Subject uses a handful of different user roles to control what someone can see and do on the platform. This article walks through each role — what it can access, what it can't, and how to tell which one applies to you.
Quick Comparison
Role | Scope | Can edit data? | Typically used by |
Teacher | Only their assigned section(s) | Yes, within their own sections | Classroom teachers |
Admin | Every section, school-wide | Yes, school-wide | School administrators |
District Admin | Every section, across multiple schools | Yes, across every school they're assigned to | District-level staff, multi-school coordinators |
Viewer (View Only) | School-wide | No — read-only | Counselors, aides, paraprofessionals, and oversight staff (not intended for parent/guardian use — see our parent progress reports article instead) |
Student | Their own enrollments only | N/A | Students |
Teacher
Teachers have access to the section(s) they're assigned to but nothing outside of that.
Teachers can:
View and manage the roster, students, and progress for their own section(s)
Grade student work and reference Teacher-Facing Rubrics
Set pacing and lock/unlock assignments for their own section(s)
Adjust Course Progression Settings (score-based progression, diagnostic bypass, sequential learning) for their own section(s)
Move a student's enrollment to a different section — but only if they also have access to that destination section
Enroll already-existing students into sections and courses for their own section(s). For Manual schools, teachers can also invite brand-new student accounts directly. For Hybrid schools, new accounts sync via SSO — teachers don't invite them, but still manually assign synced accounts to sections and courses.
Teachers cannot:
See or manage sections other than their own
Change school-wide settings, like the Student Score Calculation Setting (Admin-only)
Move a student into a section they don't personally have access to
Manually enroll or invite users if their school is on a Full integration (this goes through the district's Student Information System instead)
Additional Teacher Roles
Beyond the standard Teacher role, Subject offers four more granular Teacher roles. Each one keeps the full teaching experience - same students, same sections, same student work - and only removes specific abilities, so access can better match what a person actually does (for example, a coach, an instructional aide, or someone who shouldn't be able to change the roster).
These roles are not available by default. Your school's Subject Account Manager has to switch them on before they can be assigned, and not every school will have every role turned on. If you're setting up a new school, this should be worked out with your Account Manager during implementation, decide what you want your teachers to be able to do, and then your Account Manager will enable the specific role(s) you want available.
Teacher - Enrollment Restricted: Teaches and grades normally, but cannot enroll, unenroll, or move a student to another section. Can still create new student accounts.
Teacher - Roster Restricted: The same as Enrollment Restricted, but also cannot create student accounts. This is the role for someone who teaches the roster rather than builds it. This is the only one of the four that can't invite anyone at all.
Teacher - Restricted: Cannot change enrollments either, and additionally cannot mark a student's work complete, revert a completion, or push a student past a score-based block. Still keeps grading, pacing, locking, and exemptions.
Teacher - Read Only: Sees everything a Teacher sees, but cannot make any changes, including Grading.
Can they... | Teacher | Enrollment Restricted | Roster Restricted | Restricted | Read Only |
See their sections, students, and student work | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Grade work and change scores | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
Change a student's pacing | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
Create sections | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
Enroll, unenroll, or move a student between sections | Yes | No | No | No | No |
Create student accounts | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | No |
Mark work complete, or revert a completion | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No |
Bulk lock, unlock, or exempt work | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No |
Push a student past a score-based block | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
A few things worth knowing:
None of these roles change which students or sections a teacher can see - all four remain limited to their own sections, exactly like a standard Teacher.
A teacher holds exactly one of these roles at a time - they don't combine or mix and match. If none of the four fits what you need, talk to your Account Manager.
Every role uses a full educator license, including Read Only - a read-only observer takes up a seat the same as a teaching account does.
Admin
Admins have everything a Teacher has, but across the entire school rather than just one section.
