Family & Community Adult Education Adult & Community Learning Services
Adult and Community Learning Services

SMARTT Updates

By Donna Cornellier
dcornellier@doe.mass.edu
January 12, 2007

1) SMARTT/MAPT Section

The "OWL" link has been added to the SMARTT logon page for convenience in case a student is using a computer that does not have the MAPT test url marked as a favorite.

There are still 31 sites that have partials listed. These sites need to either convert the partial intakes to full intakes or delete the partial intakes if no tests have been administered using the partial intake SMARTT ID. To remove a partial, right click on the student name in the partial search results screen and select "Remove" or select "Remove" on the left hand menu while viewing the information of a partial intake.

The test scores are sent from OWL to SMARTT daily. We run a daily process to import them into the SMARTT OWL Results screen and the student assessment screen so you can set the primary area and attendance can be entered. This process will be automated in the future, but for now, please do not check for the results to appear immediately in the assessment screen.

2) Duplicate Students

Before you add a new student into SMARTT, it is important that you check to see if the student is already listed in SMARTT at your site or at another site in the state. Using the "Add Student" feature, type in only the first letter or just a few letters of the student's first and last name. This is important, in case their name had been misspelled previously. Sometimes names are reversed, so try both combinations of first and last initial.

A popup box, "Potential Duplicate Students Found" will appear. If the student's name is listed, his/her status will be listed in one of the following ways:

• Exited
• Current at another site
• Wait listed
• Partially Intaken (for MAPT testing)
• Referred from Career Centers.

If the student's name appears on the list, you must use this name rather than creating a new account to avoid creating multiple IDs for this person. The goal is to avoid creating multiple records/SMARTT Ids for the same student since we need previous goal and assessment information linked to the current record. If no names come up that are a match for that student, go ahead and add the student by completing the intake for them.

However, if you realize you already have created duplicate accounts for one student (even if the name is misspelled or the first name and the last names are reversed), you can exit the student using the same date of intake (assuming no other data has been entered for this student). Contact one of the regional SABES techs for assistance.

3) New Column G Goal Section

A new column G goal section has been added called " Project Level Student Goals". This section allows users to enter new goals not listed on the current goal selector list. To add these goals, follow these steps:

1. Select the student name and select the goals section
2. Click "Edit" in the "Current Student Goals" panel in the goals screen
3. Click on the top button stating "Show Student Goals Sections A,B,C,…."
4. Click on the plus sign in front of the Section G folder
5. Click on "Add New Goal" and then type the name of the new goal. Then enter the date set. Note that if the goal name entered is exactly the same as an existing goal from other sections, an error message will appear noting that this is a duplicate goal and it cannot be entered.

Once a new goal has been entered, it will appear in the Column G list for all sites in the project. These goals are for program use only and are not part of the Goals Performance Standards. These goals will appear in the goals cube so that teachers can view all goals selected by class for the students.

4) P21 SELECTION ADDED TO CLASS FUNDING DETAIL IN PROGRAM PLAN

The P21 selection has been added to the Class Funding Detail screen in Program Planning for those programs that propose to serve students by the LWIB's Pathways to Success by 21 initiative funded through Commonwealth Corporation. Programs can add slots for this funding source under the Non ESE Slots column.

5) REVISED VOLUNTEER, STAFF, AND STUDENT LIST SCREENS

The list screens under the student, staff, and volunteer sections now have a fiscal year selector drop down. This feature allows for different fiscal year selections and displays the current and exited classes relating to the fiscal year that is selected. An "ALL" option is also added to the Fiscal Year drop down which lists information for all fiscal years. The lists screens below have these new features. You will see the various list screens on the left menu bar when you select students, staff, or volunteers.

Student - List Screens:

Enrollment - Displays the Current/Exited Enrollments of the student for current FY by default.

Match List - Displays the Active/Inactive Matches for current FY by default.

Volunteer - List Screens:

Class List - Displays the Current/Exited classes for current FY by default.

Match List - Displays the Active/Inactive Matches for current FY by default.

Staff - List Screens:

Class List - Displays the Current/Exited classes for current FY by default.

6) Attendance Check

Several months ago we added enrollment dates to the class attendance screen for each student to assist data entry staff to ensure that correct attendance is entered for each enrollment period. We run monthly checks to verify that the maximum attendance is not exceeded for each enrollment period. We will be adding this check when attendance is entered, and users will get a message if the maximum attendance is exceeded for enrollment dates for any month.

7) Other Assessment Area

The assessment area called "Other" is designed for users to enter assessment data for program use only. Many programs use this for placement information so this year we allow MAPT and TABE data to also be entered in this section called "Other". Programs had requested this since many programs use TABE for placement and also want to enter MAPT practice test results. The fields in this screen are:

8) Revised Wait List Module

We are in the process of revising the old wait list screens and implementing the new architecture used in our other screens such as tabbing order, date and phone formats, etc. The first screen to be released (later this month) will be the "Waitlist Removal Search" screen. Users will have the capability to search by last name and sort on Name and Date Waitlisted fields. A feature to remove multiple students from this search screen will be available. More information will be sent to the listservs when this screen is ready.

