STUDENT ASSESSMENT

INTRODUCTION GUIDE Handbook for Report Administrators

SIMON Development Team support@simonschools.net

Abstract This guide will allow users to become familiar with the SIMON Assessment system

and will act as a resources to help ensure the system is used is the most efficient way.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

TABLE OF CONTENTS ............................................................................................................................... 1

Introduction ............................................................................................................................................ 3

Navigating to the Assessment and Reporting System ........................................................................ 3

Subject Import file and report configurations ........................................................................................ 4

Assessment Types ................................................................................................................................... 8

Report Types ........................................................................................................................................... 8

Initialising a report run and what options you use? ............................................................................... 9

Default Configuration ......................................................................................................................... 9

Part II - Example 1: Mid Semester Report ............................................................................................. 21

Graphical Scales – Attribute Scales ................................................................................................... 21

Graphical Scales – Score Scales ......................................................................................................... 23

Interview Scale .................................................................................................................................. 25

Feedback Scale .................................................................................................................................. 27

Creating the Default Configuration Backbone ...................................................................................... 28

Finalising the report run ready for data entry ...................................................................................... 31

Report Run Settings .......................................................................................................................... 31

Report Run Cycles ............................................................................................................................. 32

Update Classes .................................................................................................................................. 32

Report Run Checks ............................................................................................................................ 33

Subject Exclusions ............................................................................................................................. 33

Class Exclusions ................................................................................................................................. 33

Inactive Subjects ............................................................................................................................... 33

Subject Classes ...................................................................................................................................... 33

Opening Reports ................................................................................................................................... 34

Other Key Menu Options ...................................................................................................................... 37

Configuration .................................................................................................................................... 37

Teacher Entry .................................................................................................................................... 37

AusVELS Principals Override ............................................................................................................. 38

Report Generation ................................................................................................................................ 38

Part III – Adding a Content Element ...................................................................................................... 39

Adding Content to a Content Element .................................................................................................. 40

Configuring a content element ............................................................................................................. 41

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Part IV – Advanced Configurations ....................................................................................................... 46

Appendix 1 ............................................................................................................................................ 48

Substitutions in comments ............................................................................................................... 48

Substitutions in report configurations .............................................................................................. 48

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Part I - Student Assessment and Reporting System – Introductory Course

Introduction

This document outlines some of the basics in creating and maintaining the Student Assessment and

Reporting System in SIMON. This document will cover certain aspects of implementation, however

users can become quite creative within the framework of SIMON to produce a variety of reports

with various options. This document will cover;

Subject Import file and report configurations.

Initialising a report run and what options you use?

Report run settings, updating classes and report run checks.

Understanding the report structure backbones

A basic Mid-Semester Report that includes cover page information, interview scales,

attendance data, graphical scales and feedback scales.

A basic Semester Report that includes cover page information, interview scales, attendance

data, graphical scales, feedback scales, content elements and their content configurations.

The AusVEL’s Principals override.

Integrating Learning Area assessments into a report configuration

Advanced tricks for optional comment sections in reporting.

Navigating to the Assessment and Reporting System

On the Work Desk of SIMON users can click on the bottom “Reporting” link to jump directly to the

main reporting system.

Users can also navigate to the assessment system through the Administration Curriculum

Administration menu.

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Here users can maintain the “Course Descriptions” and click on “Assessment” to enter the main

reporting system.

Subject Import file and report configurations

Before users begin assessment and reporting an analysis of the subjects in SIMON should be done to

ensure subject definitions are correct (namely: Descriptions, Domain Components, Report Type,

Report Type Config and relevant exclusions).

Description:

This file holds the Subject Information.

Field Name Data

Type Length

Required /

Optional Field Explanation (If Required)

SubjectCode Text 20 Required (Refer to School Documentation

relating to Code structures)

Description Text 50 Required

Semester 1

Subject Code Text 20 Required

(Refer to School Documentation

relating to Code structures)

Semester 2

Subject Code Text 20 Required

(Refer to School Documentation

relating to Code structures)

School

Defined Level Text 10

Optional

(Recommended)

(Refer to School Documentation

relating to Code structures)

Domain

Component

Code

Text 10 Required (Refer to School Documentation

relating to Code structures)

Normal Year

Level Text 10 Optional

(Refer to School Documentation

relating to Code structures)

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VS Type Text 10 Optional Used in the data structures to group

VCE or vertically structured schools.

