School Online Assessment Registration SOAR Phase 2 training

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School Online Assessment Registration(SOAR)Phas
e 2 training
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Phase 2 of SOAR will be live from the test week
in May, and will allow schools to
Phase 2

• print customised NAPLAN rolls for teachers to
  use on test day
• allocate spare books to new students who were
  not enrolled when data was uploaded
• register students visiting the school to do the
  tests
• indicate absences during test week
• easily calculate the number of books to be
  returned
• update student information if needed

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The School Online Assessment Registration (SOAR)
software will replace paper log and tally sheets
for NAPLAN 2009. SOAR will run on PCs using
internet explorer V6 or higher and on Macs using
Safari or Mozilla Firefox.The SOAR URL, school
username and school password was sent in a sealed
letter to the Principal in early March.
SOAR
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Log in
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Assessment Roll
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Assessment Roll

• The Assessment Roll screen allows you to view and
  print rolls for each Year and each assessment
  type so that teachers can mark absences,
  exemptions and any special test conditions such
  as students using special print material.
• The roll will include all students that have been
  entered into SOAR, including any new students who
  arrived at your school after the initial data
  load whose details have been entered into SOAR,
  and any students visiting your school to do the
  NAPLAN.

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Assessment Roll

• If you discover when you print your rolls that
  you have new students or visiting students who
  are not on the roll, these students should be
  added using the phase 1 (student details screen).
  More information on adding students in phase 1 is
  at the end of this presentation.
• The list can be sorted by surname for the whole
  Year group, or by roll class, then surname and
  first name.

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Check In
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Check In

• The Check In process is completed after the
  students have done the NAPLAN tests. When you
  first choose check in you will be asked to choose
  the cohort (3, 5, 7 or 9). When you do this you
  will see a summary of the check in status for
  each of the 3 test days. The school on the
  previous screen has not yet checked in any of
  the Year 5 tests.

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Check In

• There are 7 steps in the check in process. SOAR
  takes you though the steps and will let you know
  if you have missed one or do not need to complete
  any of them.

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Step 1 Students who did not complete the test
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Step 1 Students who did not complete the test

• Each of the students is assumed to have completed
  the test unless you change it so the default for
  each student is present. The other options are
  absent, parent withdrawal, partially absent, and
  exempt (for reason of significant intellectual
  delay or disability OR for LBOTE and newly
  arrived in Australia).

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Step 1 Students who did not complete the test

• NOTE students who are marked exempt in phase 1
  and therefore do not have personalised books
  printed (this is done for all schools centrally
  in the ACT) will not appear in your check in
  lists for phase 2.

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Step 1 Students who did not complete the test
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Step 1 Students who did not complete the test

• Each category has a specific nationally agreed
  meaning. For information on the protocols
  regarding absences and exemptions, see the School
  Manual of Administrative Procedures (Principals
  Handbook), sent to schools in March.
• The partially absent category will only be
  visible where there is more than one test in the
  same book (Tuesday Writing and Language
  Conventions and Thursday for Years 7 and 9 only
  two numeracy tests). A student is partially
  absent if he or she only completes one test of
  the two in the book. He or she is partially
  absent from the one test not attempted due to
  absence.

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Step 1 Students who did not complete the test
When you select partial absence a new section
opens please select the check box for the test
that WAS completed by the student. In the example
above the student has completed Writing but was
absent for Language Conventions.
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Step 1 Students who did not complete the test

• Where a student is in the sanctioned abandonment
  category (ie cannot complete the test that has
  been started due to illness or misadventure) this
  student must be entered as absent in SOAR. Do NOT
  return books for students who were in this
  category.
• DO NOT send back completely empty test books for
  students who were absent, exempt, withdrawn or
  have sanctioned abandonment status. Books for
  partial absences should be returned so the
  completed test in that book can be marked.

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Step 1 Students who did not complete the test

• If an absent or partially absent student returns
  to school and completes a test in one of the
  catch up sessions, the absent bubble on the
  front cover of the test book and information in
  SOAR must be adjusted accordingly.
• Students who were classified as sanctioned
  abandonment for a test must not complete the test
  in a catch-up session.

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Step 2 Assign Barcode ID to late registered or
visiting students

• A number of spare test books are allocated to
  each school. These books have barcodes but do not
  have overprinted student names. The spare books
  are to be used for newly enrolled students and
  visiting students who were not in the SOAR system
  when test books were overprinted.

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Step 2 Assign Barcode ID to late registered or
visiting students
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Step 2 Assign Barcode ID to late registered or
visiting students

• This screen allows you to assign barcodes from
  those spare books to students who do not have
  overprinted test books. The list of available bar
  codes will automatically appear in SOAR for you
  to match with the book used by any new or
  visiting student.
• If you are short of test books before the test
  date, please refer to the School Manual
  (Principals Handbook), sent to schools in March.

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Step 2 Assign Barcode ID to late registered or
visiting students

• There will also be options in the drop down menu
  that apply when a student has used a photocopied
  book (from the Black and White master provided to
  your school) or used a book provided by a local
  office.
• DO NOT borrow books from another school for
  students in your school to complete NAPLAN tests.

