1. Overview

Target audience: Sirius coordinators, technology administrators, course coaches and coordinators, teachers.

Introduction

Welcome to Sirius Digital Products SY 2024–25! Sirius Digital Products include Sirius Online and our recent Sirius STAAR Assessment Bank & Test Builder.

This document contains all the information districts, schools, and educators need to successfully set up for success using content that has been purchased for use online. The information in this guide targets Sirius Digital Products coordinators, technology administrators, course coaches and coordinators, and teachers who may be self-registering themselves and students. The guide also includes information for those who support set rostering via Clever, ClassLink, EdLink, or OneRoster, Single Sign On (SSO), or access to Sirius Online via your school’s learning management system (LMS). Finally, we discuss a way for you to use your rostered data for summer sessions or breakout/pullouts, but that involves some advanced planning and insights into our onboarding technology.

Questions You Should Be Able to Answer for Set Up

As you finalize your purchase of Sirius Digital Products, your sales representative and members of the Sirius implementation team will work with you to collect the following information:

1. SSO/rostering. Does your district or school use a rostering application such as Clever, ClassLink, EdLink, OneRoster, or do you have active classes and rosters set up in Google Classroom, Schoology, Canvas, or another LMS? If not, you will need to use our Self-Registration process for teachers, students, and administrators.

2. Rostering for breakout/pullouts, and special courses/sections. Rostering works best when you provide rosters for ALL learning engagements that utilize Sirius Digital Products, especially when special sections, such as breakout or pullout classes, are set up for Accelerated Instruction and HB-1416. Even though we offer a way for rostered districts or schools to set up breakout/pullouts from their active teachers and students, currently we are not able to allow you to build classes from students from more than one school or campus across the district (as many districts do during Summer Sessions).

3. Administrators. Do you share district and school administrators in your rostered data? If so, administrators will not have to self-register.

4. Co-teachers. It is important that districts strive to share all co-teachers and their assignments to classes via their roster partner. Though self-registration of co-teachers is possible, self reg co-teachers are required to have singular, unique accounts for each class they support, meaning self-registration for co-teachers is not optimal at partner-rostered districts.

5. Start of instruction date/Sirius Go Live. When does your semester start, and when is your “Go Live” date for Sirius products? It is a best practice to allow teachers access to Sirius and their classes in Sirius prior to being trained.

6. Data/Security Agreement. Does your district or school have a Data Security or Privacy Agreement that needs to be completed with Sirius? If so, please share the agreement with your sales representative, including the date by which it is needed.

Sirius Digital Products Checklist for District and School Implementation

Use this checklist to set up Sirius Digital Products access for educators and students. The checklist corresponds to information that you’ll find in this Getting Started Guide.

1.  System requirements: browser, hardware, and network (Technology Coordinators)

• Do all teacher and student devices, browsers, and networks support Sirius Digital Products’ minimum requirements?

• Do students have access to adequate bandwidth at school and in their homes for homework assignments? 

• Is there enough bandwidth/speed available at each WiFi Access Point when students are using Sirius Online? Does each access point’s configuration support the number of users? Is bandwidth ever challenged when more students access the same WiFi Access Point?

2. District tech-support contact information (Teachers, Technology Coordinators, Sirius Coordinator)

• Do teachers know who to contact for tech support at your district or school (for single sign-on, access to district portals, LMSs, and other integrated technologies)? 

• Do your technology, curriculum, and supporting staff know how to reach out to Sirius for technical support when issues arise? 

3. Whitelist of important URLs (Technology Coordinators)

• While using Sirius Digital Products within the school’s firewall or local network, has the whitelist found in “system requirements” been applied at your school or district?

4. Account registration and access (Technology Coordinators; Teachers Who Self-Register)

• Have Sirius Coordinators worked with district or school technology staff to determine methods for account registration and rostering?

• Do teachers, co-teachers, and students use Single Sign On (SSO) to access learning applications within your portal via Clever, Classlink, Edlink, or a compatible Learning Management System? 

• If your school does not support SSO, do you plan to have teachers and students self-register (when SSO and rostering are not supported)? Or will district or campus administrators create and provide the self-registration accounts?

5. Technical and implementation support (Links) (Sirius Coordinators, Technology Administrators, Course Coaches and Coordinators, Teachers)

• Have you accessed, bookmarked, and shared our Online Support landing page?

