North East School Division #200

User and Implementation Guide

2015-16

Table of Contents

Logging On / ...... / 2
Home Page / ...... / 3
Shortcuts Menu / ...... / 4
Menu Tabs / ...... / 5
Creating an Assignment / ...... / 8
Enter Marks by Assignment / ...... / 13
Enter Marks by Student / ...... / 16
Code Tables for NESD / ...... / 17
Effort Code / ...... / 18
Completion Codes / ...... / 19
Viewing Student Results / ...... / 20
How to Delete Assignments / ...... / 22
How to Copy Assignments / ...... / 23
How to Share a Class? / ...... / 24
How are Marks Calculated? (K-8) / ...... / 25
How are Marks Calculated? (9-12) / ...... / 27
Touch Marks Entry (TME) / ...... / 28
Support / ...... / 28

Logging On

Teachers can access their StudentsAchieve account from any web-enabled computer. From within an NESD school:

Step 1You can access the link via the NESD website. On the bottom, under Quick Links, click on the StudentsAchieve link.

Or simply the enter the following web address ofStudentsAchieve for the NESD.

Step 2 Select Teachers. You should now be automatically logged into your StudentsAchieve Account.

If accessing the program from home a third step is required:

Step 3Enter in your login name and password.

Your Login Name will be: nesd\email login

(For ex. nesd\mj188) (Please note the direction of the backslash after nesd.)

Your Password will be your regular email password.

Step 3 Select the 'Login' button

Home Page

The StudentsAchieve user interface has been structured to allow teachers to easily access common features.

Menu tabs are arranged at the top of the page.
Shortcuts to the most commonly accessed screens are visible.

Shortcuts Menu

Once a teacher has logged in and selected a course, the home screen has an expanded Shortcuts Menu. This menu can be used by teachers to access some of the most common functions teachers will use.

It is important to note that the above Shortcuts are also accessible through the menu tabs located at the top of the home screen.

*** Touch Marks Entry *** Many of the features identified below can be accomplished inside Touch Marks Entry. In this document, “TME” refers to the steps required within Touch Marks Entry. Quite often TME provides an easier solution.

MenuTabs

The menus are arranged into a few tabs in order to minimize clicking and navigating.

The Menu Tabs are labeled as: Home, Manage, Plan, Assess and Analyze

After you select a tab other than Home, the background for the selected tab changes to orange to identify where you are within StudentsAchieve. It also brings up a lower menu of tabs for you to select from.

Home Tab

The Home tab has a lower menu of tabs labeled as: Getting Started, Help Pages and About StudentsAchieve.

The Getting Started tab takes the user back to the Home screen.
The Help Pages tab is the online contextual help system and release notes by version. Not all files inside the Help Pages will apply to the NESD version of StudentsAchieve.
The About StudentsAchieve tab is the corporate StudentsAchieve webpage.

Manage Tab

The Manage tab has a lower menu of tabs of Attendance, Classes, People, My Account and Communication.

If you do not use the Input

Classroom Attendance Shortcut

on the home page, you can enter your attendance by selecting “Manage” “Attendance” and “Input Classroom Attendance”.

Under the Classes tab, you

will find Class Configuration.

This is where you will begin

the process of Sharing classes.

Under the People tab, you will find

Students and Parents. This is where
some contact information will be located.

Under the My Account tab, you will find

My Info and Change Password. This
password is used by the System
Administrator to assist you with your
account, if required. Please do not change
it to your Active Directory password.

Under the Communication tab, you will
find the Mass Email tab. Please do not
use this until notified.

Plan Tab

The Plan tab has a lower menu of Classroom.

Both the Lessons and Assignments selections
will take you to the same place. Shortcuts for
these have been provided for you.

Assess Tab

The Assess tab has a lower menu of tabs

labeled as: Classroom, School Wide and
Report Cards. All of these are shortcuts
on the Home page as well.

When you are ready to “assess” your students, your first option will be to select “Classroom” to enter your gradebook evaluations. You can choose to enter your marks by Assignment or by Student.

If you would like to enter any School
Wide Assessments, such as the Reading
Assessment District (RAD), this is where
you will begin.
You can use the Maplewood
report cards link to begin the
export process for creating your

report cards.

Analyze Tab

As StudentsAchieve builds reports
that are supported by the NESD
marks’ calculation engine, they
will be made available here.
Further information will be provided as these are made available.
Class Summary – look on Curriculum Corner for a detailed analysis on how to use this report most efficiently.

Creating an Assignment

Teachers who have utilized an electronic gradebook in the past, will notice that an outcomes-based gradebook is setup very differently. An outcomes-based gradebook is setup according to the outcomes and the Focus Areas. Past electronic gradebooks have been setup according to tasks (ie, Assignments, Quizzes, Exams, etc.).