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Step 3 Students with special test papers

• This screen allows you to indicate whether a
  student used a Braille, Large Print, Black and
  White or Coloured Paper test book. The SOAR
  system will count and provide a summary to
  reconcile against the number of books returned.

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Step 3 Students with special test papers
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Step 3 Students with special test papers

• Note that if you choose Apply across all
  assessment/booklet types then whatever is chosen
  in this screen for each student in the Year group
  you are working with (in this example Year 5)
  will be applied across all the test types
  (reading, writing, language and numeracy). This
  is intended to save time when entering details of
  students who access special print types for all
  tests.

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Step 3 Students with special test papers

• The overprinted book for each student who uses a
  special print type (Braille, Large Print, Black
  and White or Coloured Paper) must be returned
  (attached with a paper clip to the special print
  book) for transcription and scanning purposes.

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Step 3 Students with special test papers
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Step 3 Students with special test papers

• In the example because we have chosen Braille
  for Ezekiel and Large Print for Katie and
  ticked the box these will be applied for all
  tests not just the one I am checking in. However,
  when you check in another test you can change
  this choice at the individual student level.
• SOAR will count the number of entries of special
  books and provide a summary (in step 4) to match
  against the number of books being returned.

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Step 4 Student Count Confirmation
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Step 4 Student Count Confirmation

• This screen will reconcile enrolled students,
  visiting students, absent students, exempt
  students, withdrawn students, and any students
  who accessed special print types, then calculate
  a return count for each test book type. You will
  need to confirm the count in this screen by
  clicking the check box on the bottom right hand
  side.

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Step 4 Student Count Confirmation

• Books must not be returned for absent, sanctioned
  abandonment, exempt students or students
  withdrawn from testing (unless they are partial
  absence or partial exemption).
• Step 4 will also indicate the number of special
  print book types to be returned.
• Using the Print button on this screen will allow
  you to print the summary to include in the
  returned box of tests (and to keep for your
  records if you wish).

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Step 4 Student Count Confirmation

• If you realise when you reach this step that you
  have made a mistake, (i.e. the calculated count
  of books does not match the number in the box),
  use the Previous button to go back to any
  previous step and fix the information. The Step 4
  screen automatically updates when you change
  information on previous screens.

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Step 4 Student Count Confirmation

• The overprinted book for each student who uses a
  special print type (Braille, Large print,
  coloured paper or Black and white) must be
  returned as well as the special book for
  transcription and scanning, but these are not
  counted separately. For example if you had 3
  students in Year 7, one of whom did the test on a
  black and white book your total count would show
  you are returning 3 test books. The overprinted
  test book should be attached to the black and
  white book with a paper clip.

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Step 5 Students with Comments
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Step 5 Students with Comments

• In this screen you are able to enter any comments
  into SOAR that may be of importance when
  interpreting results, such as incidents at the
  school on test day or comments regarding student
  illness or behaviour.

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Step 6 Students with Identical Names
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Step 6 Students with Identical Names

• SOAR will identify students in the same cohort
  with identical names. In this screen you are
  required to provide additional information to
  help with the identification of reports for these
  students. The addition of a middle name or
  initial would be appropriate.
• Again, this can be applied across all assessments
  so you do not have to do it more than once. If
  you do not have any students with identical names
  you will not have to complete this step.

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Step 7 Completion Summary
It is important to SAVE your work when you are
finished.
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Check In Completion

• This screen provides a summary of where you are
  up to in the check in process.

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Check Out

• This screen is completed after Check In. It
  allows you to indicate the number of boxes for
  return and assign a return sticker barcode to
  each box.

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Check Out

• All boxes are returned to the local post office
  with the return stickers securely attached. SOAR
  asks you to indicate the name of the Post Office
  where the lodgement took place. This assists in
  tracking of any late arriving books at the
  processing centre.

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(inside the student details screen) allows
you to provide details of newly enrolled students
not registered in the SOAR system.Note that the
Add a student section opens below the other
information on your screen.
Appendix Adding students
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Add a student
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Note that country of birth, main language and
parent details fields have auto-complete drop
down menus to assist you.
Auto complete
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Auto complete
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allows you to enter details of students who visit
your school to complete NAPLAN tests but who are
not enrolled in your school. The details screens
are similar to those for add a student but less
data is required.
Visiting students
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Visiting students
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CONTACT US

• You can email any queries
• naplan.nsw_at_det.nsw.edu.au
• Phone numbers are also available in the SOAR help
  file (click on the Having Trouble? link from any
  page of SOAR).

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Resources

• A copy of the training manual, this PowerPoint
  presentation and other resources can be found on
  the EMSAD NAPLAN internet
• http//www.schools.nsw.edu.au/learning/7_12assessm
  ents/naplan/index.php
• and intranet for Government schools in NSW
• https//detwww.det.nsw.edu.au/directorates/schoimp
  ro/EMD/naplan