The next screen to be released is "Add Students". Some of the new features that will be released in phases are:

• Integrate the MOSES referrals into the wait list
• Include a site field so that programs can get site level wait list information
• Provide a method to update wait list information yearly (by December 1) to get accurate wait list counts
• Allow users to select fields for export
• Add a field to note if student was "Assessed -Y/N" and if Yes, enter "Date Assessed"
• Provide the same duplicate check feature so that duplicates are not entered (like for students and staff)
• Provide additional comment fields for program use
• Add the following non required fields for program use:
  1. Reason for removal from waitlist
  2. Children in K-12 (Y/N)
  3. Birth Dates of Children ages 2-4
  4. Transportation available (Y/N)
  5. Referral Made (Y/N)
  6. Other Services (Y/N)
  7. Postcard Sent(Y/N)
  8. E-mail address

9) New Professional Development Screen

The new professional development screen that allows users to enter trainings other than those provided by SABES is ready to be tested. The form was provided in the September mailing and if anyone would like to test this screen, please e-mail me (dcornellier@doe.mass.edu). The information to be entered is listed below. The bulleted items are required fields:

• Date Attended:
• Hours Attended:
• Title:
• Type of Course: Internet; Off Site; On Site
  Internet Site Name:
  Other Internet Site Name: (if not in previous list)
  Offsite Location:
  Other Offsite location: (if not in previous list)
• Category: (see list from September mailing with these additions listed in November mailing --- Network, COABE, and TESOL)
• IPQ: (Indicators of Program Quality) - on the ACLS website
  • Curriculum Development, Implementation and Instructional Methods
  • Student Educational Progress
  • Instructional Support Services
  • Community Linkages
  • Program Continuous Improvement Planning
  • Program Management, Leadership, and Accountability
  • Other
• Topic:
  • Curriculum & Instruction
  • Student Services
  • Assessment
  • Student Participation & Retention
  • Program Continuous Improvement Planning / Organizational Development
  • Educational Leadership & Administration
  • Community Planning
  • Workforce Development
  • Workplace Education
  • Other
• Student Populations:
  • ABE General (not ESOL)
  • Both ABE/GED & ESOL
  • ESOL
  • GED/ASE
  • Other

SABES still enters data into SMARTT for staff who attended trainings. Programs must keep the staff section updated in SMARTT since the names for each training come from the list of staff entered by programs in SMARTT.

10) Additional Filter in Student by Site Cube

We added a filter to the student by site cube so that you can look at data by SABES regions. If you click on "All Agencies" and scroll to the bottom of the list, you will be able to select "By SABES". Then select one of the five SABES regions. Once you select a SABES region, you can select "By SDA" to look at data by one of the sixteen service delivery areas (local workforce investment board regions).

11) Goals Data in Cognos

We have had several questions regarding goals data in Cognos. Programs cannot compare data in various Cognos reports since each report has different criteria and different purposes. For example, Table 5: Core Follow-up Outcome Measures in Federal Reports includes students with 12+ hours of attendance and different follow-up timeframes for each goal.

The goals cube is extremely large since it contains data for all classes since 1999. We will be breaking up this cube into separate years so it will retrieve data more efficiently.

Goals Cube Information:
The goals cube includes the following:

1. Students with active goals
2. Students with at least one hour of attendance
3. Students who have signed the confidentiality agreement

Measures: Measures display the data by two groups --- Site Level and Class Level. Site level goals group all goals for one particular site within a project while class level goals group all goals for one particular class together. When the Measures filter is applied, Cognos totals all goals that match that particular filter. The filters that are available for Site Level and for Class Level goals are the same. The measures are:

Active Goals: Number of goals that have been set but have not been met.
Goals Met: Number of goals that were met in the fiscal year selected.
Num Students: This is the number of students in the site/class who had at least one hour of attendance, had a goals set (an active goal), and signed the confidentiality release form. Note that this may not give you the actual number of students in a site or a class since those who did not sign a confidentiality release agreement are excluded.
Average Active Goals: The formula is Active Goals divided by the total Number of Students.
Average Goals Met: The formula is Goals Met divided by the Total Number of Students.

You should attend a Cognos training to fully understand how to use this cube and to understand the data presented.

12) Program Plan Changes Due to Increased Funding

A technical assistance session was held in early December for federally funded programs to help them enter the program plan changes in SMARTT and complete their budgets due to funding increases in the Economic Stimulus Bill. The information distributed at that meeting is listed on our ACLS website under "SMARTT System Information - SMARTT News". This information will help all programs in determining increases, amending the program plan, reviewing rate increases in SMARTT for FY08, etc.

13) SMARTT Training Schedule

The updated training schedule is listed below. Please make sure that appropriate staff attend the scheduled upcoming trainings. Notify your SABES regional office as soon as possible with future SMARTT/Cognos training needs so SABES can schedule appropriate trainings. For contact information, see http://www.sabes.org/staff.htm. To register for these and other trainings, please go to http://calendar.sabes.org/ and click on your region or contact the regional offices directly. All programs are assigned a field technologist so if you do not know the field technologist assigned to your program, contact the SABES Director in your region.

We welcome Charlie Herbert to the regional field technologist position in the western SABES office.

SMARTT Training Schedule
1/12/07

SMARTT New User Trainings

A workshop for those new to the system (follow-up to be arranged with the trainer)

One additional statewide SMARTT New User will be scheduled later this year.

SMARTT Updates

(open lab, demo, and/or discussion for experienced users)

SMARTT Reporting (COGNOS) Training and Updates

If these sessions will not meet your needs, please call your Regional Technology Coordinator.

Please call or e-mail the Regional Technology Coordinator holding the trainings to register.