Your Solution to Performance-Based Education Curriculum Management

2 Nickerson St. Suite 100

Seattle, WA

206-283-9420

Fax 206-283-4538

Introduction

SYNECTICS will supply necessary runtime files for ToolBook, Q+E and R&R.

ToolBook, Q+E and R&R run under Windows 3.1, Windows for Workgroups 3.11, Windows 95 & 98 and Windows NT 3.5x or 4.0. These tools work satisfactorily with SQL Server 6.0 or 6.5 and 7.0.

Citrix WinFrameÓ can be used for Mac Net Clients

Executive Summary

TIMMS enables an educational entity to enter their curriculum and align the learning objectives (local, state, or national) and resources by learner development level. The data thus linked are available to individual teachers at their computer desktop via network connections allowing them to develop unit and lesson plans by class or even student level. These plans then link to assigned tasks and assessments to measure student performance. Finally, reports of student performance are available to indicate achievement as linked to the original curriculum objectives. Thus TIMMS allows fully integrated information to be used by the administrators and teachers to link curriculum objectives, resources and results interactively with system wide updates and communications. Comprehensive reports allow management of all aspects of the process: curriculum development, unit management, and student performance.

The following list itemizes the key modules for TIMMS, including the Performance and Mastery Assessment Project.

Design Summary

The design defines the integration of TIMMS into logical Process Modules based on the work processes of the users.

A basic description of each module follows:

School Registrar Module

The School Registrar Module provides the ability for users to setup the TIMMS System with School Site specific information. This includes the management of all necessary information about the school, teachers, the students, the Course/Section assignments and data security. It provides the ability to import and export key information from other systems that have or require it. Typically this module would be setup at the beginning of the school year and maintained by a school administrator during the year. General School Information is also maintained in this module. It provides the following functions:

Curriculum Management Module

The Curriculum Management Module provides the ability for users to create, enter, link and maintain their Curricular Framework (district or school). This module is very similar to the Curriculum Planning portion of Phase one TIMMS. It provides direct support for users to enter the curricular elements (Subject, Level, Strand, Essential Learnings, Outcomes) and to link them together into a correlated Curriculum Framework. Users are able to enter their own elements for linking and/or select desired elements from already established frameworks. It provides the following functions:

Instructional Resources & Tasks Builder Module

The Instructional Resources portion of the Instructional Resources & Tasks Builder Module provides the ability for users to create, enter, link and maintain their instructional resources at the district, school and personal levels. It provides direct support for users to enter extensive information (description, comments, type, source, location, etc.) about the instructional resources and/or, if appropriate, actual resources, such as activity instructions, instructional delivery procedures, worksheets, etc. Resources are linked via Instruction/Assessment connections, to specific Level, Essential Learnings and optionally to specific Outcomes.

The Assessable Tasks portion of the Instructional Resources and Tasks Builder Module provides the ability for users to create, enter, link and maintain their assessable tasks and assessments at the district, school and personal levels. It provides direct support for users to enter useful information (description, method, scoring guide, etc.) about the assessable tasks and student instruction procedures leading to the assessments. For example, actual assessable tasks such as essays, projects or lab instructions, assessment delivery procedures, etc. can be entered into the Assessable Task table (ATASK). A table in this module contains the assessment criteria (Method, Possible, Mastery Standard and Scoring Guide used) and provides the link between the assessable tasks in this module and the Curriculum Management Module. This table contains specific Levels, Essential Learnings and optionally Instructional Resources and specific Outcomes that form the link between these modules. It provides the following functions:

Instructional Planning and Mapping Module

The Instructional Planning and Mapping Module provides the ability for users to utilize the information assembled in the Curriculum, Instructional Resources and Instructional Resources & Tasks Builder Modules to create, save and schedule unit and lesson plans as Instructional Maps. This module is intended to be used by classroom users on a day-to-day basis. These maps (units or lessons) are designed to guide instructional delivery, student assignments (tasks) and assessments. This module also aids users to manage the tracking and completion of instructional delivery and outcome attainment. It provides the following functions:

Student Tasks and Assessments Management Module

The Student Tasks portion of the Student Tasks and Assessments Management Module provides the ability for users to define a variety of student groups and to enter and assign student work tasks to those groups for tracking and scoring purposes. The users link these tasks to the curricular goals (Essential Learnings and Outcomes) and set evaluation criteria for satisfactory task completion. The Student Assessments portion of this Module provides the ability for the user to enter student results on assessments associated with assigned student tasks. The user will be able to see in various views the cumulative results to date, by student, group and Course/Section. This module provides functions similar to the teacher grade book and other programs for that purpose but with a direct link to the Essential Learnings and other curricular elements.

