dossier school manual · dossier school manual authored by chris walberg description the dossier...
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Dossier School Manual
Authored By Chris Walberg
Description
The Dossier Application is a online, secure, accessible application built to allow
immediate sharing of specific or aggregate data to those who need it. The main focus of
the first phase of the project is IPP information recorded for students which is used in
three ways. First is to provide a standard for recording information collected during the
school year for students with Individual Education Plans. Second is to generate IPP
reports that will automatically gather a student’s data and progress based on the
information entered. Finally, reports can be generated on the aggregate data, for a school
or a collection of schools in the forms required by government agencies or for other data
gathering projects.
TRAINING SITE DESCRIPTION AND LOGINS AND ADDRESS
http://demo.dossiersystems.com
login: guest
password: guest
Users
Any user of the application can be given tailored access based on their duties, but default
roles exist to describe generic areas of access within the application.
1. Account Managers
Account Managers are users that have the ability to add and manage other users in the
system. This could be at the RMO (Regional Management Organization), EA
(Educational Authority), or School level. Managing includes altering a user’s rights
within the application, password management, and deactivating access to users that are
no longer affiliated with the system.
2. Administrators
These users are the RMO/EA Directors, School Principals, and other administrative
positions that have control over the general information of their associated location.
Access is granted to enter general or non-aggregate information required for reports, the
reports themselves, control student movement (transfers from school to school, assigning
to staff, etc.) and to modify their personal information.
3. Classroom Teachers
As the title suggests these are the teachers within the school. They are able to view all
pertinent information about the students that they are assigned, and are able to enter some
of the IPP information, and modify personal information.
4. IPP Managers
These are the staff members in charge of the school’s IPP Program in general and/or
Special Education Teachers that work directly with the students. Full access is granted to
enter and view all IPP information, access the individualized student IPP reports, and
modify personal information.
5. Teaching Assistants
These staff members are the classroom, teacher, or education assistants within the school.
Access to view the IPP information of the students assigned to them, enter comments
within goals and objectives, and modify their personal information is granted.
6. Secretary
Staff members that are in charge of generic data entry fall into this category. Adding and
modifying students within the school, entering data into the school profile, and modifying
their personal information are among the access rights granted to these staff members.
Using the Application
A user must first login to be able to access the application. Enter the username
and password given to you and click LOGIN. If your username/password does not
work please contact the Account Manager in your location.
Home Page
After logging in to the system you are given your home page. This shows:
Top - links to HELP (not yet implemented), SUBMIT ISSUES (takes the user to
Intellinet’s Issue Traking and Resolution Page) and CONTACT ADMIN (email to the
system admin)
Top Right – If the user is active at multiple locations a drop down will show the
current location that the user is accessing. The logout button is located here as well. As
with most web applications it is important to use the LOGOUT button when your session
ends so that if someone attempts to use the browser’s history to access the app as you, the
login will be recognized as invalid. If you do not logout, or if you do not take any action
for a certain amount of time, you will be logged out and will need to login again.
Middle Row – Navigation Bar levl 1. This will look different depending on the
rights that you have within the application. Further screenshots will show that (with the
exception of HOME) a second nav bar will show further selections within the selected
Nav 1 category.
Rest of the Page – shows the application content of the navigation selections.
In this case the page is the HOME page, the first destination after logging in.
Here users have access to the calendar and messaging tools. Each of the tools has a
summary detailing events scheduled on the current day and new messages respectively.
Calendar Tool
When the VIEW CALENDAR TOOL button is pressed the following is seen:
You can add events to the calendar by clicking the red ADD NEW EVENT button.
An event consists of an event title which is the text that will be shown on the previous
calendar view, a date selection, a longer description of the event to give details, a
location, and an event type. Event types are
Personal – this event will only be shown to the user that entered the event
RMO, EA, SCHOOL – listed by name. The names listed will be the locations
that the user is a staff member of. The HEIRARCHICAL? Checkbox refers to
these selections. For example if an Educational Authority (with 3 schools) is
selected and the event is not made hierarchical then the even will show on the
calendars of users that are associated with that EA. If the event is made
hierarchical, then the users associated with the schools will see the event as well.
After saving the event:
A date on the main calendar can be selected and on the right hand side you will see the
summaries for events on that day.
Messenger Tool The messenger tool is a scaled down, email like, communication tool.
Sending a new message is accomplished by clicking the Send New Message link.
The Select Recipient drop down includes all users associated with the application. This
is to avoid the need for email addresses to make communications within the application
more efficient.
