AMUG July 2011.Pub
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Parental Access to Assessment Summary Data AMUG Assessment Manager User Group UPDATE Assessment Manager and Data Analysis This term . SIMS Discover Special J u l ySummer 2 0 1 1 Term July H o s t s Produced by the Education MIS Team Issue No. 12 [email protected] 01823 355090 AMUG Update ● July 2011 1 SIMS Discover Data Analysis Software IntroductionIntroduction SIMS Discover is a new software application that offers quick and easy analysis of various types of data held in SIMS. Data can be presented in a variety of graphical outputs including Venn Dia- J u l y 2 0 1 1 grams, Bar Charts, Pie Charts and Line Graphs. The ability to further interrogate the data is also available by drilling down into a data item to re- veal the underlying student data. How does it work? Graphs in Discover are based on both the core data fields found in SIMS. net (such as Gen- der, National Curriculum Year, Registration Group and Free School Meals) and data held in Assessment Manager aspects. Graphs that use the ’fixed’ data fields have been pre- designed and are available for immediate use. Pre -defined Graphs Example 1: Bar Chart - Student Totals by Gender Displays the number of students in each year group, split by Male and Female. AMUG Update ● July 2011 2 SIMS Discover Data Analysis Software Pre -defined Graphs Example 2: Bar Chart - Students by SEN Need Type Displays the number of students in entire school with each type of SEN Need. J u l y 2 0 1 1 Click a category [bar] to view students within that group AMUG Update ● July 2011 3 SIMS Discover Data Analysis Software Pre -defined Graphs Example 3: Pie Chart - Student Totals by Medical Conditions Displays the number of students in school with each type of Medical Condition recorded J u l y 2 0 1 1 AMUG Update ● July 2011 4 SIMS Discover Data Analysis Software School -specific Graphs One of the key uses of Discover is the ability to perform graphical analyses using assessment data. In Secondary and Middle Schools this will not be a straightforward task, as these schools tend to create their own Aspects and Result Sets, according to specific requirements. Consequently, Discover graphs with links to ‘generic’ aspects cannot be produced (by the Ed- ucation MIS Team, for example) but rather, schools will need to create their own graphs with J u l y 2 0 1 1 links to their school-specific aspects. Example 4: Bar Chart - EBACC Subjects Y10 C+ Displays numbers of Year 10 students achieving a Grade C or higher in GCSE English, Maths, Science, French, Geography and History. AMUG Update ● July 2011 5 SIMS Discover Data Analysis Software School -specific Graphs Example 5: Venn Diagram - Grade C+ Achievements in GCSE English, Maths and Science The following Venn Diagram was generated by ‘dragging and dropping’ three bars (blue [true] bars for English, Maths and Science) from the previous Bar Chart on Page 5 onto a blank area of the screen [canvas]. The figures displayed indicate numbers of students achieving a Grade C or better in English, Maths or Science, or any combination of these sub- J u l y 2 0 1 1 jects, shown by figures within the overlapping areas. 13 students have a C+ in KS4 Science ONLY. They do not have a C or better in Maths or English, oth- 38 students have a C+ erwise they would not appear in this segment. in all three subjects Click any segment to reveal underlying names 15 students have a C+ in KS4 Maths AND English. They do not have a C or better in Science. AMUG Update ● July 2011 6 SIMS Discover Data Analysis Software View Chart Detail One a chart has been generated, the data be- hind it can be viewed easily using the infor- mation button J u l y 2 0 1 1 AMUG Update ● July 2011 7 SIMS Discover Data Analysis Software Export Data The data can easily be exported to CSV format using the Export button J u l y 2 0 1 1 AMUG Update ● July 2011 8 SIMS Discover Data Analysis Software Custom Graphs New graphs created by users that may be useful at a future time can be saved. The saved graphs can be added to any of the existing menus, including the empty Custom Graph area. When the ‘saved’ graph is next used, the latest data will be displayed, rather than showing the graph as it was when first generated. J u l y 2 0 1 1 Assessment Menu Custom Graphs Menu Drag and drop graph [previously created and saved] onto canvas to display graph AMUG Update ● July 2011 9 SIMS Discover Data Analysis Software Discover Groups One of the most useful tools in Discover is the ability to name groups of students based on any area or segment of graphs or charts created. So, for example, once a Venn Diagram has been generated showing those students