Expected Progress Grids with SIMS Assessment Manager
If you”d like the Schools ICT to install these grids on your school SIMS database please contact the school ICT unit on extention 2034 or email david.pott@bolton.gov.uk
Posts tagged ‘Assessment Manager’
If you”d like the Schools ICT to install these grids on your school SIMS database please contact the school ICT unit on extention 2034 or email david.pott@bolton.gov.uk
I”m sometimes asked why a primary school might want to use the Performance Analysis routines in Assessment Manager. Here’’s some good examples of the kind of questions you can answer using Performance Analysis:
SIMS .net 7.112 (labelled SIMS 2008 11a November Main 2) is now available for supported secondary schools via SOLUS. Primary, special and nursery schools have already been upgraded.
This release contains new functionality to assist with the submission of the School Census Spring Return 2009.
A number of new Assessment features are also included in this latest release. Please click here for further information.
Full details of this update and the previous release (which wasn’t installed by most schools) can be found in the Release Notes, available at the following internet links:
Please note that SOLUS should be at version 2.20 or higher in order to successfully upgrade SIMS .net to version 7.112.
If you require any further assistance, please don’t hesitate to contact any member of the team.
The November release of Assessment Manager contains some useful (and timesaving) new features for assessment co-ordinators. Here’’s a list of the main ones taken from Capita’’s release notes:
New Features
This release includes the following new features:
Marksheets Calculating on Data Entry
Marksheets can now be set to calculate results automatically for all summary rows and formula columns. This occurs when you click the Entry key after entering or editing a result, or when the cursor leaves the cell.
Viewing the Student Teacher View Page from a Marksheet
Clicking a pupil/student’’s name on a marksheet now displays the Teacher View page, which displays an ‘at a glance” summary of their attendance, behaviour, achievements etc.
Displaying Multiple Additional Student Information Columns on a Marksheet
Multiple additional pupil/student information columns (i.e. date of birth, gender, age in registration group, etc.) can now display on a marksheet.
Adding a Marksheet to the Favourites Panel
A marksheet can be flagged as a favourite, so that it can be accessed from the Favourites shortcut panel in SIMS .net.
Setting the Default Width of Narrow Columns on a Marksheet
You can set the default width of marksheet columns when a marksheet is viewed in mode.
Copying and Pasting Additional Pupil/Student Information into an Aspect
The functionality that enables the copying and pasting of column contents can now be used to copy additional pupil/student column details into an appropriate aspect.
Adding Multiple Result Sets to a Template
When adding columns and formula columns for data entry to a template, it is now possible to select more than one result set.
Viewing Template Columns in Full Screen Mode
You can expand the Template Columns panel to the screen, by clicking the Zoom button.
Applying Additional Student Information Columns to a Template
Additional pupil/student information columns can be displayed on all marksheets created from the selected template using the Create Template Columns wizard.
I managed to test a few of these changes yesterday and was very optimistic that they would speed up the process of creating templates.
As ever, if you”d like me to come in to school and discuss these changes, or any other Assessment Manager issues, feel free to email me.
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The Systems Team (SIMS support) are attending a SIMS LA Software Update Seminar at the De Vere Whites Hotel (Reebok Stadium) in Horwich today.
Not only is this an important training day but it gives us the opportunity to get together as a team - something that rarely happens during the rest of the year!
For your information, please find below the agenda:
09:45 Assessment / Curriculum
10:15 Technical
11:30 Primary Review
12:00 Partnership Exchange
13:30 Statutory / Resources
14:15 Core, Attendance and eLearning
15:00 Road Ahead 2009-2010
We”re keen to disseminate what we learn to schools, so please check back here for related posts over the coming weeks. Alternatively, subscribe to the RSS feed.
Calculating Five A*-C (including Maths and English)
In line with recent changes to Ofsted advice, here’’s how to create a marksheet that counts up the number of A*-C grades, then highlights the pupils with five or more, and also highlights the pupils with five A*-C grades including Maths and English.
This scenario uses a set of grade aspects to record the actual subject grades. The grade aspects are linked to a gradeset that uses the standard points scores got GCSE grades (A*=58, A=52, B=46, C=40 etc). GCSE science is a double award, and a short ICT course counts as half an award. All other courses count as a single GCSE. You might need to change this example slightly to fit the gradesets you use and the exams you offer.
1) Create a formula column to calculate the number of A*-C for single (full) award subjects as follows:
2) Create a formula column to calculate the number of A*-C grades for double award subjects.
3) Create a formula column to calculate the number of A*-C grades for short award subjects.
4) Add a column to multiply the number of double award subjects by 2 and call it ”Equivalent Double GCSE”
See example below:
5) Add a column to divide the number of short award subjects by 2 and call it ”Equivalent Short GCSE”.
See example below:
You might need to add extra columns for DIDA, CIDA etc.