When a specific message is selected to view the message text is seen and the ability to
mark the message read (will no longer show up in the list by default) , and also to reply to
the message the is currently selected.
School Information
This navigation category includes general school information, defining of classes, school
staff, and other school level information that is used in reports.
School Contact
General contact information for the school; this section is self-explanatory.
If a user have access to edit the information the edit button is accessible.
If the school name or number is edited to be the same as one already in use the user will
be informed and the new information will not be saved.
School Staff
This section is used to add staff to the school, de-activate current staff, select attributes
that the staff member has, as well as to manage the user’s rights and password.
Note: the DELETE button will only perminatly delete a staff member if the user does not
exists at any other location and does not have any other records in the system (even as
simple as a login). This is so any user’s activities and history can be retrieved even if
they have left the system.
Adding Staff
A New Staff Member – this is a staff member that does not already exist in the system.
Existing Staff Member – this is a staff member that already exists in the system, perhaps
as an Account Manager and now needs staff rights, or a transfer from another location,
etc.
Manage User’s Rights
The above screen shows rights the user selected has within the application. The rights
work in a dependant fashion. View – a user can view this information but not anything
else. Modify – a user can edit information that they added in sections they can view.
Create – a user can create a new entry in a section. Delete – a user can delete entries that
they had made in the past.
For some of the categories some of the level can be redundant. For example the very first
entry “Reports” is simply a navigation category and no more than View is needed, but
there are no negative consequences of selecting a higher level for, say, descriptive
purposes. The rule of thumb should be that a user should be given, for each item, the
level that makes the most sense because in the future if options or functionality is added
to the application.
Change a User’s Password
When a user contacts a account manager about changing/forgetting a password, this
interface is used to accomplish this task.
School Profile
Information required that may not be able to be fully created by using aggragates
The populate aggregates button is used to fill in (currently) the general info (school
address, etc) and the enrollment. These values can then be edited to properly represent
actual numbers within the school.
*IMPORTANT: some of these values are used in the School SEP Report, so it is
required that these values be correct (enrollment at least)
SEP
This is where the non-aggregate information for the School Special Education Report is
filled in.
Overview
Section A: The comments typed here will be transferred to the Section A comment on
the School SEP report. Enter comments relevant to the description of the section and
click SAVE if they are correct, CANCEL if you do not wish to save the comment.
Section B: Description of the school’s special education policy. Check the boxes that
apply to your school’s policy and enter a comment if necessary. Click SAVE if the
information is correct, CANCEL if you do not wish to save.
Section C: Staff Qualifications. After selecting the staff member that you wish to record
information for, place checkmarks in the categories that are valid for the staff member.
This needs to be done for each staff member with any of these qualifications. Answers
the questions on the report such as “How many staff are …”. Click SAVE if the
information is correct, CANCEL if you do not wish to save.
Section D: Professional Development. Check the valid items for your school that were
offered this year. Click SAVE if the information is correct, CANCEL if you do not wish
to save.
Section E: Professional Services. Select the services (and the employer) offered at your
school to high cost special needs students. Click SAVE if the information is correct,
CANCEL if you do not wish to save.
Section F: Other Agencies. Select the agencies that assist the school with high cost
special needs students. These can be community organizations or from outside the
community. Click SAVE if the information is correct, CANCEL if you do not wish to
save.
Section G: Parent/Caregiver Involvement. Check the descriptions that are valid within
your school policy. Click SAVE if the information is correct, CANCEL if you do not
wish to save.
Section H: Special Education Needs. Estimate and comment about the funding needs to
increase support for special needs students. Click SAVE if the information is correct,
CANCEL if you do not wish to save.
Section I: Success Stories, Best Practices, and Suggestions for Improvement. Comments
made and saved here will show up in the proper area of the SEP report. Click SAVE if
the information is correct, CANCEL if you do not wish to save.
CLASSES
Currently the classes section is used for one purpose. Since to get accurate student
counts, it is preferred if all students are entered in the system even if they do not have an
IEP. For assigning students to classroom teachers this can be a time consuming task. By
creating classes (with a classroom teacher associated with it) and assigning student to the
classes the students are then automatically assigned to that staff member as well.
Editing a class will not change the students assigned to it, but if the staff members are
changed, students will be assigned/unassigned based on the new staff responsibilities.
Click SAVE if the information is correct, CANCEL if you do not wish to save.
Adding a new class is achieved by entering the required information and clicking SAVE,
or CANCEL if the class is not needed.