achieving a C+ in GCSE English, Maths and Science (or any com- bination of these), a useful facility may be to select the centre segment J u l y 2 0 1 1 (those achieving all 3 subjects) and turn this group of students into a named group. The real benefit in doing this comes when students drop out of the group (if their latest assessment in a subject falls below a Grade C) in which case the system can send an alert to named SIMS users, if required. Drag and drop chosen segment [number] into Discover Group box Alert settings displayed before saving the group. These can be edited, as required AMUG Update ● July 2011 10 SIMS Discover What Next? Requesting Installation To request Discover installation at your school/academy, please send a brief e-mail to the SIMS Helpdesk ([email protected]). You may want to first check with your Network Manager / IT Technician that your server and workstations are of a suitable specifi- cation - see details in the following SIX document: http://www.six.somerset.gov.uk/sixv3/content_view.asp?did=25637 J u l y 2 0 1 1 Please note that in order to attend any of the Discover training courses (see pages 12-13), Dis- cover must first be installed at your school/academy. AMUG Update ● July 2011 11 COURSES AUTUMN 2011 / SPRING 2012 Discover Courses - Overview To help schools become familiar with the new SIMS Data Analysis software, Discover, two cours- es have been designed, to be offered during the early part of 2012. Full details are listed be- low, but to summarise: 1) SIMS Discover - Configuration of Assessment Data J u l y 2 0 1 1 Recommended for Assessment Co-ordinators. This course provides attendees with the knowledge needed to transfer the necessary Assessment Manager data from SIMS .net to Discover. This process cannot occur without school input as every [secondary/middle] school tends to have different naming conventions for AM aspects. Following this course, setup work should be carried out by the Assessment Coordinator back at school before other school staff attend the second course (2) - below. Please note that staff attending this Configuration course do not also need to attend the second course (2 - Using Discover to Ana lyse Assessment Data), as all areas will have been covered during the 1½ days. 2) SIMS Discover - Using Discover to Analyse Assessment Data Open to any member of school staff who is likely to have hands-on access to Discover with a need to generate graphs/charts themselves (such as Heads of Year/Faculty, Assis- tant/Deputy Heads or other staff with responsibility for analysing student assessment data). Please note that the necessary setup work will first need to be carried out at school, as explained in (1), above. 1) SIMS Discover - Configuration of Assessment Data Dates: TBC - January/February/March 2012 Attendees: Secondary/Middle Schools and Academies Duration: 1½ Days Suitable For: Assessment Co-ordinators or similar Course Detail: The main areas to be covered on the course are: • Discover Overview – What type of assessment data might we want to use from Asess- ment Manager, and how could it be displayed? • Creating Discover Aspects in SIMS .net • Populating Discover Aspects with data from Assessment Manager aspects • Using the Discover Configuration utility (a separate application which moves the data/ aspects/result sets from SIMS .net to Discover) • Specifying how the data should appear in Discover (type of graph) – also done using the Configuration utility • Data Analysis in Discover using the data transferred AMUG Update ● July 2011 12 COURSES AUTUMN 2011 / SPRING 2012 2) SIMS Discover - Using Discover to Analyse Assessment Data Dates: TBC - January/February/March 2012 Attendees: Secondary/Middle Schools and Academies Duration: ½ Day J u l y 2 0 1 1 Suitable For: Anyone with an interest in the analysis of Assessment data. Basic knowledge of SIMS/Assessment Manager is useful but not essential. Course Detail: The main areas to be covered on the course are: • Generating ‘pre-defined’ graphs • Creating and saving new graphs (Line, Pie, Bar and Venn) using existing data • ‘Drilling-down’ from group to student level of data • Exporting Data for further analysis in a spreadsheet • Defining Dynamic Groups * and setting up alerts based on changes in membership *Dynamic Groups can consist of any group of students based on a combination of sets of criteria chosen, such as Year 10s achieving C+ in English, Science and Maths, for example. On-Site Training Available on request for Assessment Manager or Exams Organiser - 1/2 or full day. To enquire about any of the training courses mentioned here please e-mail Alistair Gregory in the Education MIS Team ([email protected]).