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The QSPResource Kit
The QSPData Manager

Latest revision

8/13/01

Table of Contents

Resource Kit

Getting Started

Data Manager

Getting Started

Starting a Project

Using Variables

Importing Data

Using Groups

Database View

Working with Goals

Reports View

Exporting Data

Appendices

I: Optimizing Your Data

II: Technical Information

103

107

The QSP

Resource Kit

Getting

Started

Background

The QSP Resource Kit is a collection of instruments (surveys,

targeted questionnaires, interview and observation protocols)

that can help gather data about a school’s overall climate and

instructional practices. These instruments were originally

used in different contexts and programs, but they can be

customized to fit your situation with a few minor adjustments.

How do I

get started?

You will need to be sure that

Acrobat Reader

is installed

on your computer. If it is not, locate the install file

RS405ENG.EXE,

included on your CD-ROM. Double-click

this file and follow the instructions on the installer.

To open the Resource Kit, double-click on the

QSP Resource

Kit

icon. You will first get the

Home Menu

(see pg 2) for

the Resource Kit. Moving the mouse cursor over an image

displays the title of that resource section.

General Information

The sections and corresponding color codes are as follows:

Safety & Security

blue

Parental Involvement

green

Technology & Innovation

yellow

Special Programs

orange

Curriculum & Instruction

red

Professional Development

purple

How do I

choose an instrument?

Decide what section you are interested in and click on the

appropriate image. This will take you to the

Available

Instruments

screen for that section. On this screen, you will

see a list of instruments (or measures) to choose from. If you

want to explore a different section, click the

home

button to

return to the Home Menu. Otherwise, click on the instrument

about which you would like more information. This will take

you to the instrument’s

Navigation Menu

QSP User Guide

The Home Menu

How do I use

the Navigation Menu?

The active area of the Navigation Menu consists of four

covered buttons. Moving the mouse cursor over a button

uncovers the button and shows its title flag.

Home

Click to leave this section

and return to the Home Menu.

Back

Click to leave this instrument and return to the

Available Instruments screen for this section.

Instrument Details

Click to bring up more information

about the instrument.

View Instrument

Click to bring up two options for viewing:

To open the instrument in Acrobat Reader

, click

on the upper box. To open the instrument in rich text

format in Microsoft Word

, choose the lower box.

What can I do

in Acrobat Reader?

Once the instrument is open, read it over to see if it is exactly

what you want. Acrobat’s navigation tools will help you get

around (see page 4).

General Information

QSP User Guide

Navigation tools

in Acrobat Reader

If you decide to use the instrument as is, simply select

Print

from the

File

menu. The instrument will print exactly as

you see it on screen. However, if you want to customize the

instrument to your particular needs, you’ll need to open it

rich text format

in Word.

What can I do

in Microsoft Word?

Once the instrument is open in Word, its entire text is fully

editable for customization. However, we ask that you refrain

from making significant changes (such as removing large

sections of the survey) unless you have prior experience

developing measures. The intent is for you to change the

headings or titles to match your school or project name.

The QSP

Data Manager

Getting

Started

Installing the Data Manager

Put in the QSP CD into the CD-ROM drive of your computer.

The main installer dialog box will appear. Click on the

Install

Data Manager

button. When you see the

InstallSheild Wizard

screen, click

Next

to continue. You will then see another dia-

log explaining that the Wizard will install QSP on your com-

puter. Click

Next

to continue. You will see the

Non-Disclosure

screen (see pg 8).

Getting Started

If you agree with the license agreement, then click

I accept the

terms of the license agreement

, and click

Next

to continue.

You will now see the

Destination Folder

screen (see pg 9).

Here, you need to choose a directory for QSP. Decide where

you want to install QSP on your computer, and click

Next

continue.

Finally, you will see a screen telling you that the installation of

QSP has been completed. Click finish to exit the Wizard.

QSP User Guide

The

Non-Disclosure

screen

Starting the Data Manager

The Data Manager can be started by double-clicking the QSP

Data Manager icon in the QSP folder in the Windows file

menu, or by selecting Data Manager from the choices present-

ed on the CD autorun menu screen.

Before any data can be accessed, however, you must first

create a new Project for yourself.

Getting Started

The Destination

Folder screen

QSP User Guide

Starting

a Project

Background

The Data Manager stores its information in the form of

Projects, which you define. Each Project has its own unique

password and can contain anything from a few students’

information to your entire school’s data. To create a new

Project, you must have a user profile. Your profile stores

information about you, your school, and allows future back-

door access to the database if you forget your password.

How do I create a User Profile?

When you first open QSP, you are prompted to choose a

Project to open. Instead, click the

New

button. In the

User

Info

screen (see pg 12), type in the appropriate information:

Your Name:

First and last name, separated by a space

Position:

Principal, administrator, etc.

ID#:

Your employee identification number

School Name:

The full name of your school

Type:

Magnet, charter, etc.

District:

The name of your school district

Code:

The code for your school (if one exists)

Address:

The street address of your school

Zip:

The zip code for your school

Starting a Project

Once you have entered all the fields, click

OK.

You will then

see a dialog box which asks you to title your QSP Project.

Type in a descriptive name depending on how you decide to

divide up your school either into several smaller datasets or

one large dataset. For example, if you decide to keep a differ-

ent project for each grade level, use a name like

1998 Grade 9,

1998 Grade 10,

etc. If you have just one project for the whole

school, use a name like

King Jr High.

Click

to confirm.

The next dialog box will ask you to enter a password twice

(note that the actual letters you type in will appear as aster-

isks, and remember that passwords are case sensitive). The

password must have a minimum of eight characters. Click

again. You will get a dialog box which displays

Current

Data

of what you entered in the User Info screen. Verify the

information in the box and then click

to continue. QSP

will now open an empty database file with your Project name

ready for data to be imported into it.

If you would like to view the sample Project, the password is

eight ones, or “11111111.”

QSP User Guide

The User Info

Screen

How can I edit my Projects?

Once you have created a Project file, you can access your

Project Information by clicking on the Project button (see pg

91) or by selecting

Project Info

from the

Edit

menu. You will

be presented with the Project View, consisting of three Tabs, or

pages. The

User Info

Tab contains all the information you

entered initially. The

Additional Information

Tab contains six

Variables for both school-level and district-level data. Simply

enter the values for your school and district. You can also

enter up to six optional school Variables whose names you

can change by clicking the

Edit Additional Info Variable

Names

button on the

Options

Tab (see pg 14). This takes you

to an edit dialog with two boxes:

Current Name

and

New

Name

. Click on the arrow below

Current Name,

scroll down to

the Variable you want to change, and click on it. Then, click

inside the

New Name

box and type in the new name you

would like. When you click

, you will notice that the

Variable names you changed now appear on the

Additional

Information

Tab and you can enter the values that correspond

Starting a Project

The Additional

Information Tab

to that information. The

Options

Tab also contains three more

buttons. Clicking on

Open a Project

allows you to save your

current Project and open another one.

Create a New Project

takes you through the same process of starting a Project, with

a new user profile, as discussed earlier. Lastly,

Change

Password

allows you to enter a new password for the current

Project, provided that you know the current password.

QSP User Guide

The Options Tab

Using

Variables

Background

Variables and Groups (see pg 29) comprise the two major

building blocks of QSP. Almost all your school’s informa-

tion contained in QSP is in the form of student Variables

(such as ethnicity, test scores, grade level, etc), which are

further broken down into Groups. There is a limit to the

number of Variables allowed in QSP. Currently, the pro-

gram supports 39 pre-built Variables of several Types and

108 optional Variables. .

How are Variables organized?

To understand the organization of Variables in QSP, first go

to the

Variables

dialog (see pg 16) by clicking on the tool-

bar’s

Variable

button (see Appx II). You will be presented

with a “tree” containing all of QSP’s Variables. The

orgaization of this tree is based on the organization of

Variables by

Type

. In the QSP Data Manager, Variables are

either

Perennial

Annual

, and belong to one of five Types:

Categorical, Numerical, Numeric Decimal, Text,

and

Date

Each Variable has a graphical icon associated with it to call

out its Type.

Using Variables

Variable Types and their icons

Notice that to the Variable tree is first broken up into two

parts: Perennial and Annual.

