To get the best performance possible while visiting Perspective, we recommend that you use Microsoft Internet Explorer 6.0 or 7.0 or Firefox 2.0 or 3.0 (if you are using a PC), and Safari 2.0 or 3.0 or Firefox 2.0 or 3.0 (if you are using a Mac). Regardless of which browser you use, make sure that you have JavaScript, cookies, and Java enabled. These features are the default settings when you install a new browser and should already be activated (unless you have previously been directed to disable them by a different website).

Learning resources should open in a new browser window. If you can’t see a learning resource after selecting it, first make sure you don’t already have too many browser windows open on your computer. Close all unneeded browser windows and try opening the learning resource again. Also check that your pop-up blocker software is not preventing a new browser window (with the learning resource) from opening. For more information on disabling pop-up blockers, see the next question.

Calculators, math charts and other resources open in a new browser window. If you can't see a resources after selecting it your browser may be blocking pop-up windows. With Safari 3 and other newer browsers their upgrade may automatically turn the pop-up blocker on. Often there is no warning or error message that a pop-up window has been blocked. For more information on disabling pop-up blockers, see the question below.

There are many different pop-up blockers (for example, Google Toolbar, Yahoo Toolbar, Pop-up Stopper, Popup Manager, etc.). Although each pop-up blocker is slightly different, most of them have similar features. Follow the directions below to change your pop-up setting.

Internet Explorer 6.0 or 7.0
Method 1: to temporarily allow pop-ups
When a pop-up is blocked, a yellow strip will appear toward the top of your browser screen.
1, Click on the message "Pop-up Blocked. To see this pop-up or additional options click here…" in the yellow stripe.
2. Click on the option to "Temporarily allow pop-ups". You will receive a message that the page cannot be refreshed and it asks you to click the Retry button.
3. Click the Retry button to refresh this page. The page will redisplay.
4. You may now click a link to view a learning resource.

Method 2: to permanently allow pop-ups
1. Click the Tools menu item at the top of the browser.
2. Click the menu item "Pop-up blocker" and another menu will display.
3. Click on the menu item "Turn off Pop-up Blocker"
4. You may now click a link to view a learning resource.

Mozilla Firefox 2.0 or 3.0
Method 1: to temporarily allow pop-ups
When a pop-up is blocked, a yellow strip will appear toward the top of your browser screen.
1. Click the Options button to the far right of the message "Firefox prevented this site from opening a pop-up window."
2. Click the option to "Allow pop-ups for this site."
3. You may now click a link to view a learning resource.

Method 2: to permanently allow pop-ups
1. Click the Tools menu item at the top of the browser.
2. Click the Options menu item. A window will display.
3. Click the "Content" selection (indicated by the blue & green globe) at the top of this window.
4. Uncheck the check box "Block pop-up windows."
5. Click OK.
6. You may now click a link to view a learning resource.

Safari 3.x
This method will permanently allow pop-ups.

1. Click the Edit menu item at the top of the browser.
2. Click the menu item "Block Pop-Up Windows" to remove the checkmark.
3. You may now click a link to view a calculator, math chart, or other resources

There are several different versions of Internet Explorer, Firefox, and Safari. If you are using an older version of Internet Explorer, Firefox, or Safari, you may not be able to view Web pages that use certain display features, such as Frames or JavaScript. To get optimal performance from the Perspective website, we recommend that you download the most recent version of Web browser that will run on your PC or Mac. The latest versions of Internet Explorer, Firefox, and Safari are available free from their company website.

Most browsers already contain the needed plug-ins. When you reach a page in Perspective that requires a plug-in, you will be prompted to download it from the home page of that particular plug-in creator. Most plug-ins are free and should download quickly.

Perspective contains reports and learning resources that use plug-ins such as: Acrobat Reader®, Flash Player®, and Shockwave Player®.

Simply click on the printer icon in the menu bar near the top of your screen.

If you have printing problems or your printouts are irregular, you may need to change the printer settings for your browser:

To adjust the margin settings, select File>Page Setup from within your browser. Tab between the four available fields to change the values of the top, bottom, left, or right margins.

To change the paper size, go to File>Print, select the Properties tab and use the drop-down menu to choose a different paper size or to restore your default to letter (8 ½ x 11 in).