PERSONAL INFORMATION
CONTACT
This section hold contact information for the staff member.
If editing is allowed the user can update his/her information as well as be able to change
their password. Name and email will be accessible as long as the user is active within
the system. If the user is inactive the information will still be accessible if the user has
selected “Keep my contact information…”. Also if other information is added in the
future (education/courses are planned) the user can select whether or not this information
will be available for searches, although it may be used in the aggregate for reports. Click
SAVE if the information is correct, CANCEL if you do not wish to save.
REPORTS
This section allows a user to access reports.
The REPORT HOME section will be used in the future to allow for dynamic reports that
can be created on many different criteria.
The school profile report section allows the user to generate the full report (or a section of
it) for the selected school year. The Report will be accessed as a PDF file, so the user
must have a pdf reader installed on the computer to read the file. On Macs, use
Preview.app as the application to open pdfs.
The special education report section allows the SEP report to be generated for the current
school year. The Report will be accessed as a PDF file, so the user must have a pdf
reader installed on the computer to read the file. On Macs, use Preview.app as the
application to open pdfs.
STUDENTS
Student List – This is a full list of students that are entered for the school. A specific
student can be searched for (by last name), or the list can be narrowed by grade. If a
student has been deactivated (left the school, but has not been transferred), then they will
be shown if the “Include inactive students” checkbox is selected.
When editing a student’s information there are 5 tabs. The first is the student registration
(grade, registration date, active) and personal information. The following 4 tabs are
contact information for the student, emergency contact, and parent/guardian. When any
tab is edited the user is required to click SAVE or the information will not be updated.
Student Promotion
This section is used at the end of the year to update the student registration for the next
year. If the student is “promoted”, then the student registration for the next year will be
for the next numeric grade. All student information (other than grade) will stay the same
and the IPP information will be moved to the new registration record. The user may click
the heading “Promote” to by default select all students, or may select students
individually. Again SAVE must be clicked to save the selections made, students with
neither promote or hold back selected will not be registered in the next school year.
Assigning Students
When students are assigned to a staff member, that student then is displayed on the My
Students list for that user which give access to IPP information.
To a class: Explained above (School Information - Classes). Once selections are made
(Ctrl-Click to make multiple selections of students) and the arrow(s) are pressed to move
the students between the on screen boxes the changes are saved.
To a Staff Member: Similar to assigning to a class, students are assigned and unassigned
simply by pressing the corresponding arrow between the on screen boxes.
Student Transfers
When a student moves from one school to another within the system, it is important to
“transfer” that student so that his/her IPP information is accessible to the new school.
There are two sides to this process.
1. The new school that the student is transferring to. When inputting the student into
your school, you see that the student “already exists”, but is not on your school’s
student list. Select “Request a Transfer” and enter the student’s name and date of
birth. When you click Get Student Info, the page will display the contact
information of the school the student’s record is currently attached to. Click
Request Transfer and the old school will transfer the student’s records.
2. The old school the student was last at. Under Releases Pending a list of Requested
Transfers will be seen. After doing any required due diligence click Approve to release
the student’s information and complete the transfer.
Importing a Student List
Currently the application supports simple excel or comma separated files. Once the files
are created to the template examples given in the links, the user can Upload File. The
application will read the file (displaying an error message if there is an error with the
format)
At this stage you will see a listing of all the students from the import file with the last
column detailing any errors or required information that is missing. Required
information at this time is name, grade, and date of birth (grade MUST be in the form of
K4, K5, K, or G# where # is 1 - 12).
Once any errors in the import file have been straightened out, the records can then be
imported. Each record will either add a student to the application or will update the
information for a student that exists at the school. If the add/update fails a reason will
show in the right hand column (if the student needs to be transferred from another school
for example).
Review Student Documents
This section can be used to keep track of comments about parent meetings, meetings with
other professionals about a student, etc.
My Students
This list shows all students that have been assigned to the user. The user has the ability
to view registration and contact information and access the student’s IPP records
IPP
A user will have VIEW or VIEW and EDIT buttons for each section based on the access
rights they have within the school. If only VIEW is accessable then the EDIT is done by
someone else within the school. If EDIT is visible then you are responsible for entering
and verifying information within this section.
The user can also generate the student’s IPP report. The report will be accessed as a PDF
file, so the user must have a pdf reader installed on the computer to read the file. On
Macs, use Preview.app as the application to open pdfs.