With this gradebook, the majority of setup definitions have already been completed. The teacher’s responsibility with this gradebook will be

Data entry

Outcome referencing

Decision-making based on the individual student

Step 1 Select the course you want to work with using the drop down arrow.

Step 2Select “Input Classroom Marks” from

the Shortcuts Menu.

Step 3The “Input Marks by:” window opens, with the Assignment Tab highlighted.

Step 4: Select
Student Tab, just
to check your
students are
listed.

Step 5: Select
the Assignment
Tab

Step 5a (K - 8) Complete the Assignment Wizard.

Note: A pop-up will occur when you mouse over the

abbreviations.

Note: When completing the Assignment Wizard, please be cautious of your choices. It may not be possible to make changes to it once it is created. The process for editing an assignment usually means deleting it entirely and then re-creating a new assignment. Please think through what you are assessing before creating the assignment.

Step 6 Select one of the Save Options.

Step 5b (9 – 12 Old Curricula) Complete the Assignment Wizard.

Note: A pop-up will occur when you mouse over the

abbreviations.

Step 6 Select one of the Save Options.

Step 5c (9 – 12 New - Curricula) Complete the Assignment Wizard.

Note: A pop-up will occur when you mouse over the

abbreviations.

Step 6 Select one of the Save Options.

Entering Marks by Assignment

Step 1 Selecting the Assignment

If the teacher selected Save and Go Enter Marks from the Assignment Wizard, the marks entry screen will appear.

If the teacher selected either Save or Save and Add Another, the teacher will then need to select from the Assignment List, which assignment they want to enter marks into.

Step 2Input the marks

There exist a number of ways to do this. Below is a picture of only the first student in the class. Two outcomes were selected to assess (PS-LI 4.1 and PS-LI 4.2). These are outcomes from Grade 4 Science. The teacher chose not to enter any PSD codes. (Note that the Learning Skill (Page 18) has been turned off.)

Use the drop down arrow to select the appropriate code.
Use the first letter of the appropriate code, followed by Enter/Return key.
Use the fill down arrows for all of the students and then go back and alter the codes for the required students. This is explained in more detail further down.

If using a number out of _____, then simply enter the numeric value.

Step 3 Using the Auto Fill option (optional)

Select the fill down arrows. The yellow horizontal row now appears.
Select the appropriate leveled code using the drop down arrow. This will be the code that is most common to your class.
Select Go.
Adjust the students’ scores that require altering.

Step 4 Personal and Social Development (PSD)

The number of PSD Categories that are assessed per assignment is solely dependent upon the teacher and the assignment in question. Below is a picture of what this may look like.

The data entry for PSD is the same as for the marks portion. Above is an example of a teacher that selected three PSD Categories.

A: Attitude contributes to learning
F: Follows directions and classroom routines
CW: Coursework completed on time

Also note with the above screen shot that Outcome LS-HC 4.2 is being scored as a number out of 4.

Step 5 Enter the Comp Code (optional)

The various Completion Codes are defined later in the document on Page 17. These are particularly important for when a student has not completed an assignment.

Step 6 Enter Comments (optional)

Teachers in the NESD have the ability to enter individual comments regarding a student’s performance on an assignment. Please note the following:

These comments will be available to other teachers with whom you have shared your gradebook.
We are investigating the ability to use this feature to support the RtI Problem Solving Teams.
These comments will be visible by parents when they access the Parent Involvement Module (not yet available).

To enter comments select the notepad icon to the right of the Comp Code column.

The window below will be available for you to enter your comment(s). These comments are not published to the Report Card.

You have to ability to
Fill for All Students.

When a comment has been saved the notepad icon will change to green.

Entering Marks by Student

A teacher can also enter or view evaluations by individual student.

Step 1Select the Student tab.

Step 2 Choose a student by selecting him/her
from under the Student List.

Step 3 The Marks Entry View allows a

a teacher to see all assessment types.
Only summative assessments will

count towards a student’s mark.

Step 4 A user can enter marks, comments,
change individual due dates for a student
from this view.

Code Tables Used by the NESD

Student Personal and Social Development

Grades K – 12

FM – Fully Meeting expectations

MM – Mostly Meeting expectations
NY – Not Yet meeting expectations

Performance Indicator Codes & Descriptions

Grades K-8

EU–Fully meeting expectations, with Enriched Understanding
FM – Fully Meeting expectations
MM- Mostly meeting expectations
NY- Not Yet meeting grade level expectations even with assistance
IE - Insufficient evidence collected for report
NA - Not yet part of current course work

Grades 9-12Grades K - 8

Alpha Code / Lower Mark / Higher Mark / % Equivalent
F / 2 / 30 / 30
-NY / 31 / 39 / 35
NY / 40 / 47 / 40
NY+ / 48 / 55 / 50
-MM / 56 / 62 / 60
MM / 63 / 70 / 70
MM+ / 71 / 75 / 75
-FM / 76 / 80 / 80
FM / 81 / 84 / 84
FM+ / 85 / 88 / 88
-EU / 89 / 92 / 92
EU / 93 / 96 / 96
EU+ / 97 / 100 / 100
NA / 1 / 1 / 1
IE / 0 / 0 / 0

Note: “NA” and “IE” are only available for Professional Judgement.

