/ ASAI School Data Management System Training Manual

October 15, 2018

To facilitate continuous improvement, the American Student Achievement Institute has created an online school data management system. This guide will introduce you to the system and help you with important tasks.

This document is available to download and print as needed at

Please contact your school support specialist if you have questions or need assistance.

Table of Contents

Page 1 of 30

Introduction

Browser Compatibility

Logging In

Basic Elements

Resources

Enter/edit

Print Reports

Submit

Navigating the Site

Home Tab: The School Improvement Plan Contents

Task-Based Tabs: Participation, Vision, Achievement Analysis, Force Field Analysis, and Strategies

Implementation Tab

Manual Tab

Prep Tab: Session-Based Activities

Certification Tab

Contact Tab

Entering Minutes

Navigating to the Minutes Entry Page

Using the Minutes Entry Form

Printing Minutes

Submitting Minutes for Review

Online Surveys

Strategy Plans

Set Up

Check Certifications Requested

Strategies Tab

Strategy Plans: Enter/edit

Import a Strategy from Last Year’s Plan

A Note about Buttons

Create a New Local Strategy

Entering/Editing Strategy Plans

Component A: Strategy Title & Description

1. Strategy Title

2. Subtitle

3. Description

4. Strategy Chair

5. Energy Level

6. Planning Components

7. Force Fields Related to This Strategy

8. Areas of Concern

Component B: Entering the Task Force Roster

Component C: Strategy Data

Component D: Entering To-Do Lists

Entering Information for the Exclusive Representative Report

Submitting the Strategy Plan for Review

Strategy Plan Rubrics

Additional Assistance

Supplemental Instructions

Printing Power Point Presentations with Speaker Notes

Index

Page 1 of 30

Introduction

The ASAI School Data System consists of data and information management tools available to schools participating in the Student Achievement Institute. These tools are an integral part of the Institute's Vision-To-Action school improvement process. The data and information collected relate to student achievement (disaggregated by student subgroups), school and community surveys, areas influencing student achievement (teaching, guidance, environment, and expectations), summaries of local discussions of inquiry questions, and strategy plans.

Schools generate reports regarding their student achievement and the forces that influence achievement in their school. In addition, teams can view feedback from the ASAI staff concerning tasks their school and community have completed as they work through the Vision-to-Action school improvement process. The system also provides tools for managing the implementation of strategies and their impact on student achievement.

The collection of this data and resulting reports enable teams to involve their entire faculty, student body, and community in meaningful discussions about student achievement, the local forces influencing their student achievement, and the strategies they will implement to move toward their vision of success for all students.

Browser Compatibility

The School Data Management System works best in Firefox or Internet Explorer. If you do not have one of these browsers on your computer, please ask the technology person in your building for help installing it.

Firefox is a free web browser. It can be downloaded here from

Logging In

To log into the online system, open Internet Explorer and enter this address: Click the link under DATA SYSTEM LOGIN for InSAI Steering Teams. Enter the username and password given to your team representative at the Technology Workshop. All usernames and passwords are in lowercase only.

If the username and password have been misplaced, contact your school support specialist.

Log out of the system by closing your browser.

Basic Elements

As you navigate the site, you’ll notice these words/phrases used consistently:

Word or Phrase / Will open / What to do

Resources

/ Power Point presentations, Word documents (worksheets, posters, etc), and other files created to help you facilitate work in your school community /
  1. Right click on the link for the file you wish to download.
  2. Select “Save link as…” in the pop-up menu.
  3. Navigate to the location on your computer or network where you wish to save the file.
  4. Click the Save button.

Enter/edit

/ Web forms in which you will enter or edit data into the online data management system /
  1. Click on the Enter/edit link to open the web form.
  2. Enter or edit data and information as requested.
  3. Click the Save button.

Print Reports

/ Reports to print, share with your school community, and/or place in your School Improvement Plan Binder* /
  1. Click on the link.
  2. In most cases a page will open allowing you to select the specific report for printing.
  3. Click the printer icon on your web browser or click File on your browser’s menu then click Print.

Submit

/ The submission form (Figure 1). Submitting an item notifies your school support specialist that the item is ready for review. /
  1. Click on Submit.
  2. Select your name from the Team Member Submitting drop-down list.
  3. Select the item you are submitting from the Submission drop-down list.
  4. If you have entered the item in the School Data Management System, skip down to the check box.
  5. If you must upload a file to submit the item (only in the case that no enter/edit form exists in the system), click the Browse button, navigate to and select the file you wish to upload.
  6. Check the box affirming that the item is ready for review.
  7. Click the Submit button.

