ASSIST™ Technical Guide for Michigan Schools and Districts

Completing and Submitting EdYES! Reporting Requirements

Revised 8/5/13

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About This Guide

This guide has been developed specifically for Michigan schools and districts. It provides an overview of ASSIST and step-by-step instructions for using the tools in ASSIST to address requirements for EdYES! School and District Reporting.

Table of Contents ASSIST Overview ........................................................................................................................................3 New Terminology .......................................................................................................................................4 Accessing ASSIST ........................................................................................................................................5 EdYES! School Reporting ..................................................................................................................... 6-13 District Review and Approval of EdYES! School Reporting ....................................................................14 District Reporting ............................................................................................................................... 15-21

ASSIST is designed to guide and streamline the improvement planning process and help eliminate duplication of effort!

Learn more at: www.advanc-ed.org/mde

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ASSIST™ Overview

Through partnership, AdvancED and the Michigan Department of Education (MDE), have customized The Adaptive System of School Improvement Support Tools (ASSIST) to guide and support a common, statewide improvement planning process for all Michigan schools and districts.

ASSIST facilitates a more streamlined improvement planning and reporting process. This document provides guidance and step-by-step instructions for how to build and submit EdYes and District Reporting Requirements in ASSIST. Reports will be set in ASSIST to guide schools and districts to the appropriate path toward improvement, accountability, and compliance.

Navigating ASSIST The primary navigation of ASSIST takes place using a series of tabs across the top of the screen. Specific tools are provided within each tab. The following diagram provides a basic overview of the ASSIST tabs and what is located within each.

Overview Profile Diagnostics & Surveys Assurances Goals & Plans Actions & Reviews

Due dates for required documents - upcoming, past due and completed

Contains document submission and review and approval workflow.

EXAMPLES: • Ed YES! Report • School

Improvement Plan

• District Improvement Plan

• Reform Redesign Report

Basic institution, demographic, affiliation, accreditation and accountability status information (e.g., Priority, Focus, Title I) Performance section is currently blank

Tools to facilitate the collection and analysis of data and information to inform the improvement planning process. School Diagnostics: • Executive Summary • Self Assessment • Interim Self Assessment • SPR 40 • SPR 90 • Focus School Diagnostic • Transformation Redesign Diagnostic • Turnaround Redesign Diagnostic • SchoolCheck Resource Allocation Self-

Assessment Diagnostic • Student Performance • Stakeholder Feedback • Needs Assessment District Diagnostics: • Executive Summary • Interim Self Assessment • Self Assessment • DPR • SchoolCheck District Resource

thiAllocation Self-Assessment Diagnostic

• Student Performance • Stakeholder Feedback Surveys: • Parent • Staff • Middle/High Student (6-12) • Elementary Student (3-5) • Early Elementary Student (K-2)

Yes/No Certification Questions – AdvancED and MDE state and federal assurances

Build and manage goals and improvement plans

NCA CASI Accreditation - Scheduled External Reviews and Required Actions

Tools to facilitate a process of checks and balances to ensure appropriate goals and strategies are in place.

Assurances

Goals

Diagnostic

Document Components

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New Terminology

During the transition from the Michigan School Improvement Management System to ASSIST new terminology will be used. Below are a few terms you will see in this guide and hear in the coming months. Some of the terms have an associated image that is used throughout this guide and other training materials to help with the learning process.

ASSIST (Adaptive System of School Improvement Support Tools) A web-based school improvement platform used by schools, districts and Independent School Districts (ISD) and Educational Service Agencies (ESAs) around the world to facilitate improvement planning and streamline compliance, accountability and accreditation reporting requirements.

Diagnostics Tools designed to help schools and districts self-assess strengths and areas in need of improvement related to organizational effectiveness, performance and stakeholder perceptions in order to support ongoing improvement processes and practice. NOTE: Diagnostics always are available for self-activation in ASSIST. You no longer have to wait for them to be activated. (The following diagnostics are referenced in this guide for the purpose of Requirements Reporting: School Process Rubrics (40), School Process Rubrics (90), Interim Self Assessment, Self Assessment, Self Assessment with Early Learning, District Process Rubrics)

Assurances Compliance and/or accountability statements or questions that require a Yes or No certification response. Completion of assurances in ASSIST also will support the upload of documentation as well as narrative comments.

ASSIST Components Requirements assigned to an institution that identify which reports need to be completed by a specified date. The components are requirements that are defined and assigned by MDE or AdvancED/NCA CASI. NOTE: The head of institution and primary contact listed in the system will receive an email notification when a new ASSIST document has been assigned for their institution.

