November 14, 2002 - Version 1.043 release
Verification Reports
1 & 2 have been modified to address inconsistencies that were occurring in
some installations of MS Access 2000.
For our MS Access 2000 Users: A special release of STEP 1.043 is now available that has already been
converted to MS Access 2000. You can download the converted files from the
MS Access 2000 link. A converted
version was first made available as STEP 1.042. Users of other
versions of Access should download the version of STEP in the software
section of the STEP home page.
November 6, 2002 - Version 1.041 release
Districts running STEP software with MS Access 2000 have
reported problems with inconsistent results on reports. In this version of
STEP, some code has been changed to ensure greater compatibility with Access
2000.
STEP 1.04 will not count more than 32,767 records in a
database table. Districts that expect to have more than 32,767 assessment
records should use STEP 1.041. To determine whether your district will exceed
that limit, multiply the average number of assessments per student by the number
of students in the database.
STEP 1.04 Verification Reports 3, 4, and 6 do not show
results for students placed in BOCES programs, if the service provider code is
the BOCES BEDS code rather than the first eight digits of the district of
residence (BEDS of Responsibility) code followed by "0999." STEP 1.041
fixes this problem. You have two options if you have coded students placed in
BOCES programs using the BOCES BEDS code:
- Use STEP 1.041 to generate Verification Reports that include students
enrolled in BOCES.
- Use STEP 1.04 to generate Verification Reports, understanding that the
NYSED STEP 2002 Verification Reports (generated from 1.041) will include
these students. Those districts that submit files by November 15 will have a
chance to correct any problems that the State Verification Reports reveal.
In Verification Report 6 (New York State Alternate Assessment
(NYSAA)) generated from STEP 1.04, the count of tested students includes
students with unscorable papers. On the New York State Report Cards, the count
of tested students will be the sum of students scoring at Levels 1 through 4 and
will exclude students with unscorable papers. The NYSED 2002 STEP Verification
Reports show the correct count of tested students.
STEP 1.04 did
not prohibit duplicate counts of a student’s NYSAA result if the same
assessment (including administration date and score) was reported more than once
for the same student. Duplicate entries
of results of all other tests resulted in fatal errors or were otherwise
excluded from reports. STEP 1.041 ensures that when duplicate records of a
single assessment exist, the assessment result is reported only once.
STEP 1.041 corrects a problem reported with the
"Students Not Meeting Graduation Requirements" report. The report now
includes RCT global studies for safety-net eligible students. Please note that
only students who are still enrolled in the school/district when the report is
generated are included in this report.
STEP 1.041 counts general-education students who are
eligible for the safety net because they were classified as disabled at some
time between grades 8 and 12 in the "general-education students eligible
for the safety net" row of Reports 1 and 2. STEP 1.04 included these
students in the "general education" row.
October 25, 2002 - Version 1.04 release
In this release of the STEP software, the following enhancements are
included:
- Corrected problems to allow STEP to run properly in Microsoft Access 2000
and in the Runtime version of Access.
- Corrected report/export error check to prevent generation of reports or
exports whenever there are level 1 errors.
- Added edits to the report/export error check to prevent assessment date
and program service beginning date from being earlier than the student's
date of birth and from being later than today.
- Revised the order of the Report/Export edits to allow for the
auto-correction of records before edit errors are entered in the error log.
This will eliminate the need to run the error-check twice - once to fix the
records and again to eliminate the error from the error log. However, manual
changes to records will require the user to run the error-check again.
- The date of administration is no longer auto-filled for key entry for RCT
assessments.
- The Students Tab allows for better access to the program service history
for edit/update.
- Revised the tab-order (data entry flow sequence) for keyboard data entry
operation.
- Added "ungraded secondary" as an option in the "Grade
Level" drop-down on the Students Tab.
- Revised query architecture to better utilize Access query objects.
