SMARTT Update, July 2010 - SABES

SMARTT Update, July 2010
1) Site Rollover Requests --- due by August 13th
Don’t forget to submit your site rollover request in SMARTT by August 13 th indicating
that all the FY10 information is updated. When you are ready to submit the site rollover
request at the end of the fiscal year, no names should appear in the assessment or goals
section. Site rollover requests must be submitted by August 13th. If names appear,
you will need to check off each box remaining indicating your review of the data before
you can submit the request for site rollover. The request indicates that all the information
contained within this report is true and accurate and does not need to be updated or
corrected. This checkbox is equivalent to the Program Coordinator’s Signature.
The Performance Standards reports will be released in Cognos after all sites have
submitted the site rollover request.
2) Partial Intakes are Available Now -- until site Rollover
The partial intake feature is again available for programs until site rollover in mid
August. The purpose of the partial intake feature is to allow programs to enter a small
amount of information for newly enrolled students during the summer, in order to
generate a SMARTT ID and thus allow the student to take the MAPT test. Partial intakes
should not be entered for any other reason. Once site are rolled over to FY11, this feature
is not available. Programs should convert these newly created partials to full intakes as
soon as possible after site rollover.
3) Revised Release of Information Form -- all translations posted on website
The translations for the revised Release of Information form (updated 5/12/10) are posted
on the ACLS website and available in PDF, Word format, and audio clips. Please use the
PDF version of Khmer since four Khmer fonts must be installed on a computer in order
for the MS Word format of the Khmer form to appear. The form is translated into the
most common native languages of students in ESE funded programs: Albanian, Arabic,
Cape Verdean Creole, Chinese-Cantonese, Chinese-Mandarin, French, Haitian Creole,
Khmer, Korean, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, and Vietnamese
Once students have signed the revised form, data entry staff need to edit the student's
basic information record and click "Yes" in the "Confidentiality" field to note that the
revised form has been signed. The date that this field is updated will appear on the screen.
For example, a user can update a status that is already checked as “Yes” by clicking on
edit in the student “Basic Information” panel and click “Yes” again despite the fact that
“Yes” has already been checked. The new date will appear on the screen after the
information is saved.
1

4) Quarterly Goal Follow-up
Please make sure that you do your quarterly to follow up with current and former
students to ascertain goal achievements. This information needs to be entered in the
“Follow-up” section in SMARTT. Programs need to establish follow-up protocols and
assign staff to this function. Programs should reference the guidelines and sample surveys
provided in the “Sample Local Follow-Up Survey for Core Measures Adapted for
Massachusetts” on the SMARTT section of the ACLS website at.
http://www.doe.mass.edu/acls/smartt/nrssurvey_followup.doc
The following goals listed on our goal form require follow-up at the local level:
Students with no social security number (SSN) & those with SSN but no signed release
form:
(1a) Enter Employment/Get a Job
(1b) Retained New Employment
(2) Retain Current Employment
All students even if the social security number has been indicated since data matching is
not available:
(4) Complete some adult HS credits and/or MCAS tests toward ADP
(5) Obtain ADP
(6a) Enter Transitional Education
(6b) Complete Transitional Education
(7a) Enter post - secondary education
(7b) Retain in Post-Secondary Education
(8a) Enter Occupational Training > 12 mo.
(8b) Retain Occupational Training > 12 mo.
(8c) Complete Occupational Training > 12 mo.
(9a) Enter Occupational Training 6 - 12 mo.
(9b) Complete Occupational Training 6 - 12 mo.
(10a) Enter Occupational Training < 6 mo.
(10b) Complete Occupational Training < 6 mo.
5) New Features in SMARTT – more detailed information will be forthcoming
a) Avoid Creating Duplicate Records When Entering New Students In SMARTT
We are working on ways to help users so that duplicate records are not inadvertently
created for students who may have been previously enrolled in SMARTT, including
those who may have been enrolled by another program. It is crucial for the integrity
of our data to maintain prior history of the students served by the ABE system. When
a duplicate record is created for a student already enrolled, that history is not
accurately associated with the newly created duplicate record. To prevent accidentally
creating a duplicate record, we are listing new steps outlined below. This applies to
creating either a Full, Partial or Waitlisted student.
2

In order to facilitate this task, the intake process for Students, Partial Intakes and
Waitlist Students is being revamped. A new screen Phase 1 screen is being
introduced to provide an interface\method to cross reference SMARTT records to
ensure that a student did not previously exist. Potential matches shall be provided
if found so the user can select a record to avoid creating a duplicate record.
Selection of the record will redirect the student to the “conventional intake”
screen which will be populated with information associated with the student that
was identified as a potential duplicate. If a potential duplicate is not found, then
the user will be redirected to the “conventional intake” screen to create a new
record.
A mandatory combination of the following fields shall be used as search criteria:
First Name, Last Name, Gender, Date Of Birth and Social Security Number
(SSN). Please note that a “Not Provided” option will be provided for SSN.
Optional criteria are Maiden Name and Previous Site if known or provided.
If it is known that a student exists at another site in SMARTT or may have
appeared in the waitlist, partial intakes, referral from a Workplace or Distance
Learning Referral to Distance Learning Hub. The combination depends on
whether you are performing the intake from the Students, Partial Intake or
Waitlist screen. You can always click on the search button next to the last name
field to search for the student (provided the student has signed a release). You
may choose run a search on all of the aforementioned options or isolate it to a
specific one.
These features shall be tested by the various SABES Regional Field Technologists
as well as various SMARTT users that have or shall be volunteering. This entails
ensuring the features function as anticipated as well providing suggestions and
feedback that will make the use of this new addition as user friendly as possible.
We are still looking for a handful of SMARTT users to help test the new features.
Full instructional documentation as well as other information shall be provided to
those that volunteer. Please contact Rob Chirwa, SMARTT Team Developer,
(rchirwa@doe.mass.edu) if interested in testing this new functionality.
b) Race/Ethnicity Changes
Please make sure that all newly enrolled students are given the FY11 Student Intake
form posted on the ACLS website since there are changes to the race/ethnicity
section. All current and newly enrolled students must answer these two questions:
PART 1: Is the student Hispanic/Latino? (choose only one)
No, not Hispanic/Latino
Yes, Hispanic/Latino (A person of Cuban, Mexican, Puerto Rican, South
or Central American, or other Spanish culture or origin, regardless of race)
3

