Getting Started with Dropout Detective

Introduction

This article guides faculty at St. Petersburg College (SPC) through accessing and using AspireEDU Dropout Detective within Canvas to proactively identify and support at-risk students.

Note: St. Petersburg College is in the process of connecting Dropout Detective to our student information system (PeopleSoft). While the tool is accessible through Canvas and provides valuable insights based on LMS activity, some features—such as displaying organizations students are connected to assigned career and academic advisors —are not yet available. Full functionality will be enabled once the connection between PeopleSoft and Dropout Detective is fully established. We appreciate your patience as we work to enhance the tool’s capabilities to better support student success.

Contents

What is Dropout Detective?

Accessing Dropout Detective in Canvas

Viewing an Individual Student in Dropout Detective

Dropout Detective Trainings

More Information on Dropout Detective

What is Dropout Detective?

Dropout Detective is a student retention and success solution that integrates directly with Canvas to provide a risk index of how likely it is that each online student will drop out of or fail their course(s). This program pulls together the different reasons a student is at risk (using data from Canvas) and makes it easy to quickly go through and look at what might be happening with a student and determine an appropriate intervention strategy.

Accessing Dropout Detective in Canvas

1. Navigate to your Canvas course. Scroll down to Third Party Tools (1) on the course navigation and select Dropout Detective (2). 
   Note: You can only view the Dropout Detective dashboard for courses in which you are an instructor. If you believe you should have access to the Dropout Detective dashboard for a course and you do not, please email atst@spcollege.edu for assistance. 
   
2. Review the Dropout Detective dashboard for the course. It has 4 columns: Student (1), Risk Index (2), Last Access (3), and Latest Submission (4) and the corresponding data points. 
   
3. Optional: Select the down arrow next to Filter Students to filter by risk level and show only students who are at the chosen risk level. If no filter is selected, then all students will show, sorted by risk index, with the most at-risk students at the top. 
   

Viewing an Individual Student in Dropout Detective

Inside the Dropout Detective course dashboard, select a student's name. This brings up the individual student's dashboard. At the top of the screen you'll see the student's name (1), risk index (2), last login (3), and buttons to send a message in Canvas (4) as well as send them an email at their @live.spcollege.edu email address (5). 

Overview Screen: 

1. Select the Overview tab to see a list of currently enrolled courses (1) along with current grades (2), zeros (3) missing assignments (4), last access (5), and latest submission (6). 
   
2. Select the Grade (1) to see the student's gradebook for the class (opens in a new Canvas window).
3. Select Zeros (2) to generate a list of assignments with a grade of zero for the class (opens in Dropout Detective).
4. Select Missing Assignments (3) to generate a list of missing assignments for the class (opens in Dropout Detective).
5. Select Last Access (4) to open up the Access Report for the student's course activity (opens in a new Canvas window). 
   
6. Suggested Action Item: Navigate to your Dropout Detective Dashboard and select a student (1) categorized as High Risk (student will show as red and show up in the high risk filter). View the student's zeros (2) and missing assignments (3) for the course. Highlight the lists one by one, and copy/paste them into a Canvas inbox message or an Outlook email (4) to reach out to that student.

Notes Screen

1. Select the Notes tab to view the notes screen. This is a space for you to add notes on the student.
2. In order to add a note, type your note in the Enter note here field (1) and select the Add Note button (2) to add it to the student's account. You could add concerns you have about progress, communications you've had with the student, accomodations that worked really well for the student, etc. Keep in mind the student cannot see the notes, but everyone associated with the student can, and the notes follow the student from semester to semester. Notes cannot be edited once saved. 
   

History Tab

1. Select the History tab (1) to see a historical view of the student's data. You can see the student's daily risk index score (2), weekly risk index score (3), and grades (4). You're also able to Print this data (5). 
   

Dropout Detective Trainings

Dropout Detective Training from Panda Day 2025 (32 min)

More Information on Dropout Detective

Guide: Frequently Asked Questions about Dropout Detective

Titan Hub Page: Dropout Detective

Have Questions? Contact the Academic Technology Support Team

atst@spcollege.edu 

 Phone at 727-341-3500

(Hours: Monday - Friday 8:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. EST).

After-hours or weekend assistance? Contact the Technical Support Center at 727-791-2795 or onlinehelp@spcollege.edu

Want to Schedule a One-on-One or Group Session on Canvas or other instructional technology issues or opportunities?

Schedule 1:1 Support Help with a Member of the Academic Technology Support Team