Troubleshooting Access (for District/School Users and Teachers)

I’m not sure if I have an Okta account to log into EdPortal

The only way to check whether you have an Okta account is to start the process of creating a new account. Be sure to use your work email - never use a personal email address. The system will indicate whether there is an existing Okta account. Use of ‘forgot password’ to check for an existing account is strongly discouraged. If you have any problems, contact EdPortal support at: [e-mail] or 515-725-2040.

I received an error message such as “403 Access Forbidden” when attempting to log into EdPortal. What does it mean?

Okta has a security mechanism in place to protect against cyberattacks. When too many ‘pings’ come from a single IP address, Okta will lock down that IP address for a period of 24 hours from the last ‘ping’ (aka attempt to access) to block a potential cyberattack attempt. Many schools have a network setup that assigns the same IP address to all users, which means if one user locks it out then all users in that location are impacted. When a lockout occurs, Okta will give anyone trying to access EdPortal a 403 error when they attempt to log in and have that IP address.

What causes this lockdown?

• Someone in the school used the Forgot Password/Unlock Account function repeatedly.
• A teacher/staff member administering an assessment in a lab setting -  using the same teacher’s login credentials repeatedly on multiple computers.

How do we unlock Okta?

The short answer is: you can’t. Neither the school nor the state teams can unlock the IP address - the 24 hour time must run out without any additional attempts to log in from anyone at that location/IP address. 

Workaround: If you can jump onto a different network, such as a hotspot, then you should be able to log in successfully. For those encountering the lockout when administering FastBridge assessments, you can export the list of student usernames and passwords to log in for each student individually on the FastBridge site rather than logging in repeatedly with your own account via Okta.

Note: The lockout is for 24 hours from the last time anyone from that IP address attempted to access EdPortal, NOT from the time that it first locked out. Example: At 1pm Betty Sue tries to retrieve her password multiple times because she’s not seeing the confirmation email and Okta locks down the IP. Melvin is working in the same office but doesn’t know this and tries unsuccessfully to login to EdPortal at 3pm. The system will unlock 24 hours from 3pm when Melvin last tried to log in, not from when Betty Sue triggered the lockout.

How to avoid an IP lockout

When attempting to retrieve your password, use the Forgot Password/Unlock Account function only once. If you do not receive the email, even in your spam folder, do not repeat the process. Stop and contact the state Okta support team by submitting a ticket or call [phone] or 800-532-1174.

For FastBridge screening, use the student logins for computer administered assessments. You can export the list of student usernames and passwords from FastBridge. Use that information to log in to each student’s computer on the FastBridge site, which does not go through Okta security. See: Getting a list of student usernames and passwords.

I don’t remember my password for EdPortal

1. Go to https://id.iowa.gov/.
2. Enter your email address.
3. Select “Forgot your password?”.
4. Click the “Send me an email” button.
5. Check your email for a message from [e-mail]
6. Click the “Reset your password” button in the message. This will take you to ID.iowa.gov.
7. Enter your new password..
8. Re-Enter your new password. Passwords must be at least 12 characters and cannot contain part of your username, first name or last name. 
9. Click "Reset Password"

I need to change my name, email address or changed districts

You will need to create a new Okta account with your new email address. Do not update your current Okta account. This will also create a new EdPortal account next time you log in with the Okta account with using your new email address as the username. The new EdPortal account will not have your previous application permissions so you will need to follow the normal new user instructions for each application to get those added.

Additional steps required:

• District/school staff: Ensure district SIS has the new email address listed on the staff record. Allow overnight for autoprovisioning of FastBridge, Panorama and ACHIEVE access.
• For Panorama users who are listed on intervention teams, another member of the intervention team will need to go in and re-add them to the intervention with the updated name/email.
• For ACHIEVE users, notify the ACHIEVE support of your email address change to update your ACHIEVE user profile.

I have two accounts, which one do I use?

You will only be able to use an account that has your school email address to access FastBridge or Student Success. 

I received an email that my role request was denied

This means a FastBridge, Panorama Student Success or ACHIEVE role was manually requested in EdPortal, which is not the correct process. Access to those systems is controlled by the assignment of the FAST, MTSS, or IDEA roles in your district’s student information system (SIS). Please work with your SIS data entry person to complete Step #2 of the Quick Start Guide to User Access

I don’t have a FastBridge/Panorama Student Success link in EdPortal

Make sure you select the correct building name in the upper right corner of EdPortal; it’s required for the proper links to populate on the toolbar. District Managers may select the district name.

