2014 MCAS and Accountability Release Schedule

The 2014 MCAS and Accountability Release Schedule was recently posted to the DESE Web site. Here is a summary of some key dates:

• June 23rd - partial* preliminary MCAS Student Rosters posted electronically at DropBox Central in the Security Portal
• June 26th - partial* preliminary reports available in Edwin Analytics 
• August 7th - full preliminary MCAS results available in both DropBox Central and Edwin Analytics
• August 12th - Preliminary Accountability data provided through the Security Portal
• Aug 7-14th - MCAS discrepancy reporting window
• Mid-September - Official data released publicly (note, all data are embargoed prior to this date!)

*Partial results include: 

• ELA, full results 
• Mathematics, multiple-choice results only 
• STE, grades 5 and 8, multiple-choice results only 
• MCAS-Alt, full results in all subjects

Anticipated MCAS Reporting Schedule 2014

Here are the dates that were shared in last week's MCAS test administration training (FYI, the conference call version of the training is being offered again next Wednesday 2/12). Of course, these dates may be subject to change but are still very useful for planning!

 

Anticipated MCAS Reporting Schedule 2014
March 21	Access February Biology data files and rosters at DropBox Central
April 16	Access March Retest data files and rosters at DropBox Central
May 1	Districts receive February Biology and March Retest Parent/Guardian Reports
Mid-May	Schools and districts receive printed ACCESS for ELLs reports and data posted at DropBox Central
Mid-June	Districts access prelim MCAS and MCAS-Alt student results:
	ELA: preliminary results, including performance levels, scaled scores, and SGPs
	Math: multiple choice only
	STE (5&8): multiple choice only
	MCAS-Alt
	MCAS ELA long comps available at MCASservicecenter.com
July 1-July 31	MCAS discrepancy reporting by phone
August 6	Preliminary Math and STE MCAS results (combined with June ELA)
August 6-12	MCAS discrepancy reporting online
mid-September	Official results in security portal for districts
(week of Sept 19)	One day later: Public release of results; Parent/Guardian Reports shipments
Note: data will be in Edwin Analytics within 3 days of DropBox release

June 2013 Release of Preliminary Results

As many of you already know, preliminary MCAS results were made available to authorized users in DropBox Central (in the security portal) on Tuesday. This release includes full preliminary ELA results and preliminary multiple-choice results for grades 3–8 and 10 Math and grades 5 and 8 Science.

There is an interpretive guide to accompany this release (currently available in DropBox Central, to be posted to the 2013 MCAS Web page shortly) which provides information about various ways that the preliminary data (along with the 2013 released items) can be reviewed and utilized. The raw-to-scaled score conversion tables for ELA have also been posted.

In addition, the latest Student Assessment Update notes that preliminary MCAS-Alt results have been made available through DropBox Central, and ELA long compositions are posted online at www.mcasservicecenter.com.

On Friday, June 21, the same preliminary results will be made available through selected reports in Edwin Analytics.

Per the Interpretive Guide: "All data released prior to the official release of school and district results in mid-September are embargoed, which means the data cannot be released to the public or discussed in public meetings.... Preliminary MCAS data, including the Mathematics and STE multiple-choice results, can and should be used for educational planning purposes. Whenever preliminary results are printed for planning purposes, they should be clearly dated and labeled “preliminary,” with the understanding that some results may change with the official release in September."

As a reminder, I will be offering three regional Edwin Analytics workshops in August after the remainder of the preliminary data has been released, but in the meantime, please do not hesitate to contact me with questions.

Reminder: New ESE Security Portal URL

With the preliminary MCAS results being released on Tuesday (see earlier post for more details, along with the Student Assessment Services update sent out via email today), there’s a good chance you’ll want to log into the ESE Security Portal in the very near future to access Dropboxes or Edwin Analytics.

If you haven’t logged into the Security Portal in a while, you will notice some changes. Earlier in June, ESE installed a new “Identity Management System (IMS)” in order to align the Security Portal with the Commonwealth’s new secure access standards. Existing username and passwords will continue to work with the new Identity Management System and there is no need to change either credential, BUT the URL has changed.

New Security Portal URL: https://gateway.edu.state.ma.us/

If you're trying to access Edwin Analytics, you should click the first "Edwin Analytics" link on your portal home page after logging in to the URL above to get the latest version of Edwin Analytics. The second link that says "Edwin Analytics (EDW)" is the old version.

You should change any bookmarks you may have to the new URL. (Note that the "Security Portal" link in the drop-down menu on the ESE home page has been updated to this new URL, so if you normally access the portal this way you'll go to the right spot.) If you notice that you're being asked to log in twice, you may be accessing the portal through an incorrect URL. If you have any questions regarding your access, please contact your district’s Directory Administrator.

2012 Preliminary MCAS Release and EDW Updates

Yesterday's regularly scheduled Webinar on the Education Data Warehouse shared an excellent new feature - an EDW "Home Page" which will keep us updated about new features, data releases, and additional resources.This home page is now available, but does not currently appear automatically as a tab at the top of the screen after you log in. You can follow the steps below to add this tab as the default so that you will see the latest information when logging into EDW 3.0.

