2026.08.20 Back to School, FastBridge, Panorama Student Success, ISASP, EdPortal, New Staff
Last updated: October 2, 2026
August has arrived, and school is just around the corner. Below are a few important updates and reminders related to preparing for the new school year.
Action needed: Back-to-school for leaders
Important tasks and information for FastBridge and Panorama Student Success are listed in the Iowa Back to School Checklist.
Important: Student rosters and staff access for 2026-2027
For schools currently sending 2026-27 SIS data, rosters are loading in both FastBridge and Panorama Student Success. It’s important to note that some of the SIS vendors have experienced temporary delays in releasing their 2026-27 SIF agent (the data pipeline). More information on this is available in this article: https://iowa-academy.help.usepylon.com/articles/6464716045-important-announcement-not-all-schools-able-to-send-student-and-staff-data-currently-updated-8-12
ACTION REQUIRED: Confirm school default assessments
Required for ELI, HF 2618, Math Counts and Healthy Indicators
Building principals, please make sure the selections are completed by August 21.
Superintendents, please confirm selections by August 28.
Associated Test Administration Information and K-6 Default Assessment collection due August 28.
The fall default assessment collection is open in CASA. Additional instructions are available here: https://educate.iowa.gov/media/5935/download?inline
The new 2026-27 universal assessment approved lists are now available. Review the approved mathematics and approved literacy lists to ensure you have time to plan for any changes. Coordination with school and district teams on the selections is strongly encouraged.
New for this year - a default selection confirmation email for the principal after submitting and the superintendent after collection completion. Forward to administration and staff for easy communication of this year’s defaults.
FastBridge
FastBridge benchmarks and norms for 2026-27 remain the same - disregard previous information
Renaissance is NOT updating FastBridge benchmarks, national norms, and growth guidance for assessments for 2026-27.
On August 8, Renaissance updated FastBridge norms and benchmarks were available, and shortly after, paused to complete additional validation. Renaissance has decided that FastBridge will continue to use the prior norms and benchmarks for the rest of this school year. Renaissance is targeting the next benchmarks and norms update for the 2027-28 school year.
Renaissance takes the accuracy of norms and benchmarks seriously, since they directly inform how students are grouped and supported. They would rather take the time to get this right than release something before they are confident in it.
No action is needed. Your account continues to reflect the norms and benchmarks you've been using previously, and your data and reports are unaffected.
Do not follow the instructions at the top of FastBridge for the new year setup.
The Iowa team completes the screening window and assessment setup for the school year. Changing settings in FastBridge will result in delays and/or damaged data for the 2026-27 school year.
Please do not edit windows or assessments. A screenshot of what not to change is available at the bottom of this article: https://support.renaissance.com/s/article/FastBridge-for-Iowa-A-newbie-veteran-guide-to-system-and-process-differences-for-Iowa-1752694027734?language=en_US.
If any off-level measures are needed for the 2026-27 school year, please contact the Iowa Support Team by emailing iowafastbridgesupport@renaissance.com. Include the building name, the measure, and the grade level needed.
If you have questions, please submit a support request in FastBridge.
FastBridge rosters are now importing for districts sending 2026-27SIS data
Before the system can start processing rosters, the following must be completed by your district:
Your Alma, Infinite Campus, JMC, or Powerschool SIF agent is sending 2026-27 data. Contact your SIS vendor to confirm, if needed.
Students are enrolled and scheduled into at least one class assigned to a teacher and have valid student state IDs in your SIS. Learn more about required data entry in this article: https://support.renaissance.com/s/article/Iowa-Roster-and-Student-Data-Management-1752693841901?language=en_US.
Iowa FastBridge user groups hosted by Renaissance
Iowa user group virtual meetings are held periodically throughout the school year. The user groups are not sponsored by the Iowa Department of Education; they are offered by Renaissance, FastBridge’s parent company. Use this link to find upcoming events and more information: User Group Website.
FastBridge math and 7-12 literacy assessments are not covered by our state contract
As a reminder, only K-6 literacy assessments are included in the Iowa contract with Renaissance. Districts must purchase licenses for any PK-12 math assessments, and PK, 7-12 literacy assessments, if desired. Please reach out directly to the Iowa Renaissance account manager, Kim Curry, at kim.curry@renaissance.com for more information.
Panorama Student Success
New literacy and mathematics risk status calculations for 2026-27!
The automated literacy and mathematical risk status calculations previously used in Student Success have been updated to better align with legislative language. This change was implemented over the summer.
Important note: The updated calculations may have resulted in changes to the student’s previously documented spring risk statuses. Schools are strongly encouraged to verify student risk status in the fall to provide appropriate support.
Students and rosters now loading for districts sending 2026-27 SIS data
Panorama is displaying 2026-27 student data and rosters if your SIS is sending 2026-27 data and the required data entry is completed.
Learn more about required data entry: https://iowa-academy.help.usepylon.com/articles/4766925601-faq-why-is-this-student-visible-in-student-success?lang=en
Updated displays in Student Success
There are several updates to display pages in Student Success.
The Attendance Report has been updated and is now called: Daily Attendance Dashboard.
Training opportunity: New student profile and overview pages September 28
Panorama will present a live Zoom session to provide an overview of the new student profile and student overview pages on September 28 from 3:30-4:00 p.m. The session will be recorded and available in the Panorama help library for those unable to attend the live session.
ISASP 2026 Spring Data in Panorama Student Success
Spring 2026 ISASP data will be added to the Panorama Student Success platform when available, although later than in previous years.
Update to User Access Processing
This summer, the Iowa Education Portal (EdPortal) deployed long-awaited programming to honor the end date on staff user role assignments entered in your school's student information system (SIS). User roles assigned with an end date that has passed are automatically removed. For details and instructions on what to check if you lost access, see 7/15/26 Enhancement to EdPortal User Role Processing.
New Staff
If you have new staff coming from other Iowa districts, they will need to update or create a new id.iowa.gov account with their new email as the user login. Instructions are available on the EdPortal home page.
For a full set of user access instructions, see the User Guide.
Your SIS must be sending 2026-27 data, and FAST/MTSS user roles must be assigned for users to get access.
Make sure your new staff and administrators are signed up for this MTSS email list. This mailing list is used to communicate broadly with those using Fastbridge and Panorama Student Success.
New staff training materials and videos are available for both FastBridge and Panorama Student Success in the links below.
Please use the relevant ticket system for help with FastBridge, Panorama, and/or ACHIEVE.