Perennial

Variables contain data which is

essentially unchang-

ing,

such as name, ethnicity, and zip code. Their icons are

always

green

Annual

Variables are designed to

change over time

such as

grade, language proficiency, test scores, etc. They are stored

from year to year, and their icons are always

blue

Both of the above options contain the same five Variable

Types, and thus have the same icons (except for their color):

QSP User Guide

The Variables

Dialog

Categorical

This Type is used for Variables (such as

Ethnicity

) that can be

broken down into

Groups

(such as

Black, Asian,

etc.) and then

used for disaggregation.

Numerical

This Type is used for Variables (such as student test scores)

which produce

whole number

results in all reporting and

calculations.

Numeric Decimal

This Type is used for Variables (such as grade point averages)

which produce

fractional number

results in all reporting and

calculations.

Text

This Variable Type is

informational

in nature and will not be

calculated or counted. This Variable can contain any kind of

information in most combinations and can be used to identify

specific students. Student street addresses and student ID

numbers are examples of this Type.

Date

QSP can support dates in these formats:

MM/DD/YY,

MM-DD-YY,

or MMDDYY

(Or

MDDYY

where the first

digit of month is assumed to be 0).

The icons associated with these Types are:

C = Categorical

N = Numerical

N. = Numeric Decimal

T = Text

D = Date

green = Perennial Variable

blue = Annual Variable

Using Variables

How do I edit a Categorical Variable?

Go to the

Edit

menu and select

Edit Variable,

or just click the

Variables

button. In the

Variables

dialog, you have two view-

ing options. Clicking on

Tree Structure

shows all the

Variables organized by Type. Clicking on

Alphabetical List

shows all the Variables in alphabetical order.

Note

Only Variables with active data have icons associated with them.

Unless you’re working with the Sample Project, your Variable list

might have no icons.

Highlight the Variable of interest and click

Edit.

If you have

selected a Categorical Variable, then you will see the follow-

ing

Edit Variable

dialog:

Here, you can edit the

Name

of the Variable, add a brief

Description

of the Variable, or edit the Category list.

QSP User Guide

Edit Variable

Dialog

How do I edit the Category list?

In the

Categories

box, you will see three columns. The first

contains each Category’s

QSP Value

(its assigned number in

QSP)

The second holds each Category’s

File Value

(its name

in the original data file). The third contains each Category’s

Name

(its name in QSP).

To edit an existing Category, highlight the Category you wish

to edit in the

Categories

box and click

Edit.

In the

Edit

Category

dialog box, you can only edit the

Name,

not the

QSP

Value,

File Value.

Click

to confirm.

To add a Category, simply click the

Add

button. Enter the

Name

QSP Value

, and

File Value

. Keep in mind that the QSP

Value should be a number not already used by another

Category. Click

to confirm.

Merging Categories can be useful to simplify your database.

For instance, if you have very small numbers of Filipino,

Vietnamese, and Chinese students, it might be easier to create

a new

Asian

Category and merge them into it. To merge

Categories, click the

Merge

button to get the

Merge

dialog.

Select both the Category to be merged and the Category to

merge into. Click

to confirm. The first Category will be

gone, and all of its data will be contained in the second.

Note

This process is irreversible, so only merge Categories when you

are certain you won’t need the original Category ever again. Also,

merging deletes the Group (see pg 29) associated with the original

Category, which could have effects in Reporting.

Using Variables

There are also two options for changing the display of the

Category list. Clicking the

Sort A-Z

button rearranges the list

so that it is presented alphabetically. Highlighting a Category

and clicking the up or down arrow next to

Change Order

moves that Category up or down the list. Keep in mind that

neither of these options changes the QSP Value or File Value

of the Category.

How do I edit a Numerical Variable?

In the

Variables

dialog, highlight the Variable of interest and

click

Edit.

If you have selected a Numerical Variable, then

you will see the following

Edit Variable

dialog:

Here, you can edit the

Name

of the Variable, add a brief

Description

of the Variable, or edit the information in the

Numbers

box.

QSP User Guide

Edit Variable

Dialog

By default, QSP scans the data in the Variable and inserts the

observed maximum and minimum values into the

Max

and

Min

boxes. You can change these numbers to increase or

decrease the range of valid data for that Variable. Also, (only

if you have selected a Numeric

Decimal

Variable) you can

change the number of decimal places to make QSP round off

any data beyond those places.

What are Subtypes?

In the

Numbers

box there is a pull-down list labeled

Subtype

Subtypes are designations to aid you in making Charts and

Reports with your data. When reporting, you should only

make comparisons using Variables that have relevance with

one another. Assigning Subtypes to your Variables allows

you to put them into logical groups for logical comparisons.

All of your Numerical Variables should have one of the

following Subtypes:

Stanine 1-9 NCE 10-999

Placement Test 1-6 Large Scale 101-2000

Percentile Rank 1-99 ACT 1-36

Percent 0-100 Default

All of your Numeric Decimal Variables should have one of

the following Subtypes:

Probability 0-1 GPA 1-5

Percent 0-100 Default

NCE 1-99

The numbers included in each name represent the Subtype’s

range. When you select a Subtype for a Variable, QSP auto-

Using Variables

matically inserts those numbers into that Variable’s Max and

Min boxes.

How do I edit a

Text or Date Variable?

In the

Variables

dialog, highlight the Variable of interest and

click

Edit.

For Text and Date Variables, you can only edit the

Name

and the

Description

of the Variable.

How do change

a Variable’s Type?

The only way to change a Variable’s Type is to clear the

Variable entirely, removing all data stored there. You can

only change the Type for Categorical, Numeric, and Numeric

Decimal Variables. (Text and Date Variables may be cleared,

but their Type cannot be changed.) In the

Variables

dialog,

highlight the Variable of interest and click

Edit.

In the

Edit

Variable

dialog, click the

Clear Variable

button. You will be

led through a series of confirmation dialogs warning you of

the consequences of your actions.

Note

Remember, this CANNOT BE UNDONE. All the data for that

Variable will be gone, all associated Groups will be deleted, and any

Charts that you have created with that Variable will be affected.

If you’re certain you want to continue, click

to confirm.

The

Type

pulldown will become active, and you can select one

of the three Types listed. (You cannot, however, change a

Perennial Variable to an Annual, or vice versa). In the

Variables

dialog, notice that the icon associated with that

Variable has changed to reflect its new Type.

QSP User Guide

Importing

Data

Background

Of the 143 Variables in the Data Manager, most are optional

Variables, available for just about any data you would like.

However, 27 of these Variables are predesignated to provide

information used in compliance with Title I. We suggest

you import this data from a separate source. Either your

district or local data systems should be able to output the

Variables listed below:

Perennial Student Information

Student ID Date of Birth

Cohort Ethnicity

First Name Primary Language

Middle Name Home Zip Code

Last Name Home City

Gender

Annual Outcomes

NRT Math PBA Language Arts

NRT Language Arts PBA Math

Importing Data

Annual Student Information

School ID Language Proficiency

Years at Current School Disability Status

Grade Level Lunch Code

AFDC Recipient Special Ed.

Migratory Gifted

Bussed Attendance

Remember, different districts store data under different

names. For example, the Variable name

Ethnicity

would be

stored under the Variable name

Race

in some areas.

Primary

Language

has been stored as

Home Language

L1,

and a number

of other variations, but don’t worry. Later, during the import

process, you will be given the opportunity to map Variables

in the file you are importing to their corresponding places in

the Data Manager.

What do I need to know

about the file I’m importing?

You need to know several things about the file you import.

First off, you must have the necessary descriptions of the

Variables within the file. Often the data is accompanied by a

codebook or description sheet. If you do not know which

Variables are which, then it will be difficult to know what it is

you are importing.

QSP User Guide

Note

Every file being imported

must have the student ID number as a

Variable in the file. QSP uses this number to determine what data

belongs with which record. Unless every record has a student ID

number, the program will halt execution. You should look at the file

in Excel or a similar program and remove the records that do not

have ID numbers. Make a note to yourself to locate the ID numbers

for the student records without one.

Next, you need to know what format the data is in. There are

two pieces of key information concerning this: the

Item

Separator

and the

Student Separator.

The QSP Data Manager

can import the data in many different separator combinations,

but you will need to tell the program which separators are in

the file that you are importing.

The last bit of information you will need is related to the type

of file being imported. The QSP Importer will prompt you for

the type of file you would like to bring in. The Importer can

read files of a number of different characteristics, but the file

must have of one of the following two extensions: a

text file

(*.txt),

a or a

comma-delimited file (*.csv).

Files without one of

these extensions will not be viewable using QSP. For more on

this, see Appendix I.

Importing Data

Text File

Separators

How do I import data

into the Data Manager?