2. Supported System Requirements

Target audience: Sirius coordinators, technology administrators.

Sirius Online and Sirius STAAR Assessment Bank and Test Builder are online applications that can be accessed on a variety of devices and operating systems, although a recent computer, laptop, Chromebook, or tablet with Chrome browser is highly recommended.

Supported Devices

Sirius Digital Products can be used on the following devices:

• Computers using Windows 10 or higher or the Mac operating system (OS)

• Chromebooks

• Tablets (iOS or Android) with a display of 7.5” or greater, including iPads 

Supported Browsers

For optimal performance, we recommend utilizing current versions of the following supported browsers:

• Google Chrome (latest or most recent version)—Chrome is our recommended browser.

• Firefox (latest or most recent version)

• Safari 10 or 11, or higher

Network

For best performance, we recommend networks/WiFi Access Points with bandwidth/connections speeds of at least 1 Mbps per student. Up to 5 Mbps per student is preferred. To view your network's performance, please visit http://www.speedtest.net and perform a speed test. Be sure to seek information about the number of end users the Access Point is configured to handle as well as the limitations of networks that have more simultaneous end users.

Additional Requirements

• JavaScript enabled

• PDF viewer application—Adobe Reader 10 or greater

• Cookies enabled

Note: Please be sure to clear cache and cookies regularly by using the All time/Beginning of time setting. Also include the clearing of cookies and other site data as well as cached images and files. We do monthly releases that may require cache clearing every month or so for best performance, or when irregularities appear. Notice of the dates and times of our monthly releases (including new features and bug fixes) appear in Notifications > Messages.

Whitelist

Add the following URLs to your whitelist to prevent display or firewall issues:

• *.content2classroom.com   

• wiris.net

• desmos.com

• cdnjs.cloudflare.com/ajax/libs/mathjax

• .zoho.com

• .zohodesk.com

• *.speechstream.net 

• *.texthelp.com 

Note 1: Special video tutorials and walkthroughs are available for use from both within your firewall (.content2classroom.com, when whitelisted), or via youtube.com, which may not be whitelisted within your district or school firewall. Please use YouTube links if you would like better streaming to your phone or home network, especially if YouTube is blocked at school. In many cases, you will be able to view the same video clips within eLearning modules as well (they will function well within your firewall as long as our whitelist is applied).

Note 2: Some browser extensions and student-monitoring applications may interfere with some functionality within Sirius Digital Products. If you spot irregular “glitches” or “blips,” please report them to Tech Support. We can assist in identifying potential problems or blockers, along with possible remedies and workarounds. All district environments vary, so we greatly appreciate your patience and participation in any troubleshooting that is required to get you to optimal performance.

Please visit our appendix on troubleshooting performance for more specific information.

3. Sirius Digital Products Support 

Target audience: Sirius coordinators, technology administrators, course coaches and coordinators, teachers. 

Support Landing Page

The landing page consists of the following opportunities for support:

• Support Knowledge Base: Documents and other media that support setting up and using Sirius Digital Products, including other instructional supports such as eLearning modules, webinars, and individual training opportunities.  

• Tickets: Create and follow progress on your requests for Tech Support or any other special requests or help that you might need.

• Sirius Digital Products Educators’ Community: The Support landing page will provide access to the Sirius Digital Products Educators’ Community where you can share questions, best practices, tips, and models for successful instruction.

Support—Knowledge Base

The Support—Knowledge base consists of the following main categories of support documentation and supports:

• Getting Started: Everything you need to successfully launch Sirius Digital Products 2023–24.

• Using Sirius Online and Sirius STAAR Assessment Bank & Test Generator: The ins and outs of managing learning with online tools.

• Delivering Instruction: Informational resources for implementing Sirius with emphasis on pedagogy/methodology.

• Learning Resources: Sirius-created resources that support program use.

• Policies and Agreements: Important policies and agreements such as Terms of Use, Copyright, and Privacy information.

Sirius Educators’ Community

Sirius provides an Educators’ Community structured around the same categories found in the knowledge base:

• Getting Started

• Using Sirius Online

• Delivering Instruction 

• Learning Resources

The purpose of the community is to allow our educator community participants to exchange ideas, best practices, teaching tips, methods, activities, and resources that they would like to share with other Sirius educators. Collaboration among Sirius educators—whether about content, activities, or methods—is our greatest opportunity to learn together across our growing community.

