Bulk upload of student data is facilitated by secure File Transfer Protocol (sFTP) hosted and managed by Riverside Insights, the publisher of CogAT.
This article provides information on the following steps:
- Populating your student roster file
- Saving and checking your student roster file
- Uploading your student roster file
Note
Each time you upload a student data file, it will be manually reviewed by the US-based Riverside Insights support team, which may take up to 10 business days. Any errors will require you to fix and re-submit the file for checking.
We strongly recommend that you use the Rostering Assistant to check for potential errors before uploading your file.
Populating your student roster file
If your school has an existing sFTP site login, this can be used for all student data uploads.
Each school is restricted to one login only. Please contact ACER Support if you have forgotten your username or password.
If your school has not previously used CogAT, ACER will arrange access to the sFTP site to allow you to upload student details to the DataManager™ platform.
A welcome email with instructions to access the site should be sent within 3–5 business days of your first purchase. Your CogAT welcome email will have a student roster file attached.
This is the file you will use to bulk upload the student data. ACER staff have formatted the file and prefilled the following columns with information relevant to your school’s account:
- School/Building *
- Class *
- Grade *
- Active User
Note
Do not enter or change information in any other columns. Doing so will result in errors with your data and will delay data verification and your testing schedule.
Student data fields
| Field name | Notes | Example |
|---|---|---|
| First name |
Required Max. 20 A–Z characters only, no punctuation |
Michael |
| Middle name |
Optional Max. 20 A–Z characters only, no punctuation |
John |
| Last name |
Required Max. 20 A–Z characters only, no punctuation |
ODwyer |
| Unique student ID |
Required Must be unique across entire DataManager™ platform. It is recommended to add your school and suburb initials as a pre-/suffix to each student ID to avoid clashes with students at other schools. |
ODW006MPSB |
| Date of birth |
Required MM/DD/YYYY (US format) |
06/19/2012 |
| Gender |
Required M, F or U only. (Male, Female, Unspecified) Do not use full words. |
M |
Saving and checking your student roster file
All files must be saved as .csv format. Once you have populated your roster with student information, complete the following steps:
- Click Save As
- Change file type to CSV (comma delimited *.csv).
- Enter file name in this format: SchoolName_TestMonthorTerm_TestYear.csv
- Use the DataManager™ Rostering Assistant to check for errors prior to uploading: https://barcode.riversideinsights.com/assistant
Uploading your student roster file
When you are ready to upload your file, follow the steps below:
- Navigate to https://rpcftp.rpclearning.com/ThinClient/WTM/public/index.html#/login
- Enter your username and password as supplied by Riverside Insights. Please use the Forgot Password function if you are having issues logging in.
- Click on the ‘datamanager’ folder. All files will need to be uploaded in this directory.
- Click Upload
- The Select File dialog opens, showing your computer's directory.
- Navigate to the file you want to upload and click Open. Repeat to select multiple files.
- Click Upload once all required files are selected. To exit the screen without uploading files, click Cancel.
Once the file is uploaded, Riverside Insights will review and verify the data. This process may take up to 10 business days.
If there are no errors with your data file, you will be notified via email that the student data is now ready to use in DataManager™.
If there are errors with your data file, you will be notified via email and information regarding the errors will be outlined. You will need to edit the data file and re-upload.