*Before printing a document for the School Improvement Plan Binder, please make sure its review status on the home tab is “meets criteria.”

Figure 1: Submit Item for Review

Navigating the Site

The School Data Management System has been designed to let users approach their work in several ways.

Approach / Interface
School Improvement Plan Overview / Home tab
Activities introduced at session / Prep tab
A specific Vision-to-Action task / Task-based tabs
Download resources for meetings / Manual tab

Additional information is available in the Certification, Logistics, and Contact tabs.

Home Tab: The School Improvement Plan Contents

After you log in, the site will open to the home page. This page is based on the School Improvement Plan Binder Organization. It allows you to quickly review the work needed for the certification your school community has selected, when it is due, and the current status of each item.

What You’ll See in the School Improvement Plan Contents

Figure 2: School Improvement Plan Contents (Home tab)

The page lists each binder division, binder tab, the documents that will be placed behind the tabs, and each document’s due date, submission date, and current rubric status.

To jump directly to adocument’s Enter/edit page, click the icon. To open the document’s report for printing, click the icon.

Navigation from the School Improvement Plan Contents
Clicking on the Division Titles

The Binder Division titles link to the task tab most closely associated with the division topic. Clicking on the Division title will take you to the location in the School Data Management System where you will find items needed for the tab. For example, clicking Faculty Involvement opens the Participation page at the Faculty section.

Clicking on a Document

The Documents link to the place in the School Data Management System that will allow you to complete, submit, or print the item.

Opening the Full Rubric

From the School Improvement Plan Overview (Home) page, you may access the full current rubric via two methods:

Click on the status of any item in the list

Click on Full Rubric in the sub-navigation box on the left side of the page

Task-Based Tabs: Participation, Vision, Achievement Analysis, Force Field Analysis, and Strategies

You may recognize these tabs from the Vision-to-Action model. In each you will find links to resources, enter/edit pages, and reports needed to complete the corresponding Vision-to-Action step.

What You Will See in Task-Based Tabs

Figure 3: Participation Tab

See page Error! Bookmark not defined. for more information about resources, enter/edit pages, printing reports, and submitting items for review.

Implementation Tab

When the Implementation Tab is opened, you can select options for generating a list of action steps so they can be marked complete. After clicking the “Show Action Steps” button, you will see the action steps meeting the selected criteria (Figure 4).

Figure 4: Implementation Tab

In this view, you can change the name of the person responsible, the date an action step is due, or mark it completed. It is important to save your changes frequently as you work. Your changes will be reflected on the To Do List and the Strategy Reports.

In the Implementation Tab sub-navigation, you can also run the To-Do List, find information for creating the Implementation Binder, Strategy Chairs, NCA Documentation Visit, and Federal or State Audits.

Manual Tab

The Manual Tab includes all handouts and tools (including Power Point presentations) needed for local meetings. The handouts and tools make up the printed training manual used at sessions. To download files from the Manual Tab:

  1. Right click on the link for the file you wish to download.
  2. Select “Save link as…” in the pop-up menu.
  3. Navigate to the location on your computer or network where you wish to save the file.
  4. Click the Save button.

Prep Tab: Session-Based Activities

What You’ll See in the Prep Tab

Figure 5: Prep Tab

Each session appears on the page with a grid listing the activities modeled at the session which should be replicated with the school community. The activities are listed by the Steering Team Point Person responsible for ensuring the activity is completed.

To show activities for one Point Person only, select the Point Person from the drop down box at the top of the page and click the “Show only activities for this person” button.

Navigation from the Prep Tab
Where to Begin

The “Where to Begin” column includes links to resources such as Power Point presentations, Word documents (worksheets, posters, etc), and other files created to help you facilitate each activity in your school community.

To download resources:

  1. Right click on the link for the file you wish to download.
  2. Select “Save link as…” in the pop-up menu.
  3. Navigate to the location on your computer or network where you wish to save the file.
  4. Click the Save button.
Place in School Improvement Plan

Each document will be placed in the School Improvement Plan. This column tells you where in the SIP the document will go and usually links to the print report for the document.

Submissions

Most activities will result in a document that will be submitted as part of the School Improvement Plan. Clicking on a document in the Submission column will take you to the area of the site where you may enter then submit the document.

Certification Tab

In the Certification Tab you will select the certifications for which your school community wishes to be evaluated. Changes to the selections will be reflected on the School Improvement Plan Overview and the rubric.

Choices are:

  • ASAI
  • PL221
  • Title I School Wide
  • NCA
  • No Child Left Behind

Contact Tab

The Contact tab provides ASAI staff phone numbers, email addresses, and postal addresses. Click here for your school support specialist’s contact information.

