title: Clever API Vocabulary description: >- Vocabulary of key terms, concepts, and domain objects used across the Clever K-12 EdTech platform, Data API (v3.1), Events API, LMS Connect API, and Single Sign-On integrations. version: "3.1" updated: "2026-06-13" terms: - term: district definition: >- The highest-level organizational unit in Clever's data model. Each district corresponds to a K-12 school district that has authorized the Clever integration. All users, schools, sections, and courses belong to exactly one district. tags: [organization, rostering] - term: school definition: >- A K-12 school within a district. Every user, term, course, and section must be associated with at least one school. User records may be associated with multiple schools. tags: [organization, rostering] - term: user definition: >- A unified identity record in Clever v3.x representing any person in the system. Users carry role-specific sub-objects (student, teacher, staff, district_admin) rather than being separate object types. tags: [identity, rostering] - term: student definition: >- A role sub-object within a User record. Contains student-specific demographic and roster fields such as grade, dob, ell_status, frl_status, iep_status, and enrollment data. tags: [identity, rostering, demographics] - term: teacher definition: >- A role sub-object within a User record. Contains teacher-specific fields such as teacher_number, title, and credentials. tags: [identity, rostering] - term: staff definition: >- A role sub-object within a User record for non-teaching school staff. tags: [identity, rostering] - term: district_admin definition: >- A role sub-object within a User record for district-level administrators. tags: [identity, rostering] - term: section definition: >- Analogous to a class or classroom. Sections tie teachers and students together within a school. Each section may optionally reference a course and a term. tags: [rostering] - term: course definition: >- An optional data type representing a curriculum course. Courses are only present if a district chooses to sync course information to Clever. A course may be associated with multiple sections. tags: [rostering, curriculum] - term: term definition: >- An optional data type representing an academic term (semester, quarter, trimester). Only present if a district sends term information. Sections reference terms via term_id. tags: [rostering, academic-calendar] - term: contact definition: >- A student contact (guardian). Contains name and contact information for a student's parent or guardian. Also referred to as a guardian. tags: [rostering, demographics] - term: resource definition: >- An optional data type that applications can create and assign to courses by district admins. Used for content mapping. tags: [content-mapping] - term: event definition: >- A delta-sync record indicating a change (create, update, delete) to a roster object within a district. The Events API returns events to enable efficient incremental synchronization. Events must be enabled in the application dashboard. tags: [sync, events] - term: sis_id definition: >- The identifier assigned to a record by the Student Information System (SIS). Used to correlate Clever data back to the district's authoritative source of record. tags: [identifiers] - term: state_id definition: >- A state-assigned identifier for a student or school, issued by the state department of education. tags: [identifiers] - term: nces_id definition: >- National Center for Education Statistics identifier assigned to schools and districts by the U.S. Department of Education. tags: [identifiers] - term: district_app_token definition: >- A long-lived bearer token scoped to a district-application authorization. Used to authenticate Data API (Secure Sync) requests and Events API requests. Distinct from SSO bearer tokens. tags: [authentication, security] - term: sso_bearer_token definition: >- A short-lived bearer token prefixed with "il" issued during a Clever Single Sign-On flow for an individual user. Used to call identity endpoints such as /me and /userinfo. tags: [authentication, security, sso] - term: secure_sync definition: >- Clever's district-managed rostering product. Applications subscribe to Secure Sync to receive real-time roster data from a district's SIS via the Data API. Requires a district to authorize the application and a Secure Sync subscription. tags: [product, rostering] - term: single_sign_on definition: >- Clever's identity and SSO product enabling application partners to authenticate students, teachers, and staff through the Clever portal. Implements OAuth 2.0 authorization code flow; optionally OIDC or SAML. tags: [product, sso, identity] - term: lms_connect definition: >- Clever's integration layer for Learning Management Systems to sync gradebook data, assignments, and course enrollments. Available in API v3.1. Supports Canvas, Schoology, and Google Classroom. tags: [product, lms, gradebook] - term: clever_complete definition: >- The full suite of Clever integration products including Secure Sync (rostering), Single Sign-On (SSO), and LMS Connect (gradebook sync). tags: [product] - term: delta_sync definition: >- An incremental synchronization strategy using the Events API. Instead of re-syncing all roster data, applications retrieve only the changes (creates, updates, deletes) since the last sync. tags: [sync, events] - term: ell_status definition: >- English Language Learner status for a student. Values: Y (yes), N (no), or empty string. tags: [demographics] - term: frl_status definition: >- Free and Reduced Lunch eligibility status for a student. Values: Free, Reduced, Paid, Other, or empty string. tags: [demographics] - term: iep_status definition: >- Individualized Education Program status for a student. Indicates whether a student has a special education plan. tags: [demographics] - term: section_504_status definition: >- Section 504 accommodation plan status. Indicates whether a student receives accommodations under Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act. tags: [demographics] - term: lms_status definition: >- An object on User and Section records indicating synchronization status with connected LMS platforms (canvas, schoology, google_classroom). tags: [lms, sync] - term: oauth_2 definition: >- The authorization protocol used by Clever SSO. Implements the authorization code flow. Applications redirect users to clever.com/oauth/authorize and exchange the resulting code for an access token at clever.com/oauth/tokens. tags: [authentication, protocol] - term: oidc definition: >- OpenID Connect — an identity layer built on OAuth 2.0 supported by Clever. Provides an id_token and access to the /userinfo endpoint for standardized identity claims. tags: [authentication, protocol, identity] - term: saml definition: >- Security Assertion Markup Language — a federated SSO protocol supported by Clever for integrations with third-party identity services. tags: [authentication, protocol] - term: pagination definition: >- Clever Data API list endpoints support cursor-based pagination using starting_after and ending_before query parameters (Clever object IDs) along with a limit parameter. Responses include navigation links. tags: [api-design, pagination] - term: extension_fields definition: >- Custom fields (ext) on User, Student, Teacher, School, and Section objects that allow districts or applications to pass non-standard data fields through Clever. tags: [api-design, extensibility]