Semester 1

Markbook

Code

Text 20 Optional Markbook Code for Semester 1

Semester 2

Markbook

Code

Text 20 Optional Markbook Code for Semester 2

Semester 1

VASS Code Text 20 Optional VASS Code for Semester 1

Semester 2

VASS Code Text 20 Optional VASS Code for Semester 2

Exclude from

Timetable Boolean 1 Required

Two values accepted:

0 – Include in Timetable

1 – Exclude from Timetable

Exclude from

Assessment Boolean 1 Required

Two values accepted:

0 – Include in Assessment

1 – Exclude from Assessment

Exclude from

Attendance Boolean 1 Required

Two values accepted:

0 – Include in Attendance

1 – Exclude from Attendance

Exclude from

Booklist Boolean 1 Required

Two values accepted:

0 – Include in Booklist

1 – Exclude from Booklist

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Not currently

Taught Boolean 1 Required

Two values accepted:

0 – Currently being Taught

1 – Not being Taught

Report Type Text 10 Required

Two values accepted:

TRADITION - Traditional Report

AUSVELS - Standards Report

"Standards" refer to relevant

state/system based assessment

requirements, eg, AusVELS in

Victoria.

Report Type

Config Text 10 Required

For Traditional Reports:

Values accepted:

DEFAULT - Default configuration for

a "Traditional" report.

PAST - Pastoral/Homeroom Report

For AusVELS:

Values accepted:

SECHOM - Secondary "Standards"

Homeroom Report.

SEC - Secondary "Standards" Report.

PRI - Primary "Standards" Report.

EAL - English as an additional

language.

Booklist Full

Year Binding Boolean 1 Required

Two values accepted: 0 (Not bound):

student will receive subject

resources once for each semester 1

(Bound): student will only receive

subject resources once for the year

Example: Subject Code (MAT07),

student has the subjects 1MAT07 in

semester 1 and 2MAT07 in semester

2 selected for a given year. If the

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subject is "Bound" then the student

will only receive a single set of the

resources allocated to the subject. If

the subject is "Not Bound" then the

student will receive 2 sets of relevant

resources (paper, pens, levies etc) if

the subject is allocated in both

semesters.

NOTE: If a booklist item is set to

"Single Item Only" then the student

will only receive this item once

regardless of semester and subject

enrolments (See booklist for more

information).