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Accessing ASSIST

Ed YES! School Reporting

All Michigan schools are required to address Requirements Reporting requirements in ASSIST. The requirements for these tools have not changed, but the process now will be accessible as more streamlined diagnostic tools are added in ASSIST to help facilitate an ongoing improvement process.

The diagram depicts the non-duplicated reporting requirements for NCA CASI accredited and non-NCA CASI accredited schools.

To directly access ASSIST, visit www.advanc-ed.org/MDE and select Log In or also navigate directly to the login page at www.advanc-ed.org/assist. Enter your email address and password. NOTE: This is the same email address and password you always have used to access the School Improvement Management System. Select Create New Account if you are a new user. If you don’t remember your password, select Send New Password link and enter your email address.

NOTE: All Ed YES! Reports will require Superintendent review and approval. The reporting workflow in ASSIST will facilitate this process (details provided in the next section of this guide). Upon approval, the report is automatically submitted to MDE for accountability purposes.

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From the login screen, select ASSIST.

To access accreditation status information and historical accreditation data and reports, select Accreditation Management System.

To access historical improvement plan and reports, select School Improvement Management System (MDE).

Getting Started

Between the dates of November 1, 2013 and November 5, 2013, Requirements Report will be assigned to all Michigan schools. The EdYES Report is displayed on the Portfolio Overview page along with the applicable due date. Selecting the document name displays the document details required for submission.

Viewing ASSIST Document Details The Document Details page identifies the diagnostic that must be included for your school’s Requirements Report submission. AdvancED and MDE have worked together to assign the appropriate diagnostic for each school. Every school has been assigned one of the following diagnostics as part of their Requirements Report in ASSIST:

• School Process Rubrics (40) • School Process Rubrics (90) • Interim Self Assessment • Self Assessment

Select the document name to

view the component details

required for submission.

Note: The document details identify what needs to be submitted, but we can tell that nothing has been attached because the Components section is blank.

Select the penci icon in the Components column to

start a diagnostic.

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When on the page of the diagnostic, select (Edit) to give the component a unique name with a date that in order to differentiate reports from year to year. Select Update when complete.

Completing a Diagnostics

All diagnostics in ASSIST have a similar format for ease of use. Regardless of which diagnostic your district is completing, the navigation and page layouts are almost identical. Blue section headings are provided for each standard within the diagnostic. Red progress bars provide a visual of section completeness.

If no components have been started, select Add New. Any

component with the check box marked will be added to your

report.

Selecting the name of the diagnostic will take you to the diagnostic page to begin

work on the specific component.

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Select the section heading to view and/or respond to the Indicators or Key Characteristics within each Standard.

A table provides the required items within each section. Items without a checkmark have not received a response, whereas those with a checkmark have been completed. ASSIST does not check for accuracy of information, so it is important to review all responses prior to completion.

Select an item by selecting Respond.

Each Indicator or Key Characteristic requires a response. The item will consist of a single rubric response, as well as the identification of evidence using a menu of common evidence and/or narrative description of additional evidence.

Once the item has a response, select Save and Continue.

ASSIST automatically takes you to the next item in the diagnostic.

You can return to the Diagnostic Summary to

view a different section or overall progress.

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Each diagnostic also contains narrative questions to capture information related to the reflection of responses to a given Standard, Indicator or Key Characteristic.

You can copy and paste text from a text editor or Microsoft Word document. ASSIST does not support special formatting, images or tables.

Complete all questions in the diagnostic and confirm completion by selecting the Yes Complete in the pop-up window.

NOTE: The diagnostic will be locked from editing and available to add to the Requirements Report for submission once it is marked Complete.

Select Reopen to make additional changes to the diagnostic prior to submission if needed.

Selecting View Results will display a visual report of the overall diagnostic results by Standard.

All narrative questions have a

6,000 character limit.

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Submitting the Requirements Report:

Select the Portfolio tab to open the Requirements Report. Note: The report will be located under the 2013-2014 School Year.

Select the pencil icon in the Component column. This opens a window that allows you to select the component to attach by checking the box and and selecting Save Selection.

Once the completed components have been added, select Submit and confirm submission in the pop-up window.

The component name now appears in the Components Column. Select the

name to view/edit the diagnostic results.

If all questions in the component have a

response, a checkmark with appear in the completed

Note: You can view a PDF of the complete document at any time during the process by selecting View PDF at the bottom of the page.

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District Review and Approval of School EdYES! Reports

Utilize the search engine to access the list of schools within your district.

Select the school for which you want to review a report.