We have found and corrected the following errors that would have resulted in
inaccurate verification reports:
- the incorrect inclusion of some students who transfer into or out of a school
in the cohort;
- incorrect default beginning dates on certain student enrollment records that were
key-entered (corrected in Version 1.02);
- default enrollment beginning date later than June 30, 2002;
- the inability to enter and save "reasons for leaving" in the
enrollment record (a problem in STEP 1.03 that resulted from changing the
size of the pull-down windows to allow better readability);
- the range edits on key-entered Regents competency test data that allowed
users to enter out-of-range raw scores (corrected
in Version 1.02);
- date of administration was incorrectly auto-filled for key entry for RCT
assessments;
- under some conditions, graduates who transferred between schools were
included on the
graduation report of more than one school;
- under some conditions, students with multiple enrollment records appeared
multiple times on the
leaver and dropout report;
- under some conditions, students with multiple enrollment records appeared
multiple times on the
alternate assessment report;
- the calculation of AGE for schools without enrollment in all
grades (9, 10, 11 and 12) was incorrect on the Regents examination data by average grade
enrollment report;
- the graduation plans of students earning CTE endorsed local diplomas were
not included in "students earning local diplomas" row of the post-graduate
plans report;
- RCT for global history results for students who are eligible for the
safety net were not included
in the students not meeting Regents requirements report or the Cohort reports;
and
- the AGE percentage was computed using the unrounded AGE value rather than
the rounded AGE value shown on the report.
October 8, 2002 - Version 1.03 release
In this release of the STEP software, the following enhancements are
included:
A programming trick that worked in Microsoft Access 97 was not able to be
compiled in later versions of Microsoft Access. The compilation problems
have been corrected in this version of STEP.
Some pull-down fields have been extended to allow for better readability.
A hot key (alt G) has been added to the Student Tab to go directly to the
"Go To" button.
October 7, 2002 - Version 1.02 release
In this release of the STEP software, the following enhancements are
included:
Cohort identifier:
- was fine tuned to better handle students who transfer before the
critical BEDS day (BEDS day of the student's third year in high school).
- can now be recomputed on demand using the button on the bottom of the
Students Tab.
Data Entry default begin date for the enrollment record will be
recomputed based on the student's date of entry into grade 9 (in the same way
the default enrollment begin date is generated in the import procedure).
For enrollment default begin dates already entered, the user will have the
option to send level 1 error messages to the error log or have the software
auto-recompute the default begin dates.
Missing test modification and language data no longer generate a
fatal error.
The RCT range edits have been retooled.
The third report on the "Other Reports" Tab will now handle
circumstances where there are no applicable data.
On the Import Tab, if no filename is specified, when the "find files"
button is pressed, the indicator box will be a yellow box that contains
"NA".
Please note: computed fields are not recomputed at data
entry. The user must either press the Recompute button on the Student Tab
or run a report that uses the CohortID.
September 25, 2002 - Version 1.01 release
In this release of the STEP software, the following enhancements are
included:
The e
rror check for
September 20, 2002 - Version 1.0 release
In this release of the STEP software, the following enhancements are
included:
IMPORT Tab: The data dictionary reports now properly reflect the
import table layouts. The file layout for the LEAP Impact format is also
available.
REPORTS/EXPORT Tabs: Verification reports and the file export are now
available.
An "Other Reports" option has been added to the REPORTS Tab to
help verify students in a cohort and each student's progress toward meeting the
graduation requirements.
September 18, 2002 - Version 0.996 release
In this release of the STEP software, the following enhancements are
included:
Additional Edits: Missing fields on assessment records are now a fatal
error.
Null fields in the assessment table were causing reports to fail.
Ungraded students must have a disability record.
NEW WARNINGS . . .
IMPORT/REPORTS/EXPORT Tabs: When level 2 errors are detected and no
level 1 errors exist, the dialog box has a yellow indicator with an
"!" (similar to the red indicator with the "X") to indicate
that the user should check the error log table.
REPORTS Tab: The names of the New York State Alternate Assessments
have been revised on Report 6.
Report numbers have been added to the reports.
