November 2008

Being Proactive Can Increase Graduation Numbers

If you haven't already done so, now is a good time for schools to identify tenth grade students whose ninth grade scores in Reading and Mathematics indicate that they are in danger of not reaching graduation level. By informing students now that they are in danger of repeating the FCAT next year, teachers have time to work with students and find strategies to help the student succeed.

SnapShot’s “Creating the Common Vocabulary” help document defines graduation requirements as: Students graduating in the year 2003 and later must receive a passing score on both the FCAT SSS Reading and FCAT SSS Mathematics tests to meet graduation requirements. Currently, a passing score of 300 Scale Score points must be achieved in both Math and Reading in order to graduate with a regular diploma in 2009 (the Developmental Scale Score equivalents are 1926 for Reading and 1889 for Mathematics).

To find out which Grade 10 students are in danger of not reaching graduation rate, follow these steps in SnapShot:

1. Select Queries from the top menu of SnapShot;
2. Choose current year as the Roster Year and click Continue;
3. Select Schools from the left menu, then choose your school;
4. Select Demographics from the left menu, then select the Grade of Enrollment option;
5. Change the school year drop down menu date to current year;
6. Select Grade 10 by placing a checkmark in the appropriate box, then click Add Criterion;
7. Select Tests from the left menu, then select FCAT SSS Reading;
8. From the list of options that appear, select Scale Score and change the Maximum Score to 300, then click Add Criterion;
9. Click on the Get Results button at the top Right of the query window;
10. Now if you scroll down, you will see all the Grade 10 students in your school that had Reading scores last year that may put them at risk of not graduating.

You can repeat the above process for Mathematics by simply replacing FCAT SSS Reading with FCAT SSS Math.

District Renewals Say It All

Bay County School District in Florida confirms Student Performance SnapShot is their data analysis provider of choice by renewing their subscription for another year. Lendy R. Willis, Executive Director, Curriculum and Instructional Services for Bay County Schools, says, "Our district has struggled for years to get teachers and administrators to make data-based decisions. No amount of training would do the trick. Using SnapShot has opened the door to data driven instruction, thus increased student learning."

To read the entire press release, please click here.

SnapShot on Auto Pilot

If you love the reports that SnapShot provides, but don't have the time to run all the queries, the School Data Binder is for you.

The School Data Binder is prepared by SnapShot Data Experts and contains all the important reports for your school. You get all the data reports you need to increase student success rates without having to lift a finger. Each printed report also comes with instructions on how to use it and a list of questions you should consider to identify ways to improve your school's results.

The reports are filed neatly in the Binder so you can easily reference them throughout the remainder of the year. You can also add any additional reports that you run yourself to the Binder so they are all stored in the same location.

For more information on how you can purchase a School Data Binder filled with the essential reports for your school, please contact Graham Howe at 1-866-658-8238 ext. 23.

Free Monthly Online Training Sessions

Every month a Data Chat Webinar will be held, designed for current SnapShot users to ask their specific questions about data analysis and/or the SnapShot program. A SnapShot Trainer will be online to virtually walk users through each screen to show them exactly how to get the desired results.

The next scheduled Monthly Data Chat Webinars are:

• Friday, November 14th from 9:00 am – 10:00 am EST
• Tuesday, December 9th from 9:00 am – 10:00 am EST
• Monday, January 12th from 9:30 am – 10:30 am EST

If you would like to attend any of the above sessions, please send an email to Christine Harrison at christine@etrafficsolutions.com. If there is a specific topic that you would like addressed, please reference that in your email along with the date that you would like to attend. Space is limited to ensure everyone's concerns can be addressed within the one-hour timeframe, so book early to save your seat.