Home

MARCS user manual - Minnesota Adult Basic Education

Contents

1. 59 MARCS Entry Exit form back 510 Test score recording 511 Tech Support Mary Zimmerli 877 544 3128 Contents 11 Ww Contents Tech Support Mary Zimmerli 877 544 3128 Getting Started What is MARCS MARCS stands for Minnesota ABE Reporting and There are several uses for the compiled student Collection System It s an online database that info Once a year each ABE program must report collects details about Adult Basic Education ABE student progress to the MDE using built in tables students Version 3 is the current release MARCS has reports to show improvements look The Minn Dept of Education MDE and National at enrollment trends and meet local reporting Reporting System NRS decide what kinds of needs Data can also be exported to Excel to create student data to track custom reports Getting help The Minnesota Literacy Council MLC is the owner of the MARCS software Responsibility Contact info Annual contracts and billing 651 645 2277 or 800 225 7323 Urban Planet Programming and database maintenance Call Mary Z What you need To use MARCS v3 you need at a minimum A PC or Mac with one of the following operating systems Windows XP Service Pack 2 or later Mac OS X version 10 or later The latest version of one of the following PC or Mac web browsers Goo
2. 510 Completing the MARCS Entry Exit Form _____ 557 _____ djay yeu saiouebe pue euoneonpe 5 pue e90 seiouoDe osje Aew 9M pue 9 Sadas ueuinH JO S91e1S 991 pue sgor daq 941 sqof OP peau OYM Ag els 9Jeus M 9Jeus OYM si y MOY pue jonpuoo suodeij oi 11 esn esn peaj UBD asje djay ajqe eq 1ou pue y 101 ejqiDi o ______ 157 SVSVO 00c 0 Sge c Loc 0cc LLco OLc LOC 002 161 061 181 081 0 ONIGV3H dn 9 9 95 02 125 02 115 012 10 002 0 ONIGVAY JOU 9M SIU 9piAOJd JOU 95002 SIU mej jou sey uoneonp3
3. MARCS Tech support Zimmerli 877 544 3128 Classes 25 Addin lass Users must have full login privileges to add classes Add Edit a Class ID 248099 NRS Pre College Transitions Class Title ARCC HPER1103 FastTRAC Mar May14 Zimmerli Mary Setting Two year MnSCU Campus Start Date 3 15 2014 Initiative FastTRAC Y End Date 4 30 2014 CIP Code 51 3902 Class Group optional MnROC ID ABE Basic Skills Bridge Citizenship Hybrid Class Conditional Work Ref Employment Prep ESL Criteria check all that apply If Class is Reading Technology 20 hour MFIP Distance Learning none Choose Program GED Prep Listening Speaking U Math Work Based Project Writing Inst Scheduling Scheduled Y Inst Interaction Group Other Inst Modes check that apply leveled managed enrollment integrated In MARCS go to the Classes tab at top of the screen Click the Add New Class button to see the Add Edit screen 2 Class ID This is a unique number used to identify the class It is assigned by the software when you save the class record 3 Class Title Type the desired class name Refer to Setting Up Classes and Special Class Naming Rules earlier in this section for help Tab to the Instructor field 4 Instructor Click on the Instructor field menu Choose the name of the class teacher If the name does not appear in list ca
4. Page 1 of 1 1 items 1 Step 1 analyze the Mismatch report Check out the Attendance column The date of 5 1 2010 means hours have been entered on the student record for the month of May 2010 May 2010 falls in the 10 11 NRS year In this case any corrections must be made on the student s 10 11 NRS record The Entry and Exit dates show the student enrolled 1n the LW County Jail class between May 1 08 and April 30 10 The hours were recorded 1n May 2010 AFTER the student was exited from the class Father the class exit date is wrong or the hours were not earned 1n May 2010 Step 2 confirm the student s actual attendance You need to know when the student actually started and stopped earning attendance hours in this class The student s entry and exit dates should match his attendance Compare the electronic record with the paper attendance records or contact the teacher for help Your findings will tell you whether you need to edit class enrollment dates or delete move some attendance hours to another month In our example let s say the student did earn hours 1n May 2010 Tables amp Reports 65 Step 3 fix the student entry exit dates and hours The solution for this error is on the student record in the Class History and NRS sections The goal is to adjust the class enrollment so the Attendance month on the Mismatch report May 2010 falls between the Entry and Exit dates Otherwise we can t
5. 4992 ai S o au O o Q Eva H3HlO peoueApy oeJoy 2 3sv p3 oiseg uoneonp3 017 pew 2 1X3 gjeq JOJONASU 5581 S9 oN yiiqesip w 9010 20481 y UL JON 99 1 15 _ yuared pejeoo sig snjejs 49430 pe ojdueu pe ojdu3 jueui ojdu3 jsisse qnd _ eouejsissy ou se MOT WOIU umouyu ___ Jap ____ ou Sn euo diq SH 61 6 2 8 9 G 1527 1527 4 Je jjjejsod euanuooug Apuej pepuenv AJJjededsweu oiped _ Je o du3 UIQ Jojasunoy Jopnusu gy 921105 1514 Jo Kiuno OlUedSIH UOU JO g ueoueuly _
6. sjepunj 19 djay spuni pue 1 1 9AI929J UBD YOIUM SOOIAJ8S INO ULI epioop e uy suosJed Jeujo 191 UBD OS 101 yse 9M 1 yse esoouo pue Siu 9Jeus 1191 Osje 1 Siu ui uonedioraed pue eui esn 119 siu L s1ubly peoueApy YBIH eieipeuuejul GuiuuiDeg BuiuuiDeg 19491 1S4 YBIH eireipeuuejul Supplement 1 MARCS Technical Manual Student Birthdate Class Instr initials NRS approved standardized tests Use scores to set student entry and current levels and verify level changes Record student assessment scores in the chart below Use one row for each test result Suggestions are in italics below each column heading Test Name Test Type Test Date Subject Form CAS
7. You cannot save the entire MARCS database onto an individual computer hard drive or USB drive However you can export all the Dashboard fields and the attendance hours report to Excel They will provide you with a snapshot of your student data that you can save for future reference Tech support Mary Zimmerli 877 544 3128 Troubleshooting Contact Mary Zimmerli 877 544 3128 for help with the following 1ssues Problem Possible Reason Can t log in User name and or password are incorrect The password is case and space sensitive Your login account has been locked This happens after 5 consecutive login attempts with the correct user name but incorrect password The database is offline The MARCS web address was entered in the Google or other search bar rather than the browser URL address line Your local media department updated firewall or browser software The MARCS web address needs to be re added to the exceptions list Dropped connections data Unstable internet connection does not record properly between your computer and the MARCS server Slow database response Heavy internet use within your school district building agency Heavy database use by other MARCS users usually end of year April May You are doing complex searches There s a problem with the MARCS server Improving speed Database speed can be affected by many factors including the computer being used local network
8. 2 Getting Started The software is programmed to automatically log you out after an hour of inactivity During times of heavy database use usually between mid April and the end of May you may be disconnected after less than an hour Unstable local internet connections may also cause the database to close before an hour of inactivity Security An online database gives users access to their ABE records from anywhere with an internet connection While convenient 1t also means you need to be extra careful to protect student data With online access thieves don t need your computer 1n their hands to do their dirty work Besides logging out when you step away from your desk keep your user name and password 1n a secured location out of sight Taping a list of staff logins to the wall next to your computer 1s not a good 14 The page can be removed or copied 1n one swift movement Then the thief simply needs to find any computer with internet access and log in as you or one of your staff It s OK to bookmark the MARCS login screen A username and password are still needed to see student info Backing up data Urban Planet the software programmers have made arrangements to have your data backed up at least daily and more often at the end of the NRS year Multiple copies of your data ensure that your information 1 as secure as possible After 60 days electronic data 1s purged except for the first day of each month
9. Conthdt Info Levels amp Goals Other NRS Last Assessment C Demographics Notes Export to Excel po reset N Field labe Grid displays What it does Reset button Removes any existing field search criteria Click either of the two reset buttons Tabs amp subtabs Organizes data into major sections of related info Click on the desired tab to move to a new screen Allows the user to set preferences for more search Choose Full mode for searches Lite mode for Grid mode ed Capabilities or improved speed performance entering new students and running reports NRS year selector Shows students classes and staff for one NRS year Click the menu button and select desired NRS year Add New button oo to allow the creation of a new Click the button to move to a blank student record Indicates which field is currently being used to arrange student records Sort icon Click on a field label once to sort the contents in Aor V Direction of arrow signifies whether the column ascending order Click again for descending order contents are arranged in ascending A Z or descending Z A order Field Menu icon Shows a list of field entries on at least one record in When available click the field menu icon and select gt the database a list item to search for matching records Click the key icon to see the list of options Select one of the operators Then enter search criteria in the search box
10. Students 43 Before you can enroll a student in a class the class must have been created on the Classes tab Once the class 1 set up and ready to go you can begin entering students Add a new class How to enroll a student in a class See special instructions for how to enroll distance education students 1 On the Students tab go to the Class History section at the bottom of the page Click the Add a New Class button 2 In the form that rolls down go to the Class field Choose the class staff combo from the field menu 3 From the Program field menu choose the appropriate type of instruction the student will receive in the classroom Scroll down the list if necessary Conditional Work Referral students select Conditional Work Referral Work Based Project learners choose Work based Project 4 n the Entry Date field type the date the student first enrolled in or attended the class 5 Skip the Exit Date field for now Click the Save button Special rules distance education The MDE has special guidelines for recording hours for distance learning students Student contact hours must be tracked separately from proxy hours the time students spend working independently Therefore you will add TWO class lines for each distance learning site a student attends The example below shows the class names for i Pathways instruction The class called 1 Pathways is for the contact hours The 1 Pathways Prox
11. used to set an Entry or Current level The MDE requires that students with a level change during the NRS year have a pre test and post test entered on their MARCS record The post test must be from the same test family CASAS TABE etc the same subject and a different test form than the pre test Pre tests The pre test result determines which level you record as the student s Entry level 40 Students For students who continue from one NRS year to the next the last test can serve as the new year s pre test if it s less than 6 months old Confirm this policy with your manager Post tests The post test score will tell you which education level to mark in the Current Level field A student may take several post tests during an NRS year You are required to enter the one test used to prove Current level but may record more than one post test Use the most recent or most favorable score to set the Current level Passing the entire GED series or earning a high school diploma can serve as a post test when ALL of the following conditions are met 1 The student has a standardized test that proves an entry level of ASE High 2 student has a goal of GED or diploma 3 The student has an achievement of GED or diploma marked on his record In this situation mark the current level as ASE High and mark a Level Change of 1 f the student pre tests below the ASE High level he must
12. Contents 1 4 Getting started What IS MARGO 1 1 WAI VOU 1 ae 2 ER 2 sun 2 Backing RU eo 2 Troubleshooting 3 SIC CO 3 2014 Minnesota Literacy Council MLC All data files manuals forms and other documentation remain the sole property of the MLC No part of MARCS may be sold or distributed in any manner without express written permission Contact the MLC Eric Nesheim Executive Director 700 Raymond Ave Suite 180 St Paul MN 55114 651 645 2277 or 800 225 7323 Tech Support Mary Zimmerli 877 544 3128 5 14 Dashboard Se 5 6 NRS Year menu Active in Selected NRS Year checkbox All Classes menu All Instructors menu 6 7 Subtabs Navigation bar Tools and icons CERI GIS PIG 8 9 Summary grid Contact Info grid Classes grid Levels and Goals grid Other NRS grid Last Assessment grid Demographics grid Notes grid Searches lite nnn 10 Searches in full mode eene 10 12 Text and number searches Field menus finding blank fields Finding records that match multiple fields Date searches Selecting SIUOeNIS iuc oath putari 12 SAVING SealcliBS 12 SONG TECOS D 12 CUSIOHT
13. WARNING Staff with add edit privileges can ADD DELETE or ALTER all staff info including assigned usernames and passwords for everyone Tech support Mary Zimmerli 877 544 3128 Adding new staff Create a staff record for teachers who will be assigned to a class and anyone who will be entering or viewing data Users must have full privileges to add new staff Staff ID 30238 How to create a new staff person Last Name Black 1 MARCS go to the Staff tab Click on the Add a New Staff Person button at the FirstName Sally top right of the screen Phone 218 555 3211 2 Last Name Fi rst Na me Phone Email Type the info into the appropriate fields Phone and Email fields are optional 3 Complete the following steps 3a 3d for paid teachers only a Initiative Training If a teacher has been trained in any of the 4 MDE initiatives listed check the appropriate box es Then select the year the training was received Here s a brief description of the goal of each initiative STAR STudent Achievement in Reading provide teachers with tools to improve reading instruction for intermediate level ABE students Training provided by ATLAS MNI Minn Numeracy Initiative support ABE teachers in becoming more effective in math instruction Training provided by ATLAS Project IDEAL Improving Distance Education for Adult Learners coach distance learning teachers in best practices for st
14. ABE teacher credentials Experience number of years of ABE teaching experience the teacher has Classes the number of classes if any to which the staff person has been assigned as an instructor This number is not NRS year specific Status remains blank unless a user is locked out due to five consecutive failed login attempts Last login the date on which the staff person last signed 1n to the MARCS database Notice the absence of a Password field This 1 an intentional security measure to prevent someone from looking over your shoulder to view the username password combos Searches and sorts The search boxes below the field labels can be used to find staff records that match your search criteria To see all staff records again click the reset button It 15 also possible to sort staff records based on the content of any visible field To rearrange the records click the desired field label once for regular order or twice for reverse order Add a new staff person edit 30378 White Darla edit 30238 Black Sally sblack Staff edit 30823 Blue pedit 30722 Brown Edna 11 16 2008 Harman Tech support Mary Zimmerli 877 544 3128 218 555 3211 blackcat tds net 218 555 2740 nblue amp comcast com 218 555 2048 ilovebrowniesimsn com K 12 License K 12 License K 12 License More than three years More than three years Les
15. Aaron has 2 5 hours recorded for the month of August However he shouldn t have any hours for August Whoops 09 Jun Jul Aug 90531 Aardvark Aaron 25 You cannot simply highlight the 2 5 hours and delete them leaving a blank for the month of August If you move to another page the database the software will assume you had an incomplete thought and will revert the August hours back to 2 5 The software will accept another number in place of the 2 5 hours In this case the other number 13 a zero How to REMOVE monthly hours 1 On the Classes tab Attendance screen locate the name of the student with the incorrect hours 2 Follow the student row across to the right until you see the box with incorrect hours 3 Highlight the incorrect number and type a zero 0 in its place 09 Jun Jul Aug 90531 Aardvark Aaron 0 MARCS Tech support Mary Zimmerli 877 544 3128 Students The Students tab shows both NRS year specific data and overall history for each student Each learner will have ONE record in your MARCS database for their entire lifespan as an ABE student This includes people who enter and exit during the same NRS year continue from one NRS year to the next or disappear for a couple of years before returning to a class The student record 18 divided into four major sections long term details NRS year specific fields assessments and class e
16. Functioning Level mx mm mx mx Table 10 Table 10 1s Table 5 for participants 1n Correctional Facility classes Table 10 Outcomes for Adults in Correctional Facility Programs NRS Year 2012 2013 A Qutcome measure B of C of D of 8 survey of part Percent this included in responding to response rate achieving achieving goal marked Survey Survey outcome outcome Completed an Educational Functioning Level HS diploma 79 17 96 Obtained GED 96 96 61 82 96 Entered post sec educ training i 93 33 Tables 8 9 and 10 exclude Conditional Work Referral and Work based Project learners Tech support Mary Zimmerli 877 544 3128 Tables amp Reports D Table 11 Table 11 Secondary Outcome Measures NRS Year 2012 2013 A Qutcame measure B of part C of part D Percent this goal achieving achieving marked outcome outcome Complete MDE spreadsheets with items in THIS section Reduced left public assistance Obtain Citizenship Skills Increased Involvement in children s education of part of part D Percent this goal achieving achieving marked outcome outcome Items in this Basic computer related skills section are for local program use only Entered employment Entered post sec educ training Improve Basic Literacy Skills Improve English Language Skills Obtained GED HS diploma Other Personal Goals Vocational
17. Indian or Alaskan Native Table 3 Participants by Program Type and Age NRS Year 2012 2013 Tables 1 3 exclude Conditional Work Referral and Work based Project learners Tech support Mary Zimmerli 877 544 3128 Tables amp Reports 58 Table 4 4b 4c 4 Corrections Table 4b shows Table 4 participants who have been both pre and post tested in the selected NRS year Table 4c shows participants with 50 or more hours in Distance Education classes Table 4 Corrections shows participants in correctional facility classes Column programming notes Column D participants with 1 or more level changes Column participants with 1 level change and active in at least one class OR students with 2 level changes This column 18 a subset of Col D 1t shows which students stayed 1n the program after completing their initial entry level Column F participants with 0 level changes who have exited all classes They ve left the building Column participants with 0 level changes who are still actively working 1n their initial entry level At the end of the NRS year Columns D F Column B Table 4 Col D lt Table 4b Col B Table 4 Col D including ASE High Table 4b Col D Table 4 Col E total Table 4b Col E Table 4 Educational Gains amp Attendance by Educational Functioning Level NRS Year 2012 2013 Entry Educational Func Level Completed Completed Humber Entry Level and Separat
18. The choices are the same in all three goal fields Each student must have at least one goal assigned Core goals are goals with special distinction They are tracked closely on the annual tables Core goals are GED certificate high school diploma obtain a job retain current job and enroll in post secondary education or job training Do not mark a goal especially a core goal unless it is reasonably attainable during the current NRS year The amount of time left in the NRS year will determine whether some goals should be marked or not Goal 1 2 3 MET Check the box at the end of the line when the student meets the goal Set goal s here T Mark Met goal s here My 7 Gy ny My SS gt L7 y Goall Obtain Citizenship Skills Goal2 Improve Basic Literacy Skills a Goal Met Goals Tech support Mary Zimmerli 877 544 3128 Marking other outcomes The Achievements amp Follow up screen is available by clicking the Edit button wz Achievements amp follow up edit Pears Budgeting Reduced left public assistance Increased community involvement M Wrote resume incr job search ski Vocational evaluation Registered Voted first time Participated in school activities Basic computer related skills Increased life skills 7 Entered military Date student obtained job 1 18 2009 y Follow up
19. Class Group menu after you click the Save button to create the new class 4 Click the Save button How to change or remove a class group 1 Select the Classes tab Click on the Edit button in the row of the class name you want to change 2 In the Add Edit form click the Class Group field menu 3 Choose the desired group name from the list To remove all class groups select the blank line at the top of the list 4 Click the Save button 28 Classes Replace a class instructor While a class may run for a long time the teacher assigned to the class may change more often There are two options for dealing with an instructor who has been assigned to teach an existing class 1 replace the teacher name assigned to an existing class or 2 add a new class with the new instructor name Replacing the teacher name for an existing class 15 by far the easiest way to change instructors It will 1nstantly update the records of all students enrolled 1n the class since the class began Example Jane taught the class named Adams GED from 5 1 11 until 10 15 11 Joe was then hired to replace her The class record for Adams was updated to show Joe as the instructor After the change all students enrolled 1n the Adams GED class from May 1 2008 onward show Joe as the instructor even though he didn t start teaching until Oct 2011 There will be no evidence that Jane was ever the instructor of the Adams GED class i
20. Excel button does not appear 1n lite mode Fields that appear on any of the grid displays will appear on the spreadsheet The one exception 1s the Social Security number it will not be exported to Excel Only the data for the students 1 the found set will be exported If you have no found set all the records visible on the Dashboard will be exported After the data is copied into an Excel spreadsheet you may delete columns create totals columns and manipulate the data as you would in any spreadsheet file Changing data in the spreadsheet will not affect the MARCS database How to export a found set of records to Excel 1 On the Dashboard find the group of records you want to export 2 Click the Export to Excel button 3 A dialogue box will appear asking whether you want to open or save the file The dialogue box may not look exactly like the one pictured below Do you want to open or save Sandbox 3 19 2013 xls from marcs mnabe org If you re just taking a quick look click Open If you re going to download the file to your computer and make changes to the data or print it out click Save The next dialogue box will allow you to name the file and choose where it will be stored on your hard drive 4 Excel will launch the file How to export all records in the current year 1 On the Dashboard click the reset button 2 Check Active in Selected NRS Year 3 Click the Export to Excel button
21. Fiald label Identifies the information in each column Click the desired field label to sort column contents Allows user to rearrange sort records in alphabetical or numerical order n label with asterisk Indicates that the field has further details about the Mouse over the text and pause to see the floating field name or calculation definition Search box Allows user to type in search criteria ss j find matching records Grid displays LESSONS Cie select the radio button in front of the desired grid Tech support Mary Zimmerli 877 544 5128 Dashboard 7 Icon Shows a list of comparison operators begins with contains greater than etc In Dashboard Full mode the grid display appears at the bottom of the screen The purpose of the erids is to show field entries on student records in the database There are many more fields than can ht on a single page The grid displays put related fields together on one of eight screens Click the radio button front of each grid name to move to another grid Summary grid This grid shows the most frequently used fields They include ID a computer generated number given to each student when their record is created Also known as a Student ID number Last the student last name First the student first name and middle initial the gender of the student e the age at entry for new students For students cr
