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Educator PortalWorking with MCA-II Data

August 2010

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Introductions

WELCOME!

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Data on the Educator Portal can be difficult to understand, hard to navigate and a challenge to use. This training is designed to show you how to make the data that is available on the Educator Portal more “User Friendly.”

MCA-II growth data came out to the public quietly in December 2008. Little information has been given to school personnel about that data. This training will explain the growth data so that you are prepared to answer questions that staff and community members have about it.

Purpose of This Training

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Access 2009 MCA-II data from the Educator Portal from MDE

Transfer 2009 MCA-II data from the Educator Portal onto an Excel spreadsheet

Translate Educator Portal data language into familiar assessment terms

Delete superfluous data Disaggregate data by grade levels & NCLB categories Create spreadsheets to use for district/school teacher

training/professional learning communities Access 2008-2009 MCA-II growth data from MDE website Interpret MCA-II growth data

Objectives of Training

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Why the need for a Growth Score?

Purpose: “…a new tool designed to help parents and educators track overall student progress toward academic proficiency in math and reading. The new Minnesota Growth Model follows students’ progress from year-to-year in order to better determine whether they are gaining and retaining skills.”

-education.state.mn.us

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How is “Growth” determined?

The average of the change in scores from the 2007 to 2008 MCA-IIs

was used to determine low, medium and high growth.

2007Grade

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2008Grade

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342

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Keep in mind… Year to year, the level of expected growth varies from

one grade level to another

At the proficient range (350, 450, 550, 650)◦ There is more confidence in the scores

Most test questions center around the proficient vs. non-proficient mark to firmly identify those who are and are not proficient

Error band is smaller at this level At this time, the state is not using this growth data to

rank order one school and/or district to another or to determine AYP status

Growth and proficiency levels are different◦ Although a student might make high growth, he/she

might still not be proficient

Grade 4 to 5Grade 3 to 4

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Interpreting ScoresLow, Medium, High growth

38% of students

31% of students

31% of students

low high

mediumThis is a hypothetical norm used by the state to determine the amount of students that are likely

to fall in each range.

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27% 42% 31%

State of MN Grades 3-11

MN District “ABC” Grades 3-11

25% 43% 33%

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How can I use MCA-II growth information?

Compare district and school’s low, medium and high growth to the state’s averages

Consider and discuss with teams◦ grade level growth ◦ growth in sub-groups

Examine similar schools’/districts’ performance of same groups

◦ growth and proficiency

Be prepared to communicate with parents who are aware of the data that was released by MDE in December and when the 2008 to 2009 growth reports are available to the public

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Accessing the Educator Portal

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1. Click on the letter of the column you would like to delete. If there are multiple columns right next to each other that need to be deleted, click on the letter of the column to be deleted that is farthest to the left. Continue pressing down on the left mouse button and drag the mouse over the other letters stopping at the last letter to be deleted.

2. Right click on that letter (or the letter that is farthest to the right if multiple columns are being deleted).

3. Click on “Delete.”4. Repeat these steps until all of the red cells have

been deleted.

Continue Deleting Red Columns

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Follow the same directions for “Completing ‘Math All Students’” except click on the rows that have an “R” in Column A and use the “Reading All Students” spreadsheet

Directions are on slides 45-47

Completing “Reading All Students” Spreadsheet

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Follow the same directions as “Completing Math All Students” except: ◦ Take the data from either the “Math All Students” or “Reading

All students” spreadsheets◦ Click on the rows that have the grade level you want in

Column A ◦ Use the grade level and subject area spreadsheet◦ Delete the grade level instead of the subject area◦ Note that Grades 3, 10 & 11 do not have a “Prior Score.” To

delete the blank cells, click on the first blank cell in column E, continue holding down the left mouse button and drag the mouse to the last blank cell in column E. Then left click on the last blank cell and click on “Delete.” Choose “Shift Cells to left” and then “OK”

Directions are on slides 45-47

Completing Grade Level Spreadsheets

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Slide your cursor over the letters that label the columns.

You should see an arrow that looks like this:

Move your cursor to the line on the row of column letters that is at the right side of the column you would like to enlarge. You should see the symbol above. Click on that line, hold down the left mouse button and drag the column to the right until it is the size you want and let go of the mouse button.

Adjusting Column Size

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1. Select one of the grade level spreadsheets2. Click on the arrow that is in the cell

labeled “Achieve Lvl, Does Not Meet, Partially Meets, Exceeds” (Each column has an arrow to allow you to sort the spreadsheets in different ways.)

3. Choose “Sort A to Z” with 4. Click on the first number that has a “D” in

the “Achieve Lvl” column, continue holding down the left mouse button and drag the mouse to the last row that has a “D”

Adding Color to Students’ Data Based on Achievement Level

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Choose the following colors for the following achievement letters:E=BlueM=GreenP=Orange/BrownD=RedNo letter=left in blackThese colors follow the colors MDE uses on their report

cards, except they use yellow for P. After all of the data has been colored, click on the arrow

in the box labeled “Last name” and choose “Sort A to Z” with the ↓. If a window pops up asking if you would like adjacent cells sorted as well choose the option that sorts allows those cells to be sorted also.

Adding Color to Students’ Data Based on Achievement Level Continued

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Open a grade level spreadsheet In column A skip one row after the last student’s

last name and type “AVERAGES” in that cell In that same row, click on the cell that is under

the column you would like to average At the top right of the screen find the Greek

letter Σ Click the arrow next to Σ and choose “Average” Highlight all of the numbers in that row you

want to average Press the “Enter” Key

Finding Averages

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To average another column of numbers on the same spreadsheet

1. Click on the cell that has the average of the numbers you just did

2. Left click on that same cell3. Choose “Copy”4. Click on the empty cell in the row the word

“AVERAGES” appears that is also under the column you want to average

5. Left click on that cell6. Choose “Paste” Continue steps 1-6 until you have averaged all the

columns you wanted to

Finding Averages Continued

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1. Click in the far left portion of cell A1that says “(Insert District’s Name Here)”

2. Type the District’s name3. Highlight (Insert District’s Name

Here) and press the Backspace key Repeat steps 1-3 on each spreadsheet

Inserting District’s Name on Spreadsheets

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1. Click on the number 2, continue holding down the left button on the mouse and drag the mouse down the spreadsheet until you come to the last row that has data (If you averaged columns the “AVERAGES” row will be the last one.) Don’t let go of the button.

2. Continue holding down the left button on the mouse and drag the mouse to the right until reach the cell that has the last data in it and let go of the button

3. At the top of the page in the “Font” section there will be a square that has been divided into 4 parts, click on the arrow next to that square

4. Click on the square that says “All Borders”

Preparing to Print

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The margins and page layout are set to print on 11” X 17” paper.◦ If you need/want to print on a different size paper, Click

on the words “Page Layout” on the top of the screen◦ Click on “Margins” to set the margins◦ Click on “Orientation” to change portrait or landscape◦ Click “Size” to change paper size

You can click on “Print Preview” from the Office button that is in the upper left corner to check for any changes that need to be made before printing

Click on the Office button in the upper left corner and choose “Print”

Preparing to Print Continued

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Share an “Ah-Ha!” and/or “Oh no!” moment you had during this training.

If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact me. My contact information is on the first slide of this presentation and/or you can take my business card with you.

Please complete a survey. Thank you very much for your time!

Closing