Note: Tech Support issues and technical problems can be shared directly via ticket, email, or phone, please see  Tickets > Online Technical Support for more information. 

Tickets—Technical Support

By Email

By far the easiest method for creating a ticket, please send any technical support issues— including details for reproducing, screenshots, or screen capture video—directly to our email address to create a new ticket: support@siriuseducationsolutions.com

Create a Ticket

Create a Tech Support ticket by clicking the Ticket icon on the main Support landing page and then choosing Online Technical Support, or visiting https://sirius4learning.zohodesk.com/portal/en/home

By Phone

You can contact the SES Online team at (800) 942-1379, Option 2, Monday–Friday 7 am–5 pm CT.

Other Inquiries

For other inquiries, please make your inquiry via other types of tickets or by calling our (800) 942-1379 and selecting the option that best applies.

 4. Accessing Sirius Digital Products: Rostering, SSO, and Onboarding

Target audience: Sirius coordinators, technology administrators, teachers (self-registration only).

Automated Rostering vs. Self-Registration at the District Level

Without automated rostering in place at the district level:

• Teachers will be required to manually input every student for every class, if at least one Sirius program is used; students who need to access a second Sirius Program can use their same account/credentials and then Join the New Class with the new class access code that teachers can provide them.

• There is opportunity for increased user error and duplicate accounts for students.

• There are added challenges when students change classes or teachers.

Sirius Digital Products’ automated rostering at the district level offers numerous options and opportunities, including:

• Automated account creation/registration.

• Ability to create rosters from your school Student Information System (SIS) via Clever, ClassLink, or EdLink, including OneRoster, prior to the start of Day 1.

• Ability to roster from your LMS and authenticate into Sirius, including Canvas, Schoology, Google Classroom, Blackboard, Moodle with support of our partner, EdLink.

• Ability to quickly create breakout/pullout/Accelerated Instruction sections based on rostered users (teachers, students) at any moment for any duration of time, including special sections/classes that are not included in your SIS.

• Ability to add co-teachers and tutors who do not appear in your rostered user data via self-registration. For more on this, please navigate to this section. We do, however, recommend that co-teachers be rostered for efficiency and to maintain singular accounts.

• Ability to provision district and school administrators for access if they SSO into their applications and are included in shared data.

• Overnight sync of updates to classes as they occur.

• Ability to access via Single Sign On (SSO) using school credentials such as Google Classroom or Office 365 (Active Directory).

                                                                Integrations Supported by Sirius 

Notes

1. Schools within the same district cannot be set up using multiple rostering approaches if they are expecting to roll data up to the district level.

2. Any change to rostering will result in a loss of all data stored prior to the integration change.

3. District-level rostering helps to ensure access and consistency of data at the district level.

4. Whether a district chooses a rostering method or self-registration, class end dates should not match the exact last day of actual class but be forward-dated up to two weeks to allow teachers access to active vs. archived classes.

5. While the same unique teacher and student accounts are frequently used across years in a given Rostering and SSO Method, classes must be completely recreated each year in order for our rostering technology to work correctly. We highly discourage the re-use of “class shells” in a year-to-year fashion, as both classes and student accounts cannot archive correctly on their official end-dates. We do not have a mechanism to support classes that span multi-year use.

Best Practices for Supporting Rostering and SSO Integrations

• Set up by districts. Opt for set up and sharing at the district level vs. individual schools level.

• Normalize data and syncs. Optional fields are sometimes required by rostering partners (e.g., State field); fields should contain matching data; ensure the accuracy of data and that updates appropriately sync among applications that require syncing, including Clever, ClassLink, and OneRoster; unique identifiers match across applications, platforms.

• Include all users: Teachers and students are required, at a minimum. An even better practice is to include co-teachers, school and district administrators who support implementation of Sirius.

• *Class end dates. Class end dates should not match the last day of actual class but be forward-dated up to two weeks to allow teachers access to active vs. archived classes. 

• Unique classes every semester (or every year, if classes span spring/fall). New unique classes must be generated each semester or year, unless they are devised to span more than one semester or year. Sirius Digital Products do not support updates to classes that were originally set up to cover prior specific semesters or years. *Please do not reuse class shells from prior years or semesters.

