Early Childhood Observation Tool (ECOT) STARS Coordinator Guide

Early Childhood Observation Tool (ECOT) STARS Coordinator Guide

STARS Coordinators Home Page:

Once the STARS Coordinator logs into the ECOT system, the Home Page will be shown below. The Coordinator can click on the Home link on the left side of the banner to switch between button selections, and on the Logout link on the right side to log out of the application.There is a link to open this STARS Coordinator User Guide on the right hand side.

Control + Click on a link below to go directly to the referenced page:

Student Search

Teacher Search

Report Viewers

Log Activity

Window Maintain

Resolve Dupes

1. Student Search:

STARS Coordinators can search for all studentsin their assigned district(s) at once or by a specific student.

1.1 All Students

If the selection is “All Students” then Coordinators have to select the Year, District, School(s) and Grade and click on “Get Students” button. This will return the results of all students for the selections. Note that the teachers’ email addresses are included for communication when necessary.

1.2Specific Student

If the selection is “Specific Student” then Coordinators have options to search student either by “ID”, ”Name” or “DOB”. The search is performed against all students registered in the ECOT. The same information is returned as for the “All Students” selection.

1.2.1. By ID

If the Coordinator wants a specific student by Student ID then the selection will be Specific Student by ID.

Here the Coordinator needs to select the Year and enter the Student ID as required fields and click on “Get Student” button to return the results for the given Student ID and Year.

1.2.2. By Name

If the Coordinator wants a specific student by Name then the selection will be Specific Student by Name.

Here the Coordinator needs to select the Year and enter the student’s last name as required fields and click on “Get Student” button to return the results for the given student. The Coordinator can enter a partial last name (and first name) and will get results back for students matching the pattern. For example, entering an ‘Ma’ in the last name field would return records with a last name of ‘Martinez’, ‘Madrid’ and ‘Manson’.

1.2.3. By DOB

If the Coordinator wants a specific student by date of birth, then the selection will be Specific Student by DOB.

Here the Coordinator needs to select the Year and enter the student’s DOB as required fields and click on “Get Student” button to return the results for the given student. The correct date format to enter is MM/DD/YYYY.

1. Teacher Search

STARS Coordinators can search for all teachers in their assigned district(s)or for a specific teacherin ECOT.

2.1 All Teachers

If the Coordinators want to search all teachers in their district by school, they select the Year, District and School from the dropdown list and click on “Get Teachers” button. Only districts assigned to the Coordinator will be available in the drop down. This will show all teachers in the selected District and School.

2.2Specific Teacher

Coordinators can search for an individual teacher based on Staff ID, Staff Name and Email. The same information is returned as for the “All Teachers” selection. Only the last 4 digits of the Staff ID should be entered.

2.2.1 By Staff ID

If the Coordinators want to search for a teacher based on the Staff ID, they should select “Specific Teacher” and “by Staff ID” options as shown below. This screen requires selecting Year and entering the Staff ID fields and clicking on the “Get Teacher” button to return the results for the entered Staff ID.

2.2.2. By Staff Name

If the Coordinators want to search for a teacher based on the teacher’s name, they have to select “Specific Teacher” and “by Staff Name” options as shown below. This screen requires selecting Year and entering the Staff Name fields and clicking on “Get Teacher” button to return the results for the entered Staff Name. Here Staff Last name is a required field. Partial names may be entered for both Last name and First name.

2.2.3. By Staff Email

If the Coordinators want to search for a teacher based on the teacher’s email address, they have to select “Specific Teacher” and “by Email options” as shown below. This screen requires selecting Year and entering the Staff Email fields and clicking on “Get Teacher” button to return the results for the entered Staff Email. Here Staff Email is a required field. Partial email addresses may be entered.

1. Report Viewers

Report Viewers include District and School level users with logon credentials to ECOT to run reports related to their district and school. STARS Coordinators can Search, Create and Update their District and School level users.

Once the Coordinators click on the “Report Viewers” button,the system will take them to the screenbelow where they can perform various actions like Search, Create and Update District and School level users.

3.1 Broad Search

If Coordinators select the “Broad Search” option, they must select the Year, District and School from the dropdown lists. They can pick “ALL” or a specific school from the Schools dropdown list and click on “Get Users” button to return results.

3.2 Narrow Search

STARS Coordinators can make a Narrow search for all District and School level users based on various search criteria like by Name, User Name, Group, Status and various Logon Date ranges. Coordinators have to select Year, District and Search Criteria and select the “Get Users” button to return results. The same information is returned as for the broad search.

3.3 Create User

STARS Coordinators can create new District and School level users. Once the Coordinator selects “Create User”, the screen below will be displayed.

3.3.1 District Level User

STARS Coordinators can create “District Level User” by selecting the District Level User option.

They have to fill all the required fields like District name, Last name, First name and Email ID of the user they want to create and click on “Create” button. A new account will be created and an automatic email with temporary login credentials will be sent to the email that was entered in the Email field. The new user can log into the system with the temporary credentials and will be prompted to change the password.

3.3.2 School Level User

STARS Coordinators can create “School Level User” by selecting the School Level User option.

They have to fill all the required fields like District name, Last name, First name and Email ID of the user they want to create and click on “Create” button. A new account will be created and an automatic email with temporary login credentials will be sent to the email that was entered in the Email field. The new user can log into the system with the temporary credentials and will be prompted to change the password.

