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Some Not-So-Regular News:

July 17, 2008

User Guides - Excel for Microsoft Office 2007

There are new user guides that address use of the Data Parser, Setting Up A Multi-Year Worksheet, and Fundamentals For Pivot Analysis Of Assessment Data.  The new user guides can be downloaded below.

July 9, 2008

MCA II Data Parser v1.4 is Now Available For Download: 

Version 1.4 has been tested with on Microsoft Office Excel 2003 &  Microsoft Office Excel 2007 and so far, is behaving predictably.

Fixes: 

• Earlier versions could truncate files with more than 2200 records.

• There is now an option to leave grade levels embedded in Scale Scores so that other tests (for instance the MTAS) whose leftmost numerals have a value that may differ from that of an MCA II, can be properly evaluated/analyzed.

• This version performs error messaging and other interactive user feedback.

• Dramatically improved import & field manipulation logic, thanks to Tom Boatman, MDE.

• Whole percentage numbers (not 3-place decimals) are now used to represent percentage of achievement.

Dale Nielsen

email comments or inquiries to dnielsen@arcc.org (copy and paste) or call (218) 723-1700 ext 108                      

Downloads

(Click images to Link/Download/View)

Excel Macro Sheet	User Guide - How to Use the Data Parser
MCA II Data Parser v1.4   ***NEW***    7/9/2008	Using the MCA II Data parser WILL save you TONS of prep time! This is an Excel Worksheet that loads your  'District_ Student_Results.Dat' file from your MCA II data CD.  In doing so, the data is automatically 'groomed' for use by 'distilling' it to useable, meaningful values, combining last & first names, calculating percentiles for strand data and too much more to address here.  Seeing is believing - give it a try!  Download is the icon on the left.  Instructions can be viewed/saved/printed from the 'View User Guide' URL below.   View User Guide (Excel 2003)  (.pdf file)           View User Guide (Excel 2007)  (.pdf file)
User Guide	User Guide - Setting Up a Multi-Year Worksheet
7/17/2008	By combining more than one year's-worth of assessment data, you'll be able to follow trends.  Observing assessment trends can be useful in making curriculum adjustments.  This user guide will show you how to combine MCA II data from more than one year.  Hey - NOT much reading - It's mostly step-by-step pictures so you can work through the process fairly quickly, even if you've never used Excel for this purpose in the past. View User Guide (Excel 2003)  (.pdf file)             View User Guide (Excel 2007)  (.pdf file)
User Guide	User Guide - Fundamentals For Pivot Analysis Of Assessment Data
7/17/2008	The 'capstone' document.  In this user guide you'll learn how to use Microsoft Excel to set up Pivot Tables and Pivot Charts.  The documentation is specific to working with MCA II data so you won't be wasting time trying to interpret generalizations.  Document length - 22 pages. View User Guide (Excel 2003)  (.pdf file)                View User Guide (Excel 2007)  (.pdf file)
MDE's Assessments Page	Where to Download Aggregated Data
	This link will take you to the Data Downloads page, where you can get all the historical aggregated data for the entire state.  Note to Infinite Campus Member Districts: If you'd like your school data prepped and graphed for internal use, please contact Dale Nielsen.  Email (cut & paste) dnielsen@arcc.org or call (218) 723-1700 ext. 108 MDE Assessment Data Downloads
Minnesota Interpretive Guide 2006-2007	Did You Know That It's Impossible to Compare MCA with MCA II Data?
	The content in the Minnesota Interpretive Guide is well worth a look if you're doing any kind of data analysis.  It's easy to go off on a tangent and end up 'analyzing garbage'.  For instance, I tried to compare MCA data with MCA II data by setting up a lookup table to convert the old numeric achievement levels to the new alphabetic terms and hit a road block - on MANY levels!  The only reason I'm spotlighting this is because I've had inquiries about performing mass analysis of ALL state assessment data.  If you'd like to see the ugly details, just open the link to my spreadsheet, below...ugh! Why MCA Doesn't Compare to MCA II.xls
Online Support	Assessment Analysis Training and Support Without Leaving Your Office!
	Tired of travel. hotels, eating out, gas prices, time away from the office, weather, expenses?  ARCC has BOMGAR available to provide PC-to-PC online support and training.  You'll get one-on-one undivided attention, individualized support and training without even leaving the office.  This has also proven to be a really useful forum when you need some help and don't have a lot time/tolerance of for the back and forth of emails and phone calls.  All I can say is, 'How cool is that.'
...Didn't find what you were looking for? Contact Dale Nielsen at:  Email (cut & paste) dnielsen@arcc.org Phone:  (218) 723-1700 x108
Questions or comments may be directed to:  webmaster@arcc.org © Arrowhead Regional Computing Consortium 2007-2008 Last edited: 07/23/2008
since 4/14/2008