NCRegistration Overview: Features, Data Sharing, and Management

1. NCRegistration February 18, 2010 Randy Craven randy_craven@ncsu.edu

2. NCRegistration • This session will review NCRegistration, its • recent changes (noted with asterisks *), • and features being worked on. • The session will solicit new ideas and feature requests from users.

3. Background • NCRegistration is a secure distributed online test and data collection management system. It is used to • register students, • schedule test sessions, • collect data, • and produce reports on a select group of assessments in North Carolina. • NCRegistration was first used during the 2004-05 school year

4. Background (continued) • NCRegistration is a web application accessed by an up-to-date web browser • https://data.ncsu.edu/NCRegistration • NCRegistration shares data with testing servers so that students can be given access to online tests. • NCRegistration is for use by persons responsible for administration of the testing program in North Carolina including • Regional Accountability Coordinators (RACs) • Local Education Agency (LEA) Test Coordinators (TCs), and • School Test Coordinators (STCs).

5. Data Sharing • NCRegistration shares data with testing systems (database servers used to manage online testing) so that students can be given access to online tests by NCRegistration users. • NCRegistration also shares data with data collection systems (e.g., NCEXTEND1) in order to process off-line assessments.

6. Major Features • Assessment Selection • School Information Management • User Administration • Student Registration • Student Information Questions (SIQs) • Session Management • Reporting • Help • PDF of manual located from the help menu • Online useable copy of the manual from the help menu

7. Assessment Selection • Active assessments are available from the Assessments menu • Some menus act independently from the assessment selected • Schools • Users • Some assessments also have a Type* associated with a testing window (season) and • Regular • Retest 1 • Retest 2 (to be discontinued summer 2010)

8. Schools Menu • The Schools menu permits management of schools listed (by RACs only) • Students display if they have been registered at any time during the accountability year • View students listed by school • View which assessments students are registered • Can edit or delete students from schools

9. User Management • Global system function – Not tied to the Assessments menu • Hierarchal logic • NCRegistration Administrators • Regional Accountability Cooridnators (RACs) • LEA Test Coordinators (TCs) • School Test Coordinators (STCs) • School Test Administrators (STAs) • Teachers, Educators, other special purpose • Top down administration • Only STC and STA type accounts can be used to log students into an online test

10. User Management Rights Rights that can be controlled (allowed/not granted): User Management Rights: • Add System Users • Modify System Users • Delete/Disable System Users • Grant/Revoke User Rights Student Management Rights: • Add Student • Modify Student Record • Delete/Disable Student Record • Load Students from Pre-code File • Answer SIQs Test Session Management Rights: • Reserve a Test Session • Modify a Test Session Reservation • Login Students for Test Application Access Rights: • Access NCEXTEND1 • Access Writing Instruction System

11. Students Menu • Registration of Students • Scho0l districts/schools use the system to indicate students who are eligible for testing • Student Information Questions (SIQs) • Registration of students for certain assessments require additional data to be collected prior to being ready for a test session. • Without this data entered the student will not show on lists to choose from on getting started with an online test.

12. Test Sessions - Windows • A testing window exists for each assessment within NCRegistration that is calendar based – not rule based. • The testing window that drives NCRegistration is based on the state testing calendar, but is not the state testing calendar. • Your testing calendar may be different based on the state calendar and rules established that influence your testing calendar.

13. Test Sessions - Management • Session Management is for scheduling test administrations within predefined testing sessions for groups of students. • The daily windows that test sessions can be scheduled for are periods of time that students can begin a test. • Start time windows currently are: • Early Moring 7:30 AM – 9:50 AM • Mid Morning 10:00 AM – 11:50 AM • Afternoon Noon – 6:30 PM* • There is a 30 minute ‘grace’ login period for getting online tests started. • There is a 90 minute test session timeout for students

14. Test Session Management • Testing Servers have session capacities set to ensure that they do not get overloaded. • Session capacity indicators show during setting a session or editing a session • Sessions must be set and student SIQs must be completed at least one day prior to the administration • Sessions can be edited (moved, number changed) prior to the day of the test • Sessions for EOC cannot be edited on the day of the session (it’s locked) • Sessions for Writing can be edited on the day of the session* • For EOC -- only the number of students registered can have sessions scheduled for an assessment • Unused sessions are recovered automatically overnight

15. Reports Menu • Student Completion shows how many students have started/finished • CSV – preliminary score report (LEA TCs and higher only) • Winscan Format – for importing data into Winscan to get reports (LEA TCs and higher only) • Test Sessions – show how many sessions scheduled and when • SIQ completion reports show if students can or cannot start a test based on SIQ data entry

16. Other New Features* • Writing project specific • Bulk upload of writing scores • On-demand scores bulk upload format changed • Help documentation updated (2010-02-16)

17. Things being worked on • Item Tryout implementation • Direct pull of data from NCDPI to automatically populate student registrations • Session scheduling to work like Writing (no start time windows) • New menu system – the current one does not work well with some newer web browsers • Clearing of rolled over student registrations from summer 2010 Computer Skills. • User account integration with TNN • User account integration with NCID and/or Federations for Single Sign On logic.

18. Conclusion Questions Suggestions Request Changes Request Additional Features