Getting Started with GradeXpert 5

1 1 Getting Started with GradeXpert Contents Introduction .. 2 Summary of Getting Started Steps .. 3 Downloading and Installing 4 Setting up GradeXpert .. 4 Creating Your Own Assessments .. 5 Add Assessment Header .. 6 Add Assessments .. 7 Adding New Users .. 8 Setting Up Classes and Years .. 9 Preparing a Student Import File .. 9 You re ready to go! .. 11 2 Introduction Congratulations on your choice of GradeXpert Student Assessment Tracking Software! Follow the steps below to ensure GradeXpert is set up correctly at your schools. More detailed explanations can be found further in the guide. Remember: we're here to help. Call us on 1300 762 455 or email if you have any questions or problems. Please consult the easy-to-use GradeXpert help system within the program (by pressing F1) for more detailed step-by-step help with individual functions. You can download the full GradeXpert User Manual in PDF format from This has the same content as the built-in GradeXpert Help, but you can save the PDF on your desktop for easy reference or printing out.

2 3 Summary of Getting Started Steps Step 1 Download and Install Download the full GradeXpert install from our website. Install the GradeXpert demo version on all teachers computers and install the database in a shared folder on your school server. Ask your school IT staff to assist with this step if required. Step 2 Load Registration Code Request your Annual License invoice from GradeXpert (if you haven t already received one), including student enrolment numbers. You ll be emailed your new registration code once the invoice is paid. This will fully unlock the demo versions previously installed. Step 3 Choose Assessments to Track Discuss with your school leadership team which assessments you would like to use to track student progress. These can include NAPLAN, on-demand tests, end-of-semester results and other literacy and numeracy assessments in use at your school. We recommend you pick a smaller set of assessments to begin with , giving you time to learn how the software works before expanding to a greater number of assessments.

3 Step 4 Set Up Assessments Add the assessments you have chosen to track into GradeXpert , so that teachers can enter results and comments for these assessments. Your list of assessments can also be imported into GradeXpert . Contact us for assistance. Step 5 Set Up Users Add the list of users who will have access to GradeXpert , usually teachers, school leadership and administrative and IT staff. Your list of users can also be imported into GradeXpert . Contact us for assistance. Step 6 Import Students Prepare a student list to import. This can be extracted from your current student management system such as CASES, MAZE, TASS etc. You can manually add new students arriving during the year. Step 7 Book a Training Session Book your free on-site or online training session to show teachers how to enter assessment results into GradeXpert and generate progress and performance graphs. 4 Downloading and Installing GradeXpert If you haven t yet downloaded and installed the database and program, go to , where you will find instructions on how to download and install the program.

4 Ask your IT staff to assist you if required. You can download and install the demo version of the program on all computers, and set up assessments, users and classes even if you re using the demo version. When you receive your registration code, it can simply be entered into your installed demo version to unlock the program for the number of registered students. This only needs to be done once on any computer running GradeXpert , not all computers running GradeXpert . Setting up GradeXpert After logging in to GradeXpert , click on the Settings menu button to access the individual settings described in the sections below. Items in each tab are entered or edited directly in the grids, by clicking Add to create new items, or by pressing Enter on a cell to start editing. 5 Creating Your Own Assessments On the Assessment tab in Settings, you can set up the tests you want teachers to enter results for, or you can modify the existing list of assessments to suit your requirements.

5 We recommend you take some time to decide on the assessments that you would like to store on GradeXpert before setting up those assessments in GradeXpert , so that you have a clear idea of how you want them to look beforehand. We also recommend that you initially select a small group of assessment types to store in GradeXpert , which will give you time to learn how the software works before expanding the number of types of assessments stored. You can delete any assessments from the existing list that you do not want to use by selecting that assessment and clicking Delete . 6 Add Assessment Header An Assessment Header is a heading you can define for a number of similar assessments, LITERACY, NUMERACY, MUSIC, etc., allowing you to group similar assessment types together, usually by subject. You can add any number of individual tests under an assessment header. Assessment Headers make it easier to create reports on specific groups of assessments.

6 Create new assessment headers by clicking Add Header , and then typing the name of the new header directly into the grid. 7 Add Assessments Assessments are the actual assessments, or tests, that your students are marked on. Assessment results are entered later by selecting an assessment you have set up here. To create a new assessment, select any row within the assessment header in which you want to add the new assessment and then click Add . Type in the new assessment name, optional assessment code and optional extended description. Assessment codes are handy when importing data and extended descriptions are used to give more detail on the purpose of a test or it s marking systems etc. to other users. You can then select up to 5 different predefined result types that will be allowed for this assessment. This allows teachers to enter up to 5 different results for one assessment, 95% and A+. To select a result type, double-click (or press space or click the.)

7 Button) on the first empty result type column for the current assessment and select a result type from the list. You can also create your own result types or modify the default values for these result types. 8 Adding New Users GradeXpert Users are staff members who require access to GradeXpert on a regular basis, usually the administrator of GradeXpert , school IT staff and any teacher that needs to log in to GradeXpert and enter results and generate graphs. Add each user into GradeXpert , by selecting Add on the Users tab in Settings and then entering a username, password and full name for each user. You can come back and add more users at any time. Ensure you don't allow multiple users to log in under the same user. Access level 3 allows access to all functions ( highest access level), while access level 0 for a user only allows access to basic functions. See the Access Levels tab for details on preset access levels for GradeXpert functions, which can be modified if required.

8 Remember to remove or rename the default demonstration user , otherwise other users will be able to log in to GradeXpert as this default user, with access to all functions. 9 Setting Up Classes and Years Before you can enter student details and assessment results, ensure you have your school s class structure set up in GradeXpert . Select Classes and Years from Settings, and then ensure you set up the grade (from prep to grade 12) and each class within that grade. You can also remove any unused classes and years from this list by selecting a row and clicking "Delete". These classes are not yet linked to a year, so the list of classes shown here is not related to the list of years shown here. Classes are only linked to years when students and results are entered. For example, if you have a 3A in 2011, and a 3A in 2012, class 3A only needs to appear in this class list once, as that class name will be reused for 2012.

9 Preparing a Student Import File GradeXpert import files are plain text files with the student details arranged in columns and separated by commas. This is called a comma-separated value file, and has a file extension of CSV. A CSV file can be created and saved as a .CSV format file in Microsoft Excel, among other applications, by creating a spreadsheet containing student details, one column per field and making the first row of the spreadsheet the header row. A header row is mandatory in a 10 GradeXpert import file. Save the file as a .CSV file type, Student List from Microsoft Excel. Because you can use Excel to create the csv import file, you can use all other features of Excel, search and replace; copy and paste, insert columns, etc. to prepare your data before saving it in CSV format. The first line of every GradeXpert import file is the header line. This line indicates which fields ( pieces of student or assessment data) are to be imported and the order that they appear in the CSV file.

10 All additional lines contain the actual data, in the same order as the header line. The column order is not important. The student s grade, class, year, house and any student indicators specified in an import file must already exist in GradeXpert before importing they will not be created automatically if they do not exist. Set them up in Settings > Classes & Years in GradeXpert before importing the student list. Below is an example of a csv file containing student import data: Once your file is ready to import and matching classes are set up in GradeXpert , go to Import and click Browse to select this import file. Once all students have been pre-loaded and all rows are green, indicating no problems were found with the data, click Import to add those students to the database. 11 You re ready to go! You have now set up the basic structure of your GradeXpert database system and can now begin entering student details and assessment results in Students & Results.