Efficient Tracking Checking

[trackers]

I've read a few posts in relation to this matter but am wondering what the best current practice is.

 

In my school we do 4 tracking scores in the year which are compared to a target grade to give a coloured current grade each time.

 

I have been checking these for completion by going through each mark-sheet looking for gaps (but hoping for none).

 

This is quite laborious as I am checking back over the sheets multiple times until they are all complete.

 

So, the question I have is: does anyone have an efficient way of checking mark-sheets or finding out which mark sheets have not been completed and make it simple to identify which class teacher has gaps for which subject?

[trackers]

Although I didn't get any suggestions to the previous post I thought I'd post this follow up with an approach I have taken that has thrown up a small problem.

 

I have created a marksheet that brings in all the grades for a tracking phase for all the subjects.

 

There are a number of students who are repeating the year so their previous grades are already populating what should be an empty marksheet.

 

I had a similar problem with reports but got around it by setting date ranges for this school year.

 

The problem I am having is that I don't seem to be able to do this in the template for this marksheet (which I have called Trackcheck)

 

There is a column that says from and to but when I try and select these to change them they are "greyed out".

 

 

Any suggestions appreciated.

 

 

Trackers

[Linfit]

You can only set a date range when you create a column, not afterwards, so you will need to create a new column for data review and then specify the date range of the result as you work through the dialogue boxes.

You could also delete the historical results using Tools>Performance>Assessment>System Utilities, if they are for specific pupils and result sets, but use this with care, its easy to delete the wrong things !

If you want to check if all results have been entered for a particular result set/group/marksheet, you can do this from Reports>Missing Results Report.

[trackers]

That's really helpful Linfit.

 

Thankyou.

[trackers]

So - I have had a look at the missing reports approach.

 

I set the group filter, then hit search, which tells me the appropriate marksheets.

 

How do I get a display of the missing marks in the bottom section on the screen?

 

There is a button with populate...but I am reluctant to press the wrong thing at this point in case I cause any problems.

[DeeleyNet]

The populate button should give you the display of missing marks at the bottom of the screen, I tend to export this to Excel sort it, remove entries I know are going to be missing or late for whatever reason and then send the list out to all teaching staff. Once they see their names repeatedly appearing on this list they tend to give the data entry a higher priority.

[trackers]

I have an overview marksheet I am fairly happy with now but was wondering if the following tweak is possible.

 

If have all the tracks for subjects across the top, and the students names in alphabetical order down the side giving me the type of grid for checking that I need.

 

The students names are, obviously in alphabetical order.

 

Is there anyway of having the names in form class order instead?

 

I realise that I can set a group filter to see them one class at a time, but what about class order but for the whole year group at one time?

[Linfit]

Right click on the column header above the pupil name column and select add additional columns. You can add the registration group or the teaching group column this way. If you then click the column header it will sort by that column.

[trackers]

That is great. Thanks Linfit.

 

I have added Registration groups. The odd thing is that while it has sorted the into class groupings, they are not necessarily in increasing numerical order ie not in the order of 8.1, 8.2 etc

 

they actually go 8.6, 8.1, 8.2 etc...it might be something to do with who is top alphabetically in the class?

[Linfit]

Thats possible. Mind you, this is SIMS we are talking about, so the underlying logic (what little there was to start with) of many of the interface and programming decisions is lost in the mists of time.

[trackers]

Largely because of the members of this forum, tracking is going much more efficiently for me this year.

 

I am wondering about two relatively minor issues now:

 

1. When I select all the students in a year group to print/export individual reports, I will often get 1 or more (very few though) students from a different year group included.

 

eg I select Year 8 and it throws in a handful of Year 10s even though they are labeeled as Year 10s not Year 8s. I am wondering why this might happen?

 

 

2. We always have a small number of students who, by the time track 1 completion comes around, have not yet joined the school for whatever reason. OR sstudents who, for some reason , are on a marksheet for a subject but do not actually attend that class - eg a student who does extra English instead of a language.

Is there an easy way of hiding these names and that row on individual marksheets.

 

I would like to do this because it would prevent Teachers from adding partial assessment information eg Target grades because this creates a line on the generated report that is not complete and I have to go back and start deleting entries on the marksheets.

[Linfit]

There are a number of things that can be done to help alleviate things like this:

 

1. Run Update Course Memberships before doing a reporting run - although it ties up the server, so don't do it at a busy time.

2. When you run the reporting session, change the group membership date range to a day or two before the report run - this will remove pupils who were in a group sometime during the academic year but have now left it.

3. Ultimately,if a pupil is on a class register, they will be on a marksheet. If they are not doing the class, they should not be on the register - this is an issue for whoever does academic management or timetabling at your school. Its worth pointing out to them that if a register is inaccurate, and the students timetable inaccurate, you don't know where the pupil is or should be, and this is a safeguarding issue.

[DeeleyNet]

One thing we have incorporated to resolve issues with students who don't need a data entry is to add an 'X' entry option. When used this is counted as if the student has an 'excusable' U grade, this way an entry has been made by the member of staff so they have taken care of their responsibility and although it's going to track them as below progress levels it's not going to get the staff pulled up on.

 

That is providing it's a known alternative curriculum student or a student very new and not having data available to enter, we've got a lot of alternative curriculum in use this year so I'm interested if the students will still show on the marksheets that they should technically be attached to will still show them?

[trackers]

Some good suggestions and points made there. I have added an "x" option this year as it happens and there may be a solution in that but I do take the point about the safeguarding issue.

 

Another question.

 

I was printing out reports for Tracking phase 1 (Parent App not up and live yet)

 

I printed out Year 8 without problems

 

Went to print out 9 and 10 and the test prints was giving the wrong percentage attendance.

 

Looked at the individual report page and saw that the range of dates started on 1st August instead of a date in September – so I fixed this and got them printed.

 

My questions:

 

1. Year 8s printed fine without me changing this same date range on the Individual Reports page and I don’t know why.

 

2 . Each time I go into the Individual Reports page the date has gone back to 1/08/2018 and I don’t see a way of saving or setting it.

 

3. I didn’t ever check the date ranges last year and I didn’t have any issues with the percentage attendances on the reports.

 

Any ideas about this?

[Linfit]

 

That is providing it's a known alternative curriculum student or a student very new and not having data available to enter, we've got a lot of alternative curriculum in use this year so I'm interested if the students will still show on the marksheets that they should technically be attached to will still show them?

 

My understanding is that alternative curriculum does not remove them from the substantive course - it just allows you to show that at certain times they are elsewhere doing something else. If a pupil is in a Geography class, but for one of the three lessons a week is withdrawn to an alternative curriculum provision, they will not appear on the lesson register for the lesson they are withdrawn, but will appear on the other lessons, and they will still be a member of the Geography "course" and will therefore still appear on the marksheet for that course. I think that's how it works.

[Linfit]

 

My questions:

 

1. Year 8s printed fine without me changing this same date range on the Individual Reports page and I don’t know why.

 

2 . Each time I go into the Individual Reports page the date has gone back to 1/08/2018 and I don’t see a way of saving or setting it.

 

3. I didn’t ever check the date ranges last year and I didn’t have any issues with the percentage attendances on the reports.

 

Any ideas about this?

 

The start date for attendance should default to the first day of the academic year. Is it possible your academic year start date is wrong ?