To change the page orientation (landscape or portrait), go to File>Print, choose the Properties tab and use the radio buttons at the left of the dialog box for selection.

To avoid repeated printer errors, select File>Print Preview to ensure your print job is properly aligned.

When you open a PDF document from a website, your computer downloads that document and stores it in a temporary folder for you to view. If you have problems saving that document to your computer, try right-clicking the link and selecting (in Internet Explorer, "Save target as" and in Firefox, "Save link as"). Then you can choose where you want to save the document.

When you’re viewing a page on the Perspective website that contains information you'd like to read or use later, you can download that information and store it on your computer.

If you’re using Internet Explorer or Firefox:
Select File>Save As to save a page to your hard drive. You will have three save options:
Web page, Complete - If you select Web page, Complete, you will download the text, images, and any other components on the webpage. When you open the downloaded file in your browser, it will look identical to the original webpage.

Web page, HTML only - If you select Web page, HTML only, you will download a text file that contains the HTML coding necessary to produce the formatted text and images.
Text - If you select Text, you will download only the text to your computer without images, links, or HTML.

If you’re using Safari:
Select File>Save As to save a page onto your computer.

Another fast and easy option for saving text is to simply highlight it, select Copy from your browser's edit menu, and Paste it into a word processing program. Sometimes text can be in the form of an image, even though it appears as type. If this is the case you won't be able to highlight it, but you can save the image to your hard drive or print the page for later reference.

If you’re using Internet Explorer or Firefox:
Select View >Text Size. The text size typically is set to "normal," but you can use the controls to increase the text size.

If you’re using Safari:
Select View>Text Size. Then use the Increase Font Size control on the menu bar of the browser window.

A Web browser is the computer program that you use to navigate the World Wide Web. Some of the most popular Web browsers are Microsoft Internet Explorer, Firefox, Safari and Netscape Browser.

Cookies are how websites remember who you are. When you come to a site, the site may ask your computer to associate a short line of text with that particular website. This is called "dropping a cookie." Then, when you return to that site, that site can ask for that line of text back. This is called "picking up a cookie." websites usually do this so that you don't have to enter your password every time or so that they know how long it's been since you last visited the site. If you don't want your computer to use cookies, you can turn them off in your browser preferences.

Most public libraries have access to the Internet. If you cannot find time for your students to do research at school, try the local library.

This problem usually occurs when you use the browser back button to move from page to page. When using this website you should not use the browser back button. This is because the back button only recalls the previous page from memory. Therefore, changes you make on one page are not reflected when you recall a previous page from memory. Please use the links and navigation buttons in the Perspective application to move from screen to screen on this website.

The security setting in some browsers prevent automated download of files. Perspective sends some reports to you as downloads. You may modify your browser setting to temporarily or permanently change this.

Internet Explorer 6.0 or 7.0
If you receive a message "Your current security settings do not allow this file to be downloaded" you must first follow "Initial Step" below. You may then choose Method 1 or Method 2.

Initial Step
If you receive a security alert "Your current security settings do not allow this file to be downloaded." you must change your security setting to allow file downloads.
1. Click the Tools menu item from the top of the browser screen.
2. Click the Internet Options menu item.
3. Click the Security tab at the top.
4. Click the icon for Internet (blue and green globe).
5. Click the Custom Level button toward the bottom.
6. Scroll down to the section for Downloads.
7. Under "File download" area, click the radio button to "Enable."
8. Click OK and respond Yes to the prompt "Are you sure you want to change security settings for this zone?"
9. Click OK to return to your browser window and proceed to download the file again.

You must now choose Method 1 or Method 2 below.

Method 1 (temporary solution)
If you receive a security message "To help protect your security, Internet Explorer blocked this site from downloading files to your computer. Click here for options…" in a yellow stripe toward the top of the browser window.
1. Click in the yellow stripe to display a menu of options.
2. Click the option to Download File. The screen may quickly flash.
3. You must click the link to generate the file again. This time the file will download. Select an option to Open or Save this file. This method will continue to work until you close your browser.