Admins can:
View and manage every section and student at their school
Move any student's enrollment to any section school-wide
Assign teachers to sections
Change school-wide settings — including default Course Progression Settings and the Student Score Calculation Setting students see
Manage user enrollments and section assignments school-wide. Admins can invite brand-new accounts directly only at Manual schools; at Hybrid schools, accounts sync via SSO and Admins manage their section/course assignments instead.
Admins cannot:
Override SIS-managed enrollments or accounts if their school is on a Full integration (those changes must be made in the SIS)
Access additional schools on their own — unlike District Admins, an Admin's access to more than one school isn't automatic (see "Why can't I access a specific school?" below)
District Admin
District Admin isn't a separate permission tier — it's the same Admin-level access, just extended across more than one school. A District Admin can do everything an Admin can do, at every school they're assigned to within the district.
District Admins can:
Everything an Admin can do, at each school they have access to
Switch between multiple schools within their portal
District Admins cannot:
Access schools outside the district(s) they've been explicitly assigned to
This role is most common in larger districts, multi-campus programs, or organizations where one person oversees several schools at once.
Why Can't I Access a Specific School?
If you're a District Admin, you automatically have access to every school within your district — no setup needed. If a school is missing from your switcher, contact Subject Support, since something may be misconfigured.
If you're an Admin and need access to more than one school, that's not automatic — Subject Support has to manually add you to each additional school on the backend. Reach out to Subject Support (Live Chat or [email protected]) and let them know which school(s) you need added.
Viewer (View Only)
The Viewer role gives read-only, school-wide visibility into student progress and course data, with no ability to modify anything.
Viewers can access:
All reporting and school-wide student performance
Student progress details, submissions, and session logs
Course content and lesson context
Work sample generation and score exports
Scorebooks (view only)
Viewers cannot:
Edit scores or adjust pacing
Modify student enrollments
Create or edit users
Change course settings or adjust sections
This role was built for counselors, aides, paraprofessionals, and district-level staff who need to monitor progress without editing anything. Because Viewer access is school-wide rather than limited to a single student, it isn't a fit for parents or guardians — for keeping a parent updated on their own student, see automated progress reports instead. For more detail on the Viewer role — including how Admins create Viewer accounts — see our View Only Role in Subject article.
Student
Students only see their own enrolled courses, assignments, and scores. They have no visibility into other students' data, and no access to any teacher or admin tools.
How Do I Know What Role I Have?
Not sure which role applies to you? A couple of quick ways to check:
Look at the section dropdown in the top-left of your Educator Portal. If it only shows the section(s) you teach, you're a Teacher. If it shows every section at your school, you're an Admin. If you can switch between multiple schools entirely, you're a District Admin.
Check the Roster's Educators tab, if you have access — role labels appear next to each person's name.
If you can view data but nothing has an edit option (no Save buttons, no way to change scores or settings), you likely have the Viewer role.
You can also ask Emile, our Live Chat support bot, what your role is, and it can tell you which role you are assigned in the platform.
If you're missing a button or action you expect to see (like Enroll, Mark Complete, or the ability to grade), you may be on one of Subject's restricted Teacher roles rather than a standard Teacher account — these hide unavailable controls rather than greying them out. Restricted role labels also show up in the Roster's Educators tab alongside everyone else. Reach out to your school Admin or Subject Support to confirm.
Role assignment is managed by your school or district's Admin, or synced automatically through your Student Information System if your school uses a Full or Hybrid integration. If you think your role needs to change, reach out to your school's Admin, your district's IT department, or your Subject Customer Success Manager.
Important: there is no way to change a user's role directly within the Subject platform — this is true regardless of integration type (Manual, Hybrid, or Full). The Roster's Educators tab will show you role labels, but it does not include an option to edit or reassign roles. Any role change has to be requested through your school or district's Admin, your IT department, your Customer Success Manager, or by contacting Subject Support directly.
Need Help?
Get in touch with us at [email protected]. You can also speak with a team member live using our Live Chat feature within dropdown in the top right hand side of the platform.