Select the File

To begin the import process, select

Import

from the

File

or click the

Import/Export

button (see Appx II). You will see

a dialog asking if you want to import or export your data.

Click the button next to

Import new data

, then

. Select the

file that you want to import and click

Open.

During the selec-

tion process, the Importer will ask,

Is the first row a header?

and

will display the first row in the

Row Items

box. If this row

contains the column names of the data file, then it is a header,

and you should click

Yes.

Examples of Column names are:

ID, Gender, Ethnicity, etc. If it is alphanumerical data (the

actual data only), you should click

No.

Click

to confirm.

Select the Variables

The next screen (see pg 27) is where you tell the Importer

where to put the new data, column by column. The

Text File

Columns

box on the left contains the columns in the file to be

imported. The

QSP Variables

box contains the QSP database

Variables. The object here is to match the columns in the file

QSP User Guide

Identifying

the header

being imported to the Variables in the QSP database. Initially,

try clicking the

Automatch

button. This will pair up all the

text file columns and QSP Variables that have exactly the

same name. For the rest, you’ll have to go column by column.

First, select a column in the imported file by clicking it. If you

need to see what data is in that column of the file, look in the

Column Items

box. Next, select the matching QSP Variable

from those listed and click the

Select

button. The

Variable

Types

box explains the colored icons to help you select the

appropriate Variable. When you click the

Select

button, you

will note that the Variables disappear from their respective

boxes and appear together in the

Column/Variable Pairs

box. If

you make a mistake, click on the pair that is incorrect and

then click

Deselect

. Note that the column and Variable are

returned to the bottom of each list respectively.

If there are columns that you don’t want to include in this

Project, simply pair them up with

Ignore Item,

the last choice

in the

QSP Variables

box. You may also match all the Variables

you want first and then select the I

gnore the Rest

button

Importing Data

Matching

Variables

which will move all the remaining Variables to the

Column/Variable Pairs

box, listed as

Ignored.

Once you have

matched or ignored all your Variables, enter the year for the

data in the

Year

box. Click

Next

to continue.

Note

You can select the year for the data only once. So, if you have data

for multiple years of taking the same test, import the additional

years in separate import sessions. Be careful not to overwrite annual

data with data from an incorrect year.

The next screen is the

Import Summary

. It shows all of the

column/Variable pairs along with either check marks or Xs.

A check mark means that the match will import correctly into

the Data Manager. An X means that there is a problem. For

example, if you import a Numeric Decimal Variable that has 4

decimal places and the default for the file is set to 2 places, an

X will appear. You can click on

Edit Variable

and it will show

that the decimal places box is set to 2. You can enter 4

instead, and once you click

, the X should change to a

check mark. Scroll down the list to make sure you have all

check marks then click

The final screen gives you both naming and view options.

For your Variable names, you can either select the

Imported

file Variable names

, or the

Current QSP Variable names

Simply click the appropriate button. For the viewing of your

Variables, you have the option of putting the newly imported

Variables directly into the Database View. If you would like

to do so, then click the box next to this item so it is checked.

Click

to finish.

QSP will now import your data. This may take several min-

utes depending on the size of your original file.

QSP User Guide

Using

Groups

Background

When looking at students’ information, it is often helpful to

limit a large, unwieldy database to only those students you

are currently interested in. This is where Groups come in.

When you import data into QSP, each Categorical Variable

(such as

Ethnicity

) is automatically broken down into its

component Groups (

Black, Asian,

etc.). In addition, Groups

are created for each Variable’s

Missing, Valid, Invalid, Not

Applicable,

Out of Range

data. You can then view, analyze,

and report on these Groups in any combination you like.

You can also create your own Custom Groups, or combine

Groups for even more specific analysis.

How do I

access Groups?

Go to the

Database

menu and select

Groups

, or simply click

on the Groups button (see Appx II). This will take you to the

Groups

dialog (see pg 30). At the top, you will see a box

labeled

Current Group

with the default

All Students

in gray.

This means that currently, your view of the database is not

restricted to any one Group (see

Database View

, pg 35). There

are three types of Groups:

System Groups, Custom Groups

and

Combo Groups.

System Groups are created by QSP upon

Using Groups

import and are based on the Variables imported. Custom

Groups are Groups that you create based on your own crite-

ria. Combo Groups are created by combining multiple Groups

to get very specific subsets of the database.

How do I create a Custom Group?

Click on the

New

button in the lower left-hand corner of the

Groups

dialog, and you will be presented with the

Add Group

dialog box. You can create either a new Custom Group or new

Combo Group. Click the

Custom Group

button, and then

click

. You will now see the

Edit Group

dialog (see pg 31).

From a Categorical Variable

Here, we will create a Group to get all ethnicities other than

caucasian. Click on the down arrow next to

Variable

reveal all the Variables containing data and choose the

Variable of interest (

Ethnicity

). Click on the down arrow of

QSP User Guide

The Groups

Dialog

the next box to choose the comparison you would like to

make (in our example, the choice would be

Is Not

). Click on

the down arrow under

Value

and choose the appropriate

Category (in our example, the choice would be

White

). In the

Name

box, type in the name of your new Group. Click

confirm.

From a Numerical Variable

The process here is identical, with a few exceptions. When

you select the

Variable

, QSP automatically shows you the

Variable’s range. This can help in determining the correct

Value

(which will be number instead of a Category). You have

several operators to choose from, such as “greater than,” (>)

“less than,” (<) etc. The

between

operator allows you select a

range for your Group, so you will need to enter two numbers

for the

Value

How do I create a new Combo Group?

To create a new Combo Group click on the

New

button in the

Groups

dialog, click the

Combo Group

button, and click

Under the

Name

box type in the name of your new Combo

Group. Now choose the Groups that you want to define the

Using Groups

Creating a Group

Combo Group. For example, if you choose

90016, 90018, Black,

Female

and

Magnet

, it will give you all the black, female, mag-

net students who live in the 90016 and 90018 zip codes.

Clicking on any of the eight

Groups

pulldows will show you

the option

Set Group

. Clicking on this will take you to the

Groups

dialog, where you can highlight the Group of interest

and click OK. If you want to remove a Group, simply click on

its pulldown and select Remove Group.

Note

Choosing Groups within the same Variable will expand your Combo

Group (i.e. “Black”

“White”). Choosing Groups from different

Variables will tighten your Combo Group (i.e. “Black”

AND

“Female”).

QSP User Guide

Creating a

Combo Group

How do I

edit, copy or delete a Group?

In the

Groups

dialog, click on the Group you want to edit

(you cannot edit System Groups) and then click

Edit.

Simply

change to fit your needs, and click

If you want to make multiple Combo Groups that are very

similar to each other, you don’t have to recreate each one from

scratch. Just click on the Combo Group of interest (you can

only copy Combo Groups) and click

Copy

. You can then edit

the new Combo Group by adding or removing Groups (up to

eight) and changing its name.

To delete a Group, simply click on it (you cannot delete

System Groups) and click

Delete

. You will see a confirmation

dialog. Click

to confirm.

Using Groups

QSP User Guide

Database

View

Background

There are five entries in QSP’s

View

menu. Two of of these

entries are different view options:

Toolbar

and

Status Bar.

Check marks appear to the left of these menu items to show

if they are selected or not. When

Toolbar

is checked, you will

see a column of tool icons (see pg 81) on the left side of the

QSP window. These icons are shortcuts to various functions in

QSP. When

Status Bar

is checked, a bar appears at the bottom

right-hand side of the QSP window which shows how many

records are in the current view and what Group is being

shown.

There are three different views that you can select in the

View

menu. They are

Database, Goals

and

Reports.

When you first

open a Project in QSP, you are taken to the

Database View

(see

pg 36), where you see the actual database in table (or spread-

sheet) format. Your “view” of this data can be changed by:

• Showing, hiding, or swapping Variables

• Sorting Variable records alphabetically or numerically

• Showing specific Groups

• Showing the Tab View of the database

• Adding or deleting students

Database View

How do I show,

hide, or swap a Variable?

To show a Variable

Right-click on the name of any Variable in the current view

(say,

Ethnicity

). You will see a popup menu. Scroll down to

highlight

Show Variable

and click to select. When the

Variables

dialog box appears, select the Variable you would

like to add and click

. The Database View will be updated

with the new Variable added (placed to the right of

Ethnicity

To hide a Variable

Right click on the name of the Variable you want to hide and

select

Hide Variable

from the popup menu. The Database

View will be updated, and the Variable you hid will no longer

be in view.