Method 2 (permanent solution)
The security setting that control download can be permanently changed.
1. Click the Tools menu item from the top of the browser screen.
2. Click the Internet Options menu item.
3. Click the Security Tab.
4. Click the icon for Internet (blue and green globe).
5. Click the Custom Level button toward the bottom.
6. Scroll down to the section for Downloads.
7. Under "Automatic prompting for file downloads" click the option to Enable.
8. Click OK and respond Yes to the prompt "Are you sure you want to change security settings for this zone?"
9. Click OK to return to your browser window.

The next time you request to download a report you will be prompted to Open, Save or Cancel.

Each time the grade is changed the system defaults to the first subject within this grade. Please use the subject drop-down list to select the desired subject.

The reading resources available to educators, parents, and students on the Perspective website have been gathered from a variety of educational sources to support all levels of student learning. Pearson content experts have evaluated each online interactive resource and determined in which Minnesota grade-level standard and benchmark the resource best fits. In some cases, a resource may list a grade level that is different than the Minnesota Academic Standards because that was the grade level identified in its original source.

Many of the pages within Perspective contain lists which are generated as you request them. As a result, using the browser’s Back and Forward buttons may not generate the page as expected. Move around the Perspective site by using the Perspective navigation tabs (for example "Parent Home" or "Learning Resources") and the navigation links (for example "Show Materials" or "Go to About the Reports").

You may also move around the site by using the Breadcrumbs navigation located just to the right of the green Help "?". On the family site, the breadcrumbs start with "Parent Home" followed by the name of the current page. Click on any underlined link within the breadcrumbs to quickly navigate to that page.

This may occur if you were viewing a Perspective screen but you have not performed an activity with Perspective for a while. If 45 minutes has elapsed since your last activity with Perspective, the server will 'time-out' your session. The server is set this way for security and performance reasons.
When the time-out occurs, you may see the top portion of the Perspective screen; but the list of learning resources is missing. Or you see the top portion of the screen but the bottom portion will display an error message: 'An unidentified system error has occurred.' In either case, the list you were working on will be gone. You should close the browser window. Then restart the browser and go to the Perspective site again.

This may occur for a couple different reasons.
A. Please keep the 'Page Heading' field under 250 characters.
B. Please keep the 'Notes to the Student' field under 2000 characters.
C. Be sure you have at least one learning resource selected (it should display a green checkmark in the left column).
D. Be sure you create a PIN that is at least 4 characters long. Remember that upper and lower case letters are considered different, so be sure to enter the letters in your PIN accordingly.

This is a known problem when Adobe Flash is running on a Macintosh computer. The companies are working to fix this problem. In the meantime, you can close the calculator window (or any other pop-up window) by clicking on the red circle icon in the upper left of the browser window.

This is a known problem with Adobe Flash when running on certain browsers, such as Internet Explorer, Firefox and some versions of Safari. This issue has been fixed in some newer browsers. In the meantime, please use the following to close the study guide player:

PC running IE, Firefox or Safari
Click the red X icon (close button) in the upper left of the browser window.

Macintosh running IE, Firefox or Safari
Click the red circle icon (close button) in the upper left of the browser window.

There are a couple reasons this can occur.

Solution 1
If the browser window is too small you can enlarge the browser window by clicking the Maximum window button. You may also enlarge the window by stretching the side or bottom of the window to be larger.

Solution 2
With Internet Explorer 7 browser the address bar at the top and status bar at the bottom may cause the Next and Previous buttons to become hidden. To remove the Address bar and Status bar change the browser settings in the main browser window.

1. Click the Tools menu and select Internet Options.
2. Select the Security tab.
3. Select the zone called Internet (the Earth icon).
4. Click the Custom Level button.
5. Scroll down to the entry "Allow websites to open windows without address or status bar."
6. Click the option to Enable.
7. Respond Yes to the question "Are you sure you want to change the settings for this zone?"
8. Click OK.
9. Next time you open a browser window the Address bar and Status bar will not display. You will not see the Next and Previous buttons.

Solution 3
You may use a keyboard shortcut for the Next and Previous buttons. Using Windows press and hold the <Ctrl> key then press the <Right arrow> key for Next. Press <Ctrl> + <Left arrow> for Previous. Using Macintosh press and hold the <Command> key then press the <Right arrow> key for Next. Press <Command> + <Left arrow> for Previous.