Students who had a disability record at some time during 8th grade are now
properly marked as eligible for the safety net.
Separate versions of the Superintendent signoff form have been created and
are generated based on the user log-in.
STUDENT Tab: New York State Alternate Assessments have been renamed
in the drop-down.
September 13, 2002 - Version 0.995 release
In this release of the STEP software, the following enhancements are
included:
At Start-up:- For the Intro to Occupations assessment where all scores
were reported as either "P" or "F", the software will
reconvert the "F" to a score of 39. Previous versions of the software
converted the "F" to a score of 40 (which is a passing score). If any
scores in the database for this exam are other than "40" or
"41" and some of the scores were previously converted from
"F" to "40", the erroneous scores must be converted by the
user. On the REPORTS Tab under Assessment Measures, a report can be generated
using measure code "070" to assist those districts with records that
must be manually edited.
NEW WARNINGS . . .
IMPORT Tab: When autocreating grade and/or enrollment records
during the import process, the user must be logged in as the program service
provider to properly populate the BEDSOfService data field.
When importing program service records without a BEDSOfService, the import
process will autofill the BEDSOfService field. If the database contains a grade
record for the student, the BEDSOfService in the import record will be
autofilled with the same BEDSOfService as is contained in the most recent grade
record. Otherwise, the BEDSOfService will be the BEDS Code of the school under
which the user is logged in. (Not a new feature, just a new message.)
When using the STEP DB or Export SPD import options, no error checking will be
performed. The import files will be appended directly to the production tables.
The user is warned that this process may result in duplicate records in the
database.
REPORTS & EXPORT Tabs: For any student who must be reported but
who was not enrolled during the 2001-2002 school year, if the grade level
program service record has a BeginningDefault status of "True", the
date fields on the record will be assigned for the most recent school year
during which the student was enrolled in the school. If the ending dates have
already been created by using the report/export error check process, you can
regenerate them by deleting the ending dates and running the process again using
this version of the software. This enhancement is intended to help resolve some
error conditions related to date conflicts between enrollment and grade level
program service records.
When the report/export error checks are run, the auto-close dates will now be
the ending date of the most recent enrollment period or June 30, 2002, whichever
is earlier.
REPORTS Tab: The software now assures that the Cohort reports will
include only those assessments administered on or before the reporting date or
the last date on which a student was enrolled in the school (whichever is
earlier).
August 12, 2002 - Version 0.991 release
Several enhancements have been made to correct glitches in the Version 0.99
release:
The error generated by the reference to the ISConsilium folder has been
eliminated.
Multiple grade records can now be imported. If a student has an open grade
record, it must be the last grade record imported for that student (after any
grade records that include an ending date).
The student detail report can now be previewed and printed without running the
report edits.
The "Students Not Meeting Regents Requirements" report on the
"Other Reports" tab now provides information for the following Regents
examinations: English, Math, Global History and Geography, and US History
and Government. Science will soon be added.
August 9, 2002 - Version 0.99 release
If you are upgrading from STEP version
0.98, you will need to download only the 0.99 front end of the software.
If you are upgrading from an earlier version of STEP, please read and follow the
"Instructions for updating from a
version prior to 0.98".
Several enhancements have been made to the Export, Students and Reports Form components, as well as to the
Cohort identification section. Some notable enhancements
included in this version are:
STUDENTS Form: When logged in as the district, all students in the
database will show in the Student form, even if there is no enrollment record
associated with the student. This will allow enrollment records to be
key-entered after demographic data is imported. This feature may be
helpful for those of you who thought you had lost students from your database
and were unable to re-enter them.
EXPORT Form: The Export file generated in version 0.99 is an ASCII
file with an "spd" extension. Please do not rename or modify the
SPD export file after export. Doing so will almost certainly cause any
subsequent import of that file to fail, and so require a new SPD file to be
generated.
COHORT Identification: The Cohort identification has been
reworked. For the 1997, 1998 and 1999 Cohorts, students will be identified
by Cohort year and as either "included" in the Cohort or
"excluded" from the Cohort. For the 1996 Cohort and all Cohorts
after 1999, students who have reached 9th grade will be identified as belonging
to a "Cohort group" (for example: "2001 Group").