Upon selecting the school account, you should see a document listed for that school.

If the school submitted the report, there will be a link to the archived report at the bottom of the page. View PDF will give you access to the full report.

The school’s principal, as well as the primary contact listed in the school’s ASSIST Profile will receive an email when the report is approved or reopened.

Select the document name to view the submitted report.

If you are satisfied with the report, select

Approve.

If the report needs additional work, select

Reopen and provide comments when

prompted.

Note: If a document has been reopened and submitted multiple times, each submission is archived along with the comment history provided by the reviewer.

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District Reporting

All Michigan districts are required to address EdYES Reporting requirements in ASSIST. The requirements for these tools have not changed, but the process now will be accessible as more streamlined diagnostic tools are added in ASSIST to help facilitate an ongoing improvement process.

The following diagram depicts the non-duplicated reporting requirements for NCA CASI accredited and non-NCA CASI accredited districts.

Getting Started

Between the dates of November 1, 2013 and November 5, 2013, Requirements Reports will be assigned to all Michigan districts.

Upon logging in to ASSIST, district users will need to search for and select the district’s name in order to view and complete the District Requirements Report.

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Once in the district’s ASSIST account, the upcoming District Requirements Report document will be displayed on the overview page along with the applicable due date. Selecting the document name will display the component details required for submission.

Viewing ASSIST Document Details

The Report Details page identifies the diagnostic that must be included for your district’s Requirements Report submission. AdvancED and MDE have worked together to assign the appropriate diagnostic for each district. Every district has been assigned one of the following diagnostics as part of their Requirements Report in ASSIST:

• District Process Rubrics (DPR) • Interim Self Assessment • Self Assessment

Select the document name to view the

component details required for submission.

Note: Selecting the document name tab takes

you to the components requirements.

Note: The Component details identify what needs to be submitted, but we can tell that nothing has been attached because the Components section is bl k

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Completing a Diagnostics

All diagnostics in ASSIST are formatted in a similar fashion for ease of use. Regardless if your district is completing the District Process Rubrics (DPR), Interim Self Assessment or Self Assessment, the navigation and page layout is almost identical. Upon entering the diagnostic, blue section headings are provided for each Standard within the diagnostic. Colored progress bars provide a visual of section completedness.

Select the section heading to view and/or respond to the Indicators or Key Characteristics within each Standard.

Upon entering each section, you will see a table that provides the items within each section. Items with a gray checkmark have not yet received a response, whereas those with a green checkmark have. ASSIST does not check for accuracy of information, so it is important to review all responses prior to completion.

Select an item by selecting Respond.

The number of items within each section is provided below the

section title. The progress bar provides a visual of section completeness.

At any time you can return to the Diagnostic

Summary to view a different section or overall

diagnostic progress.

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Each Indicators or Key Characteristics in the diagnostic will require a response. The item will consist of a single rubric response, as well as the identification of evidence using a menu of common evidence and/or narrative description of additional evidence.

Once the item has a response, select Save and Continue.

ASSIST automatically will take you to the next item in the diagnostic.

Each diagnostic also contains narrative questions to capture information related to the reflection of responses to a give Standard, Indicator or Key Characteristic.

You can copy and paste text from a text editor or Microsoft Word document. ASSIST does not support special formatting, images or tables.

At any time you can return to the Standard Summary to view a different item or overall diagnostic progress.

All narrative questions have a

6,000 character limit.

Note: You can return to this screen at any time to change an item response.

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Complete all questions in the diagnostic and confirm completion by selecting the Yes Complete in the pop-up window.

NOTE: The diagnostic will be locked from editing and available to add to the Requirements Report for submission once it is marked Complete.

Select Reopen to make additional changes to the diagnostic prior to submission, if necessary.

Select View Results for a visual report of the overall diagnostic results by Standard.

View, save or print a PDF of the diagnostic at any time during the process.

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Submitting the Requirements Report:

Select the Portfolio tab at the top of the page, and then open the District Requirements Report.

Note: The report will be located under the School Year in which it was due.

Select the pencil icon in the Components section. This will open a window that allows you to select the diagnostic you would like to attach. Select a diagnostic by checking the box and Save Selection.

Once the completed diagnostic is added, the District Requirements Report can be submitted by selecting Submit and confirming submission in the pop-up window.

Saving a selection will make it appear within the Components section of the report table. You can click the name to view/edit the diagnostic results.

If all questions in the component have a response, a checkmark with appear in the Completed

column.

Note: You can view a PDF of the complete document at any time during the process by selecting View PDF. The PDF will be shown as a DRAFT until it is submitted.