This module provides direct support for users to create ad hoc student groups (rosters) of one or more students for purposes of instruction, assigning work tasks and assessment. Users are able to specify work assignments and/or assessments (ad hoc tasks or based on Instructional Maps) that students in a group or the entire Course/Section are expected to complete. For tasks involving Instructional Maps or computer-based assessment systems, most of the required information (such as curricular goals, scoring guides, etc.) for task building will be provided directly. TIMMS will guide users in selecting any remaining information to facilitate reliable student scoring. It allows users to adjust the task-specific factors controlling the treatment of the results, such as purpose and weightings. It provides the following functions:

Student Performance Reporting (PREP) Module

The Student Performance Reporting Module provides the ability for users to review the suggested student evaluation marks for the period from the Student Tasks and Assessments Management Module. They can adjust or enter evaluation marks for the Progress Report Phrases, Subject Mark and Development Level (Working at Grade Level) and enter comments for each student. It also provides the user the Performance Report Printing capability. It provides the following functions:

Student Cumulative History Management Module

The Student Cumulative History Management Module provides the ability for users to properly maintain key student personal and results information over an extended period of time. This is necessary to meet the legal requirements for student records and to meet the educator needs to best serve the students in the district. This module provides functions similar to the student "Cumulative Card" maintained manually today, plus additional functions necessary to support a performance-based environment within the district. The information contained within this module must be accessible to the users in reports that can be printed in a "cum card" format on demand. Examples are to review student progress or to provide history to students leaving the system. The users may, as a matter of policy, print hard copies for all students completing the eighth grade.

The information kept will be segmented or tiered according to purpose and retention requirements. The first tier contains the Student Official Record, those student records that are required by the state to be retained indefinitely. This includes selected student personal data, dates of enrollment and withdrawal, evidence of satisfactory progression through all grade levels (such as year by year enrollment and attendance data), high school transcript and graduation date. This information should be kept in the TIMMS system for up to two years after the student leaves the district or turns 20, whichever is later. It should then be transferred to a data storage media approved and supported by the State Archivist. The high school transcript and graduation date may be maintained in other existing systems.

The second tier contains the Student Cumulative Record, information of educational importance to the educators, students and parents that span the educational career of the student. This would include, for example, end-of-year subject grades and Progress Report Phrases (PRP) for each level, cumulative record by level of Essential Learnings mastery and any standardized test results. Additional Student Portfolio records would appropriately fit into this tier when the district decides to institute the Student Portfolios process. This information should be kept in the TIMMS system for up to two years after the student leaves the district or turns 20, whichever is later.

It also provides the following functions:

Reports Management Module

The Reports Management Module provides the ability for users to view, analyze and print TIMMS data in various formats and orders. This module is very similar to the Reports module of Phase one TIMMS. There will be a reasonable number (up to 25) of pre-defined reports based on stated user needs with capabilities for the user to adjust the scope (filter) of a report at the time of execution. For the most part, this module will provide access to administrative reports. Reports that are the product of the users' work effort, such as Instructional Maps or Progress Reports, will be provided directly by the TIMMS module responsible for that work effort. Reports can be restricted based on security level of District, School or Personal.

The Attendance Management Module supports an optional attendance entry and management process. This can be enabled by site.

At beginning of the period the teacher takes attendance by selecting the TIMMS attendance screen – this is from the same student table as is available for task manager assignment and scoring. This action creates the attendance report..  The teacher enters only attendance marks for students who are absent or tardy. Comments can also be added. Previously excused students can be seen as already marked.

The Attendance Office receives the Teacher Report of Student Absence by period and Course and section. AO can see the entire site list of attendance marks or by class or student. Additional marks such as suspension or truant can be made AO entry only, but will appear on teacher and AO screens.

Attendance office maintains the Master Student Attendance List and can enter type of absence or tardy and reason for absence. The ID of the attendance office person is saved. They can also enter comments – select from list or free form. This will then merge with the Pre-excused Absence Report and Teacher Reports of Student Absence and generates the Approved Daily Site Absence List when approved by the AO. The AO can also manually generate entries in the Daily Site Absence List if a teacher doesn’t report or for entering the approved absences, etc.

 Excused absences are also entered when a student brings in an excuse. The Daily Approved Site Absence List report is generated at the end of the school day. The Daily Approved Site Absence List is appended to the Site Absence List and thus kept by grading period until the end of the school year then archived.

If you want to know more about TIMMS then please feel free to contact us.

Contact

2 Nickerson St. Suite 100

Seattle, WA

206-283-9420

Fax 206-283-4538

jimmsl@aol.com