Effort Code

Teachers in the NESD should turn off the Effort Code function. The NESD has developed 5 categories under Personal & Social Development. As a result, this feature is redundant for the NESD teachers and students.

Step 1In the “Marks Entry By Assignment” window, click on the icon at the top labeled “Add a field”. This is located to the left of the “Reload” icon.

Step 2Unselect the check box beside “Learning Skill”.

Step 3 Click the “Apply Changes” tab. This will remove the “Learning Skill” column from your Marks Entry By Assignment screen.

TME Learning skill is not visible within TME.

Completion Codes

Teachers in the NESD can enter individual codes to identify why a student has or has not completed a particular assignment. These codes are shown in the Parent Involvement Module. Also, these codes are used to populate the various reports that are available. More information regarding the Reports section appears later in this document.

Step 1 Select the drop down arrow under the Comp Code column.

Step 2 Choose the appropriate code. The list of available codes appears below.

How to View a Student’s Mark?

The “Analysis by Student” is one of the most powerful features of StudentsAchieve. It has been designed specifically to support assessment practices within the NESD. Simply select “Student Analysis” on the Shorcuts or . . .

Step 1Be sure to be in the “Marks Entry by” screen. This is accessed
through the Shortcuts Menu (Input Classroom Marks) on the Home
Screen.

Step 2 Select the Student tab.

Step 3 Select the student from the Student List

Step 4 Select the Go to “Analysis by Student” tab.
Practice your wait time. Do not select anything
while Analysis Trees are loading. Patience please.

Step 5 Use drop down arrow to select the appropriate Analysis View and
Term. You will have 8 options. Both Outcome Analysis as well as
Personal and Social Development for all 4 terms.

Step 6 Use the +/- keys to expand or minimize your viewing options.

Notes:

The Outcome Result will be the Most Recent, unless Professional Judgement is applied. Applying Professional Judgement may impact the results that appear below in the Focus Area and Course Result levels.
The Focus Area Result gets sent to Maplewood for the Report Card.
The Focus Area Result will be the Average of the Outcomes in that Focus Area, unless Professional Judgement is applied.
The Course layer is only visible for 9 – 12 subjects.
It is suggested that all students’ marks be analyzed prior to the Report Card being published.

How to Delete an Assignment?

Once an assignment has been created it is difficult to change information within that assignment. Sometimes the user will simply wish to delete the assignment and start over. It is strongly suggested that assignments are created once the teacher is certain of that assignment’s characteristics.

Step 1Select the assignment from the Assignment List

Step 2 Delete the marks for the Outcomes and any
PSD Codes that may have been entered. The
easiest way for this is to use the auto fill arrows.
Auto fill a blank score for all columns.

Step 3 Select Delete, followed by OK when it asks if
you are sure.

TME Select the drop-down arrow beside the assignment
name and selecte “Move to trash”.

How to Edit an Assignment?

Once an assignment has been created it is difficult to change information within that assignment. It is strongly suggested that assignments are edited within TME.

Step 1 Select the drop down arror beside the assignment name.

Step 2 Select Edit.

Capabilities include:

Type (Summative or Formative)
Due Date (Please always select)
Outcomes (Add or delete if no data is present)
Cross-Curricular competencies

How to Copy an Assignment?

Teachers in the NESD may want to copy an assignment
from one class section to another.

Step 1 Select the Class Section where the
originating assignment is located.
This can be done from the Home
screen.

Step 2 Select Plan Classroom Assignments
from the Shortcuts menu.

Step 3 Verify the correct class “id” appears in the top left hand window. Select
the term where the assignment to be copied is located.

Step 4 Select the assignment(s) you wish to copy.

Step 5 Select the Copy icon.

Step 6 Select the Destination Class Section.

Step 7 Select the desired Term.

Step 8 Select Paste and Close.

Step 9 Go to the class and term
that was specified to view.

OR . . .

TME Use the Import Assessments tab

How to Share a Class?

Some teachers in the NESD will need to know how to share their gradebook.

Step 1 Select the class you would like
to share from the Home screen.

Step 2 Select Class Configuration under
the Manage/Classes tabs.

Step 3 Select the Sharing tab.