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Introduction to Technical Aspects of the Virginia Early Warning System (VEWS) Tool. December 7, 2010 Presenter Susan Bowles Therriault Lindsay Fryer National High School Center. Objectives. Provide an overview of early warning systems Discuss the evolution of the VEWS Tool
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Introduction to Technical Aspects of the Virginia Early Warning System (VEWS) Tool December 7, 2010 Presenter Susan Bowles Therriault Lindsay Fryer National High School Center www.betterhighschools.org
Objectives • Provide an overview of early warning systems • Discuss the evolution of the VEWS Tool • Demonstrate the VEWS Tool • Provide an overview of technical aspects of the VEWS Tool • Practice using the VEWS Tool www.betterhighschools.org
Early Warning Systems Early warning systems (EWS) rely on readily available data housed at the school to: • Predict which students are at-risk for dropping out of high school • Target resources to support off-track students while they are still in school, before they drop out • Examine patterns and identify school climate issues www.betterhighschools.org
Evolution of the VEWS Tool www.betterhighschools.org
VEWS Pilot Team A team of school divisions, education organizations, and VDOE consultants assisted the VDOE with the pilot of the VEWS Tool • School divisions: Franklin City, Lee County, Richmond City, and Pulaski County • Organizations: Appalachia Regional Comprehensive Center and the National High School Center • Development of an implementation guide based on the pilot divisions’ experience • Refinement of the VEWS Tool based on pilot divisions’ feedback and VDOE suggestions www.betterhighschools.org
VEWS Tool Based on this work over the past two years, the National High School Center in collaboration with ARCC and VDOE conceptualized the current VEWS Tool. This version allows users to: • Import data • Accommodate local contextual factors for high schools (e.g., semesters vs. trimesters vs. quarters) • Align with the Virginia pre-high school index • Modify the benchmarks/thresholds based on analysis of longitudinal data (i.e., indicator validation) • Integrated behavioral indicators (referrals and suspensions) www.betterhighschools.org
VEWS Tool Features, continued: • House an inventory of dropout prevention interventions • Assign students to intervention programs and monitor student response and progress in the interventions over the course of the school year • Create pre-set school-level summary reports, detailed student-level reports, and individual student reports • Create customized student-level reports www.betterhighschools.org
Risk Indicators in the VEWS Tool www.betterhighschools.org
VEWS Tool Demonstration www.betterhighschools.org
Anticipated Technical Needs www.betterhighschools.org
Technical Support Timeline • Before the school year begins • Saving the tool • Setting up the tool • School information • Tool settings • Intervention settings • Preparing the source files • Student information • Pre-high school data • Importing data www.betterhighschools.org
Technical Support Timeline • First 20 or 30 days of the school year • Preparing source files • First 20 or 30 days attendance • Student information (enrollment status) • Importing data www.betterhighschools.org
Technical Support Timeline • Each grading period of the school year • Preparing source files • Student attendance, course performance, credit accrual • Student information (enrollment status) • Importing data • Manually entering changes to enrollment status • Throughout the school year • Assigning students to interventions www.betterhighschools.org
Troubleshooting Common Technical Issues • Saving the tool • Importing data: Tab-delimited vs. comma- delimited source files • Student Information: Enrollment status • Tool Settings: Categories of Disadvantaged and ELL, blank fields are “no” • Dates in the tool • Tool settings • Student Interventions • Enrollment status www.betterhighschools.org
Practice Using VEWS Tool www.betterhighschools.org
Practice Exercises • Prepare VEWS Tool • School information and logo upload • Tool Settings • Intervention Settings • Import source files for a full academic year • Before the school year begins • First 20 or 30 days of school • Each grading period www.betterhighschools.org
Practice Exercises • Assign interventions to students • Change student enrollment status • Manually enter a student www.betterhighschools.org