07ART,YEAR 7 ART,07ART1,07ART2,,ARTS,7,,,,,,0,0,0,0,0,TRADITION,DEFAULT,1

07ENG,YEAR 7 ENGLISH,07ENG1,07ENG2,,ENGL,7,,,,,,0,0,0,0,0,AusVELS,SEC,1

07FOO,YEAR 7 FOOD TECHNOLOGY,07FOO1,07FOO2,,TECH,7,,,,,,0,0,0,0,0,TRADITION,DEFAULT,1

07FRE,YEAR 7 FRENCH,07FRE1,07FRE2,,LOTE,7,,,,,,0,0,0,0,0,TRADITION,DEFAULT,1

07PAS,YEAR 7 PASTORAL,07PAS1,07PAS2,,PAST,7,,,,,,0,0,0,0,0,TRADITION,PAST,1

07PED,YEAR 7 PHYSICAL EDUCATION,07PED1,07PED2,,PHYE,7,,,,,,0,0,0,0,0,TRADITION,DEFAULT,1

07RED,YEAR 7 RELIGIOUS EDUCATION,07RED1,07RED2,,RELI,7,,,,,,0,0,0,0,0,TRADITION,DEFAULT,1

07RLS,YEAR 7 LITURGICAL SINGING,07RLS1,07RLS2,,RELI,7,,,,,,0,1,0,0,0,TRADITION,DEFAULT,1

07SCI,YEAR 7 SCIENCE,07SCI1,07SCI2,,SCIE,7,,,,,,0,0,0,0,0,AusVELS,SEC,1

07WED,07WED0,07WED1,07WED2,,OTHE,7,,,,,,0,1,0,0,0,TRADITION,DEFAULT,1

08ART,YEAR 8 ART,08ART1,08ART2,,ARTS,8,,,,,,0,0,0,0,0,TRADITION,DEFAULT,1

08CHI,YEAR 8 CHINESE,08CHI1,08CHI2,,LOTE,8,,,,,,0,0,0,0,0,TRADITION,DEFAULT,1

08DAT,YEAR 8 DESIGN TECHNOLOGY,08DAT1,08DAT2,,TECH,8,,,,,,0,0,0,0,0,TRADITION,DEFAULT,1

08DRA,YEAR 8 DRAMA,08DRA1,08DRA2,,ARTS,8,,,,,,0,0,0,0,0,TRADITION,DEFAULT,1

08ENG,YEAR 8 ENGLISH,08ENG1,08ENG2,,ENGL,8,,,,,,0,0,0,0,0,AusVELS,SEC,1

08FRE,YEAR 8 FRENCH,08FRE1,08FRE2,,LOTE,8,,,,,,0,0,0,0,0,TRADITION,DEFAULT,1

08HTH,YEAR 8 HEALTH,08HTH1,08HTH2,,PHYE,8,,,,,,0,0,0,0,0,TRADITION,DEFAULT,1

08HUM,YEAR 8 HUMANITIES,08HUM1,08HUM2,,HUMA,8,,,,,,0,0,0,0,0,AusVELS,SEC,1

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Notes:

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Assessment Types

SIMON comes shipped with two main Assessment Types;

• Mid Semester Report

• End of Semester Report

Each of these Assessment Types can be initialised or used once per semester. With the

development of report run cycles multiple versions of an assessment type can be created per

semester. This is useful for schools who maintain a single report run and over a semester bring

more aspects (content) of the report online while generating and keeping ongoing report archives at

given time.

Report Types

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In SIMON the reporting system has been designed to ship with the standard SIMON report type of

“Traditional Report” and any mandated reporting requirements that may be required educational

jurisdictions. Currently SIMON includes the Victorian Government’s AusVELS requirements.

Initialising a report run and what options you use?

We will now outline the process of creating and maintaining a report run.

Default Configuration

To begin a report run users select the “Default Configuration” from the “Report Run Tasks Default

Configuration” menu;

The user selects the relevant semester and Report Run;

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For Schools who require a report run that requires mandated reporting templates then you would

initialise the subjects as – “Defined by Subject”;

If you want a report run that does not require any specific report mandated requirements you would

use – “Traditional”;

Note:

IF YOU ARE INITIALISING A REPORT REUN THAT YOU HAVE CONFIGURED 12 MONTHS AGO, THEN

THE HISTORIC CONFIGURATIONS WILL AUTOMATICALLY ROLL OVER.

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For training purposes we will begin with a “Traditional” initialisation. The “Initialisation” button is

clicked. On the main Student Assessment screen users will see the following screen go from:

To;

The default configuration will load a blank configuration for a new report run, ready to begin adding

report components. Report components are either:

• Global (Across all report templates)

• Subject (Specific to a subject and report type/Type configuration.

Users in the default configurations screen will now see a new configuration ready to start

constructing. If you had a previously configured report run 12 months ago then this would

automatically roll over.

The User clicks on the “Add New” button to start adding components to the report backbone. On

the next page we will look at the list of components currently in SIMON.

As we examine each component we need to understand that to add some components will need

some additional resources configured in the system before we can successfully add one.

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The list of components in SIMON currently are:

• Attendance Component (Subject Class) – This is to display class based attendance on a

report;

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• Comment Section (Subject Class) – This is to allow a text box to be added to a subject.

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Note: Allow comments Banks

are not currently functional

for a comment section.

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• Content Element (Subject Class) – This is a major subject component that allow subject

specific content to be added. This content includes sub-heading with list of assessment

tasks, outcomes etc. It is also the content element that allows the construction of

subject based comment banks. It also has other features that will be discussed later.

