Why Won't My Tests Scan Correctly? (Data Director FAQ)

Data Director FAQ #3: When I scan my answer sheets, all of the answers and student ID numbers are wrong. How do I fix it?

There is more than one answer to this question, because there a number of steps in the Data Director assessment process that could be causing the problem.

Issue #1: Printing

When you print, you should check the "Fit to Page" box in the printing dialogue.

Your answer sheets have registration T marks at the top and bottom. These T marks help the scanner identify where to locate the bubbles that it needs to scan. When printed correctly, these T's are approximately 1/4" from the sides and 1/2" from the top and bottom of the answer sheet. If "Fit to Page" hasn't been checked, the T's will be too close to the edge.

Answer sheet printed correctly with "Fit to Page" option checked.

Answer sheet printed incorrectly without "Fit to Page" option checked. Note how much closer the T's are to the edge of the page.

Issue #2: Scanning

Even if you did print your answer sheets correctly, your answer sheets may not scan correctly. This is most likely because the person who scanned before you had to calibrate the scanner for incorrectly printed answer sheets, but didn't reset it when finished.

The solution is to calibrate the printer, so that it correctly identifies where your students' answers are on their bubble sheets according to the registration T marks at the top and bottom of the page.

To calibrate the printer, follow the directions below, or go to the directions I've shared on Google Drive.

Strike Up the (Proficiency) Bands! (Data Director FAQ)

Data Director Frequently Asked Question #2: Why are the percentages on the pre-test proficiency bands different than the post-test proficiency bands?

Proficiency bands in Data Director are not just visual representations of how your students performed on an assessment; they are a useful tool in terms of making MTSS (multi-tiered systems of support) decisions to enhance your students' learning.

The main reason that the proficiency bands change from the pre-test to the post-test in Data Director is because the data from those tests are used in different ways.

Unit pre-tests are formative assessments designed to guide instruction during the unit. The color bands indicate what sort of instruction the students within each level will need.



Starting in the middle, the students in the yellow Core band (students who scored between 69-79% on the pre-test) are the students who are ready for regular instruction during the unit. In other words, these are the students whose prior skills and knowledge make it likely that they'll be proficient at the end of the unit without extra support beyond your regular instruction.

Above them are the green Enrichment band for students who scored between 79-89%, and the blue Enrichment+ band for students who scored above 89%. These students have already demonstrated proficiency on the knowledge and skills that will be taught throughout the unit; they are ready for enriched instruction above and beyond what is normally taught during the unit.

Students in the orange Core+*classroom support* band scored between 49-69% on the pre-test. These students may need extra support beyond regular classroom instruction to become proficient by the end of the unit. Students in the red Intensive Core+ band scored below 49% on the pre-test, and will definitely need extra support throughout the unit in order to bring their knowledge and skills up to proficiency for the post-test.

Unit post-tests are formative assessments designed to guide re-teaching after the unit. The color bands indicate your students' proficiency on the knowledge and skills taught throughout the unit. For students who aren't proficient at the end of the unit, the bands indicate how much re-teaching they will need to reach proficiency.



Students in the green Proficient band (79-99%) and the blue Advanced band (at least 99%, which essentially means a perfect score for our unit post-tests) have demonstrated their proficiency on the skills and knowledge taught during the unit, and are not in need of any re-teaching.

Students in the remaining three bands need some sort of re-teaching to reach proficiency. In the yellow Close to Proficient band (69-79%) are students who probably don't need much re-teaching in order to demonstrate proficiency for the unit. On a 20-question post-test, a student in the yellow band only needed one or two more correct answers to make it to green.

Students in the orange Needs Additional Intervention band (49-69%) and the red Needs Substantial Intervention band (49% and below) will need more help to reach proficiency. These are students with significant gaps in their understanding of the skills and knowledge taught throughout the unit, and will likely need a considerable amount of re-teaching in order to become proficient.

One of the best ways to ensure that more of your students reach proficiency on the post-test is to formatively assess their skills and knowledge throughout the unit, and then use the information gained from those formative assessments to guide your instruction. Regular formative assessments that are connected to the Iowa Core standards that your students are working on will keep you better informed on their progress throughout the unit, and will make it easier for you to meet their individual learning needs in your classroom.

Please Add My New Students to Data Director! (Data Director FAQ)

It's time to resurrect my long-neglected SEPData blog! My goal is to update it at least once each week for the rest of the school year to help answer some of the most frequently asked questions I receive as Southeast Polk's data and assessment coordinator. If you want to follow these questions and answers on Twitter, I'll use the hashtag #DataDirectorFAQ.

One of the most common questions I receive from teachers is "Can you add a new student to my class roster on Data Director?"

The short answer to that question is no, I can't.

The longer, more helpful answer is that teachers' rosters are updated weekly by Southeast Polk's information technology systems administrator Keith Lyles. Once per week, Keith extracts from Infinite Campus a massive spreadsheet containing scheduling and demographic information for all Southeast Polk students and the teachers with whom they're rostered. This spreadsheet is then uploaded to Data Director, and all of the user information for both teachers and students on Data Director is updated to match their user information on Infinite Campus.

Unfortunately, Data Director does not automatically sync with Infinite Campus, so when a new student is added, or a student's schedule is changed, her information won't be correct on Data Director until Keith's next update.

You can see when the last update was under "What's New in Data Director," on the left side of the dashboard.