Maryland State Department of Education and The Johns Hopkins University Center for Technology in Education

Transcription

1 Maryland State Department of Education and The Johns Hopkins University Center for Technology in Education MD IDEA Scorecard Quick Reference Guide October 2008

2 GETTING STARTED: Overview The MD IDEA Scorecard provides a variety of reports that serve as monitoring tools for the State Performance Plan (SPP) indicators using data from the Special Services Information System (SSIS) and other data collected by the Maryland Division of Accountability and Assessment. The reports will assist local school systems with determining progress toward the SPP targets, evaluating the efforts implemented to improve SPP indicator outcomes, and analyzing data for improvement of student achievement. Once you log in using the User ID and Password assigned by MSDE and CTE, you will be taken to your district s Indicator Portal Page. From this page, you have access to all Scorecard components, which includes selected SPP indicators, and monitoring reports for selected SPP indicators. The MD IDEA Scorecard operates in the Cognos business intelligence framework. It is important for MD IDEA Scorecard users to familiarize themselves with two key Cognos framework items before using the application. Indicators Reports Certain SPP indicators lend themselves to monitoring progress as data is collected throughout an annual SPP reporting period. As SSIS data is collected (as often as nightly for MD Online IEP LSS s) the data available to Indicators Report results for the current school year in MD IDEA Scorecard will build over time. Indicators Reports are available for Part B SPP Indicators 1, 2, 3C, and 5. SPP Metrics Package The SPP Metrics Package runs in Cognos Metric Studio. Each SPP indicator is a Metric. Certain Metrics impact other Metrics (e.g. county level indicators impact the MSDE statewide indicator). Each Metric can be viewed in a Scorecard. A Scorecard displays the measures that are compared to the state target for each indicator. Scorecards for MSDE and for all counties are available to all users. For Part B SPP Indicators 1, 2, 3C, 4, 5, 6, 9, and 10 data displayed in SPP Metric Studio scorecards mirrors the static data available at the MD IDEA Report public SPP website ( The Cognos business intelligence framework makes it easy for users to see at a glance performance on indicator Metrics and trends across annual reporting periods. Page 2 of 15

3 Logging In 1. Internet Explorer (version 6 or higher) is the preferred internet browser for MD IDEA Scorecard. Navigate to Next click on the middle button to access the MD IDEA Scorecard application. 2. The Log on screen at will prompt you for a User ID and Password. 3. Enter your assigned User ID and Password. The password is case sensitive. To complete the login process, click on the OK button or press Enter. INDICATORS PORTAL PAGE: Opening Screen 1. After logging into MD IDEA Scorecard, the Indicators Portal Page tab will appear by default. A user can return to Indicators Portal Page at any time during a session by clicking the ( ) Home button in the upper right hand corner of the page. Page 3 of 15

4 2. Page Layout A. Cognos Viewer - the Cognos Viewer occupies the space in the upper right hand corner of the Indicators Portal Page. a. When a user first logs in, the Cognos Viewer displays a welcome message with embedded page instructions and a link to this user guide. b. The Cognos Viewer is also used to show indicators reports directly in the Indicators Portal Page. Indicators Reports can be launched by clicking on any of the report links at the lower left hand corner of the screen. Report Links Cognos Viewer Note: See INDICATORS REPORT section for running full-screen reports with added functionality. Page 4 of 15

5 B. The SPP Metrics Watchlist appears at the lower right hand corner of the Indicators Portal Page. User selected metric scorecards on SPP indicators are listed for most current school year data available. a. Icons display whether or not a target was met and whether the trend for that scorecard is rising or falling. b. By mousing over an SPP indicator scorecard link the user can see a graphical representation of actual and target values for all available school years. Mouse over Note: See SPP METRIC STUDIO section for detailed information about SPP Metrics Watchlist. C. The SPP Metrics Package link appears below the Maryland flag on the left hand side of the Indicators Portal Page. This link will open the SPP Metrics package in Metric Studio in a new browser window or tab. Note: See SPP METRIC STUDIO section for detailed information about SPP Metrics Package in Metric Studio. D. Indicators Report links appear at the lower left hand corner of the Indicators Portal Page. As previously stated, these links open reports in the Cognos Viewer portion of the Indicators Portal Page. Page 5 of 15

6 E. Folders Tabs a. The Public Folders link at the top of the page will launch the Public Folders tab in Cognos Connection. The Public Folders tab contains a link to the Indicators Report folder where users can view full screen indicators reports with added functionality. Note: See INDICATORS REPORT section for running full-screen reports with added functionality. b. The My Folders link at the top of the page will launch the My Folders tab in Cognos Connection. Advanced users can paste links to frequently used reports in this folder. INDICATORS REPORT: Public Folders > Indicators Report 1. The Public Folders tab contains a link to the Indicators Report folder where users can view full screen reports with added functionality. Page 6 of 15