3.4 Update User

STARS Coordinators can update name and email fields for District and School Level user accounts that have already been created. Users pick the “Update User” option and select the appropriate option (District or School level user) to update. To perform additional types of updates on these accounts, the Coordinator should contact the ECOT Help Desk at .

3.4.1 Update District Level User

The Coordinator may update a District Level user’s name and email address by selectingthe Update User and District LevelUser radio buttons.To update only a name, the Coordinatorenters the Last name, First name, and Old Email (current email) into the textboxes. To update an email address as well, the Coordinator enters the new email into the New Email textbox. The Coordinator then selects “Update” and should see an “Account Updated successfully” message.

When an email is changed, an automatic email will be generated and sent to the new email account with new login credentials to log into ECOT system. Note that only an existing District User’s email address will be accepted in the “Old Email” textbox, and the entry in the New Email textbox should be an email that does not already exist in ECOT.

3.4.2 Update School Level User

The Coordinator may update a School Level user’s name and email address by selecting the Update User and School Level User radio buttons. To update only a name, the Coordinator enters the Last name, First name, and Old Email (current email) into the textboxes. To update an email address as well, the Coordinator enters the new email into the New Email textbox. The Coordinator then selects “Update” and should see an “Account Updated successfully” message.

When an email is changed, an automatic email will be generated and sent to the new email account with new login credentials to log into ECOT system. Note that only an existing School User’s email address will be accepted in the “Old Email” textbox, and the entry in the New Email textbox should be an email that does not already exist in ECOT.

1. Log Activity

STARS Coordinators can verify that an Automatic Email with logon credentials was sent to a teacher, a school user, or a district user by selecting the Log Activity button.

After selecting an assigned district from the District drop down list,the Coordinator selects a User Group and a Date Range. User Group drop down choices include “Teacher”, “School User“, and “District User“. Date Range drop down choices include “All“ and Log Activity “Equal“, “Between“, “Greater Than“, and “Less Than“.Dates must be entered in MM/DD/YYYY format.

The example below shows a selection for teachers who received an automatic email between 06/01/2017 and 07/01/2017.

The example below shows a selection for School Users who received an automatic email after 06/01/2017.

The final example shows a selection for District Users who received an automatic email on any date.

1. Window Maintenance

In ECOT, Kindergarten and PreK teachers record observations during pre-determined time periods. Kindergarten teachers record observations during one time period only, the Beginning of Year (BOY) window. The Kindergarten BOY period includes students in summer K3P classes and regular fall Kindergarten classes. PreK teachers record observations during three time periods: the Beginning of Year (BOY), the Middle of Year (MOY), and End of Year (EOY) windows.

Teachers cannot make observations until a window has been created for their school for their grade level and observation period. ECOT Administrators have proactively created Kindergarten and PreK windows with default start and end dates for ECOT schools.For school year 2017-2018, the Kinder BOY start and end dates are set to 6/1/2017 and 10/15/2017; for PreK BOY to 7/1/2017 and 10/30/17; for PreK MOY to 12/01/17 to 2/6/18; and for PreK EOY to 4/10/18 to 6/2/18.

Teachers may begin recording observations on the start date of a window. They have a week after the end date of a window to finalize their observations but may not make new observations during that time. Teachers may continue to manage their rosters and run reports during the time periods between windows.

Selecting the Window Maintenance button allows STARS Coordinators to view and managewindows for schools in their districts. For example, a Coordinator may want to change the start date for a window to reflect the actual start date.Occasionally, a Coordinator may need to create a window for a grade level. It is recommended that Coordinators inform ECOT administrators of any changes made to windows by emailing .

The screenshot below shows the BOY window start and end dates for the Kindergarten grade level for School Test School 600001 in District TestDistrict600. The Coordinator can change either the start and/or end date by replacing the existing dates with a new date and selecting “Save“.

The screenshot below is an example of a school that does not have a window assigned for the selected grade and window. The STARS Coordinator is prompted to create a window by entering a start and end date, and selecting “Save“.

1. Resolve Duplicate Students

The purpose of the Resolve Dupes button is to permit the Coordinator to assign a primary status to a teacher for a student who has been associated with multiple teachers.

Importing accurate student and teacher records into ECOT is very important to the success of the tool. The goal is to associate each kindergarten and PreK student with one primary teacher. The primary teacher is responsible for making and recording observations for each student in their roster.

Ideally, the student will be assigned to a single homeroom teacher. An issue arises when a student is assigned to more than one teacher in the same ‘batch’, i.e. at a time when the system cannot tell which record is the most recent. Typically this occurs the first time a student is entered into ECOT. The student may be assigned to multiple teachers for different classes, or to the same teacher for different classes.

If the student is assigned to the same teacher in multiple classes, ECOT selects one combination as ‘Primary’ and creates a roster record. No intervention is required. However, if the student is assigned to multiple teachers, the STARS Coordinator must intervene to assign a ‘Primary’ teacher to the student.

ECOT Administrators will monitor the Duplicate Student status and inform STARS Coordinators when there is a need to assign a primary teacher. STARS Coordinators may check the status of students in their district(s) periodically on their own.

In the example below, student Adam Arroyo has been assigned two teachers, Nancy and Yolanda. The STARS Coordinator puts a check in the box under the Select column to assign Nancy as the Primary Teacher, and selects “Assign Selected as Primary Teacher“.

The system responds with “Primary Teacher assigned to this student successfully“, and Adam is removed from the list of students.

6/21/2017Page 1 of 10