By adding a content element to a report backbone the subject content element will need to be

maintained by going to the full list of subjects under the “Subject Configuration” menu;

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• Course Description (Subject Class) – This is to allow the course description to be added

to a subject. This is maintained in the curriculum administration section of SIMON.

Course Descriptions can also be maintained by Domain Component Coordinators in the

Learning Areas.

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• Cover Page (Global) – This adds a cover page to the report run and allows users to

configure Parent/Teacher Interview requests, incomplete work counts and overall

student attendance information

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• Feedback (Subject Class) – This component will allow schools to collect information at

report time. This could include student concerns, award nominations etc. at a class

level.

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• Front Cover (Global) – This component includes a font cover on the report for a

student.

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• Graphical Scale (Subject Class) – This component is suitable for displaying work habit

data in graphical form. It allows domain overrides to allow customisation of the

information.

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• Individual Learning Plan (ILP) (Subject Class) – This component publishes ILP

information only for students that have ILP information recorded in their student

profile.

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• Learning Areas (Global) – This component compiles a list by subject of all configured

tasks.

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• Learning Areas (Subject Class) – This component adds the configured Learning Area

tasks to the backbone of a subject report.

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• Page Break (Global) – This component adds a page break to the global part of the

report backbone

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• Page Break (Subject Class) – This component adds a page break to the subject part of

the report backbone

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• Student Commendations (Global) – This component lists the student commendations

from the student profile to the global part of the report backbone. This component can

gather data over multiple semesters.

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• Student Participation (Global) – This component lists the student participation from the

student attendance system (SRA/SAA) where the certificate event if ticked in the

configuration set-up to the global part of the report backbone. This component can

gather data over multiple semesters.

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Part II - Example 1: Mid Semester Report

Having initialised the report run we are ready to start adding report components, however I will

need to resource the report run with enough resources to complete the following requirements;

Cover page with interview requested (Welcomed, Required)

Cover page overall attendance

Cover page listing overdue work count per subject

Work Habits using a graphical scale (Completes class work, Respects classroom and

Completes Homework) against a rating of High, Medium and Low.

Class based attendance data.

Feedback scale to record student concerns.

In order to complete this configuration I will need to use the following menu resources:

Graphical Scales – Attribute Scales

The graphical scale attributes is the term used to describe information termed as Work Habits or

Work Practices by many schools. To create a new graphical scale attribute click on the “Add New”

button;

1. Add New

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2. Name and Save….in this example we use “Work Habits”

3. Now EDIT the Work Habits and begin to add the Work Habits

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Ending up with the populated Work Habit Attribute Scale;

Graphical Scales – Score Scales

The graphical score scales is the term used to describe the scale used to describe how well an

attribute is performed.

1. Add New

2. Name and Save….in this example we use “Work Habit Scores”

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3. Now EDIT the Work Habit Scores and begin to add the Scores.

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Note: Please ensure the scores are ranked from best to worst down the page as the order will

determine placement when printing and entering data.

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Interview Scale

Clicking on the interview scale will allow the user to add an interview scale for the selected report

run to be used in a configuration.

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Click on the “Add New” button add an interview scale called “Default Interview Scale” and edit the

scale to add the options “Welcomed, Required” as listed below;

Note: When this configuration is used the top interview option will be automatically selected for the

user in report entry.

Also, this data can be used in the SIMON Parent Teacher module to remind schools of the interview

request options.

Notes:

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Feedback Scale

Clicking on the Feedback scale will allow the user to add a feedback scale for the selected report run

to be used in a configuration.

Click on the “Add New” button add a feedback scale called “Concerns” and edit the feedback scale to

add the options listed below;

Edit and add two feedback questions:

Does the student have behavioural concerns?

Does the Student have academic concerns?

You can also add feedback scales for the collection of class awards/nominations e.g. is student

nominated for a class award?

Note: A feedback scale is a YES/NO system that in the user interface defaults to NO. For this reason

a feedback scale should be worded as to allow the user to select YES when feedback is required.