Still no link? Here’s what to check:

Are you selecting the correct building in the upper right-hand corner of EdPortal? If you do not have a district-level user role, you must select the building.

Are you in the right account? Make sure the account you’re in has your district email address. In some circumstances, users may have two EdPortal accounts. ONLY accounts with district emails will ever have FastBridge/Panorama Student Success access.

Do you have a FAST (for FastBridge) or MTSS (for Panorama Student Success) user role assigned in the district student information system (SIS) at a valid building? Please check with your SIS data entry person to confirm.

Does the email in the district’s SIS and the email on your EdPortal account match exactly? You can check your EdPortal account but you will need to work with your SIS data entry person to confirm what they have entered there.

Have you logged into your EdPortal account at least once since it was created, and

Has it been at least a day since you logged into your EdPortal account for the first time?

None of the above? For Fastbridge, please email [e-mail]. For Panorama Student Success, email [e-mail].

I click the FastBridge link in EdPortal and receive an error message

If the error message says: "We're sorry, there was an unexpected error while trying to process your request," or “We're sorry. An error occurred while processing your request. Error code: *********. Please try again.” 

The most common cause is that your access has been disabled in FastBridge. To resolve this, contact your FAST District Manager. They can go to Manage Staff and check all account types associated with your email address to find the one showing the login disabled.

I click on the Panorama link in EdPortal and it redirects me to a page to “Set up single sign-on”

Panorama is putting in a security step to make sure nobody is able to hack your account during the transition to Okta for the EdPortal. Below is the process that you will complete when you access Panorama Student Success via the EdPortal for the first time on/after April 7th. These extra steps are a one-time process. 

When you click on MTSS>Panorama Student Success in EdPortal, the message below will appear on the screen. Check your email, as directed.

Within a few moments, you should have an email from [e-mail] that looks like this.  If you don’t see an email after a minute or so, check your spam and junk mail folders. Click the link in the email.

You will be redirected to a confirmation page that looks like this. Do not use the "Iowa Okta single sign-on provider” link on this confirmation page to get back to EdPortal. Go back to the EdPortal page instead.

Once you get back to the EdPortal site, you may need to click the Sign In button again. Then select MTSS > Panorama Student Success. There may be a delay the first time the Panorama page loads after the transition. 

I don’t see any students when I log into FastBridge

Here’s what to check:

Does the email address in your EdPortal account match the email address in your district’s student information system? If the email addresses do not match but you already had access to FastBridge, you can’t see your rostered students. 

Work with your student information system data entry person to confirm that students are properly scheduled into courses assigned to in the district’s student information system. Note: This is for Classroom Users (teachers). Teachers can’t see students unless they’re rostered via at least one class schedule.

I tried to reset my FastBridge password but when I get the email and click on the link, it says my account is expired

This happens when you try to log directly into FastBridge or reset your password there. Access for Iowa users is via EdPortal. You can reset your password in the EdPortal login. You may already be set up with access via EdPortal. Follow the instructions in step 4 of the quick start guide linked below, to log in and confirm.

Quick Start Guide for District/School Users

Quick Start Guide for AEA Users

If you find that you don't have access via EdPortal, please follow steps 1-4 in the quick start guide to get setup. There should be a person (or multiple people) who help facilitate setup in your district.

I have a shared position with two districts and need access to both

For staff who are shared between districts, the existence of two different email addresses can be problematic, as only one email address can connect with the EdPortal account to grant access to the applications. The only option available is to use the same email address as the primary email in both districts’ student information system. Having two different EdPortal accounts, one for each district, is not an approved option.

Why this works: User roles/access assigned in your district student information system connects to your EdPortal account using the email address entered so if you pick one of the email addresses and use it in both district student information systems, the data from both systems will connect with your EdPortal account. 

For example, if you serve both the Green District and the Yellow District, you can enter the Green District email address entered in your EdPortal account and then have both the Green District and Yellow District enter the same email address (the Green District email address) as your primary in the student information system. This will allow the user roles and information entered in BOTH districts to connect to your EdPortal account because they have the same email address associated with them.