Pearson 2012 Inform How to open, edit and print reports; create assessments and upload data; and access student progress and SRBI/RTI reports
How to use Inform This manual is written to give Inform users simple steps to follow, which will enable them to see assessment data for the students currently assigned to them, or assigned to them in previous years. With this data, all teachers and administrators will be able to use information from assessment data as they make decisions concerning instructional practices, strategies, and materials. With Inform, teachers can tailor these decisions to their entire class, smaller groups of students, and individual students based on their unique learning needs and academic progress. What is Pearson Inform? Frequently Asked Questions - It is a data warehouse that interfaces with the local district student information system (SIS), PowerSchool. - It is the warehouse of both local and state student assessment data. - Users enter scores from rubric-based or hand-scored assessments directly into the software, and view these results alongside any other assessments. - Inform accumulates assessment data year after year for our students, all of which is instantly available for viewing and analysis. - It is web-based and accessible from home, school, or a mobile browser. - Inform provides the classroom teacher quick access to student data from their computer, without time-consuming research of SDRT forms, or meetings with guidance counselors. Why do I need Inform? - To provide guidance in making decisions for educating each student. - To help determine students areas of strength and weakness. - To monitor student progress. - To help target areas in need of remediation. - To help identify areas of weakness within a curriculum. - To help meet local, state, and federal requirements for accountability. Where do I start? First navigate to the Weston Public Schools website, and access the Staff tab. Click on Weston Remote Access, and then the link to Inform. This will redirect you to the login portal. OR you can go directly to: https://www.pearsoninform.com/login/ct-weston 2
Login Page Enter your username and password (both are case sensitive). Click Log In. Your user ID is your typical WPS login. For example, johnsmith would be the user ID for John Smith. Your password was previously e-mailed to you. If you need it re-sent to you, please select email my password from the log in screen, or let Jim Valovich know as soon as possible. Periodically, Inform will prompt you change your password. Navigation Bar The following is a picture of the navigation bar for Inform v6.0, with a short explanation of the icons: Expand or collapse the side panel Test Results, Reports, Students, Strategy, and Setup Dashboards Context Navigator: Allows users to change the context from District, to School, to Teacher, to specific classes. Create new reports and clear dashboard Find a Student 3
Session Time Out As a security feature, when Inform is idle for about 10 minutes, the program automatically times-out. If it does time-out, you will simply need to re-enter your login information, and continue working. At the end of every session, it is also important to log-out of the program by clicking the icon next to your user name at the top of the screen. Creating a New Assessment and New Administration If you would like to add an assessment that is not already in Inform, select the Setup Dashboard and select Test Setup from the dropdown menu. This will show all created assessments, including those that do not yet have scores uploaded. Left-click on the appropriate context for the exam (Weston SD, School, Classroom, etc.). Click the create assessment pop-up box when it appears. The next screen you will see looks like this: 4
You will need to fill in all items marked with a red *. Keep in mind when choosing a name for your assessment that Inform will automatically alphabetize all assessments, with CAPS appearing ahead of lower case. If the assessment is one that you will be administering often, you may want to name it in such a way that it appears at the beginning of the list, to avoid having to scroll through all assessments to find the one you need. The abbreviated name and name can be identical. Check the box score entry enabled. Next, select your proficiency profile. In this example, we have selected Five Tier for the Primary Proficiency, which stands for: 1. Below Basic 2. Basic 3. Proficient 4. Goal 5. Advanced Note: You can easily use Five Tier for a 3- or 4-tiered proficiency, which is discussed in the section on proficiency profiles. Click on the icons to select which subject and grade(s) the assessment will apply to. Then click. 5
Learning Standards The next step in creating an assessment is to select which concepts the assessment will test. Click to the following screen: to get Select the standards tier from the pull-down menu and then fill in the highest test points possible for each standard tested. For example, if a student can obtain 10 points in Algebraic Concepts and 15 points in Algebraic Patterns and Functions, a 15 would go in box for Test Points Possible. Place a checkmark next to each standard the test will cover, fill in the points possible for that standard, and the score method (generally raw score or scaled score). You also have the option of indicating what sequence you would like the learning standards to appear during the Data Transfer Interface setup, which can be helpful if you are testing many standards. Be sure to save your selections. 6
