Vol. 5, Issue 3
March, 2010

North Carolina Dept.
of Public Instruction

ClassScape Newsletter

ClassScape is an online classroom assessment system that facilitates learning by focusing on curricular objectives. ClassScape enables teachers to monitor student performance on North Carolina Standard Course of Study academic indicators. The system also allows North Carolina teachers to build customized tests or use tests prepared by ClassScape.

ClassScape assists teachers in self-assessment of instructional strategies, and monitoring student progress on an ongoing basis. Teachers can select specific objectives to assess throughout the school year and access real-time instructional feedback reports.

In This Issue:

ClassScape in the News
Chicken Soup for the Internet
Available Assessments
Monthly Educational Article
ClassScape From the Teacher's Perspective
New Custom Assessment Feature
Video Tutorials
Coming AtTECHtions
Where in the World is ClassScape Now?
Contacts

Important Update:  Teachers have requested that we make the basic report data "real-time" so that they can review the results of the assessment with their students immediately.  Although we will need to keep the other reports on a nightly update, we were able to make the Basic Report live again!  We gave it a new name and moved it under a different menu on the website.  It is now called "Assessment Results" and it can be found under the "Assessments" menu.  Thank you, teachers, for your insightful feedback and adherence to best practices in assessment!

ClassScape in the News: Extra Instruction Aids Colerain Students

Chicken Soup for the Internet
- Jill Hebeisen, Senior Programmer

One of the most common misconceptions about the Internet is that access to it is consistent and unlimited. In reality, using the Internet is a lot like driving your car down the highway; there are many factors that can affect the speed and comfort-level of your trip.

RUSH HOUR: Just like commuting to and from work in your car, there are usual hours of peak activity on the Internet. For most schools, peak rush hour falls in the morning - typically from about 8:30 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. During that time period, ClassScape users are competing for Internet resources with many other users who are using ClassScape and other online applications.

UNEXPECTED EVENTS: Anyone who drives a car in a metropolitan area knows all too well how suddenly a highway can become totally gridlocked. Cargo spilling from trucks or unanticipated ice storms are prime examples of this. For ClassScape users, slow response and being "kicked off" are often the result of students in the district using other web-based learning tools simultaneously. This is similar to what happens in a home when one person is taking a shower and someone flushes a toilet in another room. The result can be very unpleasant!

TRAFFIC MANAGEMENT: Carpool or bus lanes are used by some cities to keep certain lanes flowing when others are merely creeping along. There are tools IT departments can use to "shape" how the traffic on a computer network flows. In effect, some applications can be given priority or more dedicated space to run, similar to moving them into carpool lanes on your network.

SPACE LIMITATIONS: Cities across the country are continually adding new roads and expanding the ones that already exist. These capacity adjustments rarely improve conditions for very long because the demand quickly surpasses the available resources. Computer networks have the same issue, but it's much harder to see the problem until it's critical. Your first indication that traffic on the network has exceeded capacity comes when your favorite web application suddenly becomes slow and unreliable.

DIFFERENT INTERNET REQUIREMENTS: Contrary to what you may have been told or thought you knew, not all web applications are transmitting the same amount of data. Historically, networks have been configured to optimize the performance for downloaded data (asymmetric networks). This setup works well for applications that are used mainly for viewing information but not so well for applications like ClassScape that transmit and receive equal amounts of data.

FRUSTRATION: A common response to being stuck in traffic congestion is to honk the horn, sometimes over and over again. Computer users also have a tendency to repeatedly hit a button or in some other way duplicate an onscreen action when nothing appears to be happening. While honking is merely an exercise in futility for a driver stuck in traffic, the result for an Internet application is decidedly negative. Every time you repeat an action, you are generating more data on the Internet. This is the equivalent of creating more cars on your already clogged highway, which is obviously not the result you want.

THE BLAME GAME: We all have a tendency to blame the online application we're currently using when there are speed or other performance issues. This is akin to driving a few miles from Asheville en route to Raleigh and blaming the Raleigh police department for a traffic jam caused by a rockslide just out of view. ClassScape does occasionally experience issues that can affect our entire user population but these are rare. Our help desk will typically be able to tell if your problem is on our end, mainly because they are being inundated with calls for help from across the state.

VEHICLE CHOICE: The combination of computer, operating system, and web browser is similar to the components that make up a motor vehicle - from the engine to the tires to the shape of the car, they all combine to provide you with a specific type of driving experience. Newer versions of operating systems and browsers are optimized for current Internet transport and presentation standards. In addition, web browser publishers have limited resources and are more focused on improving the latest products than maintaining older versions. When you have the option, choosing to use the newer, faster model over the older, slower one will almost always give you better results.