QSP User Guide

The Database

View

To swap a Variable

Right click on the name of the Variable you want to replace.

Scroll down the popup menu to highlight

Swap Variable

and click to select. When the

Variables

dialog box appears,

select the Variable you would like to add and click

. The

Database View will be updated to show the new Variable in

place of the old.

Note

When you replace or hide a Variable, it will be removed from the

current view. However, the underlying database still contains that

Variable and the information (records) related to it.

How do I sort

Variable records?

Click on the name of the Variable you want to sort in the

Database View. A screen will appear asking if you want to sort

the records. Click

to confirm. The screen will refresh itself

and show the database sorted from A-Z, or from lowest num-

ber to highest, based on that Variable’s records.

How do I view a Group?

To view the Group you are interested in, go to the

Database

menu and choose

Groups

, or click the

Groups

button

(see Appx II). Select the Group you want from any of the three

sections, System, Custom or Combo, and click

OK.

For

System

Groups,

you need to scroll to the Variable you are interested in

and then click on the + icon to the left of the Variable name.

This expands the Variable to show the Groups that are related

to it. After selecting a Group and clicking

OK,

you will be

returned to the Database View. Notice that only the students

from the selected Group are available.

Database View

What is the Tab View?

The Tab View (see below) allows you to directly access and

edit each student’s particular information. Simply double-

click anywhere on a student’s row in the Database View, and

the Tab View for that student will appear. Every Variable in

QSP (whether or not it contains data) is laid out across six dif-

ferent tabs. You can move between each tab by clicking the

mouse on the tab you are interested in. To go to the next stu-

dent, click on

Next

in the lower left corner of the Tab View. To

go to the previous student, click on

Previous

Note

The Tab View only shows the students within the specific Group you

have chosen in the Database View. So, when you click forward or

back, you will get the next student in that Group, possibly skipping

other students in the database.

QSP User Guide

The Tab View

How do I add or

delete a student?

To add a student

Go to the

Database

menu and select

Add Student.

In the dia-

log box, enter the ID number and appropriate year for the stu-

dent. The

Profile

tab of the Tab View will appear. Type in the

student’s name and other background information. Select the

other tabs (

Scores 1, Scores 2,

etc.) and enter the appropriate

information. Click

to confirm.

To delete a student

In the Database View, click on the student’s ID number to

highlight it. Go to the

Database

menu and select

Delete

Student.

Click

to confirm.

How do I show one Year’s data?

Select

Show Year

from the

Preferences

menu. When the

Show

Year

dialog comes up, click the button next to

One year

to acti-

vate it. Next, use the

Year

pulldown to select the year that you

are interested in. Click

to confirm. When you return to

the Database View, the year you have chosen will appear in

Database View

The Show Year

Dialog

the bottom right corner (in the leftmost box of the status bar),

and only that year’s data will be in view.

Note

When you use Show Year, all other years’ data will be removed from

the current view. However, the underlying database still contains

those years and the information (records) related to them.

To view the data for all years in the database, return to the

Show Year

dialog and click the button next to

All years

. The

Year

box will grey out. Click

to confirm. When you

return to the Database View,

All years

will appear in the bot-

tom right corner (in the leftmost box of the status bar), and

the data for all years will be in view.

How do I save my Project?

In the Database View, simply go to the

File

menu and select

Save

. If you want to make a duplicate of your Project, select

the

Save As…

option. You will see a dialog asking you to

enter the new Project’s

Name

. Do so and click

. The pass-

word dialog will appear. Enter the password for the original

Project and click

. QSP will save and close the original

Project and open the new duplicate Project. You can change

the password of your new Project by going to the

Edit

and selecting

Change Password

Note

The Save As... option is helpful if you want to make a base Project

(with all the necessary import matchings, Variable names, Charts,

etc.) and then use it as a template for other Projects.

QSP User Guide

Working

with Goals

Background

Goals allow you to set standards for a Group of students,

and then track those standards in the context of specific

Targets. Goals for your school should be set by a Site-Based

Management Team (SBMT) composed of the key stakehold-

ers for student progress at your school: teachers, adminis-

trators, parents, and community leaders. Goal setting

should go hand in hand with the school planning process.

Be very specific in defining your Goals. Be sure to include:

the types of Goals, when you hope to reach them, how you

will measure progress, and what plan of action will help

you reach your Goals.

How do I create Goals?

Go to the

View

menu and select

Goals.

This takes you to

the Goals View (see pg 42), where you will see an empty

chart with columns labeled

Name, Target Year, Priority, and

Type.

(This will eventually hold the Goals you create.) Go to

the

Goals

menu and select

Add Goal.

Working With Goals

Creating a Goal

When you create a new Goal, you will first be presented with

the dialog below. Enter the

Name

of the Goal, select the

Group

of interest, and decide how many Targets this Goal

will contain by clicking on one of the three radio buttons.

Next, decide which

Area

this Goal concerns by clicking on

the pulldown menu. Your choices here are identical to the

six Areas of the QSP Resource Kit:

Curriculum and Instruction

Technology and Innovation

Professional Development

Parental Involvement

Safety and Security

Special Programs

Next, select the

Priority

(High, Medium, Low) and the

Start

and

End

years for this Goal. Enter the name of the

Goal

Monitor.

This should be someone from your Site-Based

Management Team who can best observe and help the

progress of this Goal.

QSP User Guide

The Goals View

Finally, type in the

Goal Plan

, or how you hope to achieve

your Goal, with some key milestone dates you would like to

keep. Here’s an example: For a Goal of increased perfor-

mance in Language Arts, you might implement a professional

development seminar on new instructional techniques for stu-

dent writing. You might also implement an after school read-

ing program, or invite parent volunteers to come and read to

children. In your Plan, it’s a good idea to enter start dates for

activities or action items. Once you’ve completed your Plan,

click on

Next

to continue.

Setting Targets

The next series of screens (see pg 44) deal with the creation of

up to three specific Targets for your overall Goal. When you

make a Target, you are essentially making a Group of poten-

tial students. For this reason, Target creation is almost identi-

cal to Group creation (the exception being that you can only

choose an Annual Variable in your Target).

Working With Goals

Creating a Goal

In the

Target 1

box, select the

Variable

, operator,

Value

, and

Name

just as you would in creating a Group (see pp 30-31).

Next, choose the

Area

Priority

, and

Start

and

End

years for

this Target. The

Target Monitor

may be the same person as

the Goal Monitor, or someone assigned to the progress of this

particular Target. Finally, enter the

Target Plan

. Click

Next

when you are done. Depending on how many Targets you

have, you will see this same screen for Target 2 and Target 3.

Fill in the appropriate information as above, and click

Next

get to the

Summary

screen.

Goal Summary

This screen contains two boxes. The

Goal

box shows an

overview of the Goal, including the Goal’s Name, Priority, etc.

The

Target

box shows the Name, Priority, etc. for Target 1.

Click the

buttons to see the overview for Target 2 or

Target 3. (If you only have one Target, then these will be

greyed out.) Review all the information and decide if you

would like to change anything. If so, then click on the

Back

button until you reach the appropriate screen, edit where

necessary, and click

Next

until you get back to this screen.

QSP User Guide

Creating a Target

When all the information is correct, click the

Finish

button.

You will now see your new Goal listed in the Goals View

with its

Name, Target Year, Priority,

and

Type

listed.

Editing a Goal

To edit a Goal, double-click its name in the main Goals View.

You will notice that the screens used in creating the Goal now

appear as tabs. Click on the appropriate tab and edit where

necessary. Note that you cannot add or delete Goal Targets

here. If you want a different number of Targets, you will

need to create a new Goal from scratch.

Deleting a Goal

To delete a Goal, select

Delete Goal

from the

Goals

menu.

You will get a dialog box asking which Goal to delete. Click

the down arrow and highlight the Goal you wish to delete.

Click

to confirm. The next dialog box will ask to confirm

deletion of the Target Groups. Click

to confirm.

Note

When you create a Goal, a Group is automatically created for each

Target, as well as the Goal itself. These can be accessed in the

Groups dialog under

System Groups

. When you delete a Goal, all

associated Target Groups are deleted as well.

Working With Goals

QSP User Guide

Reports

View

Background

QSP allows you to create various charts, graphs, and tables

to represent your data. These Charts and Reports can be com-

piled in your favorite word processing program with added

explanations and headings to generate informative accounts

for various audiences.

How do I

build Charts?