• Datascope/datashare with Sirius. Restrict and share data for only those schools, teachers, classes/sections, and students using at least one Sirius program.

• Roster Breakout/Pullout Sessions. We highly recommend that districts and schools share not only formal classes/courses in which Sirius Digital Products are to be used, but also any special Accelerated Instruction (HB-4545/HB-1416) breakout/pullouts, and tutoring sessions, especially if they involve main teachers working with co-teachers and tutors. We recommend and support secondary instructional roles in Sirius and classify them as “co-teachers” within our system.

• Integrate. Follow the instructions that our Tech Support team provides, including special attention to providing opportunities for SSO for district and school admins, teachers and students; please also double-check your work when you enter access codes, consumer keys, secrets, and Landing URLs in the correct fields. Note that we recommend that district and school administrators be provisioned via your Clever or ClassLink syncs; however, we support registration of administrators through an invite process, and it is described below.

• Create better user experiences. Embed visual launch icons vs. links or URLs in your school’s portal, Clever, ClassLink, or EdLink instances so that end users clearly understand how to quickly access Sirius programs.

• Impersonate and QA integrations. Within your district sandbox, impersonate and QA integrations before they are announced to teachers and students. 

• Prior to training. Have all integrations ready to go so that teachers can go hands-on in training sessions and create their first real assignments in Sirius Online.

• Communicate. Provide clear step-by-step instructions for teachers and students as they relate to accessing Sirius programs through your chosen portal, SSO, Clever, ClassLink, or EdLink instances.

• *Remind. Send friendly reminders to teachers reminding them to add content (courses and assessment bank content for STAAR Test Bank purchasers) to their automatically-created Sirius classes. If that step is not taken, students will not be able to access course materials or benchmarks that administrators create for the district or individual schools. For more information on this step, see: Adding Content to Classes.

Overview of the Integration Process for Rostered Districts

Adding Breakout/Pullout Classes at Rostered Districts

Any administrator or teacher at a rostered district or school using Clever, ClassLink, or EdLink can quickly create special “non-SIS-based classes” using tools available in Sirius Online.

District and School Administrators

Note: At this time, district admins cannot yet create Breakout/Pullout classes spanning schools within a district. School admins and teachers can only create and add students from their assigned schools within each assigned school.

Steps

1. Log in to Sirius Online and click Users.

2. Search for a teacher who will serve as the “Primary Teacher” of your new class or pullout. Be sure to use the header filters to quickly locate specific teachers.

3. Once you locate the teacher for whom you’ll add a class, click the View button.

4. On the Teacher profile screen, click Add Class at the bottom.

5. Type a Class Name, and add a Start Date and End Date (always extend the end date a few weeks beyond the last day of class in order to allow teachers to wrap up their work on any given class).

6. Your new class appears in the Teacher profile. To add students (i.e., from your Clever, ClassLink, or EdLink shared accounts), click the View button to the right of the newly added class.

Note: You can only add active students who are already shared in your rostered data. You cannot self-register students outside of your rostered method.

7. Click the Add Existing Student link.

8. When you locate the student you would like to add, click the Add button.

9. Your new student has been added to your class. Complete the same process for each student who needs to be a member of the new class.

You can confirm your final list of students on the Roster Screen to be sure all have been added.

Teachers

Teachers can add breakout/pullout classes for themselves by following a similar set of steps:

1. On the teacher’s desktop in which main class rosters appear (from Clever, ClassLink, and EdLink), a teacher could create a breakout or pullout session—special sessions for accelerated learning or tutoring—by selecting Add Class.

2. Type in the following information:

• Add a Class Name; be sure to follow your district class-naming conventions, especially for special Accelerated Instruction breakouts or pullouts.

• Supply a Start Date; it is often a good practice to allow the class to start before students need to start using the course.

• Supply an End Date; we recommend dating the course at least two weeks after students wrap up their work so teachers have time to do final scoring and evaluation.

• *If a teacher is affiliated with more than one school, they will be able to choose a school from the Pulldown Menu into which the new class will be  created.

3. Once the class has been created, you can add students by clicking the Add Existing Student button.

4. Search for and add each student to be added to your class.

5. Confirm your final list of students on the Roster Screen to be sure that all have been added.

Note: Though we highly recommend that co-teachers be rostered, they can be added via self-registration if they are not included in the district or school data.