Entering Minutes

Navigating to the Minutes Entry Page

There are several ways to navigate to the entry page for minutes.

Tab / Instructions
Home Tab / Click Community Council Minutes, Faculty Minutes, or Student Body Summaries. The Participation tab will open at the appropriate spot.
Follow the directions for the Participation tab below.
Participation Tab / Under Community Council Minutes, Faculty Minutes, or Student Body Summaries, click Enter/edit or Print Minutes. The Create, Edit, or Print Minutes page (Figure 7, page 11) will open.
Find the meeting for which you are entering minutes and click Create Minutes.
Prep Tab / Find the meeting for which you are entering minutes. Click Community Council Minutes, Faculty Minutes, or Student Body Summary under Submissions.

After saving minutes, you may Submit for Review or Print Report. See page 3 for more information.

Using the Minutes Entry Form

The system automatically selects Group and Session Activity and the current date. If you have clicked on the incorrect meeting, you may change the group or session activity.

Change the date to the date of the meeting. Enter the name of the person who wrote the minutes. Type the minutes in the large text box. Be sure to save your work by clicking the Save button.

Figure 6: Minutes Entry Form

Printing Minutes

Before printing minutes, please check the Home tab and make sure the status of the minutes is “meets criteria.”

You may either click the “Print These Minutes” button or click Print for the correct meeting.

Figure 7: Create, Edit, or Print Minutes

The Print Report for the minutes will open in a new window (or tab if you are using Firefox). Click the print icon or print under File on the browser menu. Close the window (or tab).

Submitting Minutes for Review

On the Participation tab, click Submit [Community Council, Faculty, or Student Body] Minutes for Review. Complete the Submit form as instructed on page 3.

Online Surveys

Special note for schools containing grades K-2:
Students in grades K-2 will not be participating in the online survey. Instead, these students will take a shorter version of the survey conducted by their teacher.You may download the survey from the Manual tab (in the Data Collection section).

Step 1: Setting Up the Surveys
The Force Field Point Person (or his/her designee) begins the process on the Survey Set Up page.

  1. Log in at
  2. Click the Force Field Tab
  3. Near the top of the page, click "Set Up Surveys."

On the Survey Set Up page, the grade levels at the school are listed along with the default groups to be surveyed (teachers, parents, and community).

  1. Click the drop down box next to each group
  2. Select the appropriate survey
  3. Click the "Submit"button at the bottom of the list.

When the page refreshes, you will see that a survey code has been generated for the survey.
IMPORTANT:Please record this code.Everyone completing the survey online will need to enter the correct code to open the appropriate survey for your school.
IMPORTANT:If you have selected an incorrect survey type, you may change it until survey data has been entered. After someone has taken the survey, the surveytype cannot be changed.
The box in the column titled "SurveyOnline" must be checked or users will not be able to access the survey. You will uncheck the box when you wish to "close" the survey. After a survey is closed, it can be opened again by checking the Survey Online box.

A special note for schools housing more that one level (e.g.elementary-junior high schools, junior-senior high schools, and elementary-high Schools:
You may wish to give different types of surveystogroupsrepresenting different levels. For example, if you are a junior/senior high school, you may give your high school teachers the high school teacher survey and set up a second faculty group to take the middle school teacher survey. If you wish to do this, please follow these steps:

  1. On the Set Up Surveys page, scroll to the bottom of the survey chart.
  2. The last row of the chart will have a drop down box in the Grade/Group column. Select the group you wish to add.
    [Please note: we strongly advise that you add a second group only for parents, teachers, or community members.]
  3. In the Survey Type column, select the appropriate survey.
  4. Click the "Submit" button.
  5. The page will refresh. Check to make sure the correct survey type was selected.Record the Survey Code for this group.

Step 2: Distributing the Survey Site and Code
To complete the survey, users will open in an Internet browser and enter the appropriate code for their survey group. The Force Field Point Person (or his/her designee) will need to make sure that the various groups receive both this web address and the correct survey code.
VERY IMPORTANT:
If a group is given the wrong survey code, they will not be able toaccess their survey! Please be very careful and very clear.
A few ideas for distributing the link and code:

  • GroupSurveying :
  • Set up a time and place to take the survey in your lab.
  • Invite those who will be surveying to attend
  • Write theweb address and the code on a board or poster.
  • Individual Surveying
  • Set up the survey window (dates)
  • Notify people about the survey through an email, memo, or via a link on your school's website. Provide thesurvey website address, survey code, and deadline.
    Note:For the community, think about groups that might have distribution lists they could forward your message to (ministers' association, chamber of commerce, Professional Businesswomen's Association, service clubs, etc.)

Step 3: Taking the Survey