Go to the

View

menu and select

Reports

, or click the

Reports

button (see Appx II). This takes you to the Report View (see

pg 48), where you will see an empty table with columns

labeled

Name, Year, Type, Date Created,

and

Groups of Interest.

(This will eventually hold the Charts and Reports you create.)

Go to the

Reports

menu and select

New Chart.

A submenu

will appear with all of the possible choices. Simply click on

the type of Chart you would like to generate. Alternately, you

can click on one of the Report Toolbar buttons (see Appx II) to

take you to the Chart dialog of your choice.

Reports View

Before creating Charts, it is important to understand a few

conventions that are present in most of the Chart dialogs.

Questions

In creating each Chart, you are essentially asking a question.

When there is an option, QSP allows you to ask one of five

questions:

How many?

This is for Categorical Variables only. Use this

to get a count for each relevant Group.

What percent?

This is for Categorical Variables only. Use this

to find the percentage each relevant Group

occupies of the total.

What is the

This is for Numerical Variables only. Use this

average?

to get the mean score on tests, etc.

What is the

This is for Numerical Variables only. Use this

middle score?

to get the median score on tests, etc.

What

% scored

This is for Numerical Variables only. Use this

at or above?

to get the percentage of students who scored

at or above a certain cut point.

QSP User Guide

The Reports View

Add and Remove

In deciding what Variables and Groups to include in your

Charts, you can be very flexible. Many Chart dialogs have

a box or boxes with the buttons

Add

and

Remove

below. To

add items to the box, click on Add. For Variables, this will

take you to the

Variables

dialog. Simply scroll down and select

the Variable to add, then click

. Keep adding Variables this

way until you are done. For Groups, clicking on

Add

will

take you to the

Groups

dialog. Here, you can click on a Group

of interest and click

to add. To remove a Group or

Variable from the Chart you’re building, simply highlight it

and then click

Remove.

Repeated Elements

The Chart dialogs are all divided into three sections. The

top and bottom sections contain elements which remain

consistent throughout most of the Chart dialogs:

The top section always contains (except in special cases)

the

Group

pulldown and the

Year

pulldown. Use these

to limit your report to a specific Group and/or year.

The bottom section always contains the

Title

edit box.

Your Chart must have a title.

The middle section contains all of the elements that are

unique to that particular Chart

Accessing Charts

To get to a Chart dialog, select New Chart from the Reports

menu, then select the Chart. Or, simply click the Chart button

of your choice on the Report Toolbar (see Appx II).

Descriptions of each Chart follow...

Reports View

Bar Chart

1. Select the question you wish to ask. If you ask

How many?

What percent?

then the Variable pulldown will grey, and

step two will not be neccesary.

2. If you asked

What is the average?

What is the middle value?

then select the Variable you wish to investigate. If you

asked

What percent scored at or above?

then select a Variable

and enter the cutpoint in the

Score

box.

3. Add the Groups you are interested in here. Each Group

you add will be represented as a bar in the Chart.

4. Enter the

Title

of your Chart.

Click

to confirm.

QSP User Guide

Here is the Bar Chart generated by our example. Each bar

represents the median score of each Group on the Variable

NRT Language Arts

. The decimal number next to each Group

name is the median, and the number in parenthesis is the

Count.

Reports View

Percentile Bar Chart

1. Choose the Variable you wish to examine by clicking on

the down arrow and selecting the Variable of your choice.

Here, selecting

NRT Math

will get you the range of scores

for that outcome.

2. Select how many color-coded ranges you want to split the

Variable scores into by clicking either

(quartiles) or

(quintiles). For

NRT Math

(scores from 0-99), selecting

quartiles will create 4 ranges: (0-24), (25-49), (50-74), (75-99).

3. Add the Groups you are interested in here. Each Group

you add will be represented as a bar in the Chart.

QSP User Guide

4. Checking the

Show Count

box will give you the number,

in parenthesis, of individual students for each Group you

have chosen.

5. Enter the

Title

of your Chart.

Click OK to confirm.

Here is the Percentile Bar Chart generated by our example.

Think of each bar as an individual Pie Chart for each Group.

For instance, we can see that out of the 266 Asians who took

the NRT Math test, 57% scored in the lowest range, 23%

scored in the next range, 15% scored in the next range, and 5%

scored in the highest range.

Reports View

Floating Bar Chart

1. Choose the

Mode

for your Floating Bar Chart. Clicking on

Groups

will give you the above dialog box and will gener-

ate a Chart analyzing how certain Groups performed on a

certain test (Annual Variable).

2. Add the Groups you are interested in here. Each Group

you add will be represented as a bar in the Chart.

3. Choose the

Variable

by clicking on the down arrow and

selecting the Annual Variable of your choice. Here, we

have chosen

NRT Lang Arts

4. Checking the

Show Count

box will give you the number, in

parenthesis, of individual students for each Group you

have chosen.

QSP User Guide

Groups Mode

5. Give the Floating Bar Chart a title.

Click Next to continue.

Once you do, the

Options

dialog box will appear.

1. Select the number of

Categories

, or ranges, you want to

divide your Variable into (from three to six levels). Here,

we are splitting the results of

NRT Lang Arts

into 4

possible Categories.

2. Enter the values that define the range of each Category.

3. Enter titles for each Category, or you can leave the pre-

defined Categories shown above.

4. Select the

Standard

for the Floating Bar Chart. Scores falling

above the Standard will be represented in shades of green,

scores falling below in shades of red.

Click

Reports View

Setting the

Standard for a

Numerical

Variable

Here is the Floating Bar Chart generated by our example. The

results are very similar to the Percentile Bar Chart, except that

the bars are shifted relative to the

Standard

QSP User Guide

Choosing the

Variables

Mode will give you this dialog:

This will generate a Chart analyzing how one Group

performed on multiple tests (Annual Variables).

1. Decide if the Variables you want to analyze are going to be

Categorical

Numerical

(they all must be the same Type).

2. Add the Variables you are interested in here. Each Variable

you add will be represented as a bar in the Chart.

3. Checking the

Show Count

box will give you the number,

in parenthesis, of students who took each test you have

chosen.

4. Give the Floating Bar Chart a title.

Click Next to continue.

Reports View

Variables Mode

If you have selected

Numerical

Variables, you will get the

same

Options

dialog box seen on page 55. Select the

Categories and Standard as you do there. However, if you

have selected

Categorical

Variables, then you will get the

following

Options

dialog box:

1. The Variables’ Categories are listed here, in ascending

order. If you would like to change a Category’s position,

click on it’s name to highlight it, then click the up/down

arrows next to

Change Order

2. Select the

Standard

via the pulldown menu. The Category

you select as the Standard will be the first (green-shaded)

one

above

the Chart’s Standard line.

Click

to finish.

QSP User Guide

Setting the

Standard for a

Categorical

Variable

Note

When adding Categorical Variables to a Floating Bar Chart, keep in

mind that all Variables added must have the same exact Categories,

or they will not appear in the Chart.

Here is the Floating Bar Chart generated by our (Numeric

Variable) example. Notice that each bar represents the

performance on each test (

NRT Lang Arts

and

NRT Math

) by

one Group (

Asians

Reports View

Slicebar Chart

1. Select the question you want to ask, either

What is the

average?

What is the middle value?

2. Select the

Variable

. This is the test, or outcome, you will

be analyzing. We have selected

NRT Lang Arts

3. Select the

Main Group

. Here, selecting

3rd Grade

will give

us the median score for all 3rd graders on

NRT Lang Arts

4. Add up to four

Comparison Groups

. The median score for

each of these Groups will be charted as well.

5. Checking the

Show Count

box will give you the number of

students in each Group you have chosen.

6. Enter

Title

of your Chart.

Click

Next

to continue.

QSP User Guide

Once you click

Next

, the following dialogue box will appear.

1. Select the number of

Categories

, or ranges, you want to

divide your Variable into (from three to six levels). Here,

we are splitting the results of

NRT Lang Arts

into 4

possible Categories.

2. Enter the values that define the range of each Category.

3. Enter titles for each Category, or you can leave the pre-

defined Categories shown above.

Click

Reports View

Here is the Slicebar Chart generated by our example. Notice

that the Variable,

NRT Lang Arts

, is divided into four color-

coded sections. The Main Group,

3rd Grade

, is named directly,

while the Comparison Groups are represented by icons within

the Chart.

QSP User Guide

Histogram

1. Choose a

Variable

by clicking on the down arrow and

selecting the Annual Numerical Variable you wish to

examine. Here, we have selected

NRT Math

2. Enter the

Bar width

. The wider you make each bar, the

fewer bars (score ranges) will be represented in the

Histogram.