Teacher Self-Registration and Login

IMPORTANT NOTES:

1. ***You can skip this section if your school provides automated rostering for teachers and students.

2. As of June 2024, district and school administrators will no longer be permitted to self-register with access codes. If you or other district or school administrators need access, you will need to contact Sirius. Once vetted, admins will be invited to Sirius via email and will set their passwords when they first log in. For more on this subject, please see How to Use Guide: District and School Administrators.

At schools or districts that have opted out of automated registration options via Clever, ClassLink, or via their LMS, teachers, co-teachers, and students can self-register to use Sirius Online. Teachers should register prior to co-teachers and students as required access codes are generated after a teacher registers and then adds their classes.

Before teachers register, locate your school’s Teacher Access Code. This was provided to Sirius Coordinators by Sirius Education Solutions via email. 

Note: If you do not have a Teacher Access Code, contact the SES Online team at (800) 942-1379, option 2, or create a ticket at our Online Support Center  requesting your district or school’s Teacher Access Code. You can also email support@siriuseducationsolutions.com for further assistance.

Teacher Self-Registration: Steps

1. Open a Google Chrome, Firefox, or Safari browser.

2. Go to: sirius.content2classroom.com.

3. Bookmark the URL for easy return to the site.

4. Choose the Sign Up button.

5. Complete the Self-Registration form by entering your

• Access code

• First and last name

• Email address (required for teachers and co-teachers)

• Password of your creation

6. Click Submit. 

Once your registration is successful, check your email for a message from noreply@content2classroom.com and validate your identity.

It may take up to 15 minutes to receive the email.  If it doesn't arrive, check your spam folder.

Note: You must click the hyperlink in the confirmation email (or paste it into your browser) to complete the last step of your registration.

7. Choose Take me to my home page to return to the login page and sign in.

8. Use your newly created credentials to log in.

 A “Must” Before Registering Students and Co-Teachers in Self-Registration Districts.

To create a class:

1. Click the +Add/Join a Class button in your Classes dashboard.

2. Click the +Add New Class radio button and then Save.

3. Fill in the short form:

1. ***Name your class by abbreviated subject, period number, and your last name, if possible. Examples: Alg 1 - 3 - Brown; Eng 6 - 2 - Plath; Math 6 - 7 - Newton

2. Enter the start date for your class; if you need to work with the class now prior to start, use today’s date.

3. Enter the end date. *Please note that it is important to add at least 2 weeks to the end date so that you can finalize grades and manage reports after the semester formally ends.

4. Click Save.

*Note: Teachers can view archived classes as well as reactivate classes that have ended by clicking the Profile icon in the upper-right and choosing Archived Classes. From the list of classes, you can choose to Reactivate a class by clicking that button and then editing the end date to a future moment in time  and then clicking Save. 

Supporting Student and Co-Teacher (Tutor) Self-Registration

Once classes have been created and courses have been added to classes, students and co-teachers are able to register to become members of a class. A Student Access Code is required for students; a Co-Teacher Access Code is required for co-teachers.  

New: Sirius Online now allows co-teachers and tutors at districts using automated rostering to self-register for classes and breakout/pullouts that are created by administrators and teachers at rostered districts or schools. This can be especially useful for tutors who have been hired to assist with Accelerated Learning requirements. Rostering co-teachers is preferred, as a single account can be created and used for co-teachers who support multiple classes.

Gathering Access Codes

Classes are visible from the Classes tab.  

1. Choose Roster from the Class Card.

• The Student Access Code is listed to the right in the main screen.

• The Co-Teacher Access Code is listed directly below the Student Access Code.

Note:  A different access code is used when students or co-teachers access other Sirius classes. They can join a second or subsequent class using a different access code (vs. having to register for a new second account) using Join a Class found in the My Classes pulldown.

The first time a student logs into the Sirius Online application, they will use the Class Access Code to

1. Log in to the application

2. Enroll in the class

Notes 

1. Students and co-teachers who logged in previously will use their existing username and password to login to join a new class.

2. Students and co-teachers cannot self-register until after a teacher has completed self-registration and class setup.

Instructions for Student and Co-Teacher Self-Registration

Steps:

1. Go to:  sirius.content2classroom.com.

2. Click the Sign Up button.

3. Complete the Self-Registration form using the access code you provided to them.

Note: Students should not enter an email address, although co-teachers will need to.