Section 1: Student Educational Information. The information in this section directly
relates to the identification of the student’s special education needs. This section is
important due to the number of questions on the School SEP report that will be defined
based on information in this section. Referred, assessed, qualified, consent, iep, and
special education code are all required to be correct for the SEP report to be valid. Click
SAVE if the information is correct, CANCEL if you do not wish to save.
Section 2: Student Testing History. This section is to record the formal assessments that
were completed. The assessment data should include reports from specialized assessments. For
example: assessments by medical doctors, psychologists, speech language pathologists, etc.
A user that has edit access can add a new record or edit any record that they themselves
added. A user cannot edit a record added by another user. Click SAVE if the
information is correct, CANCEL if you do not wish to save.
Section 3: LEPA (Level of Education Performance and Achievement). The level of
performance means “assessed skill development in academic and other areas such as
adaptive functioning, behavior, cognition, communication and physical development.
Levels of performance should be reported annually for each area that has a related IPP
goal. Academic performance in IPPs is most useful when it is reported as grade level
equivalent scores. It may be necessary to break subject areas into different types of skill
areas. This section should also include summaries of classroom assessments (i.e. writing
samples, math skills inventories, reading miscue analysis, behavior and work habit
checklists and other informal assessments that clearly link directly with IPP goals).
A user that has edit access can add a new record or edit any record that they themselves
added. A user cannot edit a record added by another user. Click SAVE if the
information is correct, CANCEL if you do not wish to save.
Section 4: ASTD (Areas of Strength, Areas to Develop). The learning team may use
information from both specialized assessments and current level of performance to
identify areas of strength and specific needs/areas of growth. If an item is identified as
an area to develop it should be associated with a goal and/or objective.
Click the appropriate column (strength or weakness) for items valid for the student. The
user can also add a comment to communicate the reasons for the selections to other users
responsible for the student. These comments will not show up on any reports and are for
school communication purposes only. A user can also add items to the list that are not
part of the set of items already displayed by filling in the “Other” text box, selecting a
check box and clicking SAVE. Any number of “other” items can be added this way.
Click SAVE if the information is correct, CANCEL if you do not wish to save.
Section 5: CAMR (Classroom Accommodations / Modifications Required). Required
accommodations must be listed on the IPP. An accommodation is a change or alteration
in the regular way a student is expected to learn., complete assignments or participate in
classroom activities. Accommodations include special teaching or assessment strategies,
equipment or other supports that remove, or at least lessen, the impact of student’s special
needs. The goal of accommodations is to give students with special education needs the
same opportunity to succeed as other students. Any accommodations requested on a
provincial achievement test must be reflected in the IPP.
Click the column for items valid for the student. The user can also add a comment to
communicate the reasons for the selections to other users responsible for the student.
These comments will not show up on any reports and are for school communication
purposes only. A user can also add items to the list that are not part of the set of items
already displayed by filling in the “Other” text box, selecting the check box and clicking
SAVE. Any number of “other” items can be added this way. Click SAVE if the
information is correct, CANCEL if you do not wish to save.
Section 6: SCS (School and Community Services). Required support services should be
identified on the IPP. The IPP should include an ongoing list of what services the student
actually receives, with dates, types of services and names of service providers entered.
This section is also important to the SEP Report so it is important that the information is
valid.
Click the column for items valid for the student and whether the service was required
and/or received. The user can also add a comment to communicate the reasons for the
selections to other users responsible for the student. These comments will not show up
on any reports and are for school communication purposes only. A user can also add
items to the list that are not part of the set of items already displayed by filling in the
“Other” text box, selecting the check box and clicking SAVE. Any number of “other”
items can be added this way. Click SAVE if the information is correct, CANCEL if you
do not wish to save.
Section 7: GO (Goals and Objectives). This section…
The goals and objectives are the heart of the IPP process and provide the framework for
programming decisions. Goals and objectives must be measurable so that students,
teachers, parents and others involved in the IPP process may gauge how well students are
progressing toward achievement of their goals. Without measurability, progress cannot
be monitored. (For more information See the Alberta Education IPP- Chapter 7: Making
Goals Meaningful, Measurable and Manageable.
<Add link for above>
A student’s objective achievement is calculated by way of the progress recorded on each
objective that is active for the student. This is achievement is used in the SEP report.
This section also has its own report. The Goals Report will be accessed as a PDF file, so
the user must have a pdf reader installed on the computer to read the file. On Macs, use
Preview.app as the application to open pdfs.
The user can only modify entries that they made. Entries made by others cannot be
edited.
