Permissions Breakdown and Definitions

Little SIS makes it possible for users to be assigned administrative powers and insights over defined sets of classes in Google Classroom. Below, you will find all permissions with descriptions of each.

• Classes
• Teachers
• Students
• Reporting
• Little SIS administration

Plus, sample roles and configurations

Classes (Classroom Explorer)

These permissions control how users interact with the main Classrooms grid and class metadata.

• View & export data from Classroom Explorer: Grants access to the filterable grid of classes. Without this, users cannot see any classroom data.
• Delete PROVISIONED and DECLINED classes: Allows users to clean up unused class invitations. Use with caution.
• Refresh metadata (Announcements, Posts, Topics, etc.): Manually triggers an update of class details if the information appears stale.
• Archive ACTIVE classes: Allows for the archiving of classes no longer in use to declutter student and teacher homepages.
• Update Explorer tags (e.g. School, Timeframe, general tags): Allows users to change the labels used for filtering and access control.
• Allow user to join class without notification: Lets users join a class as a student or co-teacher without triggering an automatic email to the primary teacher.

Teachers

These permissions relate to the management of teacher roles and class ownership.

• Join class as a co-teacher: The user adds themselves as a co-teacher to any class within their assigned scope.
• Remove co-teachers from classes: Allows the management of the co-teacher roster for classes.
• Add co-teachers to classes: Allows the user to add other people as co-teachers to classes.
• Change Google Classroom primary teacher: Transfers full ownership of a class and its Drive folder to a new teacher.

Students

These permissions focus on student enrollment and monitoring.

• Join class as a student: The user adds themselves to a class with a student profile to see the learning experience.
• Email join code with invitation message to users: Sends a class join code to students with a custom note.
  Add students: Directly enrolls students into one or more classes.
• Remove students: Removes students from class rosters (requires teacher/student notification).
• Remove students without email notification: Silently removes students from rosters.
• View student details: Grants access to the Student Explorer to look up history, activity, and teacher lists.
• View & manage student collections: Allows users to create custom groups of students (up to 250) for aggregate monitoring.

Reporting (Insights)

These permissions grant access to various analytical reports.

• View all reports: Provides comprehensive access to all current and future Little SIS reports.
• View roster size analysis: Access to a histogram showing class distribution by student count.
• View classwork analysis: Access to the interactive heatmap showing assignment frequency.
• View roster and teacher changes: A timeline view of all student/teacher additions and removals across the domain.
• View teacher analysis: A summary report showing class counts, guardian enablement, and co-teacher stats per teacher.

Little SIS Administration

High-level administrative permissions typically reserved for IT staff.

• View admin audit logs: Access to the record of all actions taken within the Little SIS application.
• Manage Little SIS users, roles, and access filters: The ability to create new user accounts and define their permissions.
• View Little SIS Sync Agent information: Access to sync history and logs for legacy sync setups.
• Manage Little SIS timeframe, school, and general tags: Global control over the creation and deletion of tags.
• Access Little SIS Premium Sync: Full access to the automated roster and guardian sync features.

Sample Roles and Configurations

Use these templates to quickly set up roles for common district personas. These configurations are organized by function to help you delegate the right level of access to your team.

Administrative & Site Management

These roles focus on the day-to-day operations and technical health of classrooms at a specific site.

School Principal / Assistant Principal

Goal: Instructional leadership, teacher evaluations, and pedagogical support.

• Scope: Only their specific school site.
• Selected Permissions:
  • Classes: View & export data from Classroom Explorer.
  • Teachers: Join as co-teacher, Manage co-teachers.
  • Students: Join as student, View student details.
  • Reporting: View all reports.

School Secretary (Substitute/Coverage Management)

Goal: Manage staff coverage and quick office-level enrollment changes.

• Scope: Only their specific school site.
• Selected Permissions:
  • Classes: View & export data from Classroom Explorer.
  • Teachers: Add co-teachers to classes (to add subs), Remove co-teachers from classes (to remove subs), Change primary teacher (for mid-year staff changes).
  • Students: Add students, Remove students.

Building-Level Tech Support

Goal: Troubleshoot classroom issues and manage metadata for a specific site.

• Scope: Assigned school(s).
• Selected Permissions:
  • Classes: View & export data, Refresh metadata (to fix sync lag), Update Explorer tags.
  • Teachers: Join as co-teacher (for hands-on troubleshooting).
  • Students: Join as student, Add/Remove students.
  • Reporting: View roster and teacher changes.

Instructional Support & Intervention

These roles use Little SIS to monitor student progress and provide targeted academic or behavioral support.

Interventionist (Behavioral, Math, Literacy)

Goal: Track student engagement and work completion to trigger specific interventions.

• Scope: Assigned school(s) or a custom "Intervention Caseload" tag.
• Selected Permissions:
  • Classes: View & export data from Classroom Explorer.
  • Students: View student details, View & manage student collections (to group students by intervention tier).
  • Reporting: View classwork analysis (to identify missing work trends).

504 and IEP (SPED) Coordinator

Goal: Monitor caseload progress and ensure assignment accommodations are being met.

• Scope: Limit to specific schools or a custom "Caseload" tag.
• Selected Permissions:
  • Classes: View & export data from Classroom Explorer.
  • Teachers: Join class as a co-teacher (to provide direct support/differentiation).
  • Students: View student details, View & manage student collections (to group by IEP status).
  • Reporting: View classwork analysis.

ESOL / ELL Teacher

Goal: Support English language learners across multiple classrooms and teachers.

• Scope: Assigned school(s).
• Selected Permissions:
  • Classes: View & export data from Classroom Explorer.
  • Teachers: Join class as a co-teacher (to post translated or modified materials).
  • Students: View student details, View & manage student collections.

Instructional / Technology Coach

Goal: Assist teachers with adoption and analyze instructional trends.

• Scope: Assigned school(s).
• Selected Permissions:
  • Classes: View & export data, Refresh metadata.
  • Teachers: Join as co-teacher, Add co-teachers.
  • Students: Join as student.
  • Reporting: View all reports.

Supplemental & Extra-Curricular

Roles that require high-level visibility for specific non-classroom requirements.

Sports Coach (Academic Eligibility)

Goal: Perform weekly grade and work-completion checks for athletes.
Scope: Limit to schools where their athletes are enrolled.
Selected Permissions:
Classes: View & export data from Classroom Explorer.
Students: View student details (to see specific grades/points in Student Explorer), View & manage student collections (to create a team-specific monitoring group).

See,

Create or Edit a Role

Delegate Access to Others