22. In the dialogue box that appears click Open or Save 4 Excel will launch the file Dashboard 13 14 Dashboard Tech support Mary Zimmerli 877 544 3128 Staff The Staff tab describes people who work for your ABE program This includes teachers intake and data entry staff program managers and others who may need to view student information The MARCS Staff tab has two parts The main screen shows a summary of employee names contact info and database privileges The Add Edit screen 15 where you type in the staff details Names that appear on the Staff tab are not limited by NRS year Therefore names of staff who are not currently teaching may still be listed That s OK Main screen fields Many fields on the main screen are self explanatory but some are a little less obvious Staff ID a unique number assigned by the software when the record for each staff person is created The Staff ID number 1s different than the Student ID and Class ID numbers Username an identifying name of a staff person given access to the MARCS database The username 15 not private e Role the privileges granted to the staff person Options are none blank view only attendance only and staff full add edit privileges e Start the first date a teacher worked as a paid ABE instructor for your consortium End the last date a teacher worked as a paid ABE instructor for your consortium Certificate
23. MARCS users who are like you trying to clean up their data to run the NRS tables Take deep breaths and remain calm If you notice the database speed 1s slower when performing certain tasks like moving between screens adding new classes or assessments searching 1n full mode etc contact Mary Z at 877 544 3128 There may be something Urban Planet can do about it Getting Started 3 Getting Started Tech support Mary Zimmerli 877 544 3128 Dashboard The MARCS Dashboard tab is like the dashboard in a car Both have indicators that allow you to monitor how well things are running The purpose of the Dashboard is to give an overall picture of students enrolled in a selected program year also known as the NRS year It is generally the first screen visible after logging in The Dashboard has searchable fields and tools that allow you to find student records that match your search criteria Some menus and icons shown in the Dashboard Navigation section of this manual are also available on the Students Classes and Staff tabs Another feature of the Dashboard 1s the ability to switch between Full and Lite modes Full mode allows more search capabilities while Lite mode offers faster database speed From the Dashboard you can run and print NRS tables and program managements reports for groups of students You can also export fields to an Excel spreadsheet MA RCS Dashboard Students Classes Controls The Dashboard
24. The annual forms used to submit the NRS data do not allow for counts of missing data so it s best to fill in all the holes before running the reports While the reports are designed to be used at the end of the NRS year it s a good idea to run this report periodically to help you spot any data oversights or collection processes that need improvement In the example below every red MISSING needs to be replaced with actual data You ll also notice that the birthdate for one student shows lt 16 This is a flag that there s something wrong with the date entered in the student s birthdate field Depending on the Display Type you select a separate page will print for each class or teacher Display Type Class instructor student name gt View Report i4 4 9 of 10 b bi Find Next bi M GA Missing Demographic Level Data Sandbox NRS Year 2012 2013 Name Birthdate Area Gender Ethnici Pub Asst Employment Last Grade LG src ENTRY Level CURRENT Level Level Change Tree City ABE Black 9 12 19617 Black nonHisp other Unemployed diploma Non US Basic Lit ASE Low ASE High ESL Intermediate Darby Mercedes 19628 1 2 1939 Hispanic Latino none Unemployed 1 5 Non US English Lang Low MISSING MISSING 9 12 no Perez Ricardo K 155089 5 8 1989 M Hispanic Latino none Employed diploma Non US MISSING ESL Beginning Low ESL Beginning High 1 Tucker Crystal E 19650 4 30 1989 F Nat amp mer A
25. above for the entire ABE program rather than individual classes or instructors Student Completions and Post test rates Table 4 for students with a pre test Also shows NRS level target and number of students needed to change a level to meet the target Student Required Data Shows active students in the database so teacher can confirm that the electronic database reflects current class enrollment This serves as a prompt to exit students who are no longer attending Teachers can provide monthly attendance hours for each student Teachers write in missing data and return the page s to the data person The data staff update the students electronic records Students Missing NRS Data designed to flag incomplete NRS table details identified by the word missing on the report This report is not sent out to teachers it s an internal tool for the data person to show student records with errors Missing Class Hours Data flags students whose class entry date doesn t match monthly attendance e g a student with a 7 15 11 entry date but no attendance hours until Nov The report also shows the word missing if any class details are absent Class and Attendance Date Mismatches show students with hours entered on their record but attendance hours were recorded in months outside the student s class entry exit dates OR the class was closed during the months when attendance hours were recorded for the student Additional
26. appears at the bottom of the Dashboard screen below the list of student names If no search criteria appears all records are available and there 1 no found set Clicking the reset button will automatically return you to the Summary grid 10 Dashboard search box example find records with last names that BEGIN WITH You can search for the student last name on any grid that shows the Last field In this example we ll use the Last field on the Summary grid 1 At the bottom of the Dashboard tab click the radio button in front of the Summary grid 2 In the Last field search box the white box below the name of the field type the letters without quotation marks The search is not case sensitive so you don t need an uppercase m 3 An icon will appear in the middle of the screen as the software retrieves the matching records The found set will contain all the student names in your database if any that begin with ma lt Key icon find last names that CONTAIN 1 Reset the search criteria Begins with Ends with 2 On the Last field label choose the key icon From the menu select Contains 3 In the Last field search box type the letters Equals The found set will show records that have the letters ma anywhere in the student last name Martin Newman and Romano are possibilities All of the key icon comparison operators can be u
27. approved core academic skill area age 16 and older not enrolled in K 12 referred in writing for one of the skill areas at left Referral must be made by MDE approved staff representing a workforce education center workforce investment board or MFIP providing agency Referrals from post secondary or training institutions are NOT accepted e cannot work on core content skills age 16 and older not enrolled in K 12 table continued on next page STAR reading MN Numeracy Initiative e EL Civics Family Literacy National Work Readiness Certificate NWRC Career Readiness Certificate Workplace Literacy Distance Learning 14 approved curricula Blandin digital literacy MIRC when the adult learner is also working on core content Blandin digital literacy MIRC when the adult learner has an immediate employment goal and has received an approved written referral Curriculum must be developed before course starts Tech support Mary Zimmerli 877 544 3128 Putting it all together the student record Goals and outcomes Setting Levels Level change Class program type Goals Students must have at least one goal Record goals in sequential order Goals must be appropriate for level at which student is working Must be attainable in remainder of the current NRS year Outcomes Mark all that apply Mark
28. at the top of the shaded NRS year box Entry the education level at which the student is working at the beginning of the NRS year For academic students the level must be confirmed by a state approved ABE assessment Curr current the level at which a student 1s working after post testing or the end of the NRS year whichever comes first LC level change also known as gain Level changes are determined by comparing entry and current levels and coming up with number of levels changed Work based Project and Conditional Work Referral learners cannot change a level NRSmisc this optional field can contain local data that 1s valid for this NRS year only An example would be materials fee paid Field is limited to 30 characters NRS Comment another optional field for this NRS year only Click the Edit button to add notes Field 1s limited to 200 characters Age the student s age at entry for new students and age on May 1 of the currently selected NRS year for carryovers This 1s the age that will be used on the NRS tables It may not match the student s Age field 1n the long term data section Pre pre test a yes means the student has at least one standardized test recorded 1n the Assessments section The test may have been given in a prior NRS year Post post test shows a yes when a test recorded in the Assessments section meets one of these criteria the Type field equals po
29. cens ATE B 2010 Headers a 2011 e Exit the date the student exited a class May June July August September January February March April Citizenship AM Entry Level the student s entry level at the Citizenship PM beginning of the NRS year e Program the item selected for each class in the Class History section of the Students tab To add move or remove a field from the body of the report 1 Choose a field from the bullpen to add 2 Left click and drag the field down to the left or right of the first header Release the mouse button when the two white arrows appear The example at right shows the Student field being dragged from the bullpen to the right of the Class Title header Q Min ClassTitle Student 3 Check the report body to see if the column appears where you want it In our example placing the Student field to the LEFT of the Class Title field would change how the information appears on the report body 4 To move the placed field to a different position in the headers drag the field until the white arrows appear then release 5 To remove a field from the headers and thus the body of the report drag the field back into the bullpen next to an existing field Release the button when the white arrows appear You can also use the field menus to limit info that appears 1 the report If a box 18 checked the information for that field will show up in the report If th
30. change or 1n some cases even see the class line in the NRS section For this example temporarily change the Exit date for the LW County Jail class so it occurs in the Attendance month 5 30 2010 1s a good choice Once the Exit date has been adqusted the name of the class and the already entered attendance hours appear in the NRS section Any gray boxes with monthly hours are now editable white boxes f the attendance hours are entered in the correct month which 1s true 1n this example leave the class Exit date of 5 30 10 f hours need to be deleted or moved replace the hours with zeros not blanks Change the Exit date to the month the student last attended It might be 1n a prior NRS year When you rerun the Mismatch report this row will no longer appear The hidden hours have been exposed Example error on the CLASS record Attendance Hours and Class Entry Exit Mismatch Last ID Class Attendance v Y v Kingbird Larry 131320 Grovers ABE 1 247246 85 1 2010 5 1 2010 Page 1 of 1 1 items 1 Step 1 analyze the Mismatch report At first glance it doesn t look like this student should appear on the Mismatch report at all His Attendance date of 5 1 2010 means he has attendance hours 1n May 2010 This matches his Entry Date of 5 1 2010 The dates look right Step 2 inspect the student record A look at the student s 10 11 NRS record shows som
31. codes visit the MN Office of Higher Ed website httoj inyur com CIPCodes For bridge programming use the CIP code for the post secondary course the instruction is preparing the student for 14 MnROC Minn Repository of Coursework ID Identifying number for free online coursework submitted by ABE and WorkForce Centers Not required at this time 15 Criteria Check all skill areas taught in the class 16 Instructional Scheduling Choose the primary structure of the class Drop in teacher is available during a scheduled period of time and provides individual instruction to students who arrive and leave when they choose Scheduled all students attend during the same fixed time Proxy learner is working independently using approved distance learning curriculum 17 Instructional Interaction Choose the primary format for sharing content with students Individual students receive instruction one to one with the teacher Group students receive class based instruction for more than one student at a time Computer based students receive instruction electronically 18 Other Instructional Modes Mark all that apply e Leveled students placed in class based on entry education levels grade levels etc Managed Enrollment programming that has all of the following characteristics regularly scheduled class days and times planned student entry dates and enforced regular attendance Integra
32. contact Made True Follow up attempted Edit achievements incidental outcomes earned by the student Claim these achievements by selecting the edit button below Goals 1 2 3 fields Mark all checkboxes that apply The outcomes for Goals 1 2 3 SET do not appear 1n the list of incidental achievements Use the Goals 1 2 3 MET boxes to mark those Any incidental achievements will appear on the student record screen below the Achievements amp Followup line Date student obtained job complete this box for learners with a core goal of obtain job It may also be marked for other learners Follow up attempted contact made Your consortium must make contact with at least 70 of students with a high school diploma goal Attempted You tried to reach the student to check on his progress toward his diploma goal The attempt might be a conversation with the student his teacher counselor etc Contact made You actually get in touch with the student or someone who can provide you with goal related details It doesn t matter if the student achieved the goal or not Mark the Follow up Contact Made box if 1t applies Tech support Mary Zimmerli 877 544 3128 Attendance is covered in a section of its own later in this chapter Editing NRS info For the most part NRS data will remain the same all year long Fields in this section are designed to show a snapshot of the student when the
33. for help Then you ll know whether to edit class Start End dates or delete move some student attendance hours to another month Let s say the class Grovers ABE 1 ran until 9 24 10 and the student earned hours that month Step 5 edit the Class Start End dates Now that we know the class really extended 1nto we just need to make a small adjustment Edit the Grovers ABE 1 row so the Class End date is 5 24 10 The software will automatically change the May attendance gray box to an editable white box for all students actively enrolled in the class Rerun the Mismatch report This student row will no longer appear You might also discover that this one change fixed a bunch of records for other students who had May 2010 attendance hours in this class If all else fails call Mary Z at 877 544 3128 and we ll work together to solve your mystery situation Tech support Mary Zimmerli 877 544 3128 GED Testing Summary The GED Testing Summary report shows students who have an official GED 2002 or 2014 test recorded in It show results from any search criteria on the Dashboard when the report 1 run The report does not automatically exclude students whose GED goal was marked as met or those who are no longer enrolled in a class To find students from a single NRS year who have taken an official GED test On the Dashboard select the desired NRS year Make sure the Active in Selected NRS year is CHECKED Run t
34. have a post test that shows that he actually scored in the ASE High range GED Official Scores Each GED subject area will have its own line in the Assessments section Some consortia have a formal agreement with a local GED testing center to request hours reimbursement from the MDE Without that agreement you should not show a number in the GED Hours field for any GED official tests When all of the following criteria are met the GED Hours field will show reimbursable GED hours earned 1 the selected NRS year 1 The Type field Official GED 2 The Subject field shows a GED subject language arts math science social studies The test date is during the selected NRS year 4 GED Location field 15 not blank 5 The Score field 1s greater than O Tech support Mary Zimmerli 877 544 3128 record GED official test results on the student record without filling the GED Hours field leave the GED Location field blank or put a zero in the Score field If a student retakes an Official GED test you may either overtype the existing test info or add a new assessment line with the new test details A maximum of 7 5 reimbursable GED hours may be claimed for each student Editing and deleting assessments Assessments can be changed by clicking the Edit button at the beginning of each assessment row Be sure to click the Save button the form that rolls down to lock 1n your changes DO NOT cha
35. not relevant when analyzing student enrollment counts Like the Attendance Hours Pivot Grid you can drag and drop fields to customize the report Attendance count pivot table for the selected students Staff Entry Exit Entry Level counts Year A Month A j 5 2010 3 2011 ClassTitle A Student Grand Total June July August September January February March April Citizenship PM Leong Donald 131306 1 1 Anderson Kevin 101210 Bradford Sonya L 19620 E ESL Eve Leong Donald 131306 E Fam Lit Young Cecily I 138747 Grand Total E Cog Skills Site Instructor Level Changes This report shows student test rates and level completions for classes or instructors The gray report toolbar contains two field menus you can adjust as you choose Click the View Report button 1f you make any changes so the report is updated to your selection As the report below is set up each class starts on a new page This is page 1 of 8 Export the reports as a pdf Word or Excel file Open the exported file and print as many pages as desired Participants Enrollees Participants 12 or more hours Display Type View Report 4 4 1 os b pi a 100 M Find Next ib Site Instructor Level Changes Sandbox NRS Year 2010 2011 y Number Number Percent w wi12 Avg Hrs of wipretest w posttest pre hours instruction 5 5 posttests ABE Beginning Literacy EI ESL Advanced Leong Donald 131306
36. oiuedsi uou eyuM ueyse y ueoueuy _ Jepuejs _ ueIsy gen ounej ouedsiH gyewe4 Jopuet hip SseJppy s iequnN 5 1510 4527 juepnis KoeAug spuejsJepun peal seu juapnis 1 1 enjeubis juei 59 MARCS Entry Exit Form ing t Complet MARCS Technical Manual Supplement 1 SiuBiu KoeAug 9590 5 pue peas seu jeu ajeoaipul uuoj ejua y JO JUO eui JSNW juopnis 223 0jonujsu 5 e yse woy 14 5 op SN 19 SMEJ pue e deoy ureJ604d y JOLY 3y 4 pue 9M Jequunu SIU Jo esn y JOY JO pue 1oy Kjunoes JOU op LIDOS 9 209 909 227 oLV 6EV 8 r 8Lv 217 107 00t 0 5 LS38 1538 9 seg 769 999 999 909 009 le 15 0 HLVNW IVLOL 01 6 38V L dn 9 986 989 099 699 29 669 167 06v E6 262 0
37. same NRS year Re entry in a later NRS year Deleting 47 Tech Support Mary Zimmerli 877 544 3128 49 68 Tables amp Reports Tables vs 49 Features 49 50 Toolbars Show student names Exporting reports to view edit save and print 50 51 Editing exported reports Opening and saving reports Printing NRS Table Screenshots 52 58 Table A Tables 1 15 Report 59 67 Assessment List Attendance Hours Pivot Grid Attendance Counts Pivot Grid Site Instructor Level Changes Site Instructor Level Changes Master List Student Required Data Students Missing NRS Data Missing Class Hours Data Student Completions and Post tests NRS Participants without Level Gains Class and Attendance Date Mismatches GED Testing Summary 69 73 Appendix MDE Data Management Tips 70 73 Worksheet 1 Looking at Data Procedures Worksheet 2 Recommended Data Checkups Worksheet 3 Calculating Program Statistics 51 511 Supplement Staff directions for completing entry exit forms The MARCS 51 Entering 5 52 56 s D o 3 T 56 58 MARCS Entry Exit form front
38. the sheet so the students electronic records can be updated Depending on the Display Type you select a separate page will print for each class or teacher Display Type Controls how info appears on the report 16 6 1 5 b bi e 10096 Y Find Next v Student Requ red Data Active Students Sandbox NRS Year 2070 2011 May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Apr Complete highlighted spaces and report student attendance hours If a student is not listed write the student name site and hours below attach another sheet if needed and send in an Entry Exit form Thanks Birthdate Sex Ethnici Pub Asst Employment Goals 1 2 3 ENTRY Level CURRENT Level ESL Eve Black Garcia Salas Rafael J 3 18 1982 M Hispanic mpr English ASE Low ASE Low ____ Mendez 3 14 1985 Hispanic GED ESL BegLow ESL BegHigh Salas Garcia Rafael J 3 18 1982 M Hispanic MFIP Not seeking Impr English Cit Skills ASE Low 62 Tables amp Reports Tech support Mary Zimmerli 877 544 3128 Students Missing NRS Data This report shows all students in the selected NRS year whose records are missing details needed for the annual NRS tables OK technically the Current Level field is not used for the NRS tables It is however used to set the Entry Level for the next year s electronic MARCS record It makes sense to complete this field at the same time you re collecting all the other end of year data
39. to be recalled no job seeking activity required Not in the labor force People who do not meet the definitions of employed or unemployed SP single parent learner has sole custodial support of one or more dependent children DH displaced homemaker a person who is unemployed underemployed was dependent on the income of another family member but 18 longer supported by that income DW dislocated worker learner has received a notice of pending or actual layoff This does not include people who have been fired from a job Dis adult w disability learner has a physical mental or learning disability that limits one or more major life activities such as walking seeing hearing speaking learning and working Includes adults who are chemically dependent LD learning disabled if applicable this box is marked in addition to the Adult with Disability box 38 Students Goals in order of MDE NRS priority In the eyes of the state and federal ABE agencies some student goals and outcomes are more desirable They are in order of preference 1 Academic level changes 2 Core goals attainment for all students and those in Family Literacy Workplace Literacy and Correctional Facility programs Work based project Conditional Work Referral and other supplementary life skills completion Marking main student goals and outcomes Goal 1 2 3 SET Select an item from the menu to set the goal
40. who want a better job with the same or different employer Basic literacy skills student is working on an academic skill area Also includes supplementary skills such as family literacy study skills problem solving etc English Language non native English speakers ONLY learner will improve English skills in speaking listening reading and writing Citizenship skills non native English speakers ONLY student will obtain skills to pass the U S Citizenship test Workbased Project a 12 30 hour course designed to teach specific workplace skills Conditional Work Referral student is referred in writing for basic technology job seeking or soft skills instruction MDE approved referrals may come from Workforce Center WIA or MFIP counselors These students are NOT working on academics They can earn no more than 30 hours of this kind of instruction in each NRS year Help w child s education student will take a more active role in the education of dependent children Includes attending school activities and meetings and volunteering for school projects Help w child s literacy learner will be more involved in the literacy related activities of dependent children under his or her care Examples read to child or visit library with child Other personal goal specify another goal with a clearly definable outcome Type of Instruction Learner Goal Entry Level Academic Basic reading writing math
41. year SSN shows a y when 9 digit social security number appears on the student record Create date on which the record was added to the database Closed date the student exited the last class in which he was active Dashboard 9 Searches in lite mode Lite mode does not show the searchable grids Fields in lite mode are student ID last first MI gender age ethnicity public assistance entry level current level ga1n miscellaneous and hours search box appears Student List Charts at the top of the screen When you type search criteria 1n the box and click the search button the software will look for matches in the Student ID Last and Misc fields Other fields on the lite Dashboard are not searchable The matching records are called the found set If only one record matches you are redirected to the student record If more than one record matches a list of names will appear on the Dashboard If no records match a message will appear Searches in full mode fields that appear on a grid are searchable but may have different menus and tools In full mode single matches are not redirected to the individual student record Text and Number Searches Find records with matching text or numbers by typing search criteria directly into a search box using an operator found under the key 1con selecting from a field menu The current search criteria 1f any