4. Once complete, click the Submit button.

5. On the new screen, students click the Take me to my home page button. 

As was true for teachers, co-teachers must refer to their confirmation email and click the link to verify they are teachers prior to logging in.

Once a course has been assigned, a student’s home screen will show Books and Assignments. A co-teacher’s screen will display the teacher dashboard.

Enrolling in a Second Class

To enroll in other classes using Sirius Online courses, students and co-teachers may add the classes using the same account credentials—Username and Password—so that all classes may be accessed by clicking the Class Name dropdown in the upper-left corner of the window next to the Sirius logo.

To join a second class, click the + Join Class button in the pulldown menu and enter the new class student or co-teacher access code.

Best Practices: Teachers or IT staff may pre-register teachers, co-teachers, and students on their own by completing the appropriate self-registration online registration process for everyone in the class, thus allowing the teacher or IT staff member to choose the Username and Password for their students.

• Register students: When teachers register student accounts, they can better control username and password formats and access.

• Provide unique credentials: Teachers can ensure that credentials are unique and secure.

Password Resets

Teachers can reset their passwords by clicking Forgot Password on the login screen and entering their email. They receive a link to click to update their password.

Student passwords can be reset by the teacher in the Class Roster. Teachers simply click the password (in asterisks) for a particular student, enter a new password, and then click Save. 

Personalization—Choosing an Avatar

To add an avatar:

1. Click the profile button in the upper-right corner of the window and choose Edit.

2. Select the desired image and then click Save.

The avatar will be used throughout the system for the student.

Adding Content to Classes

Sirius Online includes eCourses for all STAAR-tested courses. The courses that are available match those purchased by your school. 

Notes

1. Regardless of the rostering method used, teachers will need to add content (Sirius products or assessments produced by administrators using Sirius Test Builder) to their classes, even if automatically created through Clever, ClassLink, or another method.

2. If a course is missing a program that you purchased, please contact the SES Online team at (800) 942-1379, option 2, or create a Tech Support ticket.

Adding Content to Classes

There are two methods for adding content to classes in Sirius. The first allows you to quickly assign content to multiple classes; the second allows you to add one or more courses or assessment folders of content to a single class.

Adding Content to Multiple Classes

Use this method to save time in adding the same course to multiple sections of the same subject.

1. Click the Content tab at the top of your dashboard.

2. Locate the course or assessment folder content that you would like to add to multiple classes (e.g., different sections of the same class).

3. On the Course or Assessment Folder card, click the Meatballs menu kebob  (...) to reveal a menu.

4. Click Add to Class, and then check the boxes representing each of the classes where the content is to be added.

5. Click Add.

Adding Content to a Single Class

Use this method to save multiple courses or assessment folders to a single class.

1. Click the Course button on the class card beneath your class name. 

2. Choose the + Add Course button in the upper-right corner of the page.

3. Select the specific course by clicking or checking the checkbox to the left of each course or assessment folder you plan to add to your class.

4. Then, click Save.

Your content will be added to your class and will appear on your Class Card in the Courses link.

Note: Be sure to add the Sirius Online Tutorials module in which you will find the Sirius Tools Tutorial and Teacher/Educator-focused eLearning Modules that will introduce you to Sirius Online. The Sirius Tools Tutorial reviews all relevant tools and accommodations that students will use on the new online STAAR test, so it is an important resource to use with your students prior to working on course content.

NEW: SY24–25 English-Spanish Courses—Grades 3, 4, and 5 RLA and Math

If you are an Elementary RLA or Math teacher (Grades 3–5), you can now access both new English-based courses and brand new English-Spanish bilingual courses, allowing you to assign either an English or a Spanish translation of an online activity to your students. 

Our recommendation for any classrooms with at least one or more Spanish-speaking Emergent Bilingual students (EBs) is for teachers to use our English-Spanish bilingual courses. 

The new bilingual courses allow you to make both English and Spanish-language assignments from the same course for easier, quicker, and more insightful score comparisons across activities. 

If your class does not contain EBs, we recommend that you use the English-only versions of these courses.

NEW: Fall 2024 Testing—Biology EOC and Our New Biology EOC 2024–25 Courses

The  Fall 2024 Testing—Biology EOC aligns with the previous version of the Science TEKS and should be used with students who are testing in December 2024. 