To add the EDW Home Page tab:

• In the upper left corner of the screen, under the “Data Warehouse” banner, click the “Tab Menu” button, and choose “Add Tabs.”
• Under “Available Entries,” navigate to Cognos > Public Folders > Pages.
• Click the checkbox next to “EDW Home” and then click the green arrow in the middle of the page so that “EDW Home” moves from “Available Entries” to “Selected Entries.”
• Click “OK” at the bottom of the page.

To make the EDW Home Page your default tab:

• In the upper left corner of the screen, under the “Data Warehouse” banner, click the “Tab Menu” button, and choose “Modify the Sequence of Tabs.”
• Select “EDW Home” and then click “To top.”
• Click “OK.”

One very important piece of information that was provided during the Webinar is that the preliminary 2012 MCAS data is expected to be released via the Dropbox on June 22, and then in the EDW on June 29.


The EDW Webinars are held on the first Wednesday of the month at 11 am and the third Wednesday of the month at 2 pm. Please email datawarehouse@doe.mass.edu if you would like to be placed on the notification/reminder list for these calls.

Creating Customized Student Roster Reports, September 2011

I know there are many folks who would like to create customized MCAS student roster reports "by classroom" or a variety of other groups - intervention group, performance level, subgroup, etc. This type of reporting is not currently available in the Data Warehouse. However, there are a few different options you can look into if you'd like to run reports this way.

The first option is to use the R-616 report (only available at this time in EDW 2.6, not EDW 3.0) to create a custom report either using filters or by choosing students from a list. This can be a bit tedious if you're creating reports by classroom but it's probably the quickest option at this time.

The second option is to start with the roster spreadsheet report from the Dropbox, and use Excel to add in a column for teacher or intervention group. The Filter option in Excel can then be used to create lists based on various criteria AND then Excel could be used to calculate group statistics such as median SGP (>20 students). However, entering the information into the teacher/group column could take a while.

For more advanced Excel users only: There is a function in Excel called VLOOKUP which would allow the automation of the addition of teacher/group data to a column in the roster spreadsheet. In order to do this, you'd need your Dropbox roster spreadsheet PLUS a spreadsheet that lists students (by SASID) by teacher/group. The SASID field will serve as a common data point between the two spreadsheets and allow you to bring data from one spreadsheet into another. Someday I'll write a tutorial for this, but for now, here's a link to a great VLOOKUP tutorial online for anyone would like a reference.

Quick Access to EDW Reports

The latest version of the Data Warehouse includes a great new feature - the Reports Page. This page provides links to run each of the available reports in HTML or PDF format directly. It also provides the option of scheduling a report to be run in the background.

Rolling your mouse over any of the report names provides a "screen shot" of a sample reference report. No more waiting for the report to finish only to find it wasn't the one you expected!

In addition, this page provides direct links to the pre-run reports in the DropBox, School and District Profiles, the DART tool, and other Data Warehouse documentation.

To get to the Dashboard, log in to the EDW, and go to Public Folders > ESE MCAS Reports > ESE MCAS - 2011 Preliminary Report View.

Competency Determination (CD) Student Status Update

The updated Competency Determination (CD) attainment status files are now available in the DropBox in the ESE Security Portal. The CD status data reflect the following:

• MCAS results through the March 2011 retests in English Language Arts and Mathematics



• MCAS Performance Appeals through May 17, 2011



• MCAS-Alt results through the spring 2010 tests



• MCAS-Alt Portfolio Appeals through May 12, 2011

For additional details, please see the Commissioner's Memo dated June 10, 2011.

Data Warehouse Improvements

The folks at ESE are taking steps to improve the performance of the data warehouse in the short-term (given the pre-release of MCAS data scheduled for June) as well as the longer-term (August and beyond). One of the steps that will be most beneficial to EDW users is that there will be a direct link to pre-run reports stored in district dropboxes.

The pre-run reports will be:

Pre-burst District Reports (for district-level users with 209 and 210 roles)
o Items Analysis
o Performance, CPI and SGP by Subgroup
o Data files (.csv, .xls)

Pre-burst School reports (for school-level users with 211 roles)
o Student Roster
o Items Analysis
o Performance, CPI and SGP by Subgroup
o Data files (.csv, .xls)
o MCAS-Alt Portfolio

Additional updates and improvements will come later in the summer with re-designed reports and enhanced servers for the main EDW database. Stay tuned!

February Biology Results in EDW and Dropbox

A message from the Data Warehouse Team:

The 2011 MCAS February Biology results were added to the Education Data Warehouse (EDW) as of 3/24/11. The following reports are available under
Public Folders > ESE MCAS Reports:

R-408 Detailed School Performance Distribution
R-610 Student Test Results
R-613 Student MCAS History
R-616 Test Item Analysis Roster
R-617 Student MCAS Roster

The ESE does not report aggregate school, district or state results for February Biology, so any report that relies on these measures will not have the 2011 February Biology prompt option.

PDF student rosters reports were also placed in each school’s MCAS 2011 dropbox.