42. your ABE program sent to the state If you discover a significant error in the number of hours your ABE program reported to the MDE contact the MDE for further guidance You can revise the monthly attendance hours for the current NRS year until your program completes and submits the annual NRS tables Hours corrections may be made on the Students tab gt NRS Year Attendance grid or on the Classes tab gt class attendance screen The following directions describe how to change the hours using the whole class attendance screen There are two ways to edit hours by replacing an existing number with a correct figure or by completely removing the monthly hours Replace student hours In this situation you want to substitute an incorrect number of hours with a different number For example Genvieve s student record shows 27 hours for the month of August The correct number of hours should be 37 92 Classes How to REPLACE student hours with another number 1 On the Classes tab Attendance screen locate the name of the student that has the incorrect hours 2 Follow the student row across to the right until you see the box with incorrect hours 3 Highlight the incorrect number and type the correct number in its place 09 Jun Jul Aug 71206 Arceneau Genvieve M Hemove student hours Sometimes you may need to completely clear away hours that appear on a student record In this next scenario
43. 013 420 06951 Storms Seth 1 30 2014 85 185 05783 Zimmerii Mary 3 6 2014 5 5 600 Export to Excel Tech support Mary Zimmerli 877 544 3128 Tables amp Reports 67 68 Tables amp Reports Tech support Mary Zimmerli 877 544 3128 Appendix MDE Data Management Tips 70 75 Worksheet 1 Looking at Data Procedures Worksheet 2 Recommended Data Checkups Worksheet 3 Calculating Program Statistics Tech support Mary Zimmerli 877 544 3128 Appendix 69 Data Management Tips The process of collecting and extracting student data can be a bit overwhelming Brad Hasskamp MDE has put together the following worksheets and guidelines to help clarity current data collection procedures problem areas and possible solutions a timeline for running regular data checkups and which staff are responsible e how to find and calculate common ABE benchmarks Worksheet 1 Looking at data procedures 1 Write your current procedures for each task Include what paperwork is involved how the paperwork is completed how the paperwork gets to data entry staff and how when the data gets entered 2 Circle potential issues or problems with the procedures 3 Brainstorm solutions to overcome the potential issues or problems Task Current Procedures Brainstorm Solutions Student Intake Testing pre and post testing 70 Appendix Tech support Zimmerli 877 544 3128 Tas
44. 1 AYUNWWOD yoM _ 15 diusuezni 511 usipDu3 __ oeJey 21529 _ ejep qof _ qof 2 0 _ 00425 94294499 939 ed sjeob 9109 Adde yeu je 5 2 eouelog 21206 219 5 32elqns jeuosjed _ puo jel ojg peseqyioM _ 1193 diusuezu 9019951504 4528 Kenins In 3g v JOM X SAS SYSVO WEN 159 4 uzay _ qof UOIJE207 1S9 9124 1591 spiiuo w __ 00425 AoeJeyorseg 039 _ adA ui 2105 puli eui JO pue puooes y 10 Z 206 15 4 OU JO MoJeq y siu Jo JepureuJeJ eu ajqeureye eq 1 sjeoy 0 dn pue sea Je yen 1 0 1 ix3 A11u3 SYYN ejoseuui W PLO O p nb SYN JON Jee Aled
45. 2 n the form that appears replace the PASSWORD by clicking in the blank field and entering a new password Passwords must have at least 6 characters 3 Click the Save button in the Edit box 4 Notify the staff person of the new password WARNING Always remove staff login privileges as soon as they leave your ABE program 18 Staff Reset locked out logins After 5 consecutive login attempts with the wrong password the login will be disabled If this happens the Status column on the main screen will show Locked Out 31645 Cerise The user will remain locked out until the login 15 reset by someone with full database privileges How to reset a locked out login 1 Log into the database with a full access password and go to the Staff tab 2 Locate the staff row with Locked Out status Click the Edit button to the left of the staff person s name 3 In the form that appears click the box in the MARCS Login section that reads Remove this Login Click the Save button to close the Add Edit screen 4 Click the edit button in front of the same staff name In the login section type in a user name password and role Click the Save button Remove staff logins When employees with database access are no longer working with your ABE program remove their login privileges immediately Then create a NEW login for the new data person How to remove staff logins 1 Log into the databas
46. 3128 4 30 2020 4 30 2020 4 30 2020 e Hy brid a y means the class combines distance learning and regular instruction DL the name of the distance learning curriculum being used in the class 1f any Size the number of students enrolled in the class during the currently selected NRS year Hours the number of student attendance hours earned during the currently selected NRS year Controls When the Active in Selected NRS Year box is checked you will see classes open to students during the selected NRS year When the box is UNchecked you will see all classes since the database was created as far back as the 08 09 NRS year Searches and sorts The search boxes below the class field labels can be used to find classes that meet your criteria Sort the columns in alphabetical or numerical order by clicking 1n the desired field label Logout Sandbox 2011 2012 Add a new class attendance attendance attendance Classes tab main screen Classes 21 22 Setting up classes When setting up classes a little forethought will make a lot of difference A good plan will allow you to identify groups of students by class name create program management reports and streamline data entry tasks All classes must have a name start and end dates a teacher and other class profile details Consider class lengths Classes can be long or short term Long term classes are the mos
47. AS Beginning Literacy language 27 28 CASAS life amp work Appraisal listening 81 84 981L 986L CASAS life skills Pre test math 31 38 505 506 TABE 9 and 10 full survey Post test reading L E M D BEST Plus speaking A B C GED Practice Tests DO use practice test scores for setting student entry and current levels or verifying level changes Record GED practice test scores in the chart below Form Score ___ Score 71 Score ___ Score 71 Score pae _ Form7 Score Score EAR Form 500 3 MARCS Technical Manual Supplement 1 Completing the MARCS Entry Exit Form 511
48. GED high school diploma post secondary prep etc ABE ASE or ESL level based on lowest pre test score in the subject area being taught NRS approved CASAS TABE BEST Plus Workbased Project Based on curriculum content no 12 30 hour course designed to teach specific workplace skills standardized testing required Conditional Work Referral Based on curriculum content no Basic technology skills job seeking skills and soft skills necessary for work standardized testing required How goals pre tests and entry levels are tied together MARCS Technical Manual Supplement 1 Completing the MARCS Entry Exit Form S5 Pre tests For academic students Pre tests show the level the student 15 working at when s he enters ABE NRS and MDE approved tests for setting entry levels are CASAS TABE and BEST Plus GED practice tests may be used to measure a learner s readiness to take the battery They CANNOT be used to set entry or exit levels or as proof of an educational level change Pre tests are given when the student enters the ABE program Tests should focus on the area s for which instruction will be provided To meet state requirements you must provide the pre test score used to set the entry education level Your local consortium may have other guidelines check with your program manager for details Do not record test results for Workbased Project or Conditional Work Referra
49. Hrs of Instruction column 1 On the Full Dashboard find students with 2 greater than or equal to 12 hours Percentage of The number of students shown below the student list is the participant count enrollees that become 2 Reset the search criteria The number of students shown below the student list is participants the enrollee count 3 To find the percentage participant count enrollee count Student Post testing Percentage of Rates participants who receive 1 Choose the Site Instructor Level Changes Master List report 2 The report defaults are set to show participants 3 See the Percent w Pre Post tests column This column shows the number of a post test is iria expectation students with post tests the number of participants IS 2 0 Student Level Completion Rate Percentage of participants who complete a level 1 Choose the Site Instructor Level Changes Master List report 2 The report defaults are set to show participants 3 See the Percent Compl eting a Level column This column shows the number completing a level the number of participants Compare each entry level with NRS targets Tech support Mary Zimmerli 877 544 3128 Appendix T3 74 Appendix Tech support Mary Zimmerli 877 544 3128 form A supplement to the MARCS Tech Manual For intake staff last revision 5 20 14 The MARCS paper trail The MARCS entry exit form is designed to collect ABE
50. Issues data staff can perform Dashboard data searches for situations not addressed on existing reports Examples find students with zero attendance hours who need to be exited in a prior NRS year find Work based Project learners with more than 30 class hours find students with a blank Entry or Current levels but supporting test scores find students with a set Entry or Current level but no supporting test scores 5 Appendix Tech support Mary Zimmerli 877 544 3128 Worksheet 3 Calculating Program Statistics MARCS The following chart shows some areas the MDE looks at to measure the success of your ABE program The directions show results for your entire program To see the same information for each class or instructor refer to the Site Instructor Level Changes report Select from the report menus to choose participants vs enrollees and display by class or instructor If you change the report menu items click the View Report button to update the student names Area of Interest_ Calculation Directions _ 1 Choose the Site Instructor Level Changes Master List report 2 Set the Participant Enrollee menu to Enrollees click the View Report button 3 See the Average Hrs of Instruction column Average ENROLLEE contact hours 1 Choose the Site Instructor Level Changes Master List report Average PARTICIPANT 2 The report defaults are to show participants contact hours Student Retention 3 See the Average
51. Opening and saving reports The report export button appears at the top of most report pages 1n the gray bar Clicking the report export button will show a menu so you can select how you want to open or save the report Four reports use the Export to Excel button They are the Assessment Last Attendance Hours Pivot Do you want to open or save Assessment List 3 26 2012 xls from marcs mnabe org Open Grid Attendance Counts Pivot Grid and Class amp Attendance Dates Mismatches Some web browsers allow you to view an exported file without saving it When you click either of the export buttons in Internet Explorer 9 the browser export message appears See graphic below Toopen the file without saving it click the Open button 1n the browser message save the file click the Save button then one of the options from the menu that appears How to export using the report export button 1 Select the table from the Dashboard Reports screen Customize as desired 2 On the gray reports toolbar click the report export button Choose a file format from the menu 3 In the File Download window choose the Open or Save button Save will make a copy on your hard drive How to export using the Export to Excel button 1 Select the report from the Dashboard Reports screen Customize the report as desired 2 Click the Export to Excel button 3 In the File Download window choose the Open or Save button Sa
52. Table 4 for Distance Learning Studente w 12 or more DL hours able 5 Core Follow up Outcome Arhievermeni Table 5a Core Fallcw up Cluteame Arhieyement in Gestance Ecucabien s Table Participant Status and Program Enraliment a Table Qutcomes for Adults in Family Literacy Programs a Table 9 Outcomes for Adults in V orkplsce Literacy Programs a Table 10 Outcomes for Adults in Conrectonal Programs able 11 Secondary Cuteame Measures a Table 12 Work based Project Learners by Age Ethnicity and Sex Program Management Reports Assesment List Afterdance Hours Gne Clean up reports These reports crass HRS years Class and attendance date mismatches Toolbars Many tables and reports have a gray toolbar at the top of the screen The various buttons menus and icons allow you to navigate between report pages change the magnification of the screen or search for words on the report The tables and reports can also be exported from MARCS to pdf Excel 2003 or Word 2003 file formats See more details about exporting on the next page A refresh button rounds out the toolbar icons ofi 100 v Find Next Tables amp Reports 49 But wait There s more Some tables and reports have other options above the main report toolbar These allow some customization of students you want to appear on the report and how they are sorted by instructor or class for example Participan
53. Tech support Mary Zimmerli 877 544 3128 Tables amp Reports 61 Site Instructor Level Changes Master List This report shows student test rates and level completions for the entire consortium If no Dashboard search criteria are in effect the report will show all students in the selected NRS year The example below shows results after a Dashboard search for Hispanic students While you can run the report for participants or enrollees you cannot print separate pages for each class or instructor If that s what you want to do use the Site Instructor Level Changes report instead Participants Enrollees Participants 12 or more hours View Report if 4 1 ofi b Find Next Site Instructor Level Sandbox Changes Master List Number Number Percent wi w 12 Avg Hrs of wipretest w posttest pre ENTRY Educ Level hours instruction 5 5 posttests T 43 93 T 2 28 57 H ABE Beginning Literacy 1 40 00 1 0 0 00 ESL Beginning Low 50 00 E ESL Intermediate Low 0 00 Darby Mercedes 19628 ASE Low ASE High Student Required Data This report shows students currently enrolled active 1n each class or working with a particular instructor It shows NRS required fields that must be completed before the end of the year Many consortia print this report monthly and highlight missing details Teachers are then asked to provide student attendance hours for indicated month They write in the missing data and return
54. __ Website __ Counselor __ Employer __ Family __ Friend Last Grade Location Last Grade Completed __ __ 9 12 no diploma __ Some college degr __ grade 1 5 grade 6 8 HS Diploma GED __ College prof degr _ Unknown Income Lowincome __ yes no Income Range Public Assistance __ Other pub assist No public assistance Employment Employed __ Unemployed Not the labor force Other Entry Status Single parent __ Displaced homemaker __ Dislocated worker __ Adult w disability __ Learning disabled Entry Notes Gender This one should be self explanatory Ethnicity Ask the students to choose ONE of the listed categories with which s he most closely identifies By the way the ethnic categories listed are federally mandated we have no control over which ethnic groups are represented Below are some examples of a person s origin for each ethnic group e Hispanic Latino Mexico Puerto Rico Central or South America Cuba or other Spanish culture If a student 1s Hispanic mark this line only DO NOT mark any other choices Asian Far East Southeast Asia India such as China Japan and Korea Native American Alaskan North Americans who maintain cultural identification through tribal affiliations or community recognition Black African American black racial groups of Africa but not of Hispanic culture origin MARCS Technical Manual S
55. a class instructor for options and step by step instructions Staff 19 20 Staff Tech support Mary Zimmerli 877 544 3128 Classes The Classes tab describes the ABE classes your consortium offers It has three parts The main screen summarizes class characteristics The Add Edit screen is where you set up each class and describe the content and structure of the class The Attendance screen shows student names and has fields where you can type monthly hours Main screen fields Class ID a unique number set by the software when the record for each class is created Class Title an identifying term which may indicate an ABE class location time instructional content or other features See Setting up Classes on the next page for different approaches to naming classes Last Name First Name the name of the teacher assigned to the class Start Date the date the class began End Date the final date the class was open Class Group an optional match field that allows Dashboard searches across more than one class MARCS Dashboard Students amp Class List Active in selected NRS Year 5 1 2008 5 1 2008 5 1 2008 edit 244242 edit 244243 edit 244247 Page 1 of 1 5 items 1 i Pathways Proxy Green LV County Jail Blue Raymond Norman Green Tree City Poultry Raymond Attendance by Class Group MARCS Tech support Mary Zimmerli 877 544
56. al dependency Learning disabled if applicable mark this line AND the adult with disability line If a student is learning disabled mark both adult with disability AND learning disabled Entry Notes Write any relevant comments here Class site info Class Instructor Entry Date Exit Date Class Name This 15 the name of the class site the student 1s attending Be consistent and complete when writing the name of your site For example Grand Rapids has four class sites The data entry person needs more detail than GR to know which of the four sites you mean Ask your data S4 Completing the MARCS Entry Exit Form person if you don t know the name of your class Instructor Put your name or initials on this line Entry Date Write the month day and year the student began working 1n this classroom Exit Date This 15 the date the student last attended your class An approximate date 1s OK as long as 1t 15 within the same quarter the student last had hours Do not complete the Exit Date until the student leaves the program Goals pre tests and entry levels Knowing the learner goals will help you decide which kind of pre test to give 1f any For academic students the pre test score 1s necessary to set a student s entry level The entry level will help you and the student plan smaller steps that can be reasonably attained in the remainder of the NRS program year The char
57. and internet capacity outside web servers MARCS database programming and what kinds of searches or other tasks are being performed Intense activities such as searches will slow down database response time Tech support Mary Zimmerli 877 544 3128 Here are some tips for improving database speed 1 Work in Lite mode whenever possible This setting on the Dashboard shows fewer search grids and fields which means your data loads faster If you re entering student records or running NRS reports you don t need search tools anyway The more people who use Lite mode the faster speeds are for all MARCS users Feel free to switch back to Full mode if you want to do searches 2 On the Dashboard show a smaller number of student records The Page Size tool allows you to show between 20 and 250 student names on the Dashboard at once For each name displayed the software has to load many details related to that student much more than what you see on the screen You ll get the best speed when you choose to show 20 names at a time 3 Run reports and heavy duty searches during off peak hours Prime data entry times by MARCS users are in the morning and late afternoon If you can run reports during the noon hour or after 4 30pm you will notice a significant speed improvement The workload 1s also hghter on Fridays than other days of the week At the end of the NRS year there is a lot of heavy database use by other
58. apply 4 Complete the remaining fields except for current level level change achievements followup information and attendance hours If no information is provided for the Public Assistance or Employment fields select from the menu Next we ll move to the Assessments section Record assessments for academic students and GED results here Do not record pre and post test results for non academic curriculum The teacher may have given you the student entry form before the student took the pre test If you have no assessment results skip over to How to Enroll a Student 1n a Class Add a new assessment 1 In the Assessments section click the Add A New Assessment button A form will roll down below the assessment field labels How to add assessments 2 Complete the Test Type Subject Date and Score fields The Form and Level fields are optional Consider using the Assessment Level field to keep track of which test you re using this NRS year to set the Entry and Current levels Choose START as the Assessment Level for the test you re using to set the NRS year Entry Level field Choose CURRENT for the test you re using to set the NRS year Current Level field Leave the Assessment Level blank for all other tests Remember that the GED Loc ation field is only completed for official GED tests and only if you want the software to calculate GED test hours for reimbursement 3 Click the Save button
59. ard tab Summary grid Dashboard 5 Active Selected NRS Year checkbox This tool 1s located 1n the top center of the screen When the box is checked you see students enrolled in a class during the selected NRS year whether currently active or exited When the box is unchecked you will see all students enrolled since May 1 2008 This 15 helpful when checking to see if a student has already been entered 1n the database Classes menu Al Classes _ Group WFC Cog Skils clack This menu appears above the list of student names Choosing one of the items in the list will restrict the 798 Sills Blue ESL Eve Brown visible records to those in the one JESL Eve White class group or class you select e For class groups the word group is followed by the name of the group For classes the class name appears first then the name of the teacher assigned to the class If necessary use the scroll bar on the right side of the menu to see other class names To see all students without regard to class choose AII Classes which 1s listed at the top of the menu All Instructors menu You can also opt to view records being taught by an instructor you choose To see students taught by any instructor choose Instructors Navigation This manual often refers to the words 1n the following descriptions charts and diagrams Tabs MARCS organizes data into different sections or
60. ator of the city in the student s home address Less than 2500 rural more than 2500 other Classes grid Note This grid 15 not the same as the Classes TAB at the top of the screen Fields on this grid describe the classes in which each student is enrolled ID Last First see Summary grid descriptions Class List the names of all classes in which the student enrolled during the selected NRS year Staff List the names of all the teachers assigned to the class es in which the student 1s enrolled Program List the different program types in which the student is working during the selected NRS year Levels and Goals grid Fields related to student education levels and major goals and achievements appear on this grid ID Last First see Summary grid descriptions Entry Level the educational level of the student at the beginning of the current NRS year Current Level the education level of the student after post testing when they left the program or at the end of the selected NRS year Tech support Mary Zimmerli 877 544 3128 number of educational levels completed by the student Choices are 0 1 or 2 Goals Set major goals selected for each student Students must have at least one goal Goals Met Major goals achieved by the student Other NRS grid These fields are required on the annual NRS tables but aren t searched as often as oth
61. ce button at the end of each class row 4 30 2010 4 30 2010 5 1 2009 5 1 2008 Let s take a quick tour of the whole class attendance screen The page title tells you which class and NRS year you have on screen Below the title 15 a list of students and the 12 months of the NRS year beginning with the month of May This makes sense since the NRS year runs from May 1 to April 30 Clicking the student ID number will take you to the individual student record on the Students tab Use your browser Back button to get back to the class attendance screen Some student rows on the class attendance screen may show gray boxes The boxes appear when the attendance months for a student are outside the class entry and exit dates Attendance for GED prep Blue 2009 2010 optional fast tabbing tool appears to the right of the page title Fast tabbing allows you to restrict data entry to a month you choose The benefit of fast tabbing becomes obvious when entering monthly hours for the entire class at one time When fast tabbing 1s turned OFF pressing the tab key on the keyboard will move the cursor to the next month to the RIGHT for the same student The attendance month boxes are white for months when the student was enrolled 1n a class Select a month for fast tabbing All Months Oc Bec When fast tabbing is turned OFF pressing the tab key will move the cursor to the next