3. If you would like to see the

Mean

and

Standard Deviation

the results, then check this box.

4. If you would like the

Normal Curve

drawn over the bars,

then check this box.

5. Enter

Title

of your Chart.

Click

Reports View

Here is the Histogram generated by our example. The entire

range of scores for

NRT Math

(1-99) has been broken up into

equal intervals (15) represented by each bar. The height of

each bar shows how many students scored within that

particular range.

QSP User Guide

Line Graph

1. Enter the range of years for your Line Graph.

2. Choose the

Mode

for drawing. You can use either lines or

bars to represent your data. Here, we have chosen lines.

3. If you want to know how various Groups (up to 8)

performed on a certain test (Annual Numerical Variable),

click on the

Groups

button. You will see the dialog above.

4. Select the question you want to ask. You can ask either

What is the average?

What is the middle value?

5. Choose the

Variable

you want to examine. Here, we have

chosen

NRT Math

6. Each Group you add here will be represented as a line in

the Chart.

Reports View

Groups Mode

7. Choose the

Type

of calculation. If you choose

Cross sectional,

all students in each Group will be calculated. If you choose

Longitudinal

, only students with data in

all the years

of the

graph will be calculated. You can show what percentage

those students account for by checking the

Show %

box.

8. Enter

Title

of your Chart.

Click

Here is the Line Graph generated by our example. Each line

represents each grade’s median scores on

NRT Math

from

1998-2000.

QSP User Guide

1. If you want to know how one Group performed on various

tests (Annual Numerical Variables), click on the

Variables

button. You will see the dialog below.

2. Each Variable you add here will be represented as a line in

the Chart. Here, we have chosen

NRT Lang Arts

and

NRT

Math

Everything else in the dialog box works the same as it did in

Groups Mode.

Click

Reports View

Variables Mode

Here is the Line Graph generated by our example. Each line

represents the Group’s (

Asian’s

) median scores on each test

from 1998-2000. Here, we only have two lines; one for

NRT

Math

, and one for

NRT Lang Arts

QSP User Guide

Scatter Plot

1. Select the first Group of interest by clicking on the down

arrow and choosing

Set Group

. Here,

Male

is selected.

2. If you would like to compare another Group to the first,

then check the

Group 2

box and select

Set Group

. Here,

Asian

is selected. If you only want to look at one Group’s

performance, then make sure this box is unchecked.

3. Choose the

X Variable

(horizontally plotted) by clicking on

the down arrow and selecting your choice. Also, select the

Year

for the Variable. Here,

NRT Math 1998

is selected.

4. Next, choose the

Y Variable

(vertically plotted) and

Year

Here,

NRT Lang Arts 1998

is selected.

5. Enter

Title

of your Chart.

Click

Reports View

Here is the Scatter Plot generated by our example. The blue

circles mark each

Male

’s score on

NRT Math 1998

horizontally

against his score on

NRT Lang Arts 1998

vertically. The red

plus signs mark each

Asian

’s scores in the same manner. The

black filled squares indicate the scores for students that are

both

Male

and

Asian

Note

In the Chart, the circles and plus signs are mutually exclusive. For

instance, in this example, the circles represent all students that are

(Male

and not

Asian). The plus signs represent those that are

(Asian

and not

Male). The squares represents those that are both

(Male

and

Asian).

QSP User Guide

Pie Chart

1. Choose the appropriate Variable by clicking on the down

arrow and scrolling to your choice. Here, selecting

Ethnicity

will get you “wedges” of ethnic groups such as

White,

Black,

Asian

2. Check

Ignore Blank Records

if you wish to eliminate the

Missing

Group from the Chart.

3. Check

Show Counts

if you want to display the number of

students in each Group.

4. Enter

Title

of your Chart.

Click

to confirm.

Reports View

Here is the Pie Chart generated by our example.

QSP User Guide

Gauge

1. Choose the appropriate Main Group first by clicking on

the down arrow and selecting

Set Group

. Here,

NRT Math >= 75

is selected.

2. Next, choose the appropriate Sub Group by clicking on

the down arrow and selecting

Set Group

. Here,

African-American

is selected.

3. The

Pointer

essentially answers the question “What percent

(Main Group)

are

(Sub Group)

?” Your selected Groups are

entered here for clarification.

4. If you like, you can also include a

Redline

percentage that

can serve as a comparison to the Pointer percentage. This

Reports View

is not calculated by QSP, but rather provided by you.

Simply enter the correct percentage of whatever value you

would like compared.

5. Also, a

Label

may be included to explain what the Redline

comparison percentage is. If you want to include a Label,

check the box and enter a short, descriptive phrase. Here,

the comparison percentage is

Last Year’s Percentage

6. Enter

Title

of your Chart.

Click

Here is the Gauge generated by our example.

QSP User Guide

Crosstab

1. Choose the appropriate Row Variable by clicking on the

down arrow and scrolling to your choice. Here,

Ethnicity

will give you rows of

Asian, Caucasian, Hispanic,

etc.

2. If you want to include

Missing

Not Applicable

data in

the rows of your Crosstab, check the appropriate boxes.

3. The Crosstab Report only gives you counts (thus, no

Question

box), but if you want to calculate the percentages

in the rows as well, check

% in row

4. Choose the appropriate Column Variable in the same way

as the Row Variable. Here, selecting

Gender

will give you

columns of

Male

and

Female

Reports View

5. Check the

Include

boxes for

Not Applicable

Missing

, or

% in column

as needed.

6. Enter the

Title

for your Chart

Click

Here is the Crosstab generated by our example. It breaks

Ethnicity

down by

Gender

and gives you the number

(and percentage) of

Male

and

Female

students within each

ethnic Group.

QSP User Guide

Table

1. Select the question you want to ask. Since Tables only deal

with Annual Numerical Variables, you can only ask

What is

the average?

and

What is the middle value?

2. Choose the

Type

of calculation. If you choose

Cross

Sectional

, all students in each Group will be calculated. If

you choose

Longitudinal

, only students with data in

all

years

of the graph will be calculated. You can show what

percentage those students account for by checking the

Show %

box.

3. Add the

Row Groups

here (up to 8). Here, we have selected

various ethnic Groups.

Reports View

4. Select the

Column Variables

here (up to 8). Here, we have

selected

NRT Lang Art 1998

and

NRT Math 1998

5. Check the

Show Count

box if you want the Table to show

the number of students in each cell (in parenthesis).

6. Enter

Title

of your Chart.

Click

Here is the Table generated by our example. It shows the

median score for each ethnic Group on Language Arts and

Math in 1998.

Note

Notice that there is no Year box in the Table dialog. This is because

the Table report allows you examine Outcome Variables spanning as

many years as you would like.

QSP User Guide

Advanced Table

1. Select the question you want to ask. If you ask

What is the

Average?

What is the Middle Score?

you will be prompted

to select an Annual Numerical Variable for a specific year.

(Thus, no Year box in this dialog.) This prompt will not

appear if you ask

How Many.

2. The Variable you selected will appear here. We have

chosen

NRT Lang Arts 1998

3. Add the

Row Groups

here (up to 8). Here, we have selected

various ethnic Groups.

4. Select the

Column Groups

here (up to 8). Here, we have

selected various grades.

Reports View

5. Check the

Show Count

box if you want the Advanced

Table to show the number of students in each cell (in

parenthesis).

6. Enter

Title

of your Chart.

Click

Here is the Advanced Table generated by our example. It

shows the median score for each ethnic Group, within each

grade level, on Language Arts in 1998. For instance, the first

cell shows us that, for the seven African-American 1st

Graders, the median score on

NRT Lang Arts

was 79.

QSP User Guide

Questions Table

1. Add the

Row Groups

you are interested in here.

2. Select the Annual Numerical Variable you are interested in.

3. Check the boxes of the questions you want to ask about

the selected Groups’ performance on the Variable. The

questions

How many?

and

How many tested?

are auto-

matically checked. Here, we have checked

What is the

middle score?

4. Enter

Title

of your Chart.

Click

Reports View

Here is the Questions Table generated by our example. It

answers multiple questions about the performance of various

ethnic and gender Groups on NRT Math 1998.

QSP User Guide

Frequency Table

1. Think of the Frequency Table as a Pie Chart in table format.

Choose the appropriate Variable by clicking on the down

arrow and scrolling to the Categorical Variable of your

choice. Here, selecting

Gender

will give you both the

number and percentage of

Male

and

Female

students.