Here are some things you can try for a better ClassScape experience:

• Use the stop button in your browser before trying to repeat an action and don't press buttons repeatedly if response is slow.
• Avoid running large reports during "rush hour".
• Try to find out when other events in your school or district that compete for internet resources are scheduled.
• Contact your IT department or the ClassScape help desk if you have unexpected problems.
• Consider asking your IT department to prioritize ClassScape traffic.
• Use the read-aloud feature judiciously; it has much larger data requirements than regular tests.
• Test smaller numbers of students concurrently for selection-based tests or tests with constructive response items.
• Look into using clickers for some tests or stagger start times for students.
• Upgrade from unsupported and undersupported operating systems and browsers (e.g. Windows 98).
• Try a different browser; many people now use different browsers for different tasks.

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For available assessments click here

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Monthly Educational Article
Schools Need Models for Linking Data, Practice
- via eSchool News

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From the Teacher's Perspective: March Madness ClassScape Style
- Kelly Cave, Gentry Middle School

An annual tradition known as March Madness is about to send teachers and students into a frenzy. Unfortunately, the madness at hand has nothing to do with the NCAA Basketball Tournament. End of grade testing seems to have suddenly become a reality when the calendar flips to March. Now more than ever, teachers feel the time slipping away. Never fear- ClassScape is here!

Obviously, teachers cannot find more time during the school day. So… why not offer them the opportunity to take an assessment before school or after school? ClassScape is available until 6:00 p.m. each day. Many individual teachers offer before or after school tutoring sessions.

Many districts are participating in Professional Learning Communities. The “Common Assessment Report” feature is an excellent option for teachers as they evaluate data to plan instruction, remediation, or differentiation. Teachers can compare data across an entire grade level. After all, the EOG is the ultimate “common assessment”! ClassScape makes extrapolating data a breeze. Teachers simply export grade level data through the “Common Assessment Report” feature. Common Assessment Reports allow teachers to determine how ALL students are performing in a given area.

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New Custom Assessment Feature
- Vicki Thomas

A NEW BUTTON! And it’s one we’ve been asking about for quite some time! It’s for the Custom Assessments that we create. It’s an Export Item List button! It’s so cool! (Ok – cool is not the right word to use right now, I know.) You are going to love it!

So let me tell you where it is and what to do with this. Go to Assessments -> Manage Finalized Custom Assessments. If you need to, use your filter button at the top to get to the subject and grade level that you would like. Find your Custom Assessment in the list and then click on the Export Item List button. This will open up an export dialog where you are told that you have chosen to open such and such a file and what do you want to do with it? Typically, I choose open. You may have to do something different based on your computer. I know that sometimes the spreadsheet software that you will be using has to be opened first before you export, or sometimes you have to save and then you can open. If you are unable to get it to open, I would check with your tech person at your school. It will export as a CSV file which is used by most spreadsheet programs. When you have it open, it will look like this:

All the information is right here for that custom assessment. It has the name of the assessment, the person who created it, and when it was created. It includes the information from the tables for answer choices, difficulty level, thinking skill, objectives, and sub-objectives. And most importantly, it includes a list of the questions. That list is called Prod Numbers. Those are the numbers that are attached to each question. You can use this list when building a custom assessment if you don’t want to choose the same item again, or if you want to recreate a similar assessment. (Side tip – When you are at the Custom Assessment screen, choose All Goals and then use Ctrl-F. This will pull up a dialog box where you can type in your prod number and then click find. It will find the question for you!)

What to do with this? Lots of things! Let me just make a list of a few. I bet you’ll come up with lots of other uses, too.

• Professional Learning Communities from different schools can use this to create identical tests because they can share the list of prod numbers.
• District Level Administrators can share info about the thinking skills and difficulty levels for the assessments from the district benchmarks.
• Teachers can identify questions that they want to incorporate in a future assessment by comparing the info with the Common Assessment and the Assessment Results reports.
• Teachers can keep a list of items that have already been used to avoid overuse of an item (or selection).
• Teachers can create a similar assessment without using the same items.
• Teachers can share the table information with other teachers who are using the same assessment.
• Planning teams can use the information as a part of analyzing their common assessment data.

Think warm thoughts. Spring is coming and summer is not far behind!