62. d If your choice 1 not highlighted type a couple more letters to move to your choice Tab to the next field If your choice 1 not in the list keep typing Tab to the next field The new entry will be added to the list after you save the new student record Saving the record Click the SAVE button to create the new record Pressing the Enter key on the keyboard will not save the record Add New Student lookup 3 28 2011 Add New Student screen Tech support Mary Zimmerli 877 544 3128 Using the browser refresh button Sometimes when adding or editing assessments class history or attendance hours you don t immediately see the changes you just made Your changes have likely been received by the software but it hasn t updated the student screen yet To hurry things along click the browser refresh button In Explorer 9 it appears at the right of the address bar as an arrow going 1n a circle How to add a new student record and long term info 1 On the Dashboard tab select the NRS year in which the student will be enrolled Click the Add New button to show the Add New Student form 2 f the student has a SSN search for matches by typing the number in the SSN field and clicking the Lookup button f a match occurs you will be redirected to the existing record Do not create a new record Instead update and add new info to the existing reco
63. e Only or Add Edit Click the Save button A new staff row will appear Role Add Edit onscreen with the details you entered leave this blank to keep the current password 9 Log out of the database Then log back in using the new username and password you just created 10 Check to be sure you assigned the correct privileges When you re satisfied log out If you need to do more work in the database log back in using your own username and password Tech support Mary Zimmerli 877 544 3128 Staff 17 Editing staff info Users must have full add edit privileges to change staff contact info credentials and login details Update staff profile info At some point 1t may be necessary to change staff details such as last name contact phone or email or logins All of those tasks can be accomplished by editing the staff record How to update staff profile information 1 On the Staff tab click the Edit button to the left of the staff person s name 2 In the form that appears replace or add desired details 3 Click the Save button Change an at risk password You can change a user password whenever you like In two cases you really SHOULD change a login the security of the password has been compromised or a user has forgotten his or her password and it s not recorded anywhere How to change a staff password 1 On the Staff tab click the Edit button to the left of the staff person s name
64. e Class Start and End Dates found on the Classes tab determine whether a class is open to accept students Attendance hours cannot be earned when the class 18 not open to accept students Let s take a quick tour of the fields on the report Last actually it s the full name of the student ID student ID number e Class name and ID number of the class with a mismatch problem Attendance month year containing hidden hours This date also points to which NRS year record needs to be changed Entry date the student was enrolled in the class e Fixit date the student was exited from the class Tech support Zimmerli 877 544 3128 When a student shows up on this report there s a problem in one of two places the student record most common or the class record Here s how it occurs Monthly hours are recorded for a student Later the data person changes the student s entry or exit date or the CLASS start or end dates If the monthly hours fall outside either of those date sets you have trouble The already entered monthly attendance fields show gray boxes or the class line in the NRS section disappears entirely hiding student hours Example error on the STUDENT record Attendance Hours and Class Entry Exit Mismatch Last ID Class Attendance Entry i e e v Johnson Scott 19637 LW County Jail 244243 5 1 2010 5 1 2008 4 30 2010
65. e box is UNchecked it will not For example to see only instructor Green s students in the report click on the Staff field menu Uncheck Show Click the box in front of Green s name then click OK White Attendance hours pivot table the selected students Staff Student Entry Exit Entry Level Program hours Year A Month A 2011 2012 ClassTitle V Grand May June July August September October November December January February March April Tree City ABE k 14 6 0 0 i Pathways Proxy i Pathways GED prep Esl Morning Grand Total 41 5 60 Tables amp Reports Tech support Mary Zimmerli 877 544 3128 Attendance Counts Pivot Grid This report is almost identical to the Attendance Hours pivot grid It will help answer questions about how many students rather than how many attendance hours On this chart a 1 appears in each month a student had attendance hours For example in the month of August two students the Cog Skills class Anderson and Bradford had attendance hours Be careful when looking at the Grand Total column and row The Grand Total column tells how many months of the year a student attended The Grand Total rows give enrollment counts for each month But what in the world does the intersection of the Grand Total row and column highlighted below tell us Not much It s accurate but
66. e previous record gt Moves to the next record The 1 of 3 notation in the shaded section of the navigation bar above means that the record on the screen 1s record number one out of three records in the current found set The line below the navigation bar tells how the records are sorted and the search criteria if any for the records in the found set Students 33 Let s talk about programming Type of Instruction Skill Area Learner Requirements Special Focus Curriculum 1 Core content Academic focus Conditional content Allowed as a supplement to core content 2 Conditional Work Referral Formerly Transition to Employment Limited to 30 hrs student per 5 year 3 Work based Project 12 30 hr course teaching specific work based skills 34 Students Basic reading writing math English as a Second Language speaking and listening skills GED high school diploma college prep Citizenship basic technology skills employability health literacy study skills creative thinking problem solving personal amp group effectiveness financial literacy Basic technology e g basic computer literacy Job seeking skills resume writing interviewing job searching Soft skills necessary for work SCANS Work based literacy skills age 16 and older not enrolled in K 12 working below 12th grade completion level Working in at least one
67. e selected NRS year Tech support Mary Zimmerli 877 544 5128 Type category of test such as pre test post test or Official GED test e Subject academic area being tested Form optional field shows the test form number GE grade equivalent optional TABE test field Score standardized test results Test Date date on which the test was taken DLSA Number of days since last assessment e GED Hours number of reimbursable test hours earned by the student this program year Pre aka Pretest yes no shows y if student has taken a pretest at some point 1n his ABE history e Post aka Post test yes no shows y 1f student has taken post test 1n the selected NRS year Demographics grid ID Last First Ethnicity Employment Pub Assist see Summary grid descriptions DOB student s date of birth Orig Ctry student s country of origin 1st Lang first language of the student Referral how the student found out about ABE Last Grade last grade the student completed LGsrc last grade source US or non US school LI low income Notes grid ID Last First see Summary grid descriptions Misc amp Comment fields optional fields for long term data Content remains from year to year until you change it e NRS Misc amp NRS Comment fields optional fields for NRS year specific data Data will be cleared at the beginning of the new NRS
68. e student hours Remove student hours Contents 33 48 Students QW p m 33 Student Record status Manage NRS years Move between records Let s talk about ABE programming chart 34 Putting it all together on the student record chart 35 Overview of student 36 Long term section NRS year section Assessments section Class history section Long term Helds 37 NRS year 37 39 Goals order MDE NRS priority Marking main student goals amp outcomes Marking other outcomes Editing NRS info CI onai ai 40 41 Editing and deleting assessments Class History 05 41 Editing and deleting class history 42 Adding a new 51 42 44 Search for existing students Create a new record Special rules distance learning amp Fast Entering attendance 44 45 Add hours on individual record Editing ATC GANG EIE T 45 Replace student hours Remove student hours 46 Updating asian 46 EXITING 46 Reactivating students 46 47 Re entry in the
69. e with a full access password and go to the Staff tab 2 Click the Edit button to the left of the staff person s name Remove this login 3 In the form that appears click the box in the login section that reads Remove this Login Click the Save button Tech support Mary Zimmerli 877 544 3128 Deactivating vs deleting staff In time the list of staff can get a bit long The temptation is to remove employees as soon as they leave That may not be the best idea The MDE has considered adding a Table 7 to MARCS The software would compile the staff details electronically If that happens staff 1nfo from the entire NRS year would be required even for teachers and others who left early in the year Rather than deleting teachers it s better to deactivate them This will remove login privileges to safeguard confidentiality but keep staff specifics available for Table 7 Deactivate staff This 1s the safer route for managing staff records when employees leave your ABE program How to deactivate staff 1 On the Staff tab locate the name of the staff person you want to deactivate 2 At the bottom of the first column of the Add Edit screen type the last date of employment in the End Date field 3 Click the Remove this Login button in the login section 4 Click the Save button Remove this login Hiding deactivated staff names While you can t completely hide former staff na
70. eated in a prior NRS year it s the student s age on May 1 of the selected NRS year Ethnicity the ethnic background of the student Employment the employment status of the student at the beginning of the selected NRS year Pub Assist the public assistance status of the student at the start of the selected NRS year Entry Level the educational level of the student at the beginning of the current NRS year Current Level the education level of the student after post testing when they left the program or at the end of the selected NRS year Gain also known as level change the number of educational levels completed by the student Choices are O 1 or 2 Class List the names of all the classes in which the student was enrolled during the selected NRS year Hours the total number of hours the student earned in all classes in the selected NRS year 8 Dashboard Contact Info grid Fields on this grid display reveal ways of getting 1n touch with the student ID Last First see Summary grid descriptions Address the student home street address City the student city of residence e Zip the zip code for the student home address e Phone 1 2 38 optional phone number fields County the county in which the student resides ISD the school district where the student lives Email an optional student email address Area population indic
71. ed 9 Goal GED certificate Goal High school diploma Goal post secondary education or job training AND B have exited ALL classes have a record Closed Date Table 5A shows the same info for participants with 50 or more hours in Distance Education classes Column programming notes Table 5 Core Follow up Outcome Achievement NRS Year 2012 2013 A measure B of part w C of part D of part E survey of part Percent achieving this included in responding to response rate achieving outcome Survey Survey Casey J 19523 Obtained GED 0 00 00 55 3000095 00 Entered post sec EX 00 95 EK 00 educ training Table 5s exclude Conditional Work Referral and Work based Project learners Tech support Mary Zimmerli 877 544 3128 Tables amp Reports 55 Table 6 This table shows demographic details for ABE students Table 6 Participant Status and Program Enrollment NRS Year 2012 2013 Highest Degree or Level of School Completed There should be no blank schooling level rows on this report Unknown 1 5 6 6 9 12 no diploma Diploma or equivalent GED Employment Not in Labor Force Employed Unemployed Public Assistance MFIP Other pub assist Add these two counts together to up with the Public Assistance total on the MDE spreadsheets ae No pub assist Other Entry Status Rural Adult wit
72. ed Advanced before Level Completed E F ABE Beginning Literacy 0 ABE Beginning Basic 683 Intermediate Low 71425 ABE Intermediate High 412 5 ASE Low 550 ASE High 320 ESL Beginning Literacy 3 195 5 ESL Beginning Low 603 5 ESL Beginning High 12 872 ESL Intermediate Low 20 2266 5 1 11 ESL Intermediate High 35 3626 2 10 5 10 57 14 ESL Advanced 15 1632 5 4 3 3 8 26 67 om Table 4s exclude Conditional Work Referral and Work based Project learners 50 00 2a o wm a a 20 c ce 0 1 1 4 3 1 2 5 1 3 50 00 55 en 55 9 S 2 at a ce Ja P a 54 Tables amp Reports Tech support Mary Zimmerli 877 544 3128 Table 5 5a The MDE will be data matching Table 5 details They will compare ABE data with other Minnesota employment and post secondary databases to find the Table 5 totals required by the NRS Exception there are no state databases for adult high school diploma students If your ABE consortium has a diploma program you must run a Table 5 and report those students on the MDE spreadsheets The old Table 5 rows and columns still appear in MARCS Some ABE programs want to continue to run Table 5 for local use which is why the table info appears below Table 5 shows participants who A have core goals selected as follows Goal Obtain a job AND Employment Unemployed Goal Retain current job AND Employment Employ
73. ers ID Last First as Summary grid fields SP single custodial parent at beginning of selected NRS year DH displaced homemaker Definition unemployed or underemployed was dependent on the income of another family member but is no longer supported by that income DW dislocated worker Definition learner has received public or private notice of pending or actual layoff from a job This does not include people who have been fired from a job e Dis disabled May be a physical mental or learning disability that substantially limits walking seeing hearing speaking learning and working Includes chemically dependent adults LD learning disabled This 1s a subset of Disabled Student reports learning disability documentation not required Achievements incidental outcomes a student has met beyond the three major goals Job date the date a student became employed Att follow up attempted Your program tried to contact students to check on goal progress Con follow up contact made with student or progress confirmed by a case manager GED examiner counselor or other person Last Assessment grid These fields detail the most recent test taken 1n the selected NRS year If the test row is blank the student was not tested 1n the selected NRS year D Last First see Summary grid descriptions Last Test name of the last test taken during th
74. ers search box find students who tested a specific date 1 Clear old search criteria Go to the Last Assessment grid 2 Locate the Test Date field click in the search box Date 3 19 13 3 Type the desired date in the search box in month day year format 4 Click the Enter key on your keyboard Calendar find students who tested on a specific date 1 Click the reset button to clear old search criteria 2 On the Last Assessment grid click the field menu icon for the Test Date field A calendar will appear with the current month displayed The lighter square initially shows today s date 3 On the calendar click on the desired date This field refers to the last assessment taken during the selected NRS year so you should not need to look back further than May 1 To choose a date not visible on the current calendar use the arrow controls provided in the bar with the month name March 2013 Tu We Th Dashboard 11 Key icon find students testing before a specific date 1 Reset old search criteria Begins with Contains 2 On the Last Assessment grid click the key Q icon just to the right of the Test Date search box Select is less than from the list A loading message will appear onscreen Ends with Equals Doesn t equal v 15 less than Is less than or equal to 3 Type the desired date in the search bar in month day year format Press the Enter key on your keyboard There are some
75. ething odd The May hours appear 1n a grayed out box in the NRS section In fact all the months are grayed out for this class line Aug 247246 Grovers ABE 1 66 Tables amp Reports Step 3 Check the class Start amp End dates Since the student s class enrollment dates are OK we need to look deeper Let s go to the Classes tab which has details about each class We re looking for the class called Grovers ABE 1 However 1t doesn t appear in the list of classes To see it UNcheck the Active in Selected NRS Year box at the top of the screen This will show all the classes ever created in the database Class List Active in selected NRS Year Now Grovers ABE 1 shows up in the list of classes The Start Date shows the class began accepting students in May 2009 However the class End Date says it stopped accepting students on April 30 2010 Our student had 18 hours entered for May 2010 after the class was closed Active in selected NRS Year Class List ID Class Title 4 Last Name First Name Start D Citizenship AM Black Sally 247304 247265 Citizenship Black Sally 247026 Cog Skills Green Grovers ABE 1 1 12 2001 3 1 2011 10 1 2040 9 30 2012 3 1 2010 4 30 2020 5 1 2009 4 30 2010 Step 4 confirm the student s actual attendance and the dates the class was available to students Pull your paper attendance records or contact the teacher
76. evaluation Table 11 excludes Conditional Work Referral but includes Work based Project learners Table 12 Table 12 Work based Project Learners by Age Ethnicity and Sex NRS Year 2012 2013 American Black Indian or African Alaskan American Native non Hispanic Table 12 excludes Conditional Work Referral but includes Work based Project learners Table 13 Table 13 refers to funding sources There is no Table 13 programmed to print from MARCS 58 Tables amp Reports Tech support Mary Zimmerli 577 544 3128 Report screenshots Assessment List This report shows test results for students in the selected NRS year Every test on the student record is displayed even if the test was taken 1n a prior NRS year You can control the students who appear on this report include all students in the report click the Dashboard Reset button before running the report To restrict students to Dashboard search results On the Dashboard search for the students you want such as those enrolled in a single class Then run the report Records that match your search criteria the found set are the only students who will appear on the report Use the field label menus and key icon to further limit which students and tests are displayed For example to show only official GED tests taken in the 10 Test Date NRS year 11 NRS year fill 1n the field search boxes as shown The E ia rss report will
77. evels are both Conditional Work Referral Based on curriculum content No standardized pre and post testing required If student does not have a core content goal Entry and Current levels are both Work based Project Based on curriculum content ABE program designs method for special pre and post testing Yes Compare pre and post test scores to determine how many levels have been completed Completion of conditional content does not earn a level change No Completion of this curriculum does not earn a level change No Completion of this curriculum does not earn a level change For each class choose the appropriate program type in the Class History section ABE classroom Community corrections Correctional facility Distance education Family literacy Homeless Other institution Workplace Literacy Based on core content Conditional Work Referral Work based Project Students 35 Overview of student record Long term section Fields in this section show unique identifying facts about the student Data will roll forward from year to year This information is completed on the Add Edit screen when the student 1s first added to the database Only the most recent entries are saved For example if a student has moved several times there is no record of any past addresses All you see 1s the most recently updated address NRS year section The educa
78. f review all the students 1n the database to make sure required fields hours test scores and outcomes are complete for the MDE reports It s the last chance to get everything right once and for all You will most likely be called upon to clear up a few mysteries Forms The last pages of this packet contain samples of the two sided entry exit forms Also included 1s a form that can be used to collect student test scores Your program may use a different version Completing the MARCS Entry Exit Form o1 MARCS form entering new student The entry portion of the form is used to collect data when a student enrolls in your classroom the first time in the program year Other than contact info such as address and phone students generally keep the same entry information all year Fields marked with an asterisk are optional fields not required by the MDE However they might be required by your local program Privacy rights The MN Government Data Practices Act states that learners be must informed when private information 15 collected The Learner Privacy Rights on the back of the MARCS Entry Exit form meet the requirements Some learners read the Privacy Rights themselves Most accept this explanation from the teacher The back of this form tells you about your privacy rights All your work here is private unless you tell us we can share it with someone This page tells you with whom we may legally share the info
79. field to the RIGHT for the same student How to enter hours WITHOUT using fast tabbing 1 On the Classes tab locate the row with the name of the class to which you want to enter hours 2 Click on the Attendance button at the end of the class name row 3 On the Class Attendance screen locate the name of the student for whom you want to enter hours 4 Follow the row across to the right until you see the column with the month you desire Click on the intersecting box to place your cursor 5 Type the attendance hours If you have other hours to enter for the same student press the tab key to move the cursor to the right Tabbing past the month of April will take you to the next eligible student name and attendance month You may also move your mouse and place the cursor where you want it Repeat steps 3 5 to enter hours for other students Use the tabs at the top of the screen to go back to the Classes tab or another part of the database Select a month for fast tabbing 90531 Aardvark Aaron P OPE LUE JE JE JE IE OE IE IE 112246 Benson Caroli Cm m 30 Classes Whole class attendance screen MARCS Tech support Mary Zimmerli 877 544 3128 When fast tabbing is turned ON pressing the tab key will move the cursor DOWN to the same month for the next eligible student The attendance hours boxes will be grayed
80. g rules in the chart below Contact hrs class name Proxy hrs class name A dvancer Proxy Apex Proxy Crossroads Proxy Easy ESL Proxy EFA Proxy GED Academy GED Academy Proxy i Pathways i Pathways Proxy KeyTrain KeyTrain Proxy Learner Web Proxy Mindquest Proxy Foundations Proxy Novanet Proxy Plato Proxy Put Eng to Work Work Proxy Rosetta Stone Rosetta Stone Proxy Skills Tutor Skills Tutor Proxy Teach Eng in ASL English in ASL English in ASL Proxy USA Learns USA Learns USA Learns Proxy Curriculum name A dvancer Apex Learning Inc Crossroads Cafe Easy ESL English for All GED Academy i Pathways GED i KeyTrain Learner Web Mindquest Academy b My Foundations La Novanet Plato Putting English to Work STAR reading STAR reading instructional hours must be tracked separately from other lessons Class name must contain STAR reading STAR Minn Numeracy Initiative MNI If possible within the structure of your consortium create a separate class name for MNI classes Suggested class name MN Numeracy Initiative MNI Blandin digital literacy grants Grant name Class name must contain Blandin digital literacy MIRC Classes 29 Transitions classes The MDE 1s paying special attention to transitions classes Transitions courses get students ready for post secondary education and training or an apprenticeship program There are 3 kinds of transitions programming 1 Genera
81. ge Ethnicity and Gender Table 3 Participants by Program Type and Age Table 4 Educational Gains and Attendance by EFL Table 4b Educational Gains amp Attendance by EFL Pre and Post test Citizenship Grant Table 4c Educational Gains and Attendance for Participants in Student Completions and Post Test Distance Education Rates NRS Participants without Level Gains Table 4 Corrections Table 4 for Distance Learning Students w 12 or more DL hours Table 4 for Distance Learning Students 20 percent Clean up reports Table 4 for Distance Learning Students under 50 percent These reports cross NRS years Table 5 Core Follow up Outcome Achievement Table 5a Core Follow up Outcome Achievement Distance Education Table 6 Participant Status and Program Enrollment Table 8 Outcomes for Adults in Family Literacy Programs Table 9 Outcomes for Adults in Workplace Literacy Programs Table 10 Outcomes for Adults in Correctional Facility Programs Table 11 Secondary Outcome Measures Table 12 Work based Project Learners by Age Ethnicity and Sex To print the 4 highlighted reports go to the File menu Choose the Print command To print all other reports amp tables export as pdf Excel or Word files Then print from the application Dashboard report screen with instructions for printing various reports amp tables How to print using the report export button 1 Select the table from the Dashboard Reports screen Printi