2. Enter

Title

of your Chart.

Click

Reports View

Here is the Frequency Table generated by our example.

QSP User Guide

How do I manage

my completed Charts?

When you create a Chart, it is added to the Reports View. You

can see the

Name

of each Chart, the

Year

it concerns, the

Type

the

Date Created

, and the

Groups of Interest

within it. If you

right-click on a Chart, you will get a pop-up menu with the

following options:

Show Chart

This option opens the selected Chart in graphical form.

Alternately, you can double-click on a Chart in the Reports

View, and it will open. Remember, if you don’t recompute the

Chart (see

Recompute Chart

below), it may not reflect the cur-

rent state of your database.

Show Text Version

This option opens the selected Chart in textual form. You

have the choice of printing the results (click

Print

) or return-

ing to the Reports View (click

Edit Chart

This option opens the selected Chart’s original dialog box as it

was when you created it. You can edit any of the fields and

then click

to save the Chart in its new form.

Recompute Chart

This option opens the selected Chart and redraws it based on

the current data. Use this if you have recently changed the

database, and want the Chart to reflect those changes.

Delete Chart

This option simply deletes the selected Chart. You will be

asked to confirm your choice. Click

to delete, or

Cancel

to leave the Chart as is.

Reports View

Duplicate Chart

This option creates a copy of the selected Chart. Use this if

you want to make a Chart similar to one that already exists.

Instead of creating a whole new Chart, just copy the similar

one and use

Edit Chart

to make changes.

Show Narrative

This option allows you to add a textual explanation to a Chart

that you have created. You will see a dialog box where you

can enter as much text as you would like. At any time you

may return here to edit and save changes to the text.

Save as BMP

This option allows you to save a Chart as a graphic image.

When you select it, you will see a dialog asking where to save

the BMP. Choose the appropriate place on your hard drive

and click

Save

. You can then place this image into your own

documents as you would any other graphic.

Make Series

This option allows you to create several Charts based on the

selected Chart. In order to make a Series, the original Chart

must use a

System

Group as the main Group (in the upper left

corner of the Chart dialog box). For example, if you create a

Bar Chart with

Caucasian

as the main Group, and you want to

make the same Bar Chart for all other ethnicities, click on

Make Series

. You will be presented with the Make Series

dialog (see next page).

Here, you select which Groups from the associated Variable

(

Ethnicity

) you would like to generate Charts for. You do so

by holding down

CTRL

and clicking on the appropriate

Groups. You can immediately

Print

the Charts or simply

Save

them to the Reports View. Click

to confirm.

QSP User Guide

Setting Preferences

The

Preferences

menu offers a few choices to help you

manage your Charts. You may want to set the minimum

sample size for your Charts to eliminate insignificant data.

Go to the

Preferences

menu and select

Minimum Sample

Size

You can set it from 5 to 15 students. In other words, if

you set it to 10, then any Group with fewer than 10 students

will not appear in your Charts.

The other option in the

Preferences

menu is

Recompute on

Loading

. When checked, this automatically recomputes each

Chart each time you open it. If you want

every

Chart to reflect

the most current data, then click

Recompute on Loading

that it is checked. If you want to keep the data in older Charts

as is, then make sure this is unchecked. (You can still selec-

tively recompute Charts with the

Recompute Chart

popup

option.)

Reports View

Using the Make

Series option

How do I

use Folders?

As you create more and more Charts, the Reports View can

get pretty crowded. This is where Folders come in. Folders

help you to organize Charts created in QSP into topics of your

choice. You have several options for customizing your folder

organization:

Creating a Folder

To create a Folder, select

New Folder

from the

Reports

and click

. Give a name to the Folder, for example,

6th

Graders

. In order to view the contents of a Folder, simply

double-click on it. If you want to return to the main Reports

View, double-click on the

Root Folder

icon.

Creating Charts within a Folder

When you create a Chart, QSP will place that Chart inside the

current Folder. For example, if you have the

6th Graders

Folder open and you create a Bar Chart, QSP will store it in

that Folder.

Moving Charts between Folders

To move a Chart from one Folder to another, right-click on the

Chart and select

Move to Folder

. Click on the down arrow

and select the Folder of your choice and click

. Your Chart

can now be found in the Folder you selected.

Renaming a Folder

If you wish to rename a Folder you’ve already created, right-

click on the Folder and select

Rename Folder

. Give the

Folder a new name and click

Deleting a Folder

In order to delete a Folder, right-click on the Folder and select

Delete Folder

. You will get a dialog box confirming that you

want to delete the Folder. Please note that deleting the Folder

QSP User Guide

also deletes all the Charts stored within the Folder. Click

to confirm the deletion of the Folder and all its contents.

How do I create an

Individual Student Report?

The Individual Student Report (ISR) allows you to create a

performance Report Sheet for each individual student within

a specific Group. To start, click on the

ISR

button (Appx II).

1. Enter a

Title

, or you may choose to keep the default title.

2. Select the question you want to ask, either

What is the

Middle Value?

What is the Average?

3. This is a sample of what an ISR looks like. The top section

contains background information such as

Name

Birthdate

etc. QSP will enter all these values for you.

Section 1

customizable, allowing for multiple Variables (ideally from

the same subject area), plus a Bar Chart.

Section 2

customizable as well, allowing for multiple Variables

(ideally from the same subject area), plus a Slicebar.

Click

Next

to continue.

Reports View

Section 1

1. Enter a

Name

for Section 1, this should reflect the Variables

you choose for this section. Here,

Math

is entered.

2. Select the

Main Variable

for Section 1. This should be a

performance-level (Categorical) test from a general subject

area (in this example,

Math

). Here,

ISAT Math-PL

is chosen.

3. Add any

Sub-Variables

for Section 1 here. These should be

(Numerical) subscales of the Main Variable, or at least other

tests in the same general subject area (

Math

Click

Next

to continue.

QSP User Guide

1. Choose a

Variable

for your Bar Chart here. Again, this

should be from the same general subject area (

Math

). Here

ISAT Math

is selected.

2. Add any

Comparison Groups

here. Their median scores

will be represented as bars in the Chart. Use these to

compare to the individual student’s score.

Click

Next

to continue.

Reports View

Section 2

1. Enter a

Name

for Section 2, this should reflect the Variables

you choose for this section. Here,

Reading

is entered.

2. Select the

Main Variable

for Section 2. This should be a

performance-level (Categorical) test from a general subject

area (in this example,

Reading

). Here, we have chosen

ISAT Read-PL

3. Add any

Sub-Variables

for Section 1 here. These should be

(Numerical) subscales of the Main Variable, or at least other

tests in the same general subject area (

Reading

Click

Next

to continue.

QSP User Guide

1. Choose a

Variable

for your Slicebar here. Again, this

should be from the same general subject area (

Reading

Here

ISAT Reading

is selected. After you select the Slicebar

Variable, the

Options

dialog box will automatically appear.

Select the Categories and ranges as you would in a regular

Slicebar (see pg 61).

2. Add any

Comparison Groups

here. Their median scores

will be represented as icons in the Chart. Use these to

compare to the individual student’s score.

Click

Next

to continue.

Reports View

The final dialog box of the ISR gives you a summary of the

information you selected for the Report:

1. Examine the information here to make sure it is complete

and correct. If you want to change anything, click the

Back

button, edit where appropriate, and click the

Next

button

until you return to this dialog. To edit the

School

box, you

must go to your

User Profile

and edit it there (see pg 11).

2. Select the

Group

you would like to print ISRs for. If you

would like to print an ISR for one student only, create a

Custom Group (see pg 30) that contains only that student.

Click

Finish

QSP User Guide

The Print dialog box (see below) tells you how many

Individual Student Report Sheets will be printed. Click

Print

to print them all out immediately. Click

Save

to save the ISR

in its current state. Later, when you want to print the Sheets,

right-click on the name of the ISR within the Reports View.

Select

Edit Report

. You will see the first dialog of the ISR.

Click

Next

(making sure each dialog has the correct informa-

tion) until you get to the

Summary

dialog. Click

Finish

then

Print

How do I create a

School Performance Report?

The School Performance Report (SPR) generates a series of

informative Charts to answer one of eight common school-

related questions. Before starting, we recommend you create

a Folder (see pg 88), give it an appropriate name, and open it.

By doing so, you will make the SPR place all the Charts it

generates into this Folder, and thus keep everything orga-

nized nicely. Next, click on the

SPR

button (see Appx II).