If the concepts you are testing do not appear on the list, you will need to add them. First, select the Maintenance from the Setup Dashboard drop-down menu. Then from the menu on the left-hand side, select Learning Standards. Then, click the green plus. After clicking the green plus, the following pop-up box will appear. You will need to fill in all boxes marked with a red *. Abbrev, Name and Internal Key can all be the same. Description should be the full, non-abbreviated name. Click the to save. Note: ONLY select course or grade when you know that the learning standard will ONLY be used specifically for one grade or course. Otherwise, leave unselected. 7
Proficiency Profiles and Cut Scores Proficiency profiles are viewable by clicking the Strategy Dashboard and selecting Proficiency Profiles from the drop-down menu. Choose which profile you will be using and then click the paper and pencil icon. You will now be looking a screen like this: 8
Click the green plus to add a new, blank row to the bottom of the list. Enter the name of the Rubric, which can be the same as the assessment name or some other easily recognizable name. Select the Score Method, and, if applicable, the Grade. Next you will need to list the highest score you can achieve in each category as a cut score. If you are using Five Tier but only wish to use four or even three of the bands, you simply need to list a score that is unachievable for the bands you do not need. This would be, for example, -1 for Below Basic, because no one can score negatively on an assessment, or 1000 for Advanced. If you would like to eliminate a band in the middle, use a score that includes a decimal. For example, to eliminate the Proficient category, list the score for Basic as 212 and Proficient as 212.5. Note: The system does not allow a 0 cut score. Please use decimals for any score below 1. Manage Cut Scores Now that cut scores have been indicated in your proficiency profile, you will need to assign them to the assessment. Select Test Setup from the Setup Dashboard, and right-click the assessment you are working on. From the pop-up menu, select Manage Cut Scores. 9
The following screen will then appear on the right-hand side. The proficiency profiles assigned to the assessment when the assessment was created should appear. If not, click the green plus to add any missing profiles. Select one of the proficiency profiles (it will turn orange) to see more information. You will need to do this for all assigned proficiency profiles. You will need to assign score methods to the proficiencies, by clicking on the paper and pencil icon (a pop up will appear with the cut scores you added previously, check the appropriate cut scores for the assessment). If you see the error message No cut scores available this means you either did not set up your cut scores appropriately or that score method has not been utilized. Anything that shows a yellow triangle next to it has not been assigned. At least one score method should not contain a yellow triangle. If you make a mistake, click the red X to remove scores assigned to that scoring method. Notice above that for each standard, the left-hand column states inherits cut scores. This means that all standards are using the same cut scores. In some cases, you will have multiple cut scores for the same proficiency profile for an assessment. In the CMT-Math-08 example below, you will see RAW4 or RAW6 has been assigned to each standard. Inherits cut scores is the default. To change from the default, simply click the paper and pencil icon and manually assign cut scores. 10
Creating a New Administration for a New Assessment Now, an administration of the assessment must be created. Note that you will not be allowed to move on to this step if previous steps have not been fully completed. Creating a New Administration Go the the Test Setup under the SetupDashboard. Find the test you created. When you click on the test name, a pop-up box will appear. Select Create Administration. In the next screen, again, fill in all required selections marked with a red *. Session will be Fall, Win, Spr, Sum. Year is the school year, for example 10-11. Creating an Administration for an Existing Assessment 11
Select Test Setup from the Setup Dashboard. This will show all assessments, including those that do not yet have scores uploaded. For tests that contain the same rubrics and concepts each year, left-click on the most recent administration (for example [Spr 10-11] CMT-Math-03). In the pop-up box, select copy administration. In the Administration Details page, change the Session, Year, and Nominal Test Date. The Score Method and Test Score Calculation fields should already appear accurately. Uploading Assessment Data Assessment data from the state may be uploaded from www.ctreports.com. You will need login information, which can be obtained from Wendy Brighindi (CMTs) or Meredith Starzyk (CAPTs). For an assessment given by a department or class, a spreadsheet containing the data will need to be created in Microsoft Excel, and saved in comma delimited (.csv) format. Inform only allows the upload of.csv data. Data that must be captured by the spreadsheet include First Name, Last Name, Student ID/SASID, School Name (can be abbreviated), Grade and Scores. You may wish to include test date as well, for your own reference. 12
Note: CSV format does not support the use of multiple sheets. All sheets within your file must be saved as separate spreadsheets. To upload data select Data Transfer Interface from the Setup Dashboard, then Import Formats. Select the green plus to add a new format or the paper icon to copy an existing one (which can then be edited to suit your needs). A pop-up window will appear asking you to name, or rename if copying, the format. Once the new format is created, select the icon next to the format. OR The next screen should have your format name given under in the Format text box. Set your defaults as follows: District ID: 1234 Session: Must match exactly to the session you first selected when creating an Assessment Year: The school year Test Date: Must include zeros as place holders, for example, 03/01/2011 Select add a file if creating a new format. Click on file on if using and editing an existing format. 13