Students who have not yet entered 9th grade will be identified as "PreCohort
Group".
To run the Cohort Identification: from the Reports Form, choose the "Other
Reports" tab. Select "Students by Cohort" and click on the
"Preview" button. On the Students Form, the CohortID field will
now be populated. Other reports that use the CohortID will also trigger
this process, but it will be rerun only if you leave the Reports Form.
REPORTS Form: A Student Detail tab has been added to allow for batch
printing of a complete data set for each student in the database of all
information included in the database for that student. You may also use
preview to select ranges for paper printing.
July 17, 2002 - Version 0.98 release
With this version 0.98 release, default dates for program services have been
frozen for the 2001-2002 school year. Previous versions of STEP used the
current date provided by your local computer to calculate the default
year. Without this change, any default dates generated by the software
from July 1 forward would reflect the next school year.
Also with version 0.98 we are supplying
a new back end version 1.01B. All users will need to download a complete
package of the software.
Several enhancements have been made to the Import and Students Form components, as well as to the edit-checking
section.
Some notable enhancements include:
IMPORT Form: This form has been restyled to include explanatory
notes and the tab order was changed to put the primary focus on STEP text
imports. Enrollment and grade program service period records can now be created for LEAP/Impact on
import if the default creation indicator is enabled when appending records.
The LEAP/Impact import also includes an option to import either last
year's or this year's LEAP/Impact file. The text file import default BEDS code for program service records is
now the BEDS code of the school that you are logged in as, rather than the
district. We have also added some documentation on what to expect for each
IMPORT option (see Guidelines
for using the STEP Import Options).
STUDENT Form: The program service add button now creates an
enrollment record. If a grade level is provided in the demographic section, a grade
program service period record is also created. Logging in as the District allows viewing of all Student
records in the database on the Student tab. Other enhancements have been made to
facilitate both the navigation and data entry functionality of this form.
Warning: The
student ID field on the Student Tab now allows only numeric input. Locating the
entry cursor to the left-most position before keying data will prevent running
into the end of the field before ID is complete. Leading zeros need not be
data-entered.
Edits:
Edits have been added for score ranges in
the assessment records. There are also edits for reason codes that do not
correspond to the program service record on which they are entered.
REPORTS Form: Grade level titles have been updated for proper sort order
in the reports. The Reason Report has been reworked to reflect the data
provided. You will notice that some
of the reports are disabled. The disabled reports are currently
undergoing diligent testing to ensure their reliability.
June 19, 2002 - Version 0.97 release
We continue support for the back end of the STEP
database. This release allows prior users to choose to download only the new copy of the front end.
Users who have no copy of the back end database may download a complete package.
Several enhancements have been made to the Import and Student Form components, as well as to the edit-checking and reporting sections.
Some notable enhancements include:
IMPORT Form: One major change to the import section was a remapping
of the Impact and LEAP file import. This feature is intended to allow the
import of last year's 8th grade student LEAP data to create records for this
year's 9th grade students. If you previously tried this feature and got
unexpected results, we invite you to try it again. We hope that you will
like the results better.
STUDENT Form: Navigation on the Student Form has been enhanced to
allow for more intuitive mobility. Hot keys have been added to help the
user move from one section of the form to another. The add new button that
was causing much difficulty has been removed. Instead, new records can be
recorded in the database by using the built-in Access navigation tool at the
bottom of the form. The search by student name or ID number has been
improved so that the form footer always identifies the current student record.
Reports: The line count field on the existing reports has been
expanded to allow for the display of larger numbers. The format of some
reports has been modified to better fit the page.
You will notice that some
of the reports are disabled. The disabled reports are currently
undergoing diligent testing to ensure their reliability.
To contact us regarding the STEP system, please send e-mail to STEP@mail.nysed.gov
This page was last updated on 12/07/2004
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