Reports View

You will get the following dialog:

1. Enter the

Title

of your Report. This is only for reference,

but should reflect the name of the Folder you created for

this particular SPR.

2. Select the

Year

for the Report.

3. Select one of the

School Performance Questions

4. Checking the

Edit Charts

box will allow you to customize

any of the Charts before the SPR generates them.

Click

QSP User Guide

You will then see the following dialog:

Here, the SPR displays the

Default Variables

, or what Variables

it’s looking for. Under

Variables to Use

, select which Variables

should be used for this Report. Accordingly, you can change

the question itself (at the top of the dialog) to reflect the

Variable changes. Click

to continue.

If you chose the

Edit Charts

option, you will next see the

dialog box for the first Chart the SPR is planning to generate.

Edit where appropriate and click

. Repeat this process

until you have seen all the dialog boxes. The SPR will then

generate the Charts and place them in the current Folder.

Reports View

QSP User Guide

Exporting

Data

Background

QSP gives you the ability to export the information in the

database for use with other statistical software to do more

complex analyses. QSP can export in a format that virtually

all statistical software or database programs can import.

You can also export data from one QSP project to another.

How do I export

my QSP Database?

The exporting process is essentially the opposite of the

import. Either select

Export

from the

File

menu, or click on

the

Import/Export

button (see Appx II) and the Export Wizard

opens. The first dialog (see pg 98) has two large boxes:

QSP

Variables

on the left, and

Text File

on the right. In the Variables

box, click on a Variable you might wish to export. Note that

the contents of the Variable are shown in the

Variable Items

box. If this is a Variable you would like to export, click on

Select

to move it to the

Text File

box. If you want to export all

of the Variables in your database, then simply click the

Select

All

button. When you have selected all the Variables you

want to export, click on the

Ignore Rest

button. Select the

year of the data you wish to export with the

Year

pulldown.

You also have some options for your export:

Exporting Data

You can export data for all students, or for a specific Group.

Click on the

Group

pulldown and select

Set Group

. This will

take you to the

Groups

dialog, where you can select the Group

of interest. Also, you may want to export the header row

(QSP Variable names) along with the data. If so, then click on

the

Export Header Row

check box. Lastly, you may want to

export a Codebook for your data that explains what is in each

column. If so, then click on the

Export Codebook

checkbox

Click

Next

to continue.

If you have selected any Categorical Variables, you will next

see a dialog box (see pg 99) that asks how you would like to

name the various Categories. You can use the

QSP Name

(what you called it in QSP), the

QSP Value

(what QSP stored it

as), or the

File Value

(what the original imported database

stored it as). If your data is going back to the district, and that

is where you imported your data from, we recommend you

use the File Value so that it will match their system without

having to be changed.

100

QSP User Guide

Export Dialog

Next, choose the

Item Separator

which separates each column

(comma is the default) and the

Student Separator

which sepa-

rates each student’s record (return is the default). Click on

Next

to continue.

Finally, give the export file a

File Name

and select the directory

where you want to save the exported file. Then click on

Save

Exporting Data

101

Category Values

Separators

102

QSP User Guide

Appendix I:

Optimizing

Your Data

Background

QSP accepts data in two formats:

Text

(*.txt) and

Comma

Separated Values

(*.csv). However, the .csv format provides

a much more seamless Import into QSP. This section shows

you how to convert your data into this format.

How do I convert

my original database?

Open your file in Microsoft Excel. When you get to the Open

dialog in Excel, click on the down arrow next to

Files of Type:

and select

All Files (*.*).

Locate the filename for your data.

It will typically be in one of two formats:

Excel

(*.xls or *.xlb)

Text

(*.txt).

Appendix I

103

Select the file type (see below) by clicking on the button for

Delimited

Fixed width

. Your file will probably be in

delimited format. Here, in the

Preview of File

box, you can see

that this example is delimited. The file is comma separated,

with single quotes around each field entry. Once you have

selected the file type, click

Next

to continue.

Now you will need to check the delimiters that are being used

(see below). You will notice that when you select the

Comma

checkbox, the

Data preview

box shows the columns separated

correctly. Note for this case that the

Text Qualifier

chosen was a

single quote (‘). You may or may not have this in your file.

104

QSP User Guide

Selecting the

file type

Checking the

delimiters

Click on

Finish

. Do not click

Next

because that step is for con-

verting date formats, and QSP will not recognize date formats

that are converted in Excel.

Header Rows

The example file here has a

header row

as part of it. A header

row contains the column headings, such as

Student Number,

Last Name,

etc. If your file does not have a header row, you

can create one (we suggest you do this so that there is less

chance of error). To add a header row in Excel, highlight the

first row holding the first student's information by clicking on

the number for that row (in this case,

). Select

Row

from the

Insert

menu. Use a codebook to give the correct name for

each field. Try to use short names and do not use punctuation

marks, especially commas. Spaces are okay as are underscore

marks (ex.

Student_ID

You are now ready to save the file as a Comma Separated

Values (.csv) file. Select

Save As

from the

File

menu. In the

Save As

dialog box (see below), click on the arrow next to

Save

as type

and select

CSV (Comma delimited) (*.csv)

. Give

your file an appropriate name, and click

Save

to finish.

Appendix I

105

Saving the file

Error on import

During the importing process you might get something like

the following error:

If this occurs, open your .csv file in Excel and select all the

data so that it is highlighted. Select

Copy

from the

Edit

menu.

Open a new workbook, select

Paste

from the

Edit

menu, and

save the file as another .csv file. When you import again, the

error should be gone.

106

QSP User Guide

Appendix II:

Technical

Information

Background

It is important for the users to understand exactly what the

Quality School Portfolio Data Manager does and does not do.

Essentially, the Data Manager acts as a tool for grouping,

viewing and reporting the data within a file. The program

manages the data presented to it according to priorities

determined by the user, for the purpose of empowering the

user with the needed information with which to inform the

school’s reform processes.

Technically, the QSP Data Manager sits “on top of” a database

file and restricts access to that file to the QSP program user

only. Once the user activates the import process, the database

file becomes the storage place for the data being imported.

The Data Manager then clones that file each session, using

the clone for all of the program’s data manipulations. On

user command, QSP saves all additions and changes back to

the database file.

Different schools and districts store categorical data different-

ly. Some utilize the variable Gender, while others call that

same variable Sex. We have observed districts which store the

gender data in all these configurations:

0/1, Male/Female,

and

Appendix II

107

M/F

. QSP is a reporting tool concerned mostly with providing

the school personnel with meaningful ways to utilize the data

stored. The Data Manager provides unparalleled flexibility in

this regard by allowing the user to determine how data is

viewed regardless of the format in which it is stored. While

the user may specify male students as

0, Male

in QSP, the

database will always retain the original format for the data.

In addition, QSP creates a number of files for each database

you create. Each of these files is important for the functionality

of the program and will appear in the database folder.

Their formats and corresponding extensions are shown

below, where the asterisk refers to the name the user gives

the data file.

*.ddf

The database instruction set for this file.

*.flt

The list of Groups available to this dataset.

*.gol

The list of Goals available to the dataset.

*.rpt

The list of Reports saved for the dataset.

There is a limit to the number of variables allowed in QSP.

Present in the program are spaces for 39 pre-built variables of

several types and 108 optional variables. There is no limit,

however, to the number of records. It is

strongly

recommended,

however, that the user create a separate QSP database for each

different cohort being reviewed. In a single database, QSP can

support data for a subset of students over an extended period

of time with ease. However, the smaller the initial group of

students, the faster QSP will analyze the data.

108

QSP User Guide

Appendix II

109

The Toolbar

Project

Create Projects

Database

See the Database view

Reports

See the Reports view

Groups

Edit your Groups

Save

Store any new changes

Help

See the user guide on-screen

Import/Export

Transfer your data

Goals

See the Goals view

Variables

Edit your Variables

Open

Open a new Project

Print

Output the Database view

110

QSP User Guide

The Report Toolbar

Bar Chart Histogram Gauge Bar Chart

Floating

Bar Chart

Scatter

Plot

Individual

Student

Report

Table

Slicebar Pie Chart Advanced

Table

School

Performance

Report

Percentile

Bar Chart

Line

Graph

Frequency

Table

Crosstab

Appendix II

111

Contacting us at CRESST

Derek Mitchell 310.794.4393

dmitchell

cse.ucla.edu

John Lee 310.794.9155

johnjn

ucla.edu