The next screen will include many sections. In the first portion, set: Loader to TestLoader Http Post Method to PIDT File Sequence to File 1 Format to Variable Delimiter to, The skip row conditions will be dependent upon the data you are importing. You will always need to exclude your header row by listing Field #1 Equals Last Name (or whatever field one contains as a label). If your data contains multiple grades and you only want to upload one grade, you will have to skip any data that does not contain the desired grades by using a not equal to function as you see below, using grade 8 as an example. You may also need to skip rows that contain non-numerical data instead of scores such as AB for absent. In most cases, you will set the Process Controls to read exactly as follows in the next example. The Common Fields Data will require mapping to the correct data columns, in the case of School ID, Student ID and Grade. Click on the Field Name link to change or add a field position listing). Never map to any non-required field as this will result in errors when uploading data. 14
Note: If you used an abbreviated name for the school name on your.csv spreadsheet, you will need to add a translation. When you select the School ID link, make sure the translation box is checked in the pop-up, type in your abbreviation in the Value column ad select the appropriate school from the Map column. Click SAVE. 15
If using an existing format, you will need to remove the existing item and then add a new test identified from the list of existing assessments and/or change the default year and test session. If creating a new format, simply add the test from the list of existing assessments. First, select the assessment from the drop-down menu. The Map To field should already be populated with Assessment/Session/Year. In the next set of boxes, change the Map From fields using the drop-down menus so that both read Default. Change the Default column and Map to Column to read as shown below. The Test Score and Subject Score fields for the next two boxes should be the column from the.csv data that contains the desired scaled or raw score. Score Method and Subject Name should appear prepopulated from the data you entered when building the assessment. Lastly, you will need to map the concepts. All concept names that you assigned to the assessment originally should appear. You will need to select the appropriate score method from the drop down menu and assign the field numbers based on what columns in the.csv file contain the scores for each learning standard. Note: IDP Stands for Implied Decimal Position. The default is set to zero, meaning the data will not contain decimal numbers. If your data does contain decimals, change the IDP from default to 1 or 2 as required. TIP: In order to change your Excel.csv file so that the column are numbered instead of lettered, you will need to go to File > Options > Formulas and check the R1C1 Reference Style under the heading Working with Formulas and then click OK. 16
Once you have completed this form, click save. Continue clicking save on any other open screens until you arrive back on the Data Transfer Interface tab. This time, select Import Jobs which is located directly above Import Formats. You can select any format by clicking on the paper and pencil icon, or create your own if importing for the first time by clicking the green plus sign. When the following screen pops up provide a job name if creating a new one, otherwise leave the job as is. Post username and password as anything you like, such as admin and post. Find the format you just created under Format Name. Leave Schedule Type as the default. You will need to add your email by selecting the green plus (and/or delete any other emails already listed by selecting the red x) in order to receive the kick-out file showing data upload and processing status. Click save. 17
The final step is to click on the yellow triangle next to the Import Job you just created or edited. Browse to upload your.csv file and click upload. You will receive 2 emails in your inbox (please check your junk mail if you do not receive the first one within 5 minutes). The first email will let you know if your data uploaded successfully or failed to upload. The second email will let you know if the data was processed successfully or if it failed to processes. Troubleshooting No Email Confirmation: If you do not receive any emails, check to see that you provided your email in the Import Jobs step shown above. Data Upload Failure or Data Processing Failure: You will need to read the error messages contained in the email, and adjust you Assessment, Administration, or Upload Format accordingly, and then reload your data to the same Import Job. The most common error is a parsing error. Parsing Error: First, check to make sure Inform has been set up for receipt of a comma delimited file, and that your file is.csv not.xls or.xlsx. Next make sure you have not mapped to a non-existent or incorrect field number. Another cause of a parsing error is incorrect set-up of cut scores. If all these items are correct, try removing the header row (be sure to save the file without the header) before uploading the data. Note: Multiple assessments cannot process simultaneously. If you are uploading multiple assessments, you must wait for the email with Data Processing Success as the subject before you begin to import 18
