Prepare Your Data

Prepare Your Data

This help article covers the very basics of data preparation. If, after reading this article, you still have questions, please refer to the other help articles listed for more in depth explanations. If the help articles listed still do not answer your questions, there are various other help articles available as well or you can contact the ARK help desk. 


  • Teacher and student data will be imported. To start importing data, please ensure that your data is in a .csv file format.  Each column should contain header information to identify the data. 
    • For Teachers, you will need: First Name, Last Name, Email, Sex (M/F), Proctor (Y/N)
    • For Students, you will need: First Name, Last Name, Date of Birth, Gender, Grade, Catholic (Y/N), Gaps in Catholic Education (Y/N), English as a Second Language (Y/N), and Accommodation (Y/N). You may optionally add the unique ARK Class ID (Schools with many classes/sections per grade can export the ARK-generated class ID for those class listings in ARK. This can be added to the Student import to automatically assign students to those classes. Data must match exactly.)
    • NOTE: You MUST Include a School Student ID starting in 2025. This can be obtained from your Student information system along with the other student data. Please include a "Y" for Gaps and an "N" as default for ESL and Accommodations if not otherwise known.

      Note! Please use one file for Teachers and a separate file for Students.

      If you still have questions about preparing your data to upload or have run into any issues with uploading your file, please see the article entitled "Common Errors and How to Fix them" linked here
  • Setup of Proctors, Classes, and Testing sections will be done using the ARK interface (it will not be imported).
  • For Classes: Please ensure you have the Textbook Publisher, Textbook Name and Edition for each class you will roster in ARK. ARK utilizes a simple drop-down selection featuring the USCCB approved textbook list. 
  • For more help setting up classes please see the following help article entitled "Creating Classes" 
  • For more help setting up testing sections please see the following help article entitled "Creating testing sections" 

    • Related Articles

    • Uploading Teachers

      Select the Teachers menu heading. In the upper right corner of the Users table, select Import. Drag your CSV file or click “Browse” and select it from your file navigator. Once the data is identified, you will be given a field picker to match your ...

    • Uploading Students

      NOTE: You MUST Include a School Student ID starting in 2025. This can be obtained from your Student information system along with the other student data. Please include a “Y” for Gaps and an “N” as default for ESL and Accommodations if not otherwise ...

    • Creating a Teacher Testing Section

      Key Differences for Teacher Tests Any Teacher/Proctor can Proctor the Teacher Test Section. The Teacher Test can be taken synchronously or asynchronously. In the event of asynchronous testing, the Test remains “Open” until the final teacher completes ...

    • Adding Students to Classes

      There are two options for adding students to Classes: Bulk Manual Assignment (best for one or two sections per grade) Individual Manual Assignment Student Roster Import by Spreadsheet (recommended only for large schools with more than 3 sections per ...

    • Classes and Testing Sections FAQ

      Note: This list of questions is not exhaustive. If your question is NOT answered by the following list, it is possible that the answer can be found in MORE detail in a different help article. The purpose of the following FAQ is to help guide you to ...