The above question is about ethnicity, not race. No matter what was selected above,
the student needs to answer the following by marking one or more boxes to indicate
the student's race.
PART 2: What is this student's race? (choose one or more)
American Indian or Alaska Native. (A person having origins in any of the
original peoples of North and South America, including Central America,
and who maintains a tribal affiliation or community attachment.)
Asian. (A person having origins in any of the peoples of the Far East,
Southeast Asia, or the Indian Subcontinent, including, for example,
Cambodia, China, India, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Pakistan, the Philippine
Islands, Thailand, and Vietnam.)
Black or African American. (A person having origins in any of the Black
racial groups of Africa.)
Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander. (A person having origins in
any of the original peoples of Hawaii, Guam, Samoa or other Pacific
Islands.)
White. (A person having origins in any of the original peoples of Europe,
the Middle East, or North Africa.)
A new update screen for continuing students will be provided so student
race/ethnicity information can be updated quickly. A screen to update employment
status for continuing students will be provided also so that this information can also
be updated more easily. More detailed information will be provided in the August
mailing.
For more information, visit this section on the NRS website:
http://www.nrsweb.org/docs/tips/RaceandEthnicity.pdf
c) Assessment Related Changes
These are the two new approved tests for FY11 so these tests will appear in the
assessment panel:
TABE 9/10 (replaces forms 7/8)
TABE CLAS-E (replaces REEP)
The TABE 7/8 and REEP tests given in May or June cannot be copied over to FY11.
There will be new assessment reports available in the “Site” section for these two new
assessments.
4

6) Federal Reports -- new format will be released week of July 19 th
The agency, project, and site level Federal Report Tables 1 - 6 will be available the week
of July 19 th . The tables will continue to be updated nightly as programs finish data entry
prior to site rollover in August. We have revised how users access the reports to be more
user friendly. The user has less number of links to navigate to access the federal tables.
Instead of having 7 links at each level for a specific year, there would be just one report
per level ( agency, project, site). The user will select either the agency, project, or site and
the report table they wish to view. The user can then select a different federal report table
by changing the report selection. More information will be provided once the reports are
released. The federal report tables are listed below:
Table 1:
Table 2:
Table 3:
Table 4:
Table 4B:
Table 5
Table 6
Participants by Entering Educational Functioning Level, Ethnicity, and
Gender
Participants by Age, Ethnicity, and Gender
Participants by Program Type and Age
Educational Gains and Attendance by Educational Functioning Level
Educational Gains and Attendance by Educational Functioning Level
(reports only students who received pre and post tests)
Core Follow-up Outcome Achievement
Participant Status and Program Enrollment
7) Additional Cognos Logons Available
As part of our annual Cognos support maintenance contract this year, we are able to
provide additional Cognos logons for our users. Our current policy has allowed one
Cognos logon per agency. Now we are able to provide Cognos logons at the project level.
Please e-mail Donna Cornellier (dcornellier@doe.mass.edu) if you need a new Cognos
logon for your project.
8) GED Data Matching for May – Completed on 7/8/10
The latest GED data match information with Oklahoma Scoring Service is listed below.
Two hundred and thirty two (232) records were matched for students who attended
classes in FY10. Out of this, two hundred and nineteen (219) students met the goal which
is ninety four percent (94%). Thirteen (13) students or 6% did not set the goal and will
not be included in the Federal Report.
Remember that we cannot include in the Federal Report the achievement of any goal met,
if that goal was not set. Please review the criteria for data matching listed in the April
mailing. If you find that a student did receive the GED and the record was not updated in
SMARTT, please e-mail Donna Cornellier (dcornellier@doe.mass.edu) to determine
what data element was incorrect so that the student’s record can be corrected. It is
important to capture all GEDs met and credit all students who meet the goal.
5

9) Department of Revenue Data Matching – Completed on 7/14/10
The latest quarterly data match with Department of Revenue was conducted on July 14,
2010. The information is listed below.
40 obtain employment goal records qualified for data matching
21 retain new/current employment goal records qualified for data matching
Note that ACLS conducts data matching every quarter with Department of Revenue for
students who set the employment-related goals, provided a social security number, and
signed the release of information form. ACLS conducts the data match for all students
every quarter and updates the goal information for students who set that goal.
10) SMARTT Training Schedule
Check the SABES calendar for dates and times of trainings over the summer. To register
for these and other trainings, please go http:\\calendar.sabes.org and click on your region;
or, you may contact your regional office directly.
Questions? Please contact Donna Cornellier at dcornellier@doe.mass.edu
6