additional tests. If you do not wait, you will receive an email stating Data Processing Fail and you will need to reload that assessment. The Shared Library Reports The shared library contains reports that have been created by a system administrator. These reports are organized by assessment type and year. Shared libraries contain most of the reports you will need, and simplifies access to that data. How to View a Report: Hold your cursor over the report title (this is called hovering ) and click ONCE. The report will load in a new window. Or, drag and drop the desired report(s) to the right side of the screen. Minimizing Reports: Several reports can be open on the dashboard at one time by clicking on multiple report titles in the Report Library, or by dragging multiple reports to the right. You can minimize reports by clicking the minimize button. You can also rearrange reports, as well as Student Assessment Profiles in the dashboard, by dragging them to a different space in the dashboard. 19
Viewing a Report You may choose to view reports in graph form (the default view), or switch to a table-style view. The icons in the upper left corner of the report allow you to switch views. Click on one of the assessment categories, and then the View Drilldown Data icon to display the data in that category in tabular form. Click the View Data as Table icon to see the report in tabular form. Click on the gear icon to show what selections were used in the query to develop the report. 20
The default display is alphabetical. You can sort the data in the table by clicking on the column headings. In this example, the data was re-sorted from highest to lowest scale by clicking on the Proficiency Lev... heading in the table. Drilling-Down One of the best features of Inform is the ability to drill-deeper into the data. The graphs in any report are dynamic, which means that if you place your cursor over any section of a graph and click, the students who are represented by that graph will be displayed in a new window. This activity is called drilling-down. Also, while your cursor hovers over the graph, the vital statistics for that graph will appear in a pop-up window. Important note: Report data rights are limited by the level of access set by the system administrator. Teachers may be limited to seeing only data for the students who are assigned to them, whereas school administrators can view data for all students assigned to their school. These limits are based on school policy, and are adjustable. 21
Context while in Report View It is very important to understand context. In report views, context determines what data Inform displays in the reports that are stored in the shared library. Reminder: The data you can see is limited by access privileges set by your system administrator. Reports in the shared library were created to show results for all students in the school district who have assessment data for the report that is selected. Since all reports are dynamic, as the context changes, the report will change accordingly. This allows districts that have multiple schools to see their individual school data, as well as individual teacher data. Teachers can set the context to view results for only students in a given section or class period. Context will also effect what data is displayed in drill-downs. District This is the default context setting. When the context is district, all students within Weston Public Schools will show in the results of reports from the shared library. School - When the context is school, then only the students who are assigned to the selected school will be reported in the current report. Class When a teacher is selected in the context, then only the students who are assigned to the selected teacher will be reported in the results of Queries or Reports. Period/section When a period class is selected, the teacher can see the roster of students in that class, and generate reports that represent only the assessment data for that given period. Click on the Context Navigator icon, and the schools within that district appear on the left. If you single click a school, the teachers in that school appear on the right. The icon in the context area of the report indicates the data level represented in the graph. Context Navigator District School Teacher Course Period This specific setup shows Jean Bakes, 7 th period, Algebra 1. Depending on your schedules, and the classes you teach, you will have access to different classes. 22
Double click one of the schools, and the graph will change to represent only the students assigned to that school. The new context for the report will appear in the context window of the report, to the right of the context navigator icon. If the teacher selects a context that is not appropriate for the assessment then no data will appear (i.e., if the context is Hurlbutt Elementary School, 8 th grade CMT assessments will not appear). Users can always return to district level context by double clicking the district icon. Creating a New Report To create a report that is not currently listed in the library, go to the Reports Dashboard and click the Create New Report icon. The query screen below will appear. Define your parameters in the first column. You can select specific assessments in column 2, based on your selections in the previous column (click the Get Assessments icon and checkboxes will show for each applicable assessment). You can then narrow your query further by selecting specific learning 23
standards for the selected tests in the third column. When you are finished making your selections, click on the Create Report icon. When your report appears, if it is a report you would like to save for future use, click the Save Report to Library icon, which looks like a floppy disk. The following pop-up screen will appear, requesting further details. Select a title for your report, if you will save it to the shared library or your personal library, and which context the report is viewable for. By default, teachers reports save to their Personal Library. Entering Student Academic Improvement Plan Information Creating Student Groups Click on the Strategy tab and select Student Groups Click on the icon to create a group. 24