7 2. The Indicators Report folder contains reports that allow users to monitor progress on selected SPP Indicators. The number of reports available to a user is dependent on his/her level of usership: A. MSDE Level users can run reports at the State, County, or School level. (The screen shot below shows the reports available to an MSDE level user.) B. County Level users can run reports at the County, or School level. County level reports are available only for the county to which the user is assigned. All schools in the user s county are available in School level reports. (The screen shot below shows the reports available to an MSDE level user.) Page 7 of 15

8 3. Running a Report A. Click on a link to any of the Indicators Reports. B. The report s filter screen will appear. Choose a value in each filter and click the Finish button. C. Counts of students matching filter parameters will launch in a full screen report layout. Data hidden for confidentiality. Vertical Scrollbar Page Down link Note: Vertical scrolling and Page Down links may be necessary to view all report results in a browser window. Page 8 of 15

9 3. Printing a Report A. A printer friendly version of report results can be obtained by clicking on Report View icon and choosing View in PDF Format. Report View icon View in PDF Format B. A new window will launch with the printer friendly PDF version of the report. After printing the report click the return ( ) icon in the upper right hand corner of the page. Note: Acrobat Reader must be installed for the View in PDF Format functionality to work. This software can be downloaded for free at 4. Exporting a Report A. Microsoft Excel report exports can be obtained by clicking on Report View icon and choosing View in Exclel Options. Report View icon View in Excel Options B. A new window will launch with the Excel version of the report. After exporting the report click the return ( ) icon in the upper right hand corner of the page. Note: Microsoft Excel must be installed for the View Excel Options functionality to work. Choose the format that most closely matches the computer s version of Microsoft Excel. Page 9 of 15

10 SPP METRIC STUDIO: SPP Metrics Package 1. Navigating to SPP Metric Studio A. The SPP Metrics Package link appears below the Maryland flag on the left hand side of the Indicators Portal Page. This link will open the SPP Metrics package in Metric Studio in a new browser window or tab. B. The Public Folders tab also contains a link to the SPP Metrics Package. This link will open the SPP Metrics package in Metric Studio in a new browser window or tab. 2. Watch List A. Upon opening the SPP Metric Studio the Watch List indicator scorecards view will appear. These are the same Watch List indicators that appear on the Indicators Portal Page. B. Users can add indicators to their Watch Lists by clicking the Add to Watch List button while viewing a Scorecard. Add to Watch List Page 10 of 15

11 3. Scorecards A. Scorecards for MSDE and for all counties are available to all users. For Part B Indicators (1, 2, 3C, 4, 5, 6, 9, and 10), the indicator Metrics that are displayed in SPP Metric Studio scorecards mirror the data available at the MD IDEA Report public SPP website ( B. The Scorecards for MSDE or for any county can be viewed as lists in the Metrics tab by following these steps. 2. Open the MSDE folder tree 3. Click on MSDE or any county to see scorecards in the Metrics tab. 1. Click on Scorecards Page 11 of 15

12 C. Time Period Selector - Most Recent values are shown by default. To see scorecards for previous years follow the steps below. 1. Click on Most Recent Values Choose Year D. Mousing Over Scorecards - By mousing over a scorecard link the user can see a graphical representation of actual and target values for all available school years. Mouse over E. Traffic Sign Column The first column in Metrics tab is filled with icons that let you see at a glance which indicators are met, not met, or are within 10% of the target. a. Green circle ( ) means the indicator met the target by more than 10%. b. Yellow diamond ( ) means the indicator was between 10% above or 10% below the target. c. Red square ( ) means the indicator missed the target by more than 10%. F. Trend Column The second column in the Metrics tab is filled with icons that let you see at a glance which indicators are rising or falling over time. Page 12 of 15

13 a. Green triangle up ( ) means the indicator measure has gotten better over time. b. Gray dash ( ) means that the indicator measure has not changed over time. c. Red triangle down ( ) means the indicator measure has gotten worse over time. G. Actual Column The Actual column is the state or county measure for an indicator in a time period. H. Target Column The Target column is the state target for an indicator in a time period. I. Variance Columns The Variance columns display the difference of the actual measure above or below a target for each indicator. J. Filters and Sorting a. Scorecards can be filtered by choosing the filter dropdown. Only scorecards that match the filter s condition will appear. b. Scorecards can be sorted by clicking column headers. K. Individual Scorecard functions Clicking on the hyperlink to a scorecard allows users to view more details about the indicator. a. History Tab Page 13 of 15

14 b. Diagrams Tab The Functional Impacts view shows how county metrics affect MSDE metrics. c. The All Metrics Summary view shows best and worst metrics and fastest fallers and risers Page 14 of 15

15 4. Metric Types The Metric Types view allows users to view how all counties performed on an indicator. 2. Choose an indicator from the metric types list. 1. Click on Metric types 5. Printer Friendly View Any page in Metric Studio can be printed in a printer friendly view by clicking the ( ) icon at the upper right hand corner of the page. Note: Acrobat Reader must be installed for the View in PDF Format functionality to work. This software can be downloaded for free at Page 15 of 15