Schools could use this to also collect award nominations with a question like, “Is the student

nominated for a class award?”

The feedback scale is not printed on the report of a student, instead the data is collected via the

“Data Exports” menu;

This data is exported in the form of an excel spreadsheet.

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WE NOW HAVE RESOURCED THE REPORT RUN SUFFICIENTLY TO CREATE OUR REPORT BACKBONE.

Creating the Default Configuration Backbone

Users can now return to the Maintenance Report Run Tasks Default Configuration to construct

the report by clicking on “Add New” and adding each relevant component;

1. Cover Page

2. Graphical Scale

Extension discussion: Domain Overrides.

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3. Class Attendance

4. Feedback Scale

The final backbone is now;

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Notes:

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Finalising the report run ready for data entry

To prepare the report ready for data entry the user systematically works their way down the “Report

Run Tasks” menu.

Report Run Settings

This page allows the user to release final reports to both students and parents, include cover page

information related to the report run, page setup, and generation and Archive options.

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Notes:

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Report Run Cycles

If this option is enabled schools can name the report run cycle names. This is covered in an

advanced course.

Update Classes

This will import all the students into the report run based on the current timetable data. This can be

run also at a later stage to include classes that may not have existed previously as the school may

have elective rotations throughout the semester.

Once this has been done the main report screen will report:

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Report Run Checks

This configuration will complete the class and homeroom lists checks on behalf of a teacher. Most

schools do not allow a teacher to modify their lists without a report administrator’s knowledge. In

order for staff to enter results these check must be done. It is a good idea to also run the

Subject/Class configuration checks to ensure the system is operating as expected.

Subject Exclusions

Subjects that are not required can be excluded from the report run by un-ticking them.

Class Exclusions

Classes that are not required can be excluded from the report run by un-ticking them.

Inactive Subjects

Subjects that are not in the report run that did not exist in the timetable and have been manually

added can be injected into a report run using this configuration.

Subject Classes

In this section users can edit classes to add/remove teachers and students from classes in the report

run. In this screen users can also add additional classes, particularly subjects that may have been

added from the “Inactive Subjects” menu.

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Opening Reports

Once the reports are ready to open the user must review the configurations under the subject

configurations menu;

By Clicking on this link the user can review the status of the subject report configurations;

NOTE: As the report backbone does not have any specific subject configuration, the subjects should

all be ticked off and ready to release. The configurations can be released by clicking the “Release all

complete configurations” link at a Domain Component or whole component level. Users should give

this screen time to complete and watch as the Report Entries are all unlocked;

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Once this is complete the user can return to the main Student Assessment page and click the “Open”

button to open reports.

A Teacher can then click on the link to the report to view their accessible reports;

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A teacher can then click on the enter results button to start entering results;

Once staff have completed all the data required the class will report back as complete back in the

teacher entry screen;

The final report subject data will resemble:

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Other Key Menu Options

Configuration

This menu includes some general setting about management and access to the reporting system.

This includes enabling report run cycles, whole class view option, controlling if staff can modify their

homeroom and class lists, restricting domain leaders to report configurations etc.

Teacher Entry

This menu will allow an authorised user to review any teachers work by allowing them access to the

teacher entry screen. This can still be accessed even if the report run has been closed.

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AusVELS Principals Override

This menu allows Victorian Schools using AusVELS requirements to allow the Principal of the school

to deviate from the mandated requirements.

Report Generation

Users will use this menu to check on the status of report completion, and when ready to generate

the final reports.

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Part III – Adding a Content Element

Adding a content element to a report back bone essentially allows subject specific material to be

added to a subject, hence making the subject unique and requiring specific configurations to be

completed at a subject level. I am now going to add a content element called “Student

Achievement” to the report backbone.

I then moved the Content Element up under the Work Habits using the up and down arrows, and RE-

RUN THE REPORT RUN CHECKS TO INCLUDE SUBJECT CONFIGURATIONS TO RE-EVALUATE THE NEW

COMPONENT CONFIGURATIONS.

NOTE: Whenever a change to the backbone has been made it is a good idea to run the Subject/Class

Configuration report run checks again to update the status of the subject configurations.