82. gle Chrome Microsoft Internet Explorer Mozilla Firefox Apple Safari A broadband or better internet connection Tech support Mary Zimmerli 877 544 3128 Getting Started 1 Logging Each ABE consortium assigns and keeps track of staff user names and passwords Logins are managed on the staff tab Anyone with full database privileges can create change or delete logins Users should NOT share logins Usernames are space sensitive passwords are case and space sensitive Be sure of the user name and password before logging in To protect against hackers the software will disable a login after 5 consecutive attempts with the correct username but incorrect password For help with this issue call Mary Z at 977 544 3128 Checking the Remember Me Next Time button at login will remember the most recent page or record until you close your web browser Internet Explorer Firefox etc This is convenient if you re working on a stack of student records and want to come back to the same record later the same day Each next time you relaunch your web browser you must click the Remember Me button again Log into Marcs User Name Password Remember me next time Logging out Be sure to log out whenever leaving your desk for even a few minutes The log out button appears at the top right hand corner of every screen in the database East Central 2012 2013
83. goals and outcomes as they apply Goals Conditional Work Referral Outcomes If student completes mark Conditional Work Referral and others as they apply Goals Work based Project Outcomes If student completes mark Work based Project and others as they apply Pre tests e ABE reading complete math 2 tests language CASAS Begin Lit reading Life amp Work reading listening and Life Skills math BEST Plus reading speaking listening Post tests must be in the same test family as the pre test in the same subject area reading math etc a different test form Curriculum based pre and post tests may be given in addition to standardized testing Curriculum based pre and post tests Curriculum based pre and post tests Tech support Mary Zimmerli 877 544 3128 Entry Level Based on pre test score not how much formal education the student completed If tests show the student working in different education levels mark the lowest level in the subject area in which the student will be receiving instruction Current Level Based on post test score Core content test results determine Entry and Current levels otandardized testing in the core content area will determine Entry Current education levels Curriculum based testing is fine but is not used to set Entry Current education levels If student does not have a core content goal Entry and Current l
84. h disability Learning disabled Low Income Program Type Work based project Correctional Facility ABE Classroom Distance Education Table 6 excludes Conditional Work Referral but includes Work based Project learners Table 7 Table 7 refers to personnel information While some details are collected on the Staff profile screen there is no Table 7 programmed to print from MARCS Note the MDE is looking for staff working on MAY 1 the BEGINNING of the NRS year 56 Tables amp Reports Tech support Mary Zimmerli 877 544 3128 Table 8 Table 8 1s essentially Table 5 for participants 1n Family Literacy classes There are also two main family literacy goals and 6 family literacy subgoals Table 8 Outcomes for Adults in Family Literacy Programs NRS Year 2012 2013 D of part A 0 Percent Completed an Educational UU 0 00 Functioning Level Entered employment 0 00 0 El Obtained GED 0 00 Increased Involvement in children s education 0 00 Help more frequently with school 0 00 55 Increased contact with children s teachers 0 00 56 Increased involvement in children s literacy 0 00 100 00 activities Reading to children 0 00 95 100 00 Table 9 Table 9 1s Table 5 for participants 1n Workplace Literacy classes Table 9 Outcomes for Adults in Workplace Literacy Programs HRS Year 2012 2015 A Outcome measure C of part included in Survey Completed an Educational
85. has several tools to narrow down the group of students visible on screen The NRS year and Active in Selected NRS Year settings remain the same even after you log out NRS Year menu This menu appears on the top right side of the screen It allows the user Year 2008 09 NRS Year 2009 10 to show students from one of several NRS program years see students enrolled 1n the desired NRS Year 2010 11 NRS year simply select 1t from the menu Note that NRS years run from May 1 to April 30 End of year NRS tables are due to the MDE no later than June 1 Sandbox 2012 2013 Logout Student List Grid Mode Full Lite 5 Year 2012 13 v All Classes 7 Instructors Active selected NRS Year Page Size 20 ain gt Class Lis V NatAmer Alaskan Hispanic Latino Hispanic Latino Black nonHisp 90531 Aardvark Aaron 131319 Alcazar Gerardo L 19613 Alvarez Juan L 167589 Jones Earl Page 1 of 1 4 students 1 Unemployed Employed Grid Display Summary Contact Info C Classes Levels amp Goals Saved Searches Tech support Mary Zimmerli 877 544 3128 Other NRS GED prep LV County Jail Tree City STAR 1 FastTrac V elding Tree City ABE ASE Low ABE IntLow ASE High Last Assessment Demographics Notes Export to Excel Full Mode Dashbo
86. he Last field type the last name of the new student 4 Scan the matching names in the found set f you see the name of the potential student click on the student name On the Students tab compare the long term info to see if it s the same student If it is update the existing record Do not create a new record f the student does not exist in the database create a new record for the student 42 Students Create a new record The Add New button on the Dashboard and Students tab will open a blank form to complete Many fields are required When you try to save the record without completing required fields the software will show a red flag next to the offending field CG 99 Each required field has a symbol in the list of choices If the teacher did not CG 99 provide the info select the for now You can find and fix those records later Navigation move between fields click the tab key on your keyboard to move forward one field Shift tab will move backward SSN Lookup A Social Security Number lookup is another tool to help you find records that already exist in the database If you do not use the SSN lookup the software will not warn you if the SSN already exists on another record Autofill fields When you tab into a field like City and begin typing a menu of entries will appear If your choice 18 highlighted click the tab key to select 1t and move to the next fiel
87. he report To find students from ALL NRS years who have taken an official GED test On the Dashboard UNCHECK the Active in NRS year box on the Dashboard Then run the report Column programming notes e Use the key icons and search boxes to narrow down the students who appear in the report The Last Test Date field gives the most recent date any official GED subtest was taken by the student This can be a good clue about how long it s been since the student was in class The subject scores reflect the highest score a student earned This is important if your consortium keeps all official test scores whether the student passes or not Example Casey took an official GED 2014 math test and scored 142 which you entered onto his record After more study he retook the test and earned 160 Again you entered the latest test 1n MARCS When the GED Testing Summary report is run Casey will show 160 for a math score The Math Science and Social fields apply to both the CED 2002 and 2014 test series The Reading and Writing columns show GED 2002 scores taken before Jan 1 2014 The Language field shows GED 2014 scores earned after Jan 1 2014 The Points field also shows the total of the highest scores 1n each subject area GED Testing Summary for the selected students ID LastName FirstName Last test Date Math Reading Science Social Writing Language Points P P v i e e P P 5 195 Beahm Adam 11 1 2
88. hours earned 1n prior years Doing so will change the NRS tables submitted to the MDE 1n prior years Students 41 Full History report Full History report This printable page shows a summary of the student s current long term info multiple NRS year section data and assessment and class history It looks very similar to the Student Info screen but is not limited to a single NRS year The Full History Report button is located at the top of the Students tab to the right of the long term section Adding a new student Teachers or intake staff will supply you with an entry exit form for each student Levels goals and assessments are all interrelated See the Putting it all together on the student record chart earlier in this chapter Search for existing students Each student should have ONE record in the MARCS database no matter how long it s been since he attended Before adding a new student be sure he doesn t already have a record in the database One way is to search across all NRS years for the student you intend to enter It s not foolproof but this will catch many potential duplicates How to search for existing students by name 1 On the Dashboard tab click the Reset button next to the All Classes field 2 UNcheck the Active in selected NRS year box This will show all students enrolled in your ABE consortium since it began using MARCS Active in selected NRS 3 In t
89. ing at the current NRS year 2 Locate and select the name of the student 3 On the Students tab go to the Class History section f the student returns to the same class click the Edit button at the beginning of the class row Delete the class exit date and click Save e f the student returns and enrolls in a different class click the Add a New Class button above the Class History box Complete the class info and click Save Re entry in a later NHS year In this case the last class exit date for the student was during a prior NRS year The best practice for re entries that cross NRS years 1s to create a new class line Merely wiping out the original class exit date will create inaccurate Dashboard students lists reports and NRS tables Who wants that Not you How to re enroll students exited in a prior year On the Dashboard select the current NRS year UNcheck the Active in Selected NRS year box This will show all students from current and prior NRS years Locate and select the name of the student 2 On the Students tab update any long term NRS and assessment fields GO In the Class History section leave the original class line alone Click the Add a New Class button Complete the form using the student s return date as the entry date Tech support Mary Zimmerli 877 544 3128 Deleting records You cannot delete any students who have class attendance hours 1n the current or p
90. ion classes P r 100 Table A Total Enrollment and Contact Hours Enrollees by Functioning Level Counts and Hours NRS Year 2011 2012 Fig 1 Entering Educational Number of Enrollees Total Contact Hours Functioning Level any of hrs for Enrollees A B C I ABE Beginning Basic ABE Intermediate Low ESL Beginning High Sub Total 3 ASE Low ASE High Conditional Work Referral No Level Assigned not tested Sub Total 9 Official GED Testing Hours Grand Total 12 Page 1 of 1 Fig 1 tables show the NRS year represented on the table Fig 2 Aline at the bottom of each report shows the date and time the report was run po Tables amp Reports Tech support Mary Zimmerli 877 544 3128 Table 1 Table 1 Ethnicity and Gender Participants by Entering Educational Functional Level NRS Year 2012 2013 E ABE Beginning Basic ABE Intermediate Low ASE E ASE Low B ASE High ESO ESL Beginning Low ESL Beginning High ESL Intermediate Low ESL Intermediate High ESL Advanced subtotal Table 2 Table 2 Ethnicity and Gender Participants by Age NRS Year 2012 2013 Table 3 Black African American non Hispanic American Indian Alaskan Native Hispanic Latino White non Hispanic subtotal Total Black African American non Hispanic American
91. iven Once the information on the new student is collected 1t goes to the data entry person who types it into the MARCS database When the student achieves his goal or leaves the MARCS Technical Manual Supplement 1 classroom the teacher fills in the exit section of the form It s then passed on to the data entry person who types the details on the student s electronic record The data person may ask teachers for updates on a weekly monthly or quarterly basis S he may request student attendance hours test scores or that you fill in gaps on the student record In addition some consortia send out regular FYI reports to teachers showing how your students stack up against the MN Dept of Education MDE targets and local program goals Other programs give their teachers electronic access to the database so instructors can keep up with their own students 1n real time In most consortia teachers complete the exit portion of the form at the end of the program year April 30 even 1f the student 1s continuing This ensures that all student outcomes and tests are recorded during the year when they were achieved When the new year begins May 1 new entry exit forms are typically filled out for both returning and brand new students Each year the MDE requires reports about the students served and their educational progress during the program year Reports are due June 1 That means the month of May 1 very busy Data staf
92. k Current Procedures Brainstorm Solutions Student Attendance Updating Student Information Tech support Mary Zimmerli 877 544 3128 Appendix 71 Worksheet 2 Recommended Data Checkups Activity Frequency ________ Print Table 4 s for entire program and by class Monthly to Compare to previous Table 4 s and to state NRS targets quarterly Print Table for entire program and by class Monthly to Compare to previous Table A s quarterly Print Table 4b s for entire program and by class Monthly to Compare to Table 4 and previous Table 4b s quarterly Pull 5 new student paper files and ensure all information matches MARCS Monthly electronic student records Pull 5 existing student paper files and ensure all information matches MARCS Monthly electronic student records Run the MARCS Full Student History page for 5 random students Monthly Compare with the students paper files If you have questions about the data or if file checks bring up inaccuracies do a Annually complete student file audit Run MARCS Program Management reports and Dashboard searches to find Monthly to and complete data holes quarterly Below is a list of MARCS reports that are useful for reviewing program data Site Instr Level Change report shows pre post testing and level changes Monitor how well individual classes or instructors are progressing toward NRS level completion goals Site Inst Level Change Master List same info as
93. l If the student didn t share a birthdate ESTIMATE the age after the student leaves but before sending it to the data entry person It may seem repetitious to have both the birthdate and age fields but both have their advantages Phone number s Record up to 3 numbers where the student can be reached If the student doesn t have a phone but has a message phone with friend or family member write or message after the phone number Email Address If you plan to contact students electronically write the student s email address Address City Zip County We re looking for the student s home mailing address If the student is homeless you may leave the address line blank but write in the city state zip and county ISD Independent School District Write the school district number for the student s home address If the student is homeless or in jail write the ISD number for the city in the student address Miscellaneous Email Address County ISD MARCS Technical Manual Supplement 1 Demographics Ethnicity __ Hispanic Latino __ Asian __ Native American Alaskan __ Black African American Gender __ Female __ __ Native Hawaiian Pacific Islander __ White non Hispanic __ 2 more non Hispanic Country of Origin First Language Referral Source __ ABE instructor __ Another agency __ Attended before __ Brochure poster flyer __ Other __ Radio newspaper TV
94. l college prep blends basic academic career exploration and work skills 2 Bridge programs are tailored to a specific job or career pathway They precede a post secondary course training Classes are typically for adults working at or below high intermediate levels Courses blend basic academic career exploration and work skills They are taught by ABE teachers often at the ABE site but can be on a college campus or community based organization amp FastTRAC grants 3 Integrated programs are college level courses ABE and post secondary teachers co teach in the classroom or offer a supplemental session before or after the class Courses are mostly for adults working at the ASE and ESL Advanced levels and often take place on a MnSCU campus Bridge and integrated programs are often funded by special pots of money called FastTRAC grants Your consortium may have bridge or integrated classes that are NOT funded by Fast RAC grants For MARCS reporting purposes FastTRAC means bridge and integrated programs that are funded by FastTRAC grants It s VERY important that FastTRAC class details be recorded correctly The chart on the next two pages tells exactly how to complete some critical fields for Fast TRAC classes Talk to your ABE program manager if you are unsure whether funds support a class or about how to complete each field e Create a new class for each session or gr
95. l students Entry levels The Education Level box has four sections ABE adult basic education ASE adult secondary ed ESL English as a second language and Other Check ONE entry level on the left side of the descriptions Exit levels are marked on the right when Education Level Exit Begin Literacy Begin Basic Ed Intermed Low Intermed High ASE Adult Sec Ed Low High ESL Begin Literacy the student leaves Begin Figh Pre testing reveals which Intermed Low entry level to mark for Intermed High Advanced OTHER Workbased Proj academic students If a student 15 functioning at different levels in different subjects mark the LOWEST level in the subject area you will be teaching Cond Work Referral LLI Most academic learners whose first language 15 not English should be assessed and marked 1n the English as a Second Language ESL levels Mark entry levels for Workbased Project and Conditional Work Referral learners by checking the appropriate box in the Other section MARCS form exiting a student The exit portion of the form 1s used to gather student outcomes and progress Students are exited 1 when they meet educational goals then leave or 2 when they leave before completing goals or 3 at the end of the program year Go over class lists at least quarterly Exit learners who are not expected to return Quite often as soon as you exit a
96. laskan none MISSING MISSING MISSING Workbased Proj Workbased Project Workbased Project 0 Missing Class Hours Data This report shows students who a have not been enrolled 1n any class b have missing class related info or c do not have attendance hours recorded in the same month as his entry date In the example below Maria has an entry date of Jan 12 The words Missing January 1 the last column are a clue that no Jan attendance hours appear on the student record Students should ALWAYS have attendance hours in the month they enrolled The report is not designed to be sent out to teachers separate pages do not print for each class or teacher Display Type Class Ld Find Next amp Sandbox Missing Class Hours Data NRS Year 2010 2011 Class Site Instructor Entry Date Exit Date Program Hours No hours in entry month Walker Cheyla 131314 MISSING MISSING MISSING Not Assigned to a Class Citizenship AM Black Mendez 137622 Citizenship 1 12 2011 Classroom MISSING Tech support Mary Zimmerli 877 544 3128 Tables amp Reports 63 Student Completions and Post tests This report allows you to see your program s current level completions compared with NRS targets Each year the MDE negotiates with federal officials to set a level change percentage for each education level Those agreed upon percentages are called the NRS Targets The NRS target percentage appear
97. lasses Users must have full privileges to delete classes It s possible to delete classes from the database but this feature isn t used very often Generally 1t 15 only used when a class was created by mistake If students were enrolled 1n the class 1n the current or prior NRS years the Delete button at the end of the class row will not appear You will not be able to delete the class This feature 1s designed to prevent you from accidentally deleting the student attendance hours earned in a class How to delete a class 1 Select the Classes tab Click on the Edit button in the row of the class name you want to change 2 Look for the Delete button at the end of the row If it doesn t appear you cannot delete the class 3 it appears click the Delete button 4 In the warning box that appears click OK to delete Classes 29 Entering attendance In MARCS there are three ways to enter student attendance hours Student hours can be recorded on the individual student record for the whole class at once or by class group For instructions on entering hours directly into student record see Entering Attendance in the Students chapter When entering student hours use decimal numbers only 5 rather than 1 2 For simplicity round student hours to the nearest half hour unless your ABE program has a different policy Add attendance hours by class To show the class attendance screen click the Attendan
98. limitations when using key 1con comparison operators to search for text numbers and dates Begins With Contains and Ends With operators do not work for date fields You cannot search for a range of dates such as dates that fall between 5 1 13 and 7 31 13 You cannot find blanks a field unless the word Blanks appears in a field menu Exception you can find blanks in a date field by searching for a date less than May 1 of the currently selected NRS year e g 5 1 13 Selecting students Lists of student names appear on the Dashboard To see a full record for an individual student click anywhere in the row with the student s name You will be redirected to the corresponding record on the Students tab Saving searches If you run the same searches repeatedly the Saved Searches feature on the Dashboard will be helpful How to create a new saved search 1 Perform the search you want to save 2 Click on the Saved Searches button below the grid display names 3 In the Save Your Current Search box type a descriptive name for the search such as ISD 279 Hisp Don t use a name that already exists in the list of saved searches 4 Click the green Save button 12 Dashboard How to recall and perform a saved search Click on the Saved Searches button From the list of saved searches click on the name of the saved search the words not the black box How to delete a saved search With
99. ly selected NRS year How to enter attendance on an individual record 1 On the Dashboard confirm the selected NRS year Find and select the student name from the list 2 In the Students tab NRS section locate the name of the class and month where you want to enter hours 3 Click in the desired month box and type in the hours Tech support Mary Zimmerli 877 544 3128 Editing attendance There are 2 ways to edit hours by replacing an existing number with a correct figure or by completely removing the monthly hours If your onscreen hours totals are not updated immediately click the browser refresh button Heplace student hours How to REPLACE student hours with another number 1 On the Dashboard find and select the student record with the incorrect hours 2 In the Students tab NRS section locate the name of the class and month with incorrect hours 3 Highlight the incorrect number and type the correct number in its place Hemove student hours Sometimes you may need to completely clear away hours that appear on a student record You cannot simply highlight the existing hours and delete them leaving a blank 1n the box Instead replace the existing number with a zero How to REMOVE monthly hours 1 On the Dashboard find and select the student record with the incorrect hours 2 In the Students tab NRS section locate the name of the class and month with incorrect hours 3 Highlight the incor
100. mes you can move them out of your way Edit the staff person s Last Name by adding ZZZ before the last name When the staff last names are sorted alphabetically all the ZZZ names will appear at the end 30378 Tech support Mary Zimmerli 877 544 3128 Delete a staff record without class assignments The word Delete will appear in the last column of the 1nstructor line if 1t 18 possible to remove the staff person from the database Staff cannot be deleted 1f they were assigned to any classes in the current or prior NRS years Once a staff record has been deleted the staff person will no longer be able to login to the database Just a word of caution 1f you delete your own record by mistake YOU will not be able to log 1n How to delete staff records with no class assignments 1 On the Staff tab locate the name of the staff person you wish to delete At the far right end of the staff row make sure the word Delete appears 2 Click on the Delete button A message will appear asking you to confirm If you re sure click OK Delete a staff record with class assignments There 1s only one way to completely remove a teacher assigned to classes You must replace the instructor s name on each of those classes 1n the current and prior NRS years How to delete staff records with class assignments This is discussed in detail in the Classes chapter of this tech manual Under Editing Classes see Replace
