The security model of the testing system relies on a hierarchical relationship between users. The WebXam system houses a great deal of sensitive information regarding students and their test results. The security of this data is a critical issue for the system. However, the system also needs to provide this sensitive information to the teachers and administrators who need it.
By way of example, a teacher needs to have access to his or her students’ test results but not the results of another teacher’s students. Additionally, a superintendent requires access to all the students in his or her district but would not be entitled to see the results of students in another district. WebXam provides this security and flexibility by organizing users into a hierarchy whereby users can access the data for users below them in the hierarchy.
It is helpful to think of this hierarchy as a family tree. If a parent-child relationship can be traced between two users, the “parent” user will have access to the “child” user. Parents have access to their children. Grandparents have access to their children and their grandchildren. Access is not granted to any other types of relationships (e.g., siblings cannot view each other’s data). Below is a small sample hierarchy and a discussion of data access.
This photo is an example of a hierarchical relationship:
In this hierarchy:
- Teacher 1 is the parent of Students 1 & 2, so he or she can access their data. Teacher 2 has no access to data about Students 1 & 2 because he or she is not their parent in the hierarchy. Likewise, Teacher 1 cannot review data about Students 3 & 4.
- The District Test Coordinator, being the highest tier in the hierarchy, can see data relevant to everyone listed below them.
- Access moves down the hierarchical relationship, meaning that students can’t access data about teachers or administrators, and other teachers can’t see data about other administrators or the DTC
NOTE: Students can be assigned to multiple teachers and can be managed by any administrator their teachers report to.