DPAssist for Teachers

DPAssist has two cloud services that work together:

Current production deployment has been verified with real student submissions using the Streamlit dashboard and Render worker.

Students submit portfolio links through a Google Form. Google Forms automatically records each submission in a connected Google Sheet.

Required form information

• Student first name
• Student last name
• Student email address
• Class section, if applicable
• Unit name
• Published portfolio URL

Required Google Sheet columns

DPAssist is designed to work with Google Form response sheets that include these fields:

• Timestamp
• What is your class section?
• What is your last name?
• What is your first name?
• Select the unit
• A portfolio URL column with PUBLISHED in the column name
• What is your email address?

DPAssist automatically adds status-tracking columns if they do not already exist.

DPAssist needs secure access to the Google Sheet connected to your form.

Create a Google Cloud project

1. Go to https://console.cloud.google.com.
2. Sign in with your Google account.
3. Create a new project named DPAssist.
4. Make sure the DPAssist project is selected.

Enable APIs

1. Open APIs & Services > Library.
2. Enable Google Sheets API.
3. Enable Google Drive API.

Create a service account

1. Open APIs & Services > Credentials.
2. Choose Create Credentials > Service Account.
3. Name it dpassist-reader.
4. Skip optional role steps and finish creating the account.
5. Open the service account, go to Keys, and create a new JSON key.
6. Save the downloaded JSON file securely.

Share the Google Sheet

1. Open the downloaded JSON file in a text editor.
2. Find the client_email value.
3. Open your Google Form responses Sheet.
4. Click Share.
5. Add the service account email as an Editor.
6. Uncheck Notify people and click Share.

Copy the Sheet ID

The Sheet ID is the long string between /d/ and /edit in the Google Sheet URL.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/THIS_PART_IS_THE_SHEET_ID/edit

DPAssist sends student feedback emails through Gmail using an App Password, not your normal Google password.

1. Go to https://myaccount.google.com.
2. Open Security.
3. Make sure 2-Step Verification is turned on.
4. Search for App passwords.
5. Create an app password named DPAssist.
6. Copy the 16-character password immediately.

1. Go to https://aistudio.google.com/app/apikey.
2. Sign in with your Google account.
3. Click Create API Key.
4. Copy the key and store it securely.

The key is used by DPAssist to evaluate portfolios and parse rubric content.

The Streamlit app is the teacher-facing dashboard. It lets teachers upload rubrics, view submissions, and confirm system configuration.

1. Go to https://share.streamlit.io and sign in with GitHub.
2. Create a new app.
3. Select repository bmorrow574/DPAssist or your fork.
4. Set branch to main.
5. Set main file path to portfolio_reviewer/teacher_ui.py.
6. Open Advanced settings > Secrets.

Paste the following secrets, replacing placeholder values with your real values:

GOOGLE_SHEET_ID = "paste-your-sheet-id-here"
GEMINI_API_KEY = "paste-your-gemini-key-here"
TEACHER_EMAIL = "your.email@gmail.com"
GMAIL_APP_PASSWORD = "your16characterapppassword"
RUBRIC_STORAGE = "sheets"
CHECK_INTERVAL_SECONDS = "60"
GOOGLE_CREDENTIALS_JSON = '''
paste the entire contents of service-account-credentials.json here
'''

Deploy the app. When the dashboard opens, go to System Status and confirm the required services show green check marks.

The Render worker is what actually processes submissions. It must be deployed for DPAssist to run automatically.

1. Go to https://render.com and sign in with GitHub.
2. Select New > Blueprint.
3. Connect the GitHub repository.
4. Render should detect render.yaml.
5. Create a Blueprint instance, such as DPAssist-Production.
6. Set branch to main.
7. Leave Blueprint path as render.yaml.

Render environment variables

Enter these values when Render prompts for them:

The following values are defined in render.yaml:

RUBRIC_STORAGE=sheets
CHECK_INTERVAL_SECONDS=60

Deploy the worker. In Render logs, successful startup should show that the service is live and running python portfolio_reviewer/background_service.py. After deployment, the worker checks the Google Sheet every 60 seconds.

Add a rubric

1. Open the Streamlit Teacher Dashboard.
2. Click Rubrics.
3. Upload the rubric PDF.
4. Enter the unit name exactly as it appears in the Google Form.
5. Set the due date.
6. Click Parse and Add Rubric.

Monitor submissions

Open Submissions to view student names, units, due dates, and status.

Student portfolio access

Students must publish portfolio links so they are accessible without Google sign-in. DPAssist now detects Google sign-in pages and emails the student instructions to fix the access issue.

Teacher control

DPAssist provides feedback and draft evaluation language. Teachers remain responsible for reviewing student work, assigning final grades, and making instructional decisions.

Nothing is processing

• Confirm the Render worker is live.
• Check Render logs for errors.
• Confirm the Google Sheet ID is correct.
• Confirm the service account has Editor access to the Sheet.

Dashboard works, but submissions do not process

This usually means the Streamlit dashboard is deployed but the Render worker is not running.

Student did not receive feedback

• Check the student's email address in the Sheet.
• Confirm the Gmail App Password has no spaces.
• Check Render logs for SMTP errors.

Rubric not found

• Confirm the rubric was uploaded.
• Confirm the unit name matches exactly.
• Confirm RUBRIC_STORAGE=sheets.

Portfolio access issue

Ask the student to open the submitted link in an incognito/private window. If Google asks them to sign in, the site is not public yet.

• Never commit .env to GitHub.
• Never commit service-account-credentials.json to GitHub.
• Store credentials only in Streamlit Secrets and Render Environment Variables.
• Use a Gmail App Password instead of a normal Google password.
• Remove spaces from the Gmail App Password before entering it in cloud services.