Contents: ACWT Home Downloads Events Assessment Software Database Contact: Mahna Schwager WestEd 730 Harrison St. San Francisco, CA 94107 voice: 415.241.2718 fax: 415.565.3012 email: mschwag@WestEd.org

Assessment Software Database: A Dictionary of Software Database Terms Software Name (Self explanatory) Publisher (Self explanatory) Contact (Self explanatory) Product Description (Self explanatory) Primary Category What kind of software this is, primarily. Secondary Category Other uses to which the software could be adapted or put, either with a little work or by adding modules or accessories. Specification Hardware: What kind of physical computer(s) the software runs on. Operating System: What computer operating system(s) are required. Peripherals: Required or useful peripheral equipment (printer, CD-ROM, etc.) System Requirements: Memory, hard drive, processor type/speed, etc. Somewhat related to hardware, but this category might also include things like network access requirements. Cost Single copy : Cost per license, if sold as a single copy. Lab pack of 10 : Cost per pack, if sold in a lab version. Network License : If the software can be used over a local or wide area network, then this fee will apply. Note that network licenses often have limits on the number of simultaneous users even if total potential users is unlimited. Site License : Cost per site, usually no limits on number of users. Sometimes this is actually cheaper than buying several lab packs or multiple single copies if you need a bunch of copies for individual machines. Also, if your site is networked (most are) then consider the networked version if available since a networked version will save installation time on every computer on the site that needs access. Program Features Scrolling via: How the program manages large screens of data. Backup feature: How the program manages backups/archives of important data. Number of user levels of security: How security is managed. Password Encrytion: How the program supports passwords. Availability of data at each level to be customized: (Not sure what this refers to. May be a vendor-specific capability.) Vendor Services Free upgrade policy : How the vendor handles any free software upgrades. Free upgrades, if available, might be mailed automatically, or on request, or might be available only from the vendor web site. Fee upgrade policy : How the vendor handles for-fee upgrades. This might be a subscription service, periodic upgrade via mailed CD-ROM, or upgrades might be free and this might be empty. Download capabilities : Whether or not the vendor supports downloading of software, updates, ancillary materials, or manuals. Contract upgrade policy : How the vendor handles contracts for upgrades. Service and support policy : Whether or not service is provided after the sale, and what kind. Could be free with no limits, free with time or number of call limits, by subscription only, or as part of a deluxe software package or service. Preview material : Whether or not the vendor provides demo software, and how to attain that. Demo software will generally have some kind of limitation on use, either a time limit, limited features, or limited number of users. Data Management Issues Availability of secured data entry by more than one person : How the software handles multiple users, assuming it handles multiple users at all. Availability to add anecdotal information : How the software handles free-form kinds of data (probably as text of some limited amount.) Number of active student records : How many students can be entered into the software database at one time. This is an important number if you plan on using the software site-wide over a network, and if you plan on tracking students for many years at a time. A school that averages 500 students per year will need software than can handle many thousands of students if you keep student data in the system for just 10 years. Number of entries per student : How the software manages student records, for example yearly records or class records. Data can be imported from : Types of software that can originate data for the system to use. For example, you may already be using a database package or spreadsheet for your data tracking and may want to import that data into the new software. Make sure the new software will import, in some format, your old/current data and that your old software will export to that format or else you'll be doing a lot of typing! Additional data import features : Anything besides data which can be imported. Pictures, spreadsheets, web pages, whatever. Data can be exported to : The opposite of import. If you need to get data out of the system, for example to use it in annual reports or to submit to another agency, you'll need this kind of feature. Most software that exports at all will provide a minimal useful file format. Tab-delimited exports can be read by spreadsheet and database software just fine. Also, make note of the analytical and charting features of the software, listed below. If these are not up to your liking then you'll be doing some exporting of data into an analytical/charting package of your choice, making this item that much more important to your selection. Additional data export features : Any delimited or fixed-length text files, RTF file, HTML etc. for uses besides databases. Available search capacities : How the software manages data searches. Could be very important if you have many students or many years of data. Additional search features : How the engine can be customized, upgraded, etc. and perhaps how it can be used to search other kinds of data, such as district databases not at your site. Available sort capacities : Some of the default abilities of the search engine. Available templates : How the software supports pre-made or customizable templates. Availability of each field record/report to meet specific teacher's need: (Not sure what this refers to, might be a vendor-specific feature.) Description of Teacher's need: (Not sure what this refers to, might be a vendor-specific feature.) Impementation Characteristics Availability of data organization by Standards and Benchmarks : Ability to score and sort student performance against standards and benchmarks. Availability of Standards and Benchmarks : Inclusion of standards and/or benchmarks, and where those come from. Availability of other standard scores : Inclusion of standards and/or benchmarks, and where those come from. Availability of storing, managing and report of students by standards, classrooms by standards, and students by classrooms : The different ways that you can expect to slice and dice student data for analytical purposes. Availability of data analysis : Types and powers of any included analytical engines. Might be a list of functions or the names of some included software specific to the task. Availability of charts and graphs to present data : How the software presents analytical data. Might be a list of functions or the names of some included software specific to the task. Back to Database page WestEd Home | Search | Feedback | Our Work