In the pop-up box (see below), give your group a name and make sure all three check boxes are checked. Note: you may uncheck targeted for intervention when creating certain groups, such as classroom reading groups. There are two ways to put students into a group: 1. From the Reports or Test Results Dashboard, drill down into a report 2. Create Parameters for selection in Inform Click on the Selection Criteria Maintenance Button and then click on the criteria. icon to add group In the Group Criteria Editor, select a name, select whether all or any criteria must be met to be included in the selection, then click the green plus sign to add a criterion or multiple criteria. 25
After clicking Save you will need to go back and edit the student group you created in order to assign the criteria to the group. Only one group on criteria can be assigned per group. However, you may manually assign additional students. Click the Refresh Button next to the student Group to show the list of students who met the criteria you applied to the group. You have the option to select all students or certain students. You can also sort, for example by SPED, to make selection easier. Then click the floppy disk icon to add the selected students to your group. Once a student is assigned to a group that group stays in the record for their entire school career (even when the student is exited, so subsequent teachers will know if that student ever had an issue). Interventions may then be applied to an entire group if desired, if you would like the strategies automatically assigned when new students are added to the group. 26
Individual Intervention Strategies and Progress Meetings Important: Ensure that you are on the correct context- i.e., the teacher of the student being discussed. There a two ways to locate a student. Either: a. Go to the student search button on the far right of the screen: And continue searching for the student via last name, first name, etc. OR b. Go to the Student Dashboard tab. Next, expand the panel to see the roster of students. Select the student being discussed. This screen will show you the student s assessment data in a variety of forms, any groups that the student is in, and any goals for the student. The AIP box is where you will go to find the student s 27
groups. Enlarge the entire box called AIP for a better view. Minimize the list of students on the left hand side by clicking the button In the Group & Intervention History box, you will see the groups that the student is/was in. To add meeting notes, click on the pencil/notebook icon in front of the group name, and the following dialogue box will open: Click button to create your note. Again, once a note is recorded and saved, there will always be a record that something was written, even if you delete the comment, so keep your comments objective and appropriate. 28
Student Test History: Make the screen larger by clicking on the rectangle in the top right hand corner of the box. On the first page it will show all of the assessments the student has taken and the skills that have been masterd. The second page will show all of the scores for this student on the content standards; you can easily see the content areas that have not been mastered. To View Charts/Graphs Make the screen larger by clicking on the rectangle in the top right hand corner of the box. This screen will show a graph of all the assessments the student has taken and a comparison with both the school and district averages. The icons on the top left hand corner of the box will allow you to see the data in different ways. 29
Group and Intervention History: Assign Intervention Strategies: Select page 2 to assign intervention strategies for this student. Click on the in the upper right-hand corner of the screen. You will see a dialogue box that says add interventions. Select one of the interventions in the drop down box. Record the frequency of intervention. Select a tier level. For the next 2 boxes, identify your start and stop dates. You do not need to select an end date at this point. Click SAVE. Assign Parent and Student Responsibilities: On the first page, clicking on the to create goals for both the student and parent. Choose whether the goal is Academic or Behavioral. Write in the goal. Click Save. Select page 2 to identify the activities that will help the student and parent meet the identified goals. Click on the green plus sign and select whether it is a student activity or a parent activity. Select an activity and input the frequency/duration. Click SAVE. 30
Creating a New Intervention Strategy If you cannot find the intervention strategy you need in the drop-down menu, you may need to add it to the database. To do this, first click on Intervention Strategies in the Strategies Dashboard and click on the to add a new intervention strategy. When the following pop-up box appears, simply fill in the name of the strategy where you see the red * and click Save. Printing the AIP On the top left hand portion of the screen, click the small picture of the printer underneath the student s name, and the AIP acronym. In the dialogue box, click page Setup and select landscape. You will only have to do this one time, after that it is set on your computer. Then click OK. Click on preview, you can now print the AIP by clicking on the print icon. Note: if you do not want to print all of the individual benchmark scores, then uncheck the box next to concept performance when you bring up the pop up screen to print. 31