Revision as of 15:49, 22 January 2014

Entering Assessment Data into VCAT

VCAT is essentially a data base that is home to a tremendous amount of valuable student data within your district/SU. In order for VCAT to be a useful tool for examining student data, the data must be entered into the VCAT system in a timely manner. To enter data into VCAT just follow these four simple steps.

4 Simple Steps

1. After logging onto VCAT, select the Students.

2. Select the Information you wish to enter data for.

3. Click on Enter Data, a calendar will show up. Select the assessment date and click the OK button.

4. You are ready to enter the data!

How to Select Students

You can select students by group or individually.

Group of Students

Based on your access, a group of students may already be selected by default and highlighted in blue. If not, you need to select (by clicking on it) the Year, the School, the Course, and the Section you want to enter data for. If your access allows it, you may be able to enter data at the Course level. The detail for the group of students you selected will show in the Students box.

Individual Students

1. By default, you are under Groups tab where you can select the Year, School, Course, and Section. Click on Individual tab, to the right of the Groups tab.

2. Type first name OR last name (or part of either one) in the Search field.

3. Click on the student name from the list displayed to select that student. Now, the student's name shows up in the Students box and also on the right, with a little minus sign in a red circle. If you wish to remove that student, you can click on the red circle.

4. To add another student, repeat steps 3 and 4.

How to Select Information

1. After selecting the students, click on 'Not Set' in the Information box to bring up the list of Information. If any Information had previously been selected, clicking on it in the Information box will allow you to change your selection.

2. Click on the Information (e.g. Report Card Grade 4), select the unit you wish to enter data for (e.g. Reading Standards).

Note: The list of information can be filtered by Type, Grade, and/or Subject to narrow down the selection. Use the Clear button to cancel the filters.

3 Data Entry Modes

1. All Students

By default, you are in the 'All Students' data entry mode, which gives you the full list of students from your selection in the left column, and a criterion per column.

2. Rubric Mode

If you click on one student name, you will go to 'Rubric' Mode. It will display the rubric for one student at a time - criteria listed in a column on the left with the possible values on the right. To enter data in this mode, simply click on the value to select. Clicking once more will unselect the value.

3. Term Mode

From the Rubric Mode, you can go to the third mode, Term Mode, by clicking on TERM.

- If there are boxes with up/down arrows, click on the arrow to get the drop-down menu of the possible values, then click on the value to select. The data saves automatically. You can also use the 'tab' to go from one box to another and type in the value. If the value is out of range, it will not accept it and will show as if nothing has been entered.

- If any scales are associated with the piece of data you just entered, each of the scales will show up where you entered the data and the Key to each of them will be displayed at the bottom of the window.

- If there are text fields, type in your notes/comments. When you are done typing, a little green check will appear shortly to let you know that the text you just entered has been saved.

- If there are small square boxes, clicking in it will select it and place a check mark. Clicking once more will remove that check.

- If there is a box like a text field but a numeric value/score needs to be entered, type in the score. If the score you typed is out of range, a message will warn you so you can retype the correct value.