6) To obtain the total number of A*-C grades:
simply add together these columns using the SUM formula in a new formula review column:
Call the column ”No A*-C”
7) To display a ”Y” if the student has 5 or more A*-C grades
Assessment Manager and SIMS can be used to help you record the details of your EAL pupils. Not only does it allow schools to record their targets and progress, it also allows their progress to be correlated with other information (admission date, FSM, SEN status etc). Give the Schools ICT Unit Helpline a ring (ext 2034) if you need help, but if you want to try it yourself here are some ideas and tips:
1) SIMS pupil data screens already contain a field that allows schools to record pupils with EAL. Go to Focus Pupil Pupil Details and find a pupil, then scoll down to section 7 (Ethnic/Cultural). The field for EAL is in the second column.
2) You can easily create a report that lists all the pupils classified as EAL by using the SIMS Report module as follows:
a) Go to Report Design Report
b) Click ”Create a new report”
c) Choose ”People - Student” for the focus of the report, the click ”next”.
d) Choose to display just the pupils on roll and click ”next”.
e) Select to display ”pupil name and reg” and pressing the green arrow
f) Scroll down to the Ethnic/Cultural section and exand the list by pressing the + sign.
g) Select ”English as Additional Language” and press the green arrow. Click next.
h) Create a new filter and select ”English as Additional Language”. Tick the ”yes” box and choose the ”is one of” option
i) Run the report to generate Word document that you can print off as required.
A copy of this report is available from the Schools ICT Unit - we can install it for you - contact the Helpdesk and log a call.
3) A template has been created by the Schools ICT Unit to help schools to record EAL scales. It looks like this:
Please click on the image above to view a larger, easier to read version.
For help installing and using the marksheet contact the Schools ICT Unit helpdesk (ext 2034)
4) More advanced schools might want to include new EAL aspects within their existing templates. You can create the aspects and gradesets used in the example above and use them in your existing marksheets. Create them as follows:
Gradeset: EAL TA
| Grade | Description | Value |
| E | Exceptional Performance | 57 |
| 8 | Level 8 | 51 |
| 7 | Level 7 | 45 |
| 6 | Level 6 | 39 |
| 5 | Level 5 | 33 |
| 4 | Level 4 | 27 |
| 3 | Level 3 | 21 |
| 2 | Level 2 | 15 |
| 1S | Level 1 Secure | 9 |
| 1T | Level 1 Threshold | 3 |
| S2 | Step 2 | 3 |
| S1 | Step 1 | 3 |
Then create four grade aspects using the gradeset above:
Results Sets
Note that you are only required to assess pupils against this scale on admission to school. Schools who use results sets might choose to create a results set called ”Baseline” to record this value.
David Pott (email david.pott@sict.bolton.gov.uk, ext 2034)
Introduction
Our example school wants to create a marksheet that calculates the value added for each pupil in Y4 based on their KS1 result. The school assumes that pupils in year 4 should have acheived 3 sublevels of progress since KS1. A simple formula calculates how many sublevels they have actually acheived and subtracts this from 3 to give a positive or negative score to indicate how many levels above or below their target they are.
Method
1) Create a new template called *Value Added Y4 Maths and add the following aspects and results sets (the names of the aspects may vary on your system):
Attainment Maths (result set = Y2 Summer), column name = KS1 Result
Attainment Maths (result set = Y4 Summer), column name = Attainment Maths Y4 Sum
2) Create a column for data review using a formula. The column will calculate the points score of the KS1 result. Create the formula as follows:
Column name: KS1 PS
Formula type: Value
Column: KS1 Result
3) Create another column for data review using a formula. This column will calculate the points score of Attainment Maths Y4 Sum
Column Name: Y4 PS
Formula type: Value
Column: Attainment Maths Y4 Sum
4) Next we need to subtract Year 4 points score from the KS1 points score:
Column Type: Data review using a formula
Column Name: Y4 - KS1 PS
Formula type: Difference
Column 1: Y4 PS
Column 2: KS1 PS
5) Now we convert the difference in points into sublevels (2 points = 1 sublevel):
Column Type: Data review using a formula
Column Name: Y4 Maths Levels Added
Formula type: Division
Column: Y4 - KS1 PS
Constant: 2
6) Finally, each pupil should have made 3 sublevels of progress by year 4, so we calculate the value added as the difference between their actual number of levels progress (calculated at point 5 above) and 3 levels. We”ll save this result back into the aspect we created earlier, so remember to create a column for data entry using a formula.
Column Type: Data entry using a formula�
Column Name: Y4 Maths Value Added
Formula type: Difference
Column: Y4 Maths Levels Added
Constant: 3
Save your template and create the relevant marksheets for year 4.
But Data Review columns lack flexibility - you can”t change a data review column into a data entry column. You have to delete the column and create a new data entry column.
So, unless you are 100% sure that you”ll never need users to amend the data, always define new columns as data entry and tick the ”read only” option. Ticking this option makes the column read only, just like a data review column, but if you need to open the column up for data entry, just un-tick the option.
I only use the data review button for aspects that contain the official keystage results - the only data that schools should never change.