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EdgeEX best practices — Setting educator permissions

EdgeEX gives districts powerful control over courses and how students experience them. That control works best when:

  • The right people are trained
  • The right people have access
  • Permissions match responsibility

When permissions are designed intentionally, districts can maintain alignment, flexibility, and confidence at scale.

This article covers:

Default permissions and when to adjust them

EdgeEX includes default permissions for district administrators, school administrators, and teachers. You can review them in EdgeEX permissions defined. After you review the default settings, you can decide whether to add and take away permissions from individual educators.

The defaults work well for many organizations, but each organization is different. Your district may prefer to:

  • Centralize curriculum decisions
  • Allow school-level flexibility
  • Limit who can make changes to courses in the District and School Catalogs

Permissions can be given to individuals who need them. For example, a district-level content specialist may not be an administrator, but may need certain District Catalog permissions. We recommend providing people in your district enough access to perform their role without providing access that could unintentionally impact others.

Catalog courses vs. sections

Permissions related to courses in EdgeEX usually refer to Catalog courses, not sections.

In EdgeEX, a Catalog course is different from a section. A Catalog course is a shared blueprint:

  • District Catalog course: Determines the initial content and course options for the course in every School Catalog
  • School Catalog course: Determines the initial content and course options for the course every time a section is created within that school

A section is a single instance of a course for a teacher to use with enrollments in a class.

Permissions in EdgeEX impact courses, sections, and enrollments:

Level Impact
District Catalog All schools, sections, and students
School Catalog One school
Section One class
Enrollment One student

Understanding key EdgeEX permissions

If you are giving administrative permissions to people who do not have the typical administrator role, consider the following.

Permission Description Considerations
Manage District Default Course Options (DCO)

When combined with View District Catalog, allows you to set default course options at the District Catalog level.

Examples:

  • Pretesting settings
  • Passing thresholds
  • Assessment rules
  • Impacts all schools, sections, and enrollments
  • Best for district administrators managing policy
  • Support staff who need to make adjustments before and after holiday breaks
Customize Course in District Catalog

Allows you to modify courses at the district level and make changes to course options.

Examples:

  • Reordering units or lessons
  • Hiding lessons or units
  • Adding lessons or units
  • Changing grade weights, pretesting options, and other course options to meet the needs of the district
  • Impacts all schools, sections, and enrollments
  • Best for:
    • District administrators
    • Curriculum leaders
    • District-level content specialists

 
Customize Course in School Catalog

Allows you to modify courses at the school level.

Examples:

  • Adjust pacing for a specific school
  • Customizing content for a school's needs
  • Changing grade weights, pretesting options, and other course options to meet the needs of a school
  • Impacts all sections in a school
  • Best for:
    • School administrators
    • Department leads
Edit Course Information and Options for All Courses and Sections At the District and School Catalog levels, allows you to update course options and course information such as descriptions, course titles, and the grade levels associated with a course.
  • Impacts all schools, sections, and enrollments
  • This permission is provided by default only to district administrators. It must be added to a school administrator's profile if they need it.
Edit Course Information and Options for Assigned Sections Allows you to update course options and course information such as descriptions, course titles, and the grade levels associated with a course.
  • Impacts an individual teacher's sections

Examples: Assigning permissions based on role

We know that job titles don't always reflect an educator's responsibilities. Below are examples of roles and the permissions they need to perform their duties.

Example role In addition to the default permissions for a teacher, these permissions are also recommended Types of permissions they do not need

Curriculum Specialist (reflects default teacher permissions plus additional permissions required for their role)

An educator oversees English Language Arts curriculum across schools. 

They need to: 

  • Align content 
  • Adjust grade weights or other course options
  • Ensure consistency

Changes at this level can impact:

  • Active sections
  • Current students

Timing matters, especially during the school year.
  • EdgeEX Customize Course in District Catalog
  • EdgeEX Customize Course in School Catalog for individual schools if different schools have different needs
  • EdgeEX Edit Course Information and Options for All Courses and Sections
  • EdgeEX View District Catalog
  • EdgeEX Transfer Enrollment to Different Section (because they are in charge of curriculum, not students)
  • EdgeEX Manage District Default Course Options (because they are in charge of a subject area, not an entire district)

Teacher (reflects default teacher permissions)

A classroom teacher works with students daily. 

They need:

  • Flexibility within their classroom, but not control over shared resources
  • To be able to customize assigned sections
  • To be able to adjust course options for enrollments

None, they have what they need with the default permissions

 

 Any permissions above the section level

Designing an appropriate permission model

Below is a best practice guide for setting permissions for your district, school, and teachers.

Action Details
  1. Determine ownership

Decide:

  • Who owns district-level course design?
  • Who can make school-level adjustments?
  • What should teachers be able to change?
2. Train before granting access

The more powerful the permission, the more important it is to train educators to use it.

Focus on:

  • Hierarchy (Imagine Edgenuity Catalog, District Catalog, School Catalog, sections, enrollments)
  • How customizations and course options cascade (flow down) in the hierarchy
  • Impact of changes, including timing of changes
3. Limit unnecessary access

Not everyone needs:

  • District Catalog access
  • Course Customization permissions

Removing unnecessary permissions:

  • Reduces risk
  • Prevents accidental changes
  • Simplifies workflows

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