1. MD Online IEP System Instructional Series – PD Activity
Data Analytics
Welcome to the Data Analytics PD Activity of the MD Online IEP System Instructional Series.
This PowerPoint slide show will represent the “Presentation” section of this activity and will demonstrate how to:
Use the Data Analytics Functionality
Select certain data to achieve a goal
Present this information to others.
This document was developed and produced by the MSDE, Division of Special Education/Early Intervention Services, in collaboration with the Johns Hopkins University/Center for Technology in Education. SFY14 Part B611 Grant# H027A is funded by the U.S. Department of Education, Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services. The views expressed herein do not necessarily reflect the views of the U.S. Department of Education or any other federal agency and should not be regarded as such. The Division of Special Education/Early Intervention Services received funding from the Office of Special Education Programs, Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services, U.S. Department of Education.

2. Outcomes
By the end of this presentation the participant will be able to:
To understand the purpose of using the Data Analytics section.
To know how to use and navigate in the Data Analytics section.
To focus on which particular data can be selected, to generate a report, and to allow for analysis.
By the end of this presentation the participant will be able to:
To understand the purpose of using the Data Analytics section.
To know how to use and navigate in the Data Analytics section.
To focus on which particular data can be selected, to generate a report, and to allow for analysis.

3. Think Abouts Think about these questions:
Which main Metric (Data Point) is your primary focus? What question are you trying to answer?
What filters do you want to use?
Is there a split you should apply to your data?
How do you want to present and share your data to others?
While this presentation, think about these questions:
On which main category (Metric) are you concentrating? What information are you trying to find?
What filters do you want to use?
Are there any splits you should apply to your graph?
How do you want to present your data to others?

4. Data Analytics Steps
The Data Analytics function contains 4 steps that will walk you through the process of selection and presenting your data to support data-driven decision making.
The steps are:
Step #1 – Pick Metric
Step #2 – Filter Your Entries
Step #3 – Apply a Split
Step #4 – Set Reports

5. Step #1 – Pick Metric
Step #1 - Select a Primary Metric.  This should be the area which is most important.  This will be shown on the X axis.  Data is pulled from school-wide data, such as MSA, ALT MSA, and HSA State Testing scores, attendance & discipline, students’ status; demographic information; placement data; and special considerations.

6. Step #1 – Pick Metric
For example, if you’re an elementary school principal who wants to see the breakdown of the types of primary disabilities of the boys and the girls students within your school, your main focus and main Metric would be Primary Disabilities. This is how your graph would appear after selecting Primary Disabilities for your Metric.

7. Step #2 – Filter Your Entries
Step #2 -  Add Filters, such as such as by Grade, Gender, Race, Disability  (Primary Disability from the Eligibility page in the IEP), Goal Category, Goal Area, ESY, FBA or BIP Special Considerations (AT, Communications, Blind, Deaf, LEP), and LRE.  This will bring the data down to displaying much small details.  There are no limit on number of filters. You do not need to select a filter, if it’s not needed. You can have a split without a filter and a filter without a split. The possibilities of how you look at your data is endless!

8. Step #2 – Filter Your Entries
Notice that after a filter is selected, a menu appear with checkboxes next to the selections that are available for that filter. Select checkbox(es) next to the key information, then click on “Save this Filter”, so the data can be refreshed and changed dynamically in the chart.
For example, if you’re an elementary school principal who wants to see the breakdown of the types of primary disabilities of the boys and the girls students within your school, your filter would be Grade and then more specifically, Kindergarten and Grade 1 through 5.

9. Step #2 – Filter Your Entries
This is how your data would appear after selecting the Metrics and Filters. The primary Metric and Filters that have been selected appear in the top left corner.

10. Step #3 – Apply a Split
Step # 3 - Apply a Split by Gender, Disability Type, or other category.  This will take the previously selected data and split it to be more detailed. You don’t need to add a Split, if it’s not needed. The split is applied to all columns.

11. Step #3 – Apply a Split
For example, if you’re an elementary school principal who wants to see the breakdown of the types of primary disabilities of the boys and the girls students within his school, your split would be Gender, so you can see the number of students of each gender. To see the counts for the primary metric and split for each column, click on the grid button. To view the information in a bar chart format click the bar chart button. To remove certain columns, click the change columns.