101. mmerli 877 544 3128 Entering attendance Enter attendance on the individual student record for the whole class at once or by class group See the Classes chapter to learn how to enter hours for the whole class or group at once When entering hours use decimals 5 not 1 2 Round student hours to the nearest half hour unless your ABE program has a different policy Student attendance hours must fall between the student s class entry and exit dates Student entry and exit dates should correspond with actual student attendance The Class Start and End Dates found on the Classes tab determine whether a class is open to accept students Attendance hours cannot be earned when the class is not open to accept students Add hours on individual record Attendance hours are displayed 1n the NRS year section The hours that appear were earned 1n the currently selected NRS year only 09 Jun Jul Aug 244246 Tree City ABE Class ID appears in the first column The software assigned this number to the class Class name the name you assigned the class when 1t was created or most recently edited May Apr calendar months in the NRS year Gray and white boxes Enter hours 1n the appropriate white box Months with gray boxes are outside the student class entry and exit dates You cannot enter hours 1n gray boxes Total the sum of monthly hours for each class in the current
102. mploy Pre test math 6 22 2008 08 09 0 Tawanda 96 CASAS employ Pre test reading 12 6 2007 07 08 0 Juan 5 GED Official GED math 5 14 2009 09 10 1 5 Juan 9613 GED Official GED reading 5 14 2009 09 10 1 Juan 9613 GED Official GED science 5 1 2009 09 10 1 5 Juan 513 Official GED social 5 1 2009 09 10 1 5 Juan 513 TABE survey Pre test math 1 15 2009 08 09 0 Andrea 19614 CASAS life skills Pre test reading 4 13 2008 07 08 0 Kristin 19615 CASAS life amp work Pre test writing 9 7 2008 08 09 0 7 00 Page 1 of 1 15 items Tech support Mary Zimmerli 877 544 3128 Tables amp Reports 59 Attendance Hours Pivot Grid This report centers on student attendance hours earned over the course of the selected NRS year It 15 by far the most customizable report in MARCS Like other reports you can run it for all students 1n the database or restrict 1t to students 1n your Dashboard search But 1t gets even better This 1s only one of two reports that allow you to include or exclude entire fields from the report itself The fields you can add to the report body reside 1n the bullpen at the top of the report Drag the desired fields into the headers area The data will appear in the body of the report e Staff names of teachers assigned to any class Student names of all students 1n your Desa Bullpen Dashboard found set Year Month Entry the date the student enrolled 1n a class
103. n Mark all that apply More involved in child s literacy learner was more involved in the literacy related activities of dependent children Mark all that apply The MDE assumes that everyone enrolled in family literacy classes will have these goals Mark these outcomes for all ABE learners if they apply Follow up surveys Core Goal Follow up __ Follow up attempted Follow up contact made Your ABE program must contact at least 70 of students with a goal of getting a high school diploma A follow up attempt means you tried to reach SS Completing the MARCS Entry Exit Form the student to check on his progress toward his diploma goal The attempt might be a conversation with the student his teacher counselor etc In this case mark the Follow up Attempted box on the entry exit form A follow up contact made occurs when you actually get in touch with the student or someone who can provide you with goal related details It doesn t matter if the student achieved the goal or not Mark the Follow up Contact Made box 1f it applies Carryover students At the end of the ABE program year all students who have not been previously exited must have a paper exit form completed This ensures that each student s goal progress for the entire year is collected Those achievements are then recorded on the NRS tables in the year they were earned Although students are being exited for reporting purposes many st
104. n one instruction any content area the student requires In rural areas with only one site per community use the name of the town or distinctive name of the building where the class is held Examples of class names would be Sleepy Eye or Northern Lights Casino Scenario 2 Most of your classes are run out of a single building though you may have a few satellite class locations At the main site GED ABE and ESL topics are taught by several different teachers each of whom specializes 1n certain instructional content In this scenario using a building name like Adams Learning Center for all students may not give you enough information about the learners Consider creating three classes that show class location and type of instruction Then enroll the student in the appropriate class es Class name examples Adams ABE Adams GED and Adams ESL If you have several levels of ESL students and want to track enrollment in each class separately you can create Adams ESL 1 Adams ESL 2 or Adams AM and Adams PM classes etc It is possible to be too specific in naming classes Class names should be well defined without adding burdensome data entry maintenance Try to avoid breaking down classes more than necessary For example 1t would be very unusual to need a class named for each month as in Adams ABE June Adams ABE July and so on MARCS Tech
105. n the program year Put the goals in sequential order For example a non native student with language issues comes to ABE to get ready for the citizenship test In this case mark English Language as Goal 1 and Citizenship Skills as Goal 2 Students need to improve language skills to be able to study citizenship material Learners must have at least ONE goal marked on the entry form The first five goals on the entry form in bold are called core goals Core goals and their outcomes are compared on several year end NRS tables For reporting purposes DO NOT mark any of these goals 1f you have doubts about whether the student can reach them Each of the goals are described below If you need more details ask your lead teacher or data person GED certificate learner will pass all five subtests of the General Educational Development test High school diploma learner will acquire credits to earn a state accredited secondary diploma PostSec Job training student will upgrade basic skills to permit enrollment 1n post secondary schooling such as community technical or 4 year college or a Workforce Investment Act WIA job training program Includes FastTRAC students Obtain job learner is unemployed at entry and 1 attending ABE to be able to obtain a paid full or part time job Retain current job learner is employed and 1 attending ABE to be able to improve or retain his current job Include learners
106. n the current or prior NRS years How to replace the teacher name for an existing class 1 Select the Classes tab Make sure the Active in Selected NRS year is unchecked 2 Locate the class row that has the name of the class and instructor you want to replace Click on the Edit button in front of the class name 3 In the Add Edit form click the Instructor field menu to see a list of teacher names 4 Choose the name of the new instructor who will be teaching the class This field cannot be left blank 5 Click the Save button Repeat Steps 2 5 for any other classes taught by the staff person you wish to replace After a staff name has been removed from all classes 1n the entire database including prior NRS years you can then delete the staff person from the database Option 2 adding a new class with new instructor will preserve the instructor history However 1f you MARCS Tech support Mary Zimmerli 877 544 3128 have lot of active students enrolled in the class you want to edit 1t will take some time to clean up student records After the new class 1s created all currently active students must be exited individually from the class with the old instructor name then enrolled in the new Class There 1 no way to exit all of the active students at once Nor is there a way to enroll a bunch of students into a new class all at once Change a class name When you change the name of an existing cla
107. n you have typed 1n all your search criteria the found set will ultimately contain records that match ALL the different requests you have entered When doing a search using several fields 1t does not matter which field you use first For example if looking for Hispanics in SD 318 you may search for Hispanics first then ISD 318 Or you can find ISD 318 students then Hispanics The final found set will be the same Multiple field search example find records where Ethnicity Hispanic AND ISD a value you choose 1 Reset the search criteria 2 Click on the Ethnicity field menu Select Hispanic Latino All students in the database with Hispanic ethnicity will appear in found set Tech support Mary Zimmerli 877 544 5128 3 Do not click the reset button On the Contact grid click the ISD field menu Select the desired ISD from the list The found set will appear Records that match BOTH criteria will appear in the found set Notice that the search criteria for both requests are listed next to the reset button at the bottom of the screen Date Searches You can find records with matching dates by typing date directly into a search box selecting a date from a field menu calendar using a comparison operator from the key icon When entering dates you can use hyphens forward slashes or periods Also some date fields require four characters when entering years while others are OK with two charact
108. ncel the new class form return to the Staff tab and create a staff record for the teacher After the staff record has been created start again with Step 1 to add the new class 5 Start Date Type the date the class will begin serving students 6 End Date Type the date the class is expected to stop serving students Ignore temporary closures such as program breaks your ABE program plans to run the class indefinitely a future date such as 4 30 2020 7 Class Group This field lets you create a common search term so you can find students in more than one class at a time Class groups appear at the top of the Dashboard All Classes menu 8 Hybrid Class Check the box if the class meets the definition of a hybrid Hybrid class teachers meet with students for regular instruction then students work independently using online distance learning curriculum In other words face to face online instruction Non hybrid class teacher administers a pre test then meets briefly with distance learning students to get them started on the online curriculum Students are essentially working on their own to complete online lessons 9 Distance Learning Program Choose the name of the distance learning curriculum from the menu 26 Classes MARCS Tech support Mary Zimmerli 877 544 3128 10 NRS Pre College Transitions Check the box if the class is a Transitions class e Transitions a class that has a specific purpose t
109. ng Tip Customize as desired 2 On the gray reports toolbar click the report export button Choose a file format from the menu 3 In the File Download window choose the Open or Save button Save will make a copy on your hard drive 4 Open the new report Under the File menu choose Print Preview 5 Make any adjustments to the print dialogue box and print How to print the four exceptions reports 1 Select the report from the Dashboard Reports screen Customize the report as desired 2 Under the File menu choose Print Preview 3 Make any adjustments to the print setup then print Tech support Zimmerli 877 544 3128 reports with multiple pages Some reports have multiple pages Depending on the report you might see a separate page for each teacher or class You can print all pages in the report or pick the ones you want Use the print dialogue box to enter your page preferences In the example at right the report shows 13 pages Student Required Data one for each class RS Year 2011 2012 name To print the report for the ESL Eve class only print pages 2 to 2 in the print dialogue Tables amp Reports 21 table screenshots Table A Table A shows all students with more than zero class attendance hours Table A Corrections is for enrollees in correctional facility classes Table A Distance Learning 1s for enrollees in distance educat
110. nge the Test Type field assigned in prior years This will affect prior NRS year tables You MAY change the Level field 1f you choose without causing any problems At the end of each assessment row you ll notice a Delete button Use this feature with caution DO NOT remove tests used 1n prior years to set Entry and Current levels Your goal 1s to have a complete student record in the database Class history fields Class ID appears in the first column The software assigned this number to the class when 1t was first created on the Classes tab Class name the name you assigned when the class was created or most recently edited Instructor the name of the teacher s you assigned when the class was created or most recently edited Program a predefined list of classrooms or kinds of instruction the student receives 1n the class This field must be completed for each class the student enrolls 1n ABE Classroom most regular instruction fits this Correctional Facility Community Corrections Distsnce Education community based rehab Family Literacy Homeless facility or halfway house Tech support Mary Zimmerli 877 544 3128 Correctional Facility local state or federal prison jail or similar detention facility Distance Education state approved GED or other independent study program Family Literacy program with a combination of adult literacy parenting paren
111. nrollment history Each section 18 a little different from the others and covers a different span of time Navigation Student name The name of the student you re currently working with appears at the top of the page Record status the right of the student name 1s a shaded area It contains at least the word Created date It may also show Closed date Created the date on which the record was added to the database Closed the date the student exited the last class in which he was active If a student is enrolled in two classes and exits only one of them the Closed date will not appear Tech support Mary Zimmerli 877 544 3128 Manage NRS years Some learner data remains the same from year to year while other facts are NRS year specific The top of each tab in the database shows the currently selected NRS year Refer to the NRS year often to be sure you re looking at the correct student data year To see NRS data from prior years change the NRS year selection on the Dashboard tab Move between records gt 1013 The navigation bar appears at the top right corner It allows you to move to the first last previous or next record in the current found set The following chart describes each of the navigational icons What it means Moves to the first record in the current group of records Moves to the last record in the current group of records Moves to th
112. nts When a student is no longer attending a class he will be exited from the class When he has been exited from all classes his record is closed Always exit students from a class in the last quarter in which they had attendance hours This is an MDE requirement It will also prevent student names from showing up in a year 1n which the student 1s not active Teachers will provide you with an exit form that shows test scores for academic students level changes achievements followup info and the date the student exited the class 46 Students Exit each student individually You cannot exit multiple students from a class at one time How to exit a student from a class On the Dashboard confirm that the current NRS year is selected Using the search boxes find and select the desired student NO In the NRS section mark these fields Current Level LC Level Change Goal 1 2 3 outcomes other achievements and follow up attempt and contact info e Conditional Work Referral learners Current Level Conditional Work Referral Level gain 0 Goal 1 2 3 met Conditional Work Referral if student successfully finished curriculum Edit Achievements mark as many as apply Work Based Project learners Current Level Work based Project Level gain 0 Goal 1 2 3 met Work based Project if student successfully finished curriculum Edit Achievements mark as many as apply Co In
113. o prepare students for entry into post secondary education training or an apprenticeship program Includes any Fast RAC funded or other college preparation class 11 Setting Mark the main location where the class is held Community Based Organization CBO a non profit that operates in local communities providing services in health education personal growth or improvement social welfare and community service e CBO ABE Provider the CBO employs the ABE teaching staff CBO non ABE provider the class is being held at the CBO site but the teaching staff is employed by another entity typically a school district although in some cases another CBO ABE provider 12 Initiative Choose the main emphasis of the class if any apply Some definitions for you EL English Language Civics a federally funded grant program that teaches civics to ESL students FastTRAC classes integrating basic skills education and career specific training Funded by FastTRAC grants from DEED MN Dept of Employment amp Economic Development STAR classes providing specialized reading instruction for learners at the low and high intermediate ABE levels 13 CIP Classification of Instructional Programs Code a 6 digit code that identifies the content of instructional programs at the secondary and post secondary levels It is required for classes funded by Fast RAC and any other bridge or integrated programming For a list of CIP
114. orms and speaking tests Workbased Project student successfully completed the workbased project curriculum Conditional Work Referral student successfully Completing the MARCS Entry Exit Form 57 completed course curriculum Budgeting learner completed a course of study to improve money management skills Community involvement learner participated in the work of at least one of these activities neighborhood groups community or political organizations or community improvement Basic computer related skills learner has worked to complete basic technology skills Increased life skills student participated in non academic instruction like study skills problem solving health literacy etc Entered military learner was accepted into the military Reduced left public assistance learner was receiving or other public assistance at entry AND eliminated or reduced public assistance at any time during their participation in ABE Resum job search skills student wrote a resum or has documentation of other job search skills Vocational Evaluation learner completed a career assessment tool Registered voted first time learner registered to vote or voted for the first time during the program year Legislators who control most funding are very interested 1n this category More involved in child s education student was more involved in the education of dependent childre
115. oup of students e Setup a separate MARCS class for each course in the career pathway e FastTRAC classes can be bridge or integrated but not both Field Name Where to find it special notes College university See next page in this manual for a list of abbreviations Available on individual college websites as course description Class Title FastTRAC This term must be in the class title Spelling amp spacing are important Dates or other terms that identify each group cohort of students Example HIB TC HPER1103 FastTRAC Mar May14 Name of ABE teacher You do not need to record the name of the MnSCU teacher Start Date Date the class will begin serving students End Date Date the class will stop serving students 24 Classes MARCS Tech support Mary Zimmerli 877 544 3128 Completing FastTRAC class fields continued Field Name Where to find it special notes NAS Pre College Check this box Transitions initiative FastTRAC Ask your program manager if you re unsure about whether FastT RAC grant money is used to fund this class FastTRAC grant application forms partnering college or http tinyurl com CIPCodes Check all that apply If the class is a bridge class be sure to check bridge iin Check all that apply If the class was co taught by amp college staff check integrated MN State Colleges and Universities Abbreviations Winona State University WI SU
116. out for all months except the one selected Select a month for fast tabbing December Dec When fast tabbing is turned ON the tab key will move the cursor DOWN to the same month for the next eligible student How to enter hours using fast tabbing 1 On the Classes tab locate the row with the name of the class to which you want to enter hours 2 Click on the Attendance button at the end of the class name row 3 On the Class Attendance screen go to the fast tabbing field menu Select the name of the month for which you want to enter hours For this example let s say it s Dec 4 Locate the name of the student for whom you want to enter hours 5 Follow the row across to the right until you see the white box for the month of Dec Click to place your cursor in the box 6 Type the attendance hours Press the tab key to move down to the next student who is eligible to have Dec attendance hours Repeat steps 3 6 to enter hours for other months Turn off fast tabbing by changing the fast tabbing menu to Months Use the tabs at the top of the screen to go back to the Classes tab or another part of the database MARCS Tech support Mary Zimmerli 877 544 3128 Add attendance by class group This control at the bottom left of the Class tab allows you to enter attendance hours for all students that match a class group term you choose How to enter attendance by class group 1 On the Classes
117. ow many 1tems student records are available to view In the example below 102 student records are visible They take up 6 pages or screens Page 1 of 4 76 students 2 402 By default 20 names are displayed each screen When the Page Size menu 1s set to show more than 20 records per page the number of pages 1 the Navigation bar will decrease Click on the lt and gt buttons to move to the previous or next page of names Tech support Mary Zimmerli 877 544 3128 Tools and icons The Dashboard screenshot below shows examples of various tools and icons you can use to find students that match your search criteria Some of these icons also appear on other tabs Reset button Subtabs NRS year selector Add new student sues cusses su NN Sandbox 2011 2019 tes Grid Mode Full Lite NRS Year 20 1 12 Student List 6212 All Classes All Instructors Active in selected NRS Year Page Size 20 z gt Ethnicity Employment Pub Assist Entry Level Curr Level ai Class Lis ASE High 19617 Bakar John J 2 j ASE High Tree City ABE 19620 Bradford Sonya L Unemployed other ASE High Cog Skills 19632 Holliday Jamie WNite i Unemployed MFIP ASE High GED i GED i Proxy 167589 Jones Earl ASE High Wells Service Center 1 of 1 4 students StartLevel AS Grid Display Summary
118. ports They look for student records that meet specific criteria Tech support Mary Zimmerli 877 544 5128 Reports Features Tables and reports are accessible from the Full or Lite Dashboard Look for the Reports button at the bottom left corner of the Dashboard When selected the Reports window appears It shows the names of the tables on the left side of the screen and report names on the right Click on the name of the table or report to run it Reports X These reports display data based an your current student dashboard list settings to change the scope of the report change your search andio filters in the dashboard HRS Reports Table Total Enrollment and Contact Hours Table Total Enrolment are Contact Hours Class a Table A Total Enralimengt and Contact Hours Corrections Site Altera Ogni Table Total Enrollment and Contact Hours Distance Learning Sitelinetructor Level Change a Table 1 Participants by Entering EFL Ethnicity and Gender a Cite Inst Level Change Master List a Table 2 Participants by Age Ethricky and Gender Student Required Data a Table 3 Participants by Program Type and Student ES Data Table 4 Educational Gair and tv EFL Pissing Clase Hours Table 4h Ed ana Grant Table 4c Gains and Atten Completiang and Post Test Distance an Rates Table 4 Corrections
119. r Entry and Current levels You can also record Official GED test results here Student tests roll forward from year to year Test standardized assessment being recorded Type more detailed description of assessments Subject the student s course of study Form an optional field that collects a test s identifying number letter Score numerical test result May be 3 digit score or grade equivalent GE grade equivalent optional TABE test field Date the date the test was taken NRS Year the program year in which the test was taken automatically completed by software Level this optional field serves as a visual cue to show which test 1s used to set the Entry and Current education level fields for the present NRS year You must manually select the Entry and Current education level field choices GED Loc location where the official GED test was taken Field is limited to 10 characters GED Hours automatically calculated number of hours allowed for each GED subtest See Let s talk about ABE programming and Putting it all together on the student record earlier in this chapter to see which tests are required for each type of instruction The MDE has approved several standardized tests to set Entry and Current levels for academic students CASAS TABE and BEST Plus are the most widely used test families A practice or official GED subtest can NEVER be
120. rd If there are no matches continue entering a new record 3 Complete the information for each required field If necessary choose from the field menu to note that data was not provided on the entry form Complete each optional field as your program manager directs Phone Email Address Country of Origin First Language Misc and Comments are optional fields 4 Click the Save button to create the new record and return to the Students tab Back on the Students tab we re heading next to the NRS section How to enter NRS Year info 1 On the Students tab check the NRS Year dates to be sure you re working in the correct year 2 Complete the Entry Level field Core academic content if the student has a pretest use the test score to determine the Entry Level If you have no pre test scores leave the symbol Conditional Work Referral students Cond Work Referral e Work based Project Learners WB Proj Tech support Mary Zimmerli 877 544 3128 3 Select at least one goal for each student See the Putting it all together on the student record chart earlier in this chapter Employed learners goal may be to retain current job Unemployed learners goal may be to obtain a job Conditional Work Referral students goal is always Conditional Work Referral plus others as they apply Work Based Project learners goal is always Achieve Work Based Project goal plus others as they