Students preparing for STAAR in 2025 should be assigned the Biology EOC 2024–25 course.5. Other Important Information 

Target audience: Sirius coordinators, technology administrators, course coaches and coordinators, teachers.

Accessibility

Accessibility tools include/provide for:

• Text-to-Speech: allows the computer to read aloud words on the screen.

• Translate: provides language translations for the selected text.

• Alt Text/Alt Tagging for all images.

WCAG 2.0 and Accessibility Compliance

In preparation; forthcoming.

Online Tools and Digital Partners

Sirius Online provides tools that mimic those of the STAAR assessment along with important instructional partnerships and technologies that make up the learning experience.

Sirius Tools Mimic the STAAR Test Experience

Sirius provides student with the following tools/accommodations that match STAAR tests: 

• Text to Speech (Accomodation/UDL Support)

• Content and Language Supports—Assessments Only (Accomodation/UDL Support)

• Spelling Assistance (Accomodation/UDL Support)

• Calculator (Accomodation/UDL Support)

• Dictionary (UDL Support)

• Translate (UDL Support)

• Line Reader

• Sticky Notes

• Strikethrough

• Highlighter

• Notepad

• Mark for Review

• Help

A Quick Help printable document that matches the online Help File provides a reference for all tools and navigation buttons.

Special resources and tools are used in programs according to subject and grade level, including:

• References: Formulas and Conversions

• Texas STAAR version of the Desmos Calculators: Basic, Scientific, and Graphing

• Online Graph Paper (math)

• Ruler (math)

Desmos

Sirius Education Solutions provides Desmos Texas STAAR version of the Basic, Scientific, and Graphing Calculator.

TextHelp

In Sirius Online, TextHelp tools allow students to turn live text to speech (play all, play, pause, stop),  translate text on screen across numerous world languages, look up words in an online dictionary, or to view picture dictionary images for common words.

6. Policies and Other Supports Links

Copyright Notice

Please review and download our copyright notice.

Direct Link: https://sirius4learning.zohodesk.com/portal/en/kb/articles/sirius-staar-prep-resources-are-copyright-protecte

Terms of Use

You can access the Sirius Online Terms of Use.

Direct Link: https://sirius4learning.zohodesk.com/portal/en/kb/articles/sirius-education-solutions-terms-of-use

Privacy Policy

Privacy Policy

K-12 School Service Provider Pledge to Safeguard Student Privacy

Direct Link: https://sirius4learning.zohodesk.com/portal/en/kb/articles/k-12-school-service-provider-pledge-to-safeguard-student-privacy

SIRIUS Privacy Policy

Direct Link: https://desk.zoho.com/portal/sirius4learning/en/kb/articles/sirius-online-staar-preparation-and-practice-privacy-policy

Contact Information, Phone, and Email to Ticket Address

Contact Information

• Mailing address:  1108 Lavaca Street, Suite 110-197, Austin, TX 78701

• Toll-free voice: 800-942-1379 (#2—Tech Support)

• Toll-free fax: 844-329-0913 

• Tech support email to ticket: Support@SiriusEducationSolutions.com

• Chat: available at https://siriuseducationsolutions.com

General FAQs

For general information about Sirius Education Solutions, please see our FAQ.

Appendix

1. Required Data Fields Used for Districts Who Roster

SCHOOLS

School_id 

School_name 

SECTIONS (includes school_id, Section_id, Teacher id cross-refs)

Name

Term_start 

Term_end

ENROLLMENTS (includes school_id, Section_id, Student_id cross-refs)

TEACHERS (includes school_id cross-refs) 

Teacher_id 

Last_name

First_name

Teacher_email (optional for SSO; Sirius can generate)

Username

STUDENTS (includes School_id cross-ref)

Student_id

Student_number (optional)

Last_name

First_name

Grade

Username (optional for SSO; Sirius can generate)

2. Troubleshooting Poor or Slow Performance of Sirius Online (updated 04/18/24)

Steps to Take

If you are experiencing any slowness or poor performance during your use of Sirius Online, we recommend that you take the following steps to improve performance.

Sirius Online supports professional roles including Teacher, Co-Teacher, School Administrator and District Administrator.

3. Professional User Roles in Sirius Digital Products

Teachers

The Teacher role is intended for the main classroom teacher with one or more classes of students. Teachers receive access to the following modules in their account:

• Classes—Teachers create classes in self-reg districts; rostered districts sync classes via Clever, ClassLink, or EdLink.

