It's that time of year!

As the school year winds down, it's also a busy time of year data-wise! The MEPA data were released earlier this month, and the MCAS raw data files and roster files (embargoed!) were placed in DropBoxes at the end of last week. The end of this week will bring new preliminary data in the Data Warehouse, the MEPA-MCAS crosswalks in DropBoxes. If you missed the webinar last week on MCAS Reporting, the PowerPoint presentation can be found in the MCAS Reporting section of the MCAS Service Center.

Last week's conference call on EDW improvements provided of an insight into the improvements being made to the system. (PowerPoint to be posted soon on the ESE Web site.) Some features we can look forward to include:

• Faster report generation due to back-end improvements


• Interface enhancements including reports in a separate window, prompts directly on the report itself, and links to pre-run reports in DropBoxes


• MEPA and CD status data will be in EDW


• Faster access to appropriate prompts (for example, less scrolling to get to the district's name)


• On-screen previews of sample reports so users know what the report looks like before it is run

I don't have details about what features will be available when (I believe the goal is late summer), but I do know that we will see a few of the improvements in this week's EDW release. In addition, the new system and the old system will co-exist for a while as folks get used to the new system.

As a reminder, I am offering a Data Warehouse "Getting Started" workshop on June 29 and a "Refresher" course on August 22 (in Bourne). The refresher course will include any information about the "new" system that is available at that time. Spots are still available and you can sign up through the Cape Cod Collaborative.