121. rect number and type a zero 0 in its place 09 Jun Jul Aug 90531 Aardvark Aaron 0 Students 45 Editing class enrollment If you accidentally enter a student in the wrong class you cannot change the class by simply editing the class name instructor field Instead you must create a new class and transfer the hours earned 1 the class with the old name How to move a student to a different class 1 On the Students tab go to the Class History section 2 Click the Add New Class button In the form that rolls down choose the desired class name and instructor Complete the remaining fields and click Save 3 In the NRS section copy the hours from the old class name into the same months on the new class line 4 Remove the monthly hours in the old class line by typing a zero in each month with hours 5 In the Class History section check the old class name to see if the Delete button appears at the end of the row If it does delete the class from the student record If it does not appear the student has hours in a prior year and the class cannot be deleted from the student record Updating records Enter attendance hours on a student record every month You may also be given other revisions to the student record such as contact info test scores or achievements Add them as you get them Keep in mind that NRS year data will generally remain the same for the entire program year Exiting stude
122. reporting 13 Exporting dala to EXC iners ia ated 13 Contents 1 15 20 Staff A 15 15 LOGIDEDHMIIB gOS 16 Manage logins for multiple staff Important login facts Login roles Adding NOW 17 SIAN NNO 18 Update staff profile info Change an at risk password Reset locked out logins Remove staff logins Deactivating vs deleting staff 19 Deactivate staff Delete a staff record without class assignments Delete a staff record with class assignments 21 32 Classes Main screen fields eee 21 Po 21 Searches and sorts sene 21 Setting up classes eeeeeeeenennenne 22 Special class naming rules 23 Distance Learning with approved curricula chart STAR Reading MN Numeracy Initiative Blandin Digital Literacy grants Transitions classes amp FastTRAC grants 24 25 Adding a new 26 27 OSKO c 28 29 Add change or remove a class group Replace a class instructor Change a class name Close a class 29 Entering attendance 30 31 Add attendance hours by class Add attendance by class group Editing atendanta 32 Replac
123. resent Test results prove the student 1s correctly placed in the current NRS year Entry and Current levels This section 15 also where you can record Official GED test results Class history section This section shows enrollment details for all classes the student attended 1n your consortium since his record was initially created The Class History section shows enrollment and attendance hours over a student s entire history It 15 also where students are enrolled 1n classes Sandbox 2013 2014 ba erm Full History report Logout Switzerland German Renville 2754 Area Rural Goal2 Goal3 a DT Job Date 11 30 2013 Total 4 Mar Current Start 07 24 2013 04 03 2013 13 14 12 13 Add a new clas nTru 4 3 2013 A sample student record showing all four sections Tech support Mary Zimmerli 877 544 3128 Long term fields Address the student s place of residence Phone s shows up to three telephone numbers Email the optional email address field provides another way to reach the student e SSN student s social security number This number 1s highly desirable for learners who will be working on core goals diploma getting or keeping a job or post secondary 1ob training The MDE uses the SSN for matching data in other state databases Students do not have to provide this number to get ABE services Tennessen st
124. rior years You should NEVER delete a student with hours 1n a prior program year Nor should you go back 1nto a prior year and start deleting hours They have been reported to the MDE and you ll need both the student and his her hours in your database 1n case of an ABE audit The only time you should delete a student with hours 1s if the student enrolled during the current program year has few or no hours and you have a very good reason that would meet your manager s approval How to delete a student record 1 On the Dashboard select the name of the student you want to delete 2 On the Students tab look for the words Delete this otudent If you can delete the student this command will appear to the top right of the shaded NRS year section If the delete command doesn t appear go to the attendance hours fields in the NRS section Change all the numbers to zero Click your browser refresh button to update the attendance f you still can t see the Delete this Student button look in the Class History section to see if there are any hours listed for any class in the Total Hours field If so you cannot delete this record Entry Da 12 IY Lid le 7 2009 1 5 2009 1 5 2009 3 14 2009 3 14 2009 3 If you can see the Delete this Student command select it and follow the prompts Students 47 45 Students Tech support Mary Zimmerli 877 544 3128 Tables amp Tables vs reports The purpose of p
125. rmation Cliert signature indicates student has read amp understands Leamer Privacy Rights Have students sign the first line on the front of the entry form to confirm that they have been advised of their Learner Privacy Rights Remember that all student information 18 confidential Giving out client information to any person or agency not included 1n the learner Privacy Rights is a violation of the law You may legally share information with the parent guardian of a person younger than 18 Be sure to tell underage learners about this provision Contact details Student Name Print the student s name in this format last name first Birthdate name middle initial S2 Completing the MARCS Entry Exit Form Student Name Last first MI Age Phone Number s SSN Social security number This number is highly desirable but not required The software uses this number to make sure the student 1s not entered in the database more than once The MDE may also use the number to match student achievements with information in various state databases Miscellaneous This 18 an optional field you can use as you see fit or as your program manager directs There 1s a space on the student s electronic record for this info Birthdate Each ABE student must be categorized by age If the student refuses to give a birthdate skip the question for now Age This 1s the student s age on the day they enrol
126. rogram for low 1ncome families with children Other Pub Assist includes food stamps SNAP general assistance FSET and aid to the blind or totally disabled including Social Security SS disability benefits It DOES NOT include regular SS retirement unemployment workman s comp benefits or MnShare policies Completing the MARCS Entry Exit Form 53 Employment mark ONE line for each student Employed people with jobs Unemployed people without jobs who are available for work and actively looked for work in the last 4 weeks Also includes temporarily laid off workers who expect to be recalled no job seeking activity required Not in the Labor Force people who do not meet the definition of employed or unemployed Other Entry Status mark as many lines as apply Single parent learner has sole custodial support of one or more dependent children e Displaced homemaker underemployed or unemployed person was dependent on the income of another family member but is no longer supported by that income Dislocated worker adult who has received a public or private notice of pending or actual layoff from a job This DOES NOT include people who have been fired from a job Adult with disability learner has a physical mental or learning disability that substantially limits one or more major life activities including walking seeing hearing speaking learning and working This includes chemic
127. s in the second to last column of the report In this report the software compares the NRS target percentage with Col H Percentage Completing Level If the Col H percentage is greater than the target the last column will show met If the Col H percentage is less than the target the last column will show the number of students who need a level change in order to meet or exceed the target Find Next Sandbox Student Completions and Post Test Rates Participants by Pre and Post test NRS Year 2010 2011 Entry Educational Func Level Total Total Completed Number Percentage Percentage NRS Needed 10 A Number Attendance Entry Level Remaining Post Tested Completing Target Meet Target Enrolled Hours D Within Level Level H G ABE Beginning Literacy ESL Beginning Low 16 mos A ESL Intermediate Low 0 High 100 0 0 00 mw p p 3 e _ NRS Participants without Level Gains This report lists participants for whom Pre test and Post test yes in the selected NRS year but have no level gains It s useful for finding students who might help your program reach the NRS level change target percentages The most recent test taken appears in the gray row Click the symbol in front of the student ID to see a list of all tests taken in the selected NRS year b 100 Find Next Test History for Student NRS Participants without Level Gains Last Tes
128. s than one year Delete Staff tab main screen Staff 15 16 ple ase explain Login privileges Each consortium controls who can see and change its MARCS student data You re in charge of setting the proper level of access for each staff person creating and maintaining staff usernames and passwords removing staff privileges when employees leave or as needed The lead data entry person 1s the 1deal candidate for this important job Data staff have full add edit privileges which are required to create change or delete logins S he can ensure that the usernames and passwords are suitable consistent and strong Please take this responsibility seriously The ABE data collected and stored in the database is confidential and every effort should be made on your part to safeguard it Manage logins for multiple staff Every staff person should have a unique username AND password When multiple staff use the same login at the same time you re sending the software conflicting signals The result 1s unexpected bad consequences Be careful when assigning user names and passwords Users with fewer login privileges should not be able to guess the password for another staff person with full privileges written list of logins can help ensure that you have a solid plan for creating strong passwords However 1t 1s a possible security weakness If you re going to keep a list make sure it 1s
129. safe from prying eyes Important login facts Usernames are space sensitive Passwords are case and space sensitive Staff Logins are disabled after five 5 consecutive unsuccessful login attempts with the correct user name but incorrect password The Status column on the Staff tab main screen will show Locked in the row of the affected username Login roles There are four levels of database roles none view only and full add edit None staff are not assigned a username and password They cannot see any online student data Staff with no online access will have a blank the Role column View only staff may see search for and sort all student records create and print reports and export data to Excel They may not change student class or staff information Attendance only staff have view only privileges PLUS the ability to enter student attendance Teachers can add hours only for classes to which they are assigned Add Edit staff may add edit and delete all information for students classes and staff In the Role column Staff indicates a person with full add edit privileges First name Sally sblack View Only Horman Brown Edna ebrown Staff Staff tab main screen The example above shows how user privileges appear on the main screen In the Role column Sally Black has view only privileges Norman Blue has no privileges and Edna Brown has full database access
130. sed with searches on text fields Field menu find records where the Public Assistance field content MFIP 1 Reset the search criteria 2 Click on the Pub Assist field menu icon the gray arrow in the white box next to the field label 3 With your mouse arrow select MFIP from the list The Loading icon appears The found set will show only the records that have in the Pub Assist field Tech support Mary Zimmerli 877 544 3128 Field Menus finding blank fields All field menus such as the Entry Level menu will show the word Blanks in the menu Non blanks ABE BegBasic Searching for blanks will bring up records that have no entries 1n the field The software s fancy name for this blank value 1s null Translation of the search criteria below Show records where the Public Assistance field is blank 1 of 1 4 items PubAsst Is Null Finding records that match multiple fields It s possible to find records that match more than one field at a time For example you can search for students who are unemployed AND under age 30 The fields you use for more complex searches do not need to be located on the same grid eset For multiple field searches the software completes one search at a time It begins by finding the records that meet your first request When you type your second request MARCS will look for matches within the existing found set Whe
131. show records that match both criteria Print this report by going to the browser File menu and choosing Print Column programming notes e Active y means the student is currently enrolled in at least one class his Closed date is blank NRS year this shows the year 1n which the test was given Level this column refers to the Level field 1n the Assessments section on each student record If your consortium doesn t use this optional field 1t will be blank e Last a y means the test in that row 15 the most recent test taken by the student It is based on the date 1n the Assessment Test Date field HSLA Hours Since Last Assessment the number of attendance hours a student has earned since the last assessment was taken Note the HSLA calculation 1s an approximate figure Tests can be given any day of the month but attendance hours are recorded monthly Assessments for the selected students Lastname Firstname 10 Active Test Type Subject Test Date NRS year Level GED Location GED Hours Y Y Y Y Y Aaron y CASAS employ Pre test reading 4 30 2009 08 09 0 1319 TABE full Post test reading 4 30 2010 09 10 Current 0 Gerardo full Pre test reading 3 8 2010 09 10 Start 0 Tawanda 96 GED Official GED science 5 1 2010 10 11 Gopher Pra 1 5 Tawanda 5 CASAS employ Post test math 4 15 2009 08 09 0 Tawanda 5 CASAS employ Post test math 10 31 2008 08 09 0 Tawanda 96 CASAS e
132. ss all records containing the old class name are updated instantly This includes students in the current and prior NRS years You will no longer see the name of the old class anywhere 1n the database How to change a class name 1 Select the Classes tab Click on the Edit button in the row of the class name you want to change 2 In the Add Edit form click the Class Name field Replace the existing class name with the new class name 3 Click the Save button Close a class When a class 1s permanently unavailable to students you must close the class This will ensure that student attendance hours are not entered for months when the class 1s not running If a class will be closed temporarily such as over the summer or during a program break you do not have to close the class When the class was initially set up in MARCS a class End Date should have been assigned In most cases it was set well into the future If the class stops meeting before the End Date occurs you will need to change the End Date to close the class MARCS Tech support Mary Zimmerli 877 544 3128 How to close a class 1 Select the Classes tab Click on the Edit button in the row of the class name you want to close 2 In the Add Edit a Class form click the End Date field Highlight the 22 22 existing date and type the actual date the class stopped 3 Click the Save button in the bottom corner of the form Deleting c
133. st test and NRS Year field matches the currently selected NRS year the Entry level 1s ASE High the student has both a GED goal and achievement marked the Entry level 1s ASE High the student has both a HS diploma goal and achievement GED Hours the total number of reimbursable hours earned for the selected NRS year Referral an optional field that tells how a student found out about the ABE program Students 37 Last grade field that notes the last grade the student completed Last grade location where the last grade was attended U S or non U S school Low Inc low income this optional yes no field defaults to no Range an optional field that refers to the student s income range you specify Pub Assist the type of public assistance a student 1s receiving 1f any MFIP Minnesota Family Investment Plan state county public assistance program usually for families with children Other Pub Assist includes food stamps SNAP general assistance FSET and aid to the blind or totally disabled including Social Security 55 disability benefits It DOES NOT include regular 55 retirement unemployment workman s comp benefits or MnShare policies Emp the employment status of the student Employed people with jobs Unemployed People without jobs who are available for and actively looked for work in the last 4 weeks Also includes temporarily laid off workers who expect
134. student he ll show up the following week ready to get back to work When an exited student comes back contact the data person who takes care of your paperwork Ask how to handle paperwork for returning students 56 Completing the MARCS Entry Exit Form Class exit date Entry Date When the student leaves the program write the month day and year the student left The exit Instructor Glass date vou write on this line must be within the same quarter that the student last attended For example if a student s last attendance date 1s Sept 15 his exit date would 1deally be Sept 15 but definitely no later than Oct 31 the end of the second quarter This 1s 1mportant for accurate MDE reports and NRS tables MARCS Technical Manual Supplement 1 Post tests For academic students Post tests show the level the student is working at after 40 60 hours of instruction when s he leaves ABE or at the end of the program year Post testing must be in the same test family e g CASAS and subject area reading math etc initially used for placement Use a different form of the same test used to set the student s entry level Store completed tests in the student folder or as directed by your data entry person According to the MDE Assessment Policy post tests should be given after 40 60 hours of instruction There are exceptions though so ask your lead
135. student information Most fields on the form are required by state and federal funders with maybe a few thrown by your ABE manager Here are some important pointers as neat and accurate as possible when completing the forms e The student should not be filling in most sections While learners can usually complete the contact details section on their own there are lots of terms with very specific meaning Look over the form missing details while the student 1s still sitting 1n front of you Then you won t have to chase them down later And the data person won t have to chase YOU down Send in completed forms on a regular basis This helps the data entry person keep the electronic database up to date another state and federal requirement Workflow Each consortium has its own way of collecting student enrollment attendance and testing The guidelines listed here are general rules They can be changed to suit your program s unique needs When in doubt about any process ask your lead teacher or program manager Sample process When the student arrives the intake person interviews the learner Together they go over student expectations and complete the MARCS Entry form and personal education plan The student 1s scheduled for pre testing to determine at what level s he 1 working Per MDE rules the student should be pre tested within 12 attendance hours n orientation and tour may also be g
136. support Mary Zimmerli 877 544 3128 Special class naming rules The MDE tracks students receiving certain kinds of instruction or who are funded by grants and other partnerships Most classes do not have to follow special naming rules but there are exceptions Those exceptions appear below Distance Learning Distance Ed The MDE approved several distance ed programs to allow students to work on their own away from a designated ABE class site Two types of hours one for classroom teacher hours and the other for proxy hours must be collected and recorded 1n MARCS Each distance learning site will have TWO class lines Classroom teacher contact hours include student orientation pre post testing counseling 1n class 1nstruction or communicating with students by phone or email Proxy hours are earned when students are working independently on the lessons The student will be credited with a set amount of time for each lesson or unit no matter how long it takes him to successfully complete it This is how the two classes look on the Classes tab Contact Hrs class name Proxy Hrs class name i Pathways Proxy Don t miss this when enrolling students in one of the distance learning classes mark the Program type field on the Students tab as Distance Education MARCS Tech support Mary Zimmerli 877 544 3128 On the Classes tab set up or edit the class names using the namin
137. t at the bottom of the next page shows how goals pre tests and entry levels are tied together The NRS and MDE give more weight to some types of instruction Their order of preference 1 academics 2 Work based Projects and 3 Conditional Work Referral If a student has both academic and Work based Project goals the academics take precedence Goals ABE programs are required to keep track of reasons why students are coming to ABE class Student goals are directly linked to student achievements which show the effectiveness of your ABE program Goals Mark at least 1 and up 3 goals Goals must be attainable during the remainder of this program year On the lines below write 1 for the first goal 2 for the second and 3 for the third Core goals are in bold type __ GED certificate __ Basic literacy skills Help w child s educ High school diploma English language Help w child s literacy PostSecljobtraining Citizenship skills __ Other personal goal Obtain job __ Workbased Project __ Retain current job Cond Work Referral MARCS Technical Manual Supplement 1 The Goals section on the form has instructions for choosing up to 3 goals Suggestions for choosing student goals All recorded goals must be reasonably attainable in the current program year The same student entering the program in July early in the program year may have different goals than if s he enters in March late i
138. t child interaction and early childhood education Homeless ABE instruction in a homeless shelter or related facility Other Institution any other medical or special institution Conditional Work Referral instruction in job related skills Must have written referral from a state or local government agency Work based Project 12 30 hr course that teaches specific work based skills Workplace Literacy program to improve literacy skills needed to perform a job Must be sponsored by an employer Entry Date the first day the student enrolled in the class Exit Date the last day the student attended class after completing goals withdrawing from class or disappearing off the face of the earth Total Hours the number of attendance hours the student has earned since his class entry date Note this total 15 not restricted to the currently selected NRS year Editing and deleting classes Some class enrollment fields can be updated by clicking the Edit button at the beginning of each class row One thing you cannot change by clicking the Edit button 15 the class name instructor field See directions in the Editing Class Enrollment section later in this chapter Be sure to click the Save button 1n the form that rolls down to lock in your changes At the end of each class row a Delete button appears if the student has no class hours in the current or prior NRS years DO NOT remove attendance
139. t column shows all tests taken in selected NRS year Student ID Entry Level Last Subject Last Test Last Booklet Score Level Gain this NRS Year 87912 ABE Beginning Basic Bennett Ricardo ray math 2 15 2012 TABE 10E 415 Not Leveled math 2 15 2012 TABE 10E 415 Not leveled math 10 25 2011 TABE 9M 331 means reading 4 1 2011 TABE 9M 394 0 level gains 64 Tables amp Reports Tech support Mary Zimmerli 877 544 3128 Class amp Attendance Date Mismatches This report shows students whose class enrollment or class run dates do not match monthly attendance hours These out of range hours known as hidden hours will not be counted on the NRS tables so it s important to fix them Your goal is to run this report and not have any students show up This report shows all the records for the entire history of your database not just the NRS year you have selected on the Dashboard It s possible to have a student with hours and date mismatches in more than one NRS year Students will have one row on the report for each month that has a mismatch so some students may appear multiple times Tip if you have a lot of names on the report print it out for easier reference Key facts about entering attendance hours Student attendance hours must fall between the student s class entry and exit dates 2 Student entry and exit dates should correspond with actual student attendance Th