• Courses—Teachers assign content to students from the courses they add to their classes.

• Assignments—Teachers manage assignments and review scores, performance, usage, and engagement in the scorecard.

• Roster—List of students currently enrolled in an online course.

• Class Settings—Includes registration codes for students in self-registration districts, or co-teachers in self-reg or rostered districts.

• Accommodations—Teachers control accommodations and UDL settings for assessments and practice work; co-teachers do not have this functionality.

• Group Management—Teachers create instructional groups for targeted assignments; co-teachers do not have this functionality.

• Class Reports—Teachers view Course and Standards reports that include performance, usage, engagement, and progress based on the classes they teach as well as how individual students perform on assignments and standards.

• Support—Access to the knowledge base, community, and method for contacting Tech and Customer Support.

• Notifications—Access to special notices that appear in Sirius Online.

• Profile Settings—General settings and the location of Switch Roles for teachers who perform multiple roles in Sirius Online.

Onboarding

• Self-Registration—access codes provided by Sirius Operations or Tech Support (OR).

• SSO/Rostering Partner—Clever, ClassLink, Edlink. Accounts automatically provisioned and managed based on data synced from district SIS.

Co-Teachers

The Co-Teacher role is designed for secondary teachers and aides. Co-teachers receive access to the following modules in their account:

• Classes—Co-teachers access self-reg or rostered classes via Clever, ClassLink, or EdLink.

• Courses—Co-teachers are able to assign content to students from the courses they add to their classes.

• Assignments—Co-teachers are able to manage assignments and review scores, performance, usage, and engagement in the scorecard.

• Roster—Co-teachers can view the list of students currently enrolled in an online course.

• Class Settings—Includes registration codes for students in self-registration districts, or co-teachers in self-reg or rostered districts.

• Class Reports—Co-teachers can view Course and Standards reports that include performance, usage, engagement, and progress based on the classes they teach as well as how individual students perform on assignments and standards.

• Support—Access the knowledge base, community, and method for contacting Tech and Customer Support.

• Notifications—Access to special notices that appear in Sirius Online.

• Profile Settings—General profile settings. 

Onboarding

• Self-Registration—Access codes provided by Sirius Operations or Tech Support (OR).

• SSO/Rostering Partner—Clever, ClassLink, Edlink. Accounts automatically provisioned and managed based on data synced from district SIS; OR co-teachers can self-register for one or more classes, but will need a separate account for each class they co-teach.

District and School Administrators

District administrators have access to all schools using Sirius Online in their district, with the ability to view reports at all schools.

School administrators have access to only those schools to which they are assigned. This role is often used by school superintendents, principals, curriculum specialists, and other instructional/administrative staff who require access to content as well as detailed student performance reports at the school building or campus level.

Although there are some similarities in the user interface, district and school administrators have access to:

• Schools—DAs/SAs can access the schools or campuses they are assigned to.

• Users—DAs/SAs review active and deactivated accounts, create breakouts, edit/verify student accommodations.

• Content—DAs/SAs access and review Sirius Online program content used in their district or school.

• Classes—DAs/SAs access and review currently active classes, rosters, and can set up breakout pullouts using Classes functionality.

• Reports—Higher-level district and school building rollups; ability to drill down to individual classes or students as needed by Course or by Standards, including performance, usage, engagement, and progress.

• Support—Access to the knowledge base, community, and method for contacting Tech and Customer support.

• Notifications—Access to special notices that appear in Sirius Online.

• Profile Settings—General settings and the location of Switch Roles for district admins who perform multiple roles in Sirius Online, including use of Make Me a Co-Teacher (temporary for rostered admins at rostered districts; duration at the discretion of administrators who self-register).

Onboarding

• Self-Registration— Sirius Operations or Tech Support invite non-rostered admins to join Sirius Online. The use of access codes has been discontinued for improved security.

• SSO/Rostering Partner—Clever, ClassLink, Edlink. Accounts automatically provisioned and managed based on data synced from district SIS.

Note: Sirius Digital Products allows either self-registration or SSO rostered, or a combination thereof.

Questions or issues regarding user access?

Contact Tech Support at Support@SiriusEducationSolutions.com.

Feature Overview by Role