New Canvas LMS capability combines group-specific risk assessments with academic flags to help student support teams identify concerns earlier.
DRAPER, UT, UNITED STATES, November 5, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ — Cidi Labs, a provider of teaching and learning tools built exclusively for the Canvas learning management system (LMS), today announced configurable risk assessments for ObservEd, its student performance monitoring tool for Canvas. The new capability helps academic advisors, athletic directors and coaches, and other support professionals identify students who may need assistance based on academic performance and course activity.
Student support teams monitoring dozens or hundreds of students often struggle to identify potential academic concerns. Grades alone don’t always provide a complete picture of student progress, and different student populations often have different academic expectations. Without a clear method to identify and prioritize concerns, student support teams may miss opportunities to intervene early.
ObservEd gives authorized staff real-time visibility into student progress across Canvas courses without requiring them to enroll in those courses. Building on existing grade and observer flags, configurable risk assessments let institutions define academic risk for different student groups.
“Identifying students who need additional support is only part of the challenge,” said Jennifer Malkovich, Vice President of Product Management at Cidi Labs. “The next step is understanding what may be happening and how best to respond. We want to give advisors, coaches, and other support professionals the information they need to recognize concerns early and take meaningful action.”
Identify Academic Risks Using Group-Specific Criteria
Academic expectations vary across student populations. An honors program, athletics department, or dual enrollment program each have different requirements for monitoring student progress.
ObservEd allows administrators to establish risk criteria using indicators such as course grades, missing or late assignments, course page views, and recent course activity.
Institutions can create multiple risk configurations and assign them to specific student groups. Based on those criteria, ObservEd identifies students with high, medium, or low risk levels.
Support staff can filter students by risk level and review the factors contributing to each assessment. A student with several missing assignments, for example, could require a different type of outreach than one whose grades are declining despite regular course activity.
An honors program might identify students as high risk when grades fall below 80%, while an athletics program might use a 70% threshold. Institutions, whether K-12 or higher education, determine their own criteria based on program requirements.
Combine Risk Assessments with Academic Flags
Configurable risk assessments complement two existing ObservEd capabilities:
-Automatic grade flags identify students whose grades meet institution-defined thresholds, highlighting potential academic concerns.
-Observer flags allow authorized staff to manually mark students who require additional attention or follow-up.
While grade flags focus on specific grade thresholds and observer flags reflect staff observations, configurable risk assessments consider multiple academic and activity indicators.
Together, these tools help support teams recognize potential concerns and prioritize students who could benefit from timely outreach.
Monitor Student Progress and Communicate Within Canvas
ObservEd brings grades, missing and late assignments, upcoming due dates, and course activity together in focused dashboards within Canvas.
Authorized staff can monitor assigned students across multiple Canvas courses from a single dashboard, without needing broad administrator permissions or enrollment in each individual course. When concerns arise, staff can send messages directly to students through Canvas Inbox from within ObservEd.
Recent product enhancements also include streamlined navigation, additional filtering options, improved reporting, and updates to group and term management. These capabilities help academic advisors, athletics staff, disability services teams, and other support professionals monitor student progress and make informed decisions about when to reach out.
To see ObservEd’s configurable risk assessments, academic flags, and student monitoring capabilities in action, watch Cidi Labs’ on-demand webinar, See, Support, Succeed: Monitoring Student Progress in Canvas with ObservEd.
About Cidi Labs
Cidi Labs develops purpose-built tools exclusively for the Canvas LMS that help K-12 and higher education institutions create better learning experiences. Founded in 2016 in partnership with Utah State University’s Center for Innovative Design & Instruction, Cidi Labs serves more than 700 institutions with educator-friendly solutions that improve course design and accessibility, simplify Canvas workflows, and provide greater insight into courses and student progress.
Kevin Franks
Cidi Labs
+1 512-484-1276
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