Adding Custom Standards – DnA & ISE

This lesson walks through importing custom standards into DnA. By default, DnA provides clients with the standards most educators use (e.g., state content standards, national common core standards, etc.). This feature allows System Administrators to add custom standards to the system that are outside of the current standard sets.

Required Permission: Import / Remove Custom Standards

Prepare Your File

Download an Excel sheet pre-populated with the headers below (optional):

Custom_Standards_Template.xlsx

Follow this setup in a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet.

Document: Name of the standard set (ex: District name or Initials).
Academic Year: Use the latter year in the academic year (ex: 2025 if referencing the 2024-2025 year).
Subject Code: The subject of the standard.
Title: The subject of the standard.
Low Grade Level: The lowest grade level the standards can apply to.
High Grade Level: The highest grade level the standards can apply to.
- Accepted values for Low / High Grade Levels: TK, K, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12.
Grade Level Code: The specific grade level the standard applies to.
Grade Level Description: The grade level that appears in the Grade Level dropdown.
Parent Standard: The code for the parent standard a sub-standard falls under.
State Number: The unique standard code for each standard.
Description: Text describing the standard.

When you are finished creating your file, save the Excel sheet as a comma-delimited (.CSV) or tab-delimited (.TXT) file.

Standard Hierarchy

An example custom standards excel file with an example parent standard labeled as step 1, and an example sub standard labeled as step 2.

Add parent standards to the file, followed by sub-standards. Any standard that falls under the parent standard will have a form of the State Number for the parent standard. The parent standard-state number will also be included under the Parent Standard column. This must be done for each new parent standard and sub-standard.

Add Parent Standards: Add a code to the State Number column. Example: "BIO" is the parent standard (highlighted in green).
Add Sub-Standards: Add the State Number for the Parent Standard in the Parent Standard column. Add a unique code for the sub-standard in the State Number column. Example: "BIO.1" is the sub-standard, and is referencing the parent standard "BIO" (highlighted in blue).
Continue adding parent standards and sub-standards to your file as needed.

Where to Start

Select Assessments tab.
Select Add Custom Standards.

Access the Import Page

The Import Custom Standards from a File screen, with the delimiter dropdown labeled as step 3, the Choose File button labeled as step 4, and the Upload button labeled as step 5.

Select the file delimiter that matches your file (Comma, Tab, Semicolon, or Colon).
Select Choose File. Find and select the file as it is stored on your computer, and select Open.
Select Upload.

Map File Columns / Import

The custom standards import columns mapping screen, with the dropdown menus labeled as step 6, and the Import button labeled as step 7.

Use the dropdown menus to select the column of information on the file that matches each description listed in bold.
Select Import.

Two custom standards import messages, one linking to an upload error file, and the other stating that the custom standards had imported successfully.

Once the import has finished, you will see the above success message. Download the error file to make sure all of your standards imported successfully.

Review Imported Standards

The easiest way to review imported custom standards is through creating or editing a Standard Collection.

Select Assessments.
Select List Standard Collections.
Select Create a New Collection > enter the Collection's Name > select Submit.
OR
Select the name of an existing collection > select the Standards tab.

An example standards search screen, with the subject dropdown labeled as step 1, the grade level dropdown labeled as step 2, the Search button labeled as step 3, and the Expand/Collapse button labeled as step 4.

Use the Select a subject area dropdown to select the standard set you imported. It will be located at the bottom of the list.
Use the Select Grade Level dropdown to select the grade level.
Select Search.
Select the Expand / Collapse button to review your standards.

Users do not need to continue with creating a Standard Collection or add the recently imported custom standards to an existing collection. Using the collections search function is simply one of the easiest ways to check that custom standards have imported properly, and have been sorted into the proper parent/sub-standard hierarchies.

Troubleshooting

Does every standard need to have a Description filled out?

Yes. Each standard should have a value in the Description column, including Parent Standards.

Do the State Numbers need to be unique?

Yes. The Parent Standard should be defined and the State Number MUST be unique standard to standard.

I realized there is a mistake in my custom standards. How do I edit that?

You need to delete the custom standard set and re-import your corrected file. You can remove the file by going to Assessments > Manage Custom Standards > select the standard set to delete. Doing this will remove standards already tied to assessments.

I see a yellow caution icon next to my standards on the Manage Custom Standards page. What does this mean?

The custom standards were imported with invalid Low and High Grade Level values. The accepted values for Low / High Grade Levels are: TK, K, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12.

Can I keep adding standards to an existing standard set in future imports?

Yes. If the Document, Academic Year, Subject Code, Title, Low/High Grade Levels, and Grade Level Description values are the same, new standards will be added to an existing set in DnA.

Next Steps

Now that you have successfully added custom standards, take a look at the other options available in the Assessments for Admin section.