ACE (Principal Act) Access

Alabama State Department of Education — Who Needs What

Permalink: https://bit.ly/ACE-PA-access

Last updated: October 16, 2026

The ACE (Alabama Certification for Educators) application is where principals, assistant principals, and their LEAs handle the Principal Act stipend application — tied directly to APLDS completion. Access works differently depending on who you are. See the Applicant Guide or LEA Editor Guide for the step-by-step process once you have access.
APPLICANT

Principals & Assistant Principals

Access: Automatic — no Education Directory role needed

A principal or assistant principal can log into the ACE tile as soon as their Extended Demographics are completed in the AIM portal — no Education Directory app access rule has to be assigned for this. Once in ACE, they select the Applicant role to start and complete their portion of the Principal Act application (see the Applicant Guide).

LEA EDITOR

LEA Principal Act Editor

Assigned to: Central office administrators (already Teaching Effectiveness System Editor or System Certifier) who are part of Principal Act/APLDS oversight

A central office administrator who already holds the Teaching Effectiveness System Editor or Teaching Effectiveness System Certifier role and is part of the school system's Principal Act oversight needs one additional app access rule — LEA Principal Act Editor — assigned in the Education Directory (not in ACE itself). This is the role that reviews eligibility, notifies eligible principals/assistant principals, and completes the school-system attestations (see the LEA Editor Guide). See How to Assign an ACE App Access Rule below.

Complete app access rule wording“ACE application user that can edit Principal Act system data.”
The LEA Principal Act Editor role should only be given to staff directly involved in Principal Act oversight — not assigned broadly alongside the general TE System Editor/Certifier roles.
A view-only variant of this app access rule also exists in ACE — “ACE application user that can view Principal Act system data” — for staff who need read-only visibility. It is not currently assigned to anyone as part of this workflow.
ASSIGN ACCESS

How to Assign an ACE App Access Rule

App access rules are assigned to users in the Education Directory by the LEA's Education Directory Application Editor. Follow these steps to assign the LEA Principal Act Editor ACE app access rule to a central office administrator.

  1. 1

    Log into AIM. The Education Directory Application Editor must log into AIM (aim.alsde.edu) and select the Education Directory tile.

    Education Directory tile in AIM
  2. 2

    Prepare to find the user. Go to the staffing screen.

    • a

      Select the school — for this system-level permission, choose the central office entry (School 0000) for the LEA, not an individual school.

    • b

      Select Application Access.

    • c

      Select Add Staff.

    System-level permission: this app access rule is granted only at the central office (School 0000) for each system. Do not assign it to principals or assistant principals at an individual school.
    Staffing screen showing the central office (School 0000) selected, with markers a, b, c for selecting the school, the Application Access tab, and the Add Staff button
  3. 3

    Search for the user. Provide details about the user. ALSDE ID is preferred.

    Careful: Watch for nicknames — for example, if a name is listed as "Rob" and you search "Robert," you will not find the user.

    Select Search to continue.

    Find a person search screen with sample First Name, Last Name filled in
  4. 4

    Select the correct user.

    • a

      Verify SSN.

    • b

      Verify ALSDE ID.

    • c

      Verify DOB.

    • d

      Select Use Person to assign an application access rule to this user.

    Note: Select Refine Search to return to the search screen and search again.

    Select correct user screen with markers a, b, c, d for verifying SSN, ALSDE ID, Date of Birth, and selecting Use Person
  5. 5

    Assign the application access rule. Confirm the school.

    • a

      Filter app access rules to only rules containing "ace" — then select “ACE application user that can edit Principal Act system data”.

    • b

      Select the rule for the user.

    • c

      Select Add app access rule to add the rule(s) to the user.

    Select Pick another person to return to the selection screen.

    Assign screen with app access rules filtered to "ace" and ACE application user that can edit Principal Act system data selected, with markers a and b for the filter box and the selected rule
  6. 6

    Confirm the user has access.

    • a

      Filter the application access rules grid to show only the ACE application.

    • b

      Further filter by partial name or email address.

    Application Access grid filtered to ACE with markers a and b for the Application filter and the Last Name filter, showing sample user rows
Configuration complete once the user can log into AIM and see the ACE tile.
PREREQUISITE

Extended Demographics Required Before First Use

Before a user can open the ACE tile, AIM requires their Extended Demographics profile to be complete, with the Educator account type selected. Someone with a recently renewed or issued certificate, or who was hired through the K-12 Job Posting site, has usually already completed this. Others will be asked to provide additional information — height/weight, driver license or state ID number, race/ethnicity, and similar — under the Educator account type.

No account type selected (or a non-Educator type selected): the user is stopped when they open the ACE tile and taken to the account type selection screen instead. They should select Educator.
Message shown when the selected account type cannot be used with the ACE application
Educator account type selected, but demographics incomplete or expired: the user reaches the Extended Demographics screen with a message listing which section(s) still need to be completed.
Extended Demographics screen listing incomplete required sections, cropped to remove the AIM header bar and admin menu
Background Details – which reason to select: the Background Details section asks, “Please select your reason for applying for a certificate, license, or background check.” Principal Act applicants should select Certified or Licensed Applicant for Public Employment. Its description now reads: “You already hold a certification or license as an educator, school bus driver, substitute, or in Professional Leadership, and are seeking public employment in a new local public school system (including public charter schools), or you are seeking TEAMS or Principal ACT stipends.”
Background Details section with Certified or Licensed Applicant for Public Employment selected, showing the updated description that includes TEAMS or Principal ACT stipends
REMOVE ACCESS

How to Remove a User's Access

  1. 1

    View existing positions and rules. Select View to see all positions and application access rules assigned to a user. Select Remove to remove a single position or rule.

    More efficient option: Use Remove All… to remove all positions and/or app access rules at once (from your school or system).

    Note: If you are a school editor and the user has staff assignments at another school, you will only be able to remove positions from your school (the ones with the red Remove button). If you are a system editor and the user has staff assignments in another system, the same rule applies to your system.

    View screen showing all positions and application access rules for a user
  2. 2

    Remove all.

    • a

      Select staff positions to select all staff positions in your school/system.

    • b

      Select application access rules to select all app access rules in your school/system.

    • c

      Select Yes, remove to remove the selected options.

    Please note: If a user is not removed from app access rules and moves to another LEA/system, that user will continue to have access to your system's data.
    Remove All confirmation screen
Need help with user management in the Education Directory?
User management is handled by the Education Directory Application Editor for the LEA.

For ACE/Principal Act questions, contact:
• Email: PrincipalAct@alsde.edu