140. t common These classes are open indefinitely though they may close for the summer or take short breaks The class start and end dates are not restricted to a single NRS year The class end date may be set far into the future such as 4 30 2020 Short term classes are are limited to a few weeks or months within a program year They are often grant funded and may be topical such as a 12 week citizenship skills class Choose a class name When selecting each class name consider the following points 1 Easy name recognition Could anyone in your consortium look at the name of the class and immediately know what and where it is 2 Class location Are there many different classes running in a single location If so breaking the classes into different teaching content areas might be helpful 3 Future reporting needs Will you need to run reports for ABE ESL students served by specific grants or other groups of students 4 Special programming Classes for distance education Fast RAC and initiatives have MDE required naming rules See Special Class Naming Rules on the next page for details Classes 5 To avoid confusion do not give identical names to more than one class Not all ABE programs are structured the same way However most consortia using MARCS fall into one of the two following scenarios Scenario 1 Your ABE program offers classes at numerous small sites At each site the instructor provides one o
141. tab locate the Attendance by Class Group control 2 Click the field menu next to the Go button 3 Choose the desired class group from the menu Click the Go button to be redirected to the Class Attendance screen If you haven t selected any class groups you will stay on the Classes tab rather than being redirected to the Class Attendance screen Every student who appears on this screen 18 enrolled in a class that matches the class group you selected Students enrolled 1n more than one matching class will appear more than once 1n the list of names The name of the class and class ID number appear at the end of each student row This 1s to ensure that you enter the attendance hours in the appropriate class Classes 31 Editing attendance Data entry typos happen Sometimes teachers send incorrect totals for a student Other times it s a simple keystroke error when typing 1n the hours You may discover mistakes made when entering hours Those errors must be cleaned up since student attendance hours are the basis for ABE funding But there is a time limit to keep in mind when it come to fixing hours CAUTION Once the annual NRS tables have been submitted to the MDE on June 1 do not go back and change student hours earned in a prior year When your ABE consortium 18 audited the total student hours in the MARCS database should match those on the NRS tables
142. tabs Each tab shows a different collection of related 1nformation 6 Dashboard The currently active tab has a green background The Dashboard tab is the first screen that appears when you log in to MARCS It contains lists of enrolled students In Full mode 1t shows search tools and grids with searchable fields The Students tab shows individual learner data such as address and phone number goals and achievements tests taken and class enrollment The Classes tab stores class details like class name start end dates groups and attendance The Staff tab has fields to record the names and contact info for teachers and others with database access User logins and database privileges are assigned on this screen Subtabs The Dashboard tab has two subtabs Student List and Charts The active subtab 1s white while the inactive tab 1 purple Nearly all your time will be spent on the default Student Last subtab The Student List subtab has the tools to manipulate student records Searching sorting printing custom reports and exporting data to Excel are all available on this subtab The Charts subtab has several charts and graphs to illustrate student enrollment in the areas of attendance hours ethnicity age and employment At this time the charts cannot be altered or exported to another application Navigation Bar The navigation bar appears at the bottom of the Dashboard screen It tells you h
143. teacher or ABE manager about your consortium 5 post testing plan Do not record test results for Workbased Project or Conditional Work Referral students Special notes for GED candidates Record official GED scores 1 the form spaces The GED counts as a post test ONLY when the learner s entry or current level was set at ASE High based on standardized test results Education Level Exit levels Mark exit levels on the right side of the Education Level box m Literacy _ um ap i net ui i For academic students use the results of post test scores to set the exit level For Workbased Project and Conditional Work Referral students the exit level will be the same as the entry level MARCS Technical Manual Supplement 1 Achievements Achievements Mark all that apply Core goals are in bold type __ GED certificate Entered military __ High school diploma Reduced left public assistance Entered post sec job training Resume job search skills __ Obtained job 29 2 __ Improved retained current job __ Improved basic literacy English language skills __ Citizenship skills __ Workbased Project Conditional Work Referral Budgeting More invi child s education participated in child s school activities helped w child s schoolwork more contact wi child s teachers More involved in child s literacy bought child books magazines __ Community involvement __
144. ted the ABE teacher is co teaching with a college instructor MARCS Tech support Mary Zimmerli 877 544 3128 Classes 2i Editing classes Users must have full privileges to edit classes Once a class 18 created you may change the name of the class the start and end dates an instructor name or the class group Classes must be edited one at a time Be careful when editing class start and end dates By changing the dates after student attendance hours have been entered you may inadvertently cause some hours to appear in gray boxes You cannot edit the size of the class or hours from the Edit Class form To edit a class click the Edit button that appears at the aoe beginning of each class row ESL Eve The Add Edit a Class form adabi will appear make your changes and click Save Add change or remove a class group Class groups are optional They can be created changed or removed from a class record without affecting already entered attendance hours Class group names appear in the All Classes field on the Dashboard They allows you to search for students in more than one class at a time How to add a new class group 1 Select the Classes tab Click on the Edit button in the row of the class name you want to change 2 In the Add Edit form click the Class Group field menu 3 Make sure the cursor is blinking in the Class Group field then start typing the group name It will automatically be added to the
145. the Assessments section enter any post test scores for academic students Record Official GED scores if you have any 4 n the Class History section edit the class line by adding a student exit date Heactivating students Sometimes students who have been exited come back Often 1t seems that exiting a student will bring them back to class the very next week When a student returns to class the teacher or intake person will notify you Rather than creating a whole new student record continue to build on the one that s already in the database Adding a new class line or removing the exit date from an existing class line will reactivate the student record The following directions explain how to reactivate students who were exited in the current year or 1n a prior NRS year Tech support Mary Zimmerli 877 544 3128 Re entry the same NRS year In this case the last class exit date for the student was during the current NRS year The best practice for same year re entries to the same class 18 to simply wipe out the class exit date Some users add a new class line each time a student exits and re enrolls This can quickly lead to a long list of classes with identical names in the student s Class History and attendance hours sections Also student names will appear multiple times on the Classes tab Attendance screen How to re enroll students exited in the same NRS year 1 On the Dashboard make sure you re look
146. the Saved Searches box open find the name of the saved search you want to delete Click on the black x at the end of the name of the saved search You won t get an are you sure warning ISD 279 Saved searches are linked with MARCS user names and passwords Users are able to see only the saved searches created when logged in with their own user password You cannot share saved searches with others working in the same database Sorting records In addition to searching for records you can also SORT them temporarily rearrange the order in which they appear onscreen Changes made to the sort order affect all the available records until another field 15 selected for the sort or the search reset button is pressed The default sort MARCS is by the student last name in alphabetical order from A to Z Records may be sorted by several fields at once The sort icon or V appears in the field label that 1s currently being used to arrange the records If the sort 1con appears in a field label you know two things 1 the records are sorted by the 1tems in this field and 2 the direction of the arrow tells how the records are organized What it means Text field content is sorted from A to Z Number field content is sorted from least to greatest Date field content is sorted from oldest to most recent Text field content is sorted from Z to A Number field content is sorted from greatest
147. tional levels goals achievements and attendance hours will differ from one year to the next MARCS keeps track of each year s NRS data separately The data you see in the NRS Year section is only for the currently selected NRS year D Barniche Stefan Created 4 3 2013 4382 Sweetgrass Trace 193530 Tennessen Yes Gopher Prairie MN 55333 392 3289 swchoclvr gmail com 9 22 1950 Age 63 M White non Hispanic 5 Email Came ta US in 2012 L ommiernt NRS Year 2013 2014 Referral Friend ESL BegHigh ESL inttow v tci v NR5misc Entry Curr iow Inc Pub Assist Age 62 Pre Yes Post Yes GEDHrs O cpr DW NRS Comment edit 13 Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec 244735 ESL Eve Assessments Edit CASAS life amp work Post test Edit CASAS life amp work Pre test reading reading Add a new assessment Class History Class H Edit 244235 ESL Eve Black Sally ABE Classroom 36 Students Longterm section Last Grade 9 12 no dipl v OUS Non US Range Dis NRS section Jan 14 Feb m Jo lee Assessments section istory sectio II The student details provided in this shaded area will be used to prepare the NRS tables Much of the data will be cleared or updated at the beginning of each new NRS year Assessments section Look here for results of tests taken 1n any NRS year past and p
148. to least Date field content is sorted from most recent to oldest Tech support Mary Zimmerli 877 544 3128 sort example sort records by student age 1 Select the Summary grid from the Dashboard tab 2 Locate the Age column 3 Click once in the Age field label to arrange the records from youngest student to oldest 4 Click again in the field label to arrange the records from oldest to youngest To add another layer to the sort request shift click on a second field label Custom reporting MARCS has the ability to run many reports that are limited to the records in your found set How to run a report on a found set 1 If you haven t already find the group of records you want to include in the report 2 Click on the Reports button A list of reports will appear Click the name of the report you want to run 3 The top of the report will show which students are included Site Instructor Level Changes NRS Year 2012 2013 Class Tree City ABE Black Sally When running the NRS tables on a found set Tables 1 12 will show results for participants only even if your found set includes students with fewer than twelve attendance hours Regular NRS tables show student hours earned by the student 1n ALL classes Tech support Mary Zimmerli 877 544 5128 Exporting data to Excel In full Dashboard mode you can export student information into Excel and customize your own reports The Export to
149. ts Enrollees Participants 12 or more hours Class ype Whenever you make a selection on the optional toolbar you must click on the View Report button to activate your change View Report Show student names A helpful feature of the tables and reports 1s that you can show or hide student names as you choose To show student names chck on the plus sign at the beginning of a report row The plus sign turns into a minus sign and the student names appear To hide student names click on the minus sign It turns back into a plus sign and names disappear BE Beginning Basic 1 BE Intermediate Low 1 Allen Tawanda S 19612 Exporting reports to view edit save and print export button appears on each table or report The button creates copies which can be opened as pdf Excel or Word files and saved to your hard drive From there you can print the reports Editing exported reports When you export a report as a pdf or Word file you cannot make any changes to the data 1n the new file What you see onscreen in MARCS is what you get 1n the newly opened saved file Excel exports offer greater flexibility the Excel file you can add or remove columns delete student rows or filter cells to meet your exact reporting needs You can also save your Excel file changes and store them on your hard drive Changes you make to data 1n the exported file DO NOT affect the original MARCS record at all
150. udent has signed a document stating that he has read and understands the state required Tennessen Warning student privacy rights The field defaults to yes a computer generated number that identifies the student within the database It matches the ID number that appears next to the student name on the Dashboard Birthdate you know this one Age how old the student 1s today Gender male or female are your choices Ethnicity a predefined racial category Choices are federally determined and cannot be altered Misc this optional field will hold brief 1nfo about the student Examples a local non MARCS student ID number case manager name etc Field 1s limited to 30 characters Country of Orig an optional field listing the name of the student s birth country First Language an optional field showing the student s native tongue County the student s county of residence ISD the independent school district in which the student resides Area collects rural residency status Rural means the student lives 1n a place with a population of less than 2500 and outside an urban area Students that don t meet that definition are categorized as Other Comment this optional field holds more extensive notes about the student Field is limited to 200 characters Tech support Mary Zimmerli 877 544 3128 NRS year fields The program year dates being viewed are displayed
151. udent online success Training facilitated by St Paul Public Schools ACES Academic Career and Employability Skills train teachers to implement the transition integration f k eachers to implement the transition integration framewor u FN ear for post secondary readiness employability and career Training E Project IDEAL v awareness skills Training provided by ATLAS E aces year b Certificate Mark all the certificates the teacher has earned E inus ca M M E TESOL stands for Teachers of English to Speakers of Other ee Languages 9489 Choose ABE teaching experience c Experience Select the number of years of ABE teaching potes experience an instructor has completed More than three years Start Data d Start and End Dates Type the first and last dates the teacher worked as a paid ABE instructor for your consortium Sadoc If you are setting up staff login privileges now click the Save button A new staff row will appear onscreen with the details you entered If you ARE setting up staff privileges now continue with the steps below 5 Username Locate the MARCS Login section Type the Marcs Login Optional username assigned to the new staff 6 Password Type a password with at least 6 characters Write down the password for Step 9 7 Role From the menu choose View Only Attendanc
152. udents will return at the beginning of the new program year These previously enrolled students who are continuing without a break are called carryovers If you reasonably expect the student to come back to class within the first quarter of the new program Check here year before July 31 mark this box This will tell the data person that the student should be included 1n the new year s data if student will carry over into next program year If you don t expect to see the student until next fall do not mark this box MDE Data Entry Schedule Programs must have all student 1nformation entered electronically and up to date according to the following schedule Qtr Dates Data complete by May 1 July 31 Sept 15 Aug 1 Oct 31 Nov 1 Jan 31 Feb 1 30 MARCS Technical Manual Supplement 1 12109 peel paysia saulzebew syoog 1 PSAJOAU 5194963 S p Iuo M j9e uoo XJOMJOOUOS M pedjay _ 00 25 s p iuo ul 9J0JN 151 __ _ sis gol awnsey _ eouejsisse y __ dn mojjo4 __ dn mojjo4 ewojdig 1115 9J poseaJou _ 61
153. upplement 1 e Native Islander Hawaii or other Pacific Islands such as the Philippines or Samoa White non Hispanic Europe North Africa or Middle East but not of Hispanic culture origin Two more Any combination of ethnic backgrounds except Hispanic Country of Origin Print the name of the country where the student was born First Language This 15 the student s original language The Country of Origin and First Language fields are often used by ABE programs with large ESL populations Referral Source Mark ONE line to show how the student found out about the ABE program Last Grade Completed Mark the last grade the student completed Last Grade Location Mark where the last grade was attended in a U S or non U S school Income This field deals with the student s financial situation Some consortia track this 1nfo to see if students qualify for other grants Low Income Learner or referring agency states that the student is low income The MDE suggests using the current USDA Income Eligibility Guidelines for free and reduced meals The chart is available on the web e Income Range This line is for dollar ranges or student stated household income Ask your lead teacher if this information 1s collected Public Assistance All students must have ONE of the three lines marked Minn Family Investment Plan is a state welfare reform p
154. utting student data into MARCS is so you can pull it back out when you need it NRS tables and program management reports allow you to see the data you have already entered NRS tables summarize student enrollment and progress for a single NRS year These details are then reported to the state and federal ABE managers at the end of May The MDE has negotiated NRS targets with federal ABE leaders Each Minn ABE program 1s expected to work towards meeting the targets Running the NRS tables occasionally can give you an idea about how your consortium 1s performing against the targets Be aware that this 1s only a ballpark 1dea Level changes and achievements are not entered for continuing students until the end of the year This will affect some table totals In MARCS NRS tables are pre programmed and really not modifiable For example tables 1 12 show only students with 12 or more attendance hours and you can t change that Reports on the other hand are tools designed to meet local data needs They are used to collect and refine student info They can also be run to share student progress with program partners Like tables reports are run often during the year to make sure student details are current They can identify ABE programming that 1 working well and areas that need attention Reports are also pre programmed but nearly all allow the user to modify the report somewhat The exceptions are missing data and cleanup re
155. ve will make a copy on your hard drive Save Save as CS j Save and open 50 Tables amp Reports Internet Explorer 9 browser export message Tech support Mary Zimmerli 877 544 3128 Printing For most tables and reports printing 1 not done from MARCS Instead reports and tables are exported and printed from the new file application For example 1f you export a file as an Excel spreadsheet you will print the report using the Excel print commands Exceptions Four reports can be printed directly from MARCS using the browser File menu gt Print commands As the graphic shows they are the Assessment List Attendance Hours Pivot Grid Attendance Counts Pivot Grid and Class and Attendance Date Mismatches reports Reports B These reports display data based on your current student dashboard list settings to change the scope of the report change your search and or filters in the dashboard NRS Reports Program Management Reports e Table A Total Enrollment and Contact Hours Table A Total Enrollment and Contact Hours Single Class Table A Total Enrollment and Contact Hours Corrections Site able A Total Enrollment and Contact Hours Distance Learning e Table 1 Participants by Entering EFL Ethnicity and Gender Site Instructor Level Change Site Inst Level Change Master List Student Required Data Student Missing NRS Data Missing Class Hours Data Table 2 Participants by A
156. visited library w child __ Basic computer related skills read child __ Increased life skills Other In this section check ALL of the achievements the student made during the program year even 1f they were not marked as a goal Keep appropriate documentation 1n the student folder GED certificate student obtained certification of passing scores on the General Educational Development GED tests Be sure to record scores on the lines provided in the GED test score box High school diploma learner completed enough credits to obtain a high school diploma Entered post secondary job training learner enrolled in post secondary or job training program that does not duplicate ABE services Obtained job date learner was unemployed and actively job seeking AND got a job Write the date the student got the job on the line provided Improved retained current job learner was employed at entry AND kept the job Improved basic literacy learner has documented progress in an academic job skills technology or other area You can mark this box even if the student did not complete an education level English language skills ESL learners ONLY student has documented improvements in reading writing or speaking English Citizenship skills ESL learners ONLY learner improved skills to be able to pass the U S Citizenship test Documentation include passing scores on a practice citizenship test completing sample f
157. y began the NRS year For example if a student was unemployed at the beginning of the year the Employment field should remain unemployed even if the student got a job midway through the NRS year At the beginning of each new program year the NRS fields will need to be updated for students who are continuing In our example above the Employment field would be changed at that time to employed for the student who got a job Sometimes the Entry and Current level fields will change mid year If the pre test results were not an accurate picture of the student s abilities the teacher may request that you drop the Entry level down That s OK as long as you have a compelling reason to make the change in the middle of the year Another reason you might change the Entry level in the middle is because learners are changing goals If a Work based or Conditional Work Referral student switches to regular academic instruction they are able to change academic levels In that case use the student pre test scores to set an ABE Entry level Remember academic level changes are more desirable than Work based Project or Conditional Work Referral completion CAUTION Once the annual NRS tables have been submitted to the MDE on June 1 do not go back and change student hours or NRS section data from a prior year Students 39 Assessment fields Test results prove the student 1s correctly placed in the current NRS yea
158. y class line 1s for proxy hours Note that both classes have Distance Education as the Program Class History Two class lines needed for i Pathways distance learning students 44 Students How to enroll a student in a distance learning class 1 On the Students tab go to the Class History section at the bottom of the page Click the Add a New Class button 2 In the form that rolls down go to the Class field Choose the class staff combo for the student contact hours from the field menu 3 From the Program field menu choose Distance Education In the Entry Date field type the date the student first enrolled in or attended the class Click the Save button 4 Click the Add a New Class button again 5 n the Class field select the class staff combo name for the proxy hours 6 Choose Distance Education as the Program type In the Entry Date field type the date the student first enrolled in or attended the class Click the Save button Special rules FastTRAC Things to remember about students in FastTRAC funded programs e Fast RAC students must be enrolled ina bridge or integrated class with Fast RAC in the class title e Enter students in a separate class for each step in the career pathway e Exit students from a Fast RAC class when they complete the coursework or are no longer receiving Fast RAC services Congratulations You have successfully created a new student record Tech support Mary Zi

Download Pdf Manuals

Related Search

Related Contents

CBAS User Manual  03・5543-ー870  "取扱説明書"  MANUAL DE INSTRUÇÕES DA ESTAÇÃO DE SOLDA  ABUS SG1250 siren  User Manual  Samsung C139STR Инструкция по использованию  

Copyright © All rights reserved. Failed to retrieve file