12. Step #3 – Apply a Split
Click on the “Download this Report as an Image” button at the bottom of the page, and the graph will appear in a new tab in your Browser. This will allow you to easily print the chart.

13. Step #4 – Get Reports
Step # 4 - Get Reports.  Export as a CSV file or an image, if desired.  More columns can be added the CSV file.  You can even add students' names and other information to see more data.
There are four options when doing Step #4 – Get Report:
A.  Download Report as a CSV.
B.  Download Students as an CSV.
C.  Addresses for Mail Merge.
D. Get Reports

14. Step #4 – Get Reports Download Report as a CSV
Click on the Download Report as a CSV button to see data in an Excel file.  You will see the data you selected and get the numerical values that are in the graph. This is the same information when clicking the grid button in Step #3 (Slide 11).

15. Step #4 – Get Reports Download Report as a CSV
After clicking on “Download Report as a CVS” button, the data will be converted and opened in an Excel file. Once it’s in Excel, you can manipulate and format the data to be displayed as you want.

16. Step #4 – Get Reports Download Students as a CSV
Download Students as an CSV:
In order to download students as a CSV, columns need to be selected from the Get Students from Report section. After selecting the desired fields, click on Click on the Download Students as an CSV button.
If you click on the Addresses for Mail Merge button first, the following pre-defined columns will be included: First Name, Last Name, Street, City, State, and Zip. Additional columns, such as Grade, ESY, and Service County, can also be selected and added to this list. Then click on the Download Students as CSV button.

17. Step #4 – Get Reports Download Students as a CSV
After selecting the fields and clicking on “Download Students as a CVS” button, the data will be converted and opened in an Excel file. Once it’s in Excel, you can manipulate and format the data to be displayed as you want.

18. Step #4 – Get Reports Addresses for Mail Merge
The Addresses for Mail Merge button is a quick way to generate a Mail Merge file. Click on this button and the typical mail merge fields are added to the list on the right, such as First Name, Last Name, Street, City, State, and Zip. Additional columns can also be selected and added to this list, if needed. Then click on the Download Students as CSV button or Get Reports.

19. Step #4 – Get Reports Addresses for Mail Merge
After selecting fields and clicking on the “Addresses for Mail Merge” button, the data will be displayed.

20. Step #4 – Get Reports Get Reports
When you click on the Get Report button after selecting columns, it will display this information in a web format which then can be downloaded as a CSV file.
The reason you’d want to do this is so you can view the columns you’ve selected and quick determine if you need to add or remove any columns. If you need to make changes to the columns, click on Request link at top left corner.
Also, in this web format under Get Reports, you can see the student’s account and his/her information, since the students’ names are links.

21. Step #4 – Get Reports Get Reports
Link to student’s IEP info
After selecting fields and clicking on the “Get Reports” button, the data will be displayed. Notice how the names are linked to the student’s information. Click on the Request Link in top left corner to change your columns.
Data goes here.

22. Data Analytics Some notes for Data Analytics:
Metric – Select on the MAIN area on which you want to focus. It should be the most important area that will appear on the X axis.
Filter – Select additional data points that can be applied to the metric to narrow the data set.
Split – Select an area on which you want to divide the data in the bars contained in the chart.
Before you start using the Data Analytics Function, you may want to think about what data you want to examine and analyze. Then after you get your data, you can change or remove filters and the split to see your data in a new, different way.
Here are some suggestions for when you’re using the Data Analytics function:
Metric – Select on the MAIN area on which you want to focus. It should be the most important area that will appear on the X axis.
Filter – Select the next important area on which you want to focus. It can display your data with more detail.
Split – Select an area on which you want to divide the data. It will give you even more information about your data.

23. Conclusion
The topics that were covered in this PD Activity were how to:
To understand the purpose of using the Data Analytics section.
To know how to use and navigate in the Data Analytics section.
To focus on which particular data can be selected, to generate a report, and to allow for analysis.
Through this PD activity, you have obtained information on how to:
To understand the purpose of using the Data Analytics section.
To know how to use and navigate in the Data Analytics section.
To focus on which particular data can be selected, to generate a report, and to allow for analysis.