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The Subject Configurations should have go back to incomplete;

Adding Content to a Content Element

By navigating to “Subject Configuration” users can click on the Report Type icon to review the

subject report backbone of the subject and access the content element;

Users can now see the subject backbone of the report and can see information about why the

configuration is not completing. In our example it is because of the empty content element.

To access the content element configuration users simply click on the content element icon.

Report Type Icon

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Configuring a content element

When a user clicks on the content element begin configuration they will be prompted to add an area

first;

A content element allows you to create headings, enter task information (including grades) and

enter task related comments. This would constitute the bulk of a semester report and would be

where assessment tasks are listed along with comments.

The content element is also configurable by the Domain Coordinator and can be customised for

different subjects.

To add an area click on the “Add Area” button. An Area Title must be entered and, if necessary, an

Area Description can be entered if required for additional information

There are a number of possible Display Formats:

Show Areas, Tasks and Grades - As suggested in the description, this Display Format

will show all information entered on the printed report. For example, this Display

Format would be used to show how a student fared in various Assessment Tasks.

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Show Areas and Tasks - This Display Format does not provide a facility for entering

grades. An example of when this would be used is to list the Learning Outcomes for

a semester.

Section Heading - This Display Format will only show the Area Title on the printed

report and will not need any tasks to be entered. This might be used in a primary

school report where there are a number of teacher comments to be entered. The

Section Heading would be called "Teacher Comment" and the actual comments

would be put in as Use for Comment Generation display format (see below).

Use for Comment Generation - This display format will allow the construction of

tasks in order to generate comments with only the comment being generated on the

report and not the area description on the final report.

Learning Areas – This option allows a single subject to be configured within the

content element to automatically feed data from the SIMON Learning Area Tasks to

be automatically generated on the report.

For each Display Format, (Except Learning Areas) there is the option to allow comment entry. If the

area must have a comment entered, then click on the Comment Entry Required option. If staff are to

be able to write free form comments or edit once comment bank comments have been used, select

the Allow Free Form Comments option. If comment banks are not used at all, then it is possible to

Default to Free Form Comment Entry by selecting that tick box.

Finally, if comments are allowed, there is the option to combine all comments with previous area (if

multiple areas have comment, or to keep each comment separate under the specific task for which

they were entered using “Display after Area”. This is the most common setting used by schools and

is the recommended option.

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Once saved the configuration will look like this;

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Now comes the opportunity to add a task to the content element.

BUT BEFORE I CAN I MUST RESOURCE THE REPORT RUN WITH A LIST OF GRADE SCALES.

Like previously I must return to the main maintenance menu of the reporting system to compete this

task;

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And like before, I create a grade scale, and edit it to add the details;

Now I have a grade scale I can add the task to the area in the content element;

The configuration now looks like;

Further areas and tasks can be added based on the schools requirements.

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Finally to pass the requirement of the content element having at least one enforced comment area, I

will add a section heading will comment enforced called “Teacher Comment”. The final

configuration looks like this;

The configuration will now complete the required checks and the configuration can be release to

staff. The new entry screen will look like this;

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Part IV – Advanced Configurations

These will be demonstrations and discussion on some more advanced configurations;

Optional Comment Sections in a content element

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Using Comment generation to produce comment banks

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Configuring Commendation and Participation components

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Configuring Learning Area information in the report backbone

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AusVELS Settings

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Appendix 1

Substitutions in comments

Pronoun Substitutions

The reporting system has inbuilt substitutions that will allow appropriate substitutions within the

comment banks for both genders.

They are listed and explained below:

Name - %N (will insert the name of the student). Remember %N's in the case where

possession is required.

%* will insert a dot point.

Subjective pronoun - %S (He, She) or %s (he, she)

Objective pronoun - %O (Him, Her) or %o (him, her)

Possessive pronoun - %P (His, Her) or %p (his, her)

Absolute possessive - %A (His, Hers) or %a (his, hers)

Substitutions in report configurations

The reporting system will also allow substitutions in report component names, content element

areas and tasks.