Section 8: YER (Year End Reflection). The year-end reflection describes what goals,
accommodations and strategies were most successful for the student over the past school
year. The summary should also include recommendations for new goals,
accommodations that should be continued and programming considerations for the
upcoming school year.
Entries can be edited by anyone that has edit access for this section. Click SAVE if the
information is correct, CANCEL if you do not wish to save.
Section 9: STP (Student Transition Plan). Planning for transition begins each September
and is an ongoing process throughout each school year. The IPP must contain
information about upcoming transitions in the student’s learning environment, and plans
for preparing and supporting the student for these new situations and challenges.
Files can also be added to be linked to the transition plan. These files will be available as
links to be accessed at a later time.
Entries can be edited by anyone that has edit access for this section. Click SAVE if the
information is correct, CANCEL if you do not wish to save.
Section 10: SBI (Student Background Information). This section includes information
that does not fit in any other section but has an impact on the child’s learning (i.e.
attendance concern).
Entries can be edited by anyone that has edit access for this section. Click SAVE if the
information is correct, CANCEL if you do not wish to save.
SPELL CHECKING IN A BROWSER
SAFARI
The Safari browser supports both dynamic (i.e., "as you type") and context-based spell
checking. To activate the browser's native support for dynamic spell checking:
1. Place the cursor in a text entry field.
2. Click Edit on the menu bar and select Spelling -> Check Spelling as You Type.
A small checkmark should appear to the left of the Check Spelling as You Type option,
indicating that spell checking is now active. From this point forward, Safari will check
any text you enter and alert you to possible errors by adding a dashed red underline to
any potentially misspelled words. Press and hold the [CONTROL] key while left-
clicking the indicated word. A context menu (similar to the one illustrated below) will
open and should present one or more possible corrections; highlight the proper word and
Safari will replace it in the text field.
If the word is spelled correctly but still marked as a potential mistake, choose "Ignore
Spelling" to skip the word or "Learn Spelling" to add the word to Safari's dictionary.
Note: The Check Spelling as You Type feature only remains active as long as Safari is
open; it must be reactivated each time the browser starts.
Safari also supports context-based spell checking. To use this feature on a single word or
phrase:
1. Highlight the text to be checked.
2. Press and hold the [CONTROL] key while left-clicking the indicated word(s).
3. Select the correct word from the context menu or choose "Ignore Spelling" or
"Learn Spelling" as necessary.
To use context-based checking on every word in a text area (such as a large text box):
1. Place the cursor in the text area to be checked.
2. Press and hold the [CONTROL] key while left-clicking inside the text area.
3. Choose Spelling -> Check Spelling from the menu.
4. Correct, ignore, or add each potential misspelling by [CONTROL] left-clicking
the marked words in turn.
Both of these context-based methods of spell checking are also available by clicking Edit
on the menu bar and selecting one of the options under Spelling.
FIREFOX 1.5
Firefox users will need to download and install an extension to perform spell checking;
the browser does not support this feature natively.
One such extension is Spellbound 0.7.3, available at the Sourceforge web site. Extensive
installation and usage directions are available on the Spellbound site. Versions for
Windows, Linux, and Mac OSX are available for no charge.
FIREFOX 2.0
Firefox 2.0 has spellchecking built in
Internet Explorer
Like Firefox, Internet Explorer requires additional software to spell check text areas.
ieSpell is a free plugin that can be added to the Windows 9x/ME/NT/2000/XP versions of
Internet Explorer 5.0 and later. Full installation and use instructions are available on the
ieSpell web site.
NOTES FOR THE 2006-2007 VERSION OF THE SEP REPORT
Based on Treaty 6 education guidelines here is a description of how some of the answers
for the report are generated.
1a. Coded students where placement is part or full time (Student Educational
Information section - Placement)
1b. 1a that have IEP checked.
2a. Coded students where placement is in a regular classroom
2b. 2a that have IEP checked
3. Students with codes that are NOT 99
4. Students with code 99
5. Referred is checked and initial assessment date is within the school year (Student
Educational Information section)
6. Currently assessed is checked and assessment date is within the school year (Student
Educational Information section)
7. Items in 6 and Qualified for Special Education is checked and student is NOT code 99
8. Items in 6 and Qualified for Special Education is checked and student IS code 99
9. Count of students where the current goal objective progress average is 50 or more
10. In section b of SCHOOL INFORMATION – SEP section B
11 through 15 SCHOOL INFORMATION – SEP section c
21. SCHOOL INFORMATION – SEP section b – parents/caregivers options