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Video Tutorials

The following video tutorials are currently available for both Elementary and Middle School and High School teachers. You can find them by clicking Help > Tutorials once you’re logged in to ClassScape:

Overview of the ClassScape System
 - Getting Started with ClassScape
 - Adding Classes in ClassScape
 - Viewing Class Rosters
 - Scheduling Assessments
 - Managing Scheduled Assessments
 - Creating Custom Assessments
 - Saving a Custom Assessments as a Drafts
 - Managing Finalized Custom Assessments
 - Generating a Basic Report
 - Generating a Student Assessment Report
 - Generating a Common Assessment Report
 - Generating a Class Performance Report
 - Generating a Class Progress Report
 - Generating a Pre/Post Assessment Report
 - Generating a Student Objective Report
 - Generating a Student Progress Report
 - Generating a Student Performance Report
 - The ClassScape Student Interface (Tutorial for Teachers)
 - The ClassScape Student Interface (Tutorial for Students)
 - Allowing Pop-up Windows from the ClassScape website

We've also begun a tutorial series specifically for Test Administrators. The following tutorials are currently available:

- Creating and Managing User Accounts
- Creating and Managing Classes
- Getting Help with ClassScape
- Creating Custom Assessments
- Student Assessment Worksheet

Upcoming tutorials include:

- Adding a Student Roster to ClassScape
- Scheduling Assessments

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New features in ClassScape available now:

• Separation of ClassScape test data by district.
• Export Item List feature. See this month's New Custom Assessment Feature article for more on this feature.
• DLA reports that include a bar chart and summary data ( ex. district, teacher, class correct % ), now also display a "trend line" that matches this summary data.
• Integration of ClassScape and Smartboard “clickers”.
• Enhancements to reduce and compress data that is being sent to users. These include: compression of data transmitted to and from our system, an improved menu system, smaller images and fewer requests for data during student tests, and more efficient data queries for district reports.
• Option for students to review incorrect answers in a completed test during the two week period following test completion.
• District Benchmark Assessment order form added for district-level test admins.
• Force Assessment Completions available for district-level test admins and test admins. District-level test admins can filter results by school.
• School test admins can move a teacher's class to another teacher in Class Management.

• Support for local ClassScape servers in some districts for next school year.
• Integration of ClassScape with Turning Points and Promethean “clickers”.

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Where in the World is ClassScape Now?
    "Trish-bits"

Clickers!  

We have successfully integrated ClassScape with SMART clickers! Teachers are now able to use their SMART clickers to seamlessly capture student responses from ClassScape assessments and upload their data into the ClassScape Basic Report. This is a wonderful alternative to bringing your students into a computer lab for testing. Now you can assess your students within the classroom setting as a natural part of the teaching and learning process.

We hope that you will take advantage of this new tool. If you would like to try it out with your SMART clickers, please read the instruction document for step by step instructions which can be found on our website upon login under the Help menu under the title “SMART Clicker Instructions” or use this link: www.classscape.org/docs/clickers/SMART/howto.pdf

If you have any questions, please fill out and submit a help desk ticket and we will get back to you ASAP.

Attention DLA’s! You can now order Custom Benchmark Building Services Online!

Our ClassScape team is dedicated to meeting the needs of our North Carolina schools. One need that has surfaced over the last year is assistance with building district benchmarks. We would like to help you with this step in the benchmark process. For an additional fee of $200 per assessment, our ClassScape content specialists will carefully select test items to create high quality, balanced assessments that are tailored to your district-specific pacing guides.

If you are interested in taking advantage of this service, please go to our website at www.classscape.org, login as a District Level Administrator, and click on Resources, then District Benchmark Order Form. Fill out and submit the new online District Benchmark Order Form and we will get to work!

If you have any questions or comments about this new feature, please email Trish Martin at trish_martin@ncsu.edu 

Status Report ( August 1, 2009 through February 26, 2010):  

• 1.6 million assessment starts
• 491,876 students registered
• 63,000 items in our database
• 1,010 schools enrolled
• 96 districts represented
• 54 districts enrolled district-wide
• 43 districts using the benchmark tool

 2009-10 Participating School Systems:

Look who is using ClassScape!

Congrats Corner

Top 10 District Usage in North Carolina (Alphabetical Order)

Top 10 School Usage in North Carolina (Alphabetical Order)

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Current version: 2.0
ClassScape Help Desk — (919) 515-1320

ClassScape is a service provided by the
Center for Urban Affairs & Community Services of