apply to that student?
Yes, you can use the School Maestro individual comments or letter
grade based comments.
- Some of my parents cannot access their reports via the Internet?
This is usually caused by entering the student code or password
incorrectly. It is easy to confuse zeros (0) and oohs (O), ones
(1) and eyes (I) and lower case ells (l). To make this easier,
the Student Codes and Passwords report that is used to send the
codes home to the parents includes both an UPPER and lower case
listing of the codes such as 2IOH01H or 2ioh01h.
- If I send email, do I need to send it to all students?
You can send email to any subset of students or parents. You
can enter an email address for each student and 2 different parent
email addresses.
- Can the email be customized for each student?
Yes - you can enter any standard boiler plate text and any data
for that particular student such as his current average, letter
grade, attendance summary, class rank, etc.
- How do I know what the email will look like?
You can elect to send a test email to yourself prior to sending
out the actual emails.
|
