Martin_W

I was wondering about the reporting possibilities in SIMS, since you all have experience in performing SQL queries on the database. Is it highly unusual that you need to perform custom queries using SQL or is that regular practice? I mean it usually is a lot of work to get the experience in SQL and -maybe even harder- the data model that is used in the database. So I would expect that it is kind of a last resort if you use SQL to get to the information you need. Does SIMS lack the proper reporting features you think, or is it not that bad?

I wanted to comment on the fact that some say that an MIS should be able to provide all the features needed to analyze assessment data. From my experience in the dutch secondary education, I've seen that the MISs in Holland provide pretty similar features to those in England. However, the dutch systems all lack proper analysis tools. The hammer and saw analogy that Mike uses is quite appropriate. Most SIMs are created to be an administration system, not an multi-data source analysis system. To get to the data you need, without spending hours and hours of Excel craftmanship, is not always as easy as it might seem. And the usage of custom Excel sheets (from very small to supersheets (even pink ones ) is much more common than durable solutions that are built for proper data analysis.

@jinnantonnix Thanks for you eleborate explanation! I've read about the Business Objects universes that 3rd parties can purchase. I've worked with Business Objects before, but I was wondering: Are they actually that useful in this case. I mean if I can join together the views that I need, is the BO universe really of that much extra value?

I want to extract data about grades and absences of pupils from directly from the database for management information purposes. @jinnantonnix Are there already accessible views in the SIMS SQL database that are easy to use, is that what you mean?

Ok, that's a nice solution too (although it would have been nice if SIMS itself would output format the data in a nice way, but hey

Hey Localzuk, can you explain how you use the xls files to get to the output you want? I have reformatted data using Excel before. Maybe it is not so hard to automate what you are doing.

Hey Gdn, I saw your post from about 1,5 year ago. I was wondering if you had made progress with the SQL queries you needed. I am trying to extract data directly from the SIMS database as well. If you have any tips/help, that would be much appreciated! If you have any problems with your data, maybe I can also help you out. I have a lot of experience in extracting data from school information systems other than SIMS (directly from the source databases). I can use the tools of the company I work for to help making the data extraction easier. Please let me know, if you can help. Martin