Introduction

The Examination Module handles everything to do with tests and exams. This entails the organization and execution of tests and exams, the entering of marks, and the finalization and printing of report cards and other relevant letters of correspondence.

Features

• Set up tests and exams
• Tests based on templates
• Enter marks in the mark book
• Finalize report cards
• Print out report cards

Test Templates

Instead of having to get each and every educator to set up the test portfolio for their subject classes, this need be done only once in a test template; and the tests for all subject classes simply adopt the test portfolio applicable to them.

Test templates indicate which tests are to be written for:

• all subjects taught on
• which grades

Advantages

• Test templates serve to introduce school policy by standardizing all subject class test structures - where all subject classes of a particular grade write tests with the same details, all of which can be overridden later on when educators confirm/set the actual test details themselves. The template thus serves merely as a guide.

• Since test templates are created only once, they significantly reduce the amount of effort required in creating the test portfolio for each and every subject class since every subject class automatically adopts the test structure applicable to it when it's created or when it has no tests at all.

Template Info

Test templates hold the following information:

• Name - The name of the template (eg: TT 1-2)
• Description - An apt description of the scope of the template (eg: Test template for grades 1 and 2)
• Grades - Subject classes of these grades will adopt the tests of the test template (eg: if grades 1 and 2 are checked then all subjects taught for grades 1 and 2 will adopt the test portfolio as laid out in the template).
• Test / Exams - The tests of the template.

A Practical Example

Test templates are usually set up by the school secretary according to school policy.

• Grades 1 and 2 might only have a single test of 10 marks per term each carrying a weight of 1. There are no term tests, mid-year exams, trial exams or finals.

• Grades 3 through 7 might have two tests a term, and a final examination.

• Grades 8 through 11 might have three tests a term, a mid-year examination, and a final examination.

• Grade 12 might have three tests a term, a mid-year examination, a trial examination and a final examination.

As you can see, four separate test templates must be set up. All subject classes from grades 1 through 12 will then get their tests from one of these four templates.

Cloning

TS School allows you to clone from any existing test template.

Test Template Details

The details of the tests of a test template are as follows:

• Name - The name of the test (eg: Test 1-3)
• Desc - A description of the test (eg: Term 1, Test 3)
• Type - The type that the test should be:
• Test - A simple class test that shouldn't carry much weight
• Term - A term test that carries some weight (like 3 times that of a average class test)
• Half Year - A half year exam (that should carry even more weight)
• Trial - A trial exam (that should carry even more weight) in preparation for the final examination
• Final - The final examination (should carry most weight)
• Marks - The marks that the test should be out of.
• Weight - The weight that the test should carry. Simple class tests should carry the smallest weights whilst final year examinations the most.
• Term - The term that the test should be written in.
• Date - The default date of when the test is to be written.
• Start Time - The default starting time of the test.
• End Time - The default ending time of the test.
• Periods - For your convenience the periods of the chosen date are shown. Clicking on them will automatically set the start and end times.

Educators must confirm all details when going through their test portfolios later on.

Report Card Templates

TS School allows different grades to send out different report cards. The report card for grade 1, for example, might be markedly different from that for grade 12. Report card templates are used for this purpose.

Report card templates indicate which report cards apply to:

• Which grades for
• Which term

Template Info

Report card templates hold the following information:

• Name - The name of the template (eg: RCT 1-2)

• Description - An apt description of the scope of the template (eg: Report card template for grades 1 and 2)

• Document - The MS Word document to be used when printing the report card. These documents must first be created as Document Templates, though TS School ships with its own default report card documents already created for you.

• Term - The term to which the above document applies (eg: if term 1 is selected then the document applies only to term 1).

• Grades - Form classes of these grades will have the printout of the above document sent out as the report card (eg: if grades 1 and 2 are checked then the document will apply to all grade 1 and 2 form classes). Checking the All checkbox checks all grades. Unchecking the All checkbox unchecks all grades.

Symbol Templates

TS School allows you to set up symbol templates per grade and subject level. These templates hold the symbol names that correspond to ranges of percentages. Symbol templates indicate:

• which symbols to use to for:
• Which range of percentages for the subjects on which
• Grades and
• Subject Levels

Symbol Template Info

Symbol templates hold the following information:

• Name - The name of the template (eg: ST 11-12)

• Description - An apt description of the scope of the template (eg: Symbol template for grades 11 and 12)

• No. of Symbols - The number of symbols to represent all percentages from 0 to 100% (eg: if A, B, C, D, E and F are used, then 6 symbols are used).

• Symbol - The symbol (eg: C)

• From - The percentage from which the symbol applies (Eg: 60 means that the symbol applies from 60%)

• To - The percentage up to which the symbol applies (Eg: 69 means that the symbol applies up to 69%)

• Description - A description of the symbol (eg: Satisfactory)

• Applicable Grades - Subject classes of these grades will adopt the symbols of the symbol template (eg: if grades 11 and 12 are checked then all subjects taught for grades 11 and 12 will adopt the symbols as laid out in the template). Checking the All checkbox checks all grades. Unchecking the All checkbox unchecks all grades.

• Applicable Levels - Subject classes of these levels will adopt the symbols of the symbol template (eg: if only Lower Level is checked then all subjects taught for grades 11 and 12 on the lower level will adopt the symbols as laid out in the template). Checking the All checkbox checks all subject levels. Unchecking the All checkbox unchecks all subject levels.

These symbols can then be pulled onto report cards.

Tests / Exams

Every subject class must have tests. If a subject class currently has no tests then the correct test portfolio will be copied from the appropriate test template as per the grade of the subject class. For example if the subject class teaches Biology, Grade 8 on the Lower Level, then the tests of the test template used for grade 8 become the tests of the subject class.

Exactly the same procedure occurs when subject classes are first created. So the tests that you see are the actual class tests. The details of these tests need to be both set and confirmed.

Changing the Test Portfolio

Tests may be added to and deleted from the adopted subject class test portfolio (although this is very rare and if this ever happens one should actually question whether or not the test template instead actually needs tweeking). A typical test portfolio is as follows:

Setting Test Specifics

Each educator must check the details of each test within the test portfolios of each of their subject classes. Specifically, the actual dates and times need to be set.

Re-Cloning

TS School allows you to re-clone the test portfolio of the subject class from its test template. All changes will be lost!

Test Details

The details of the tests of a subject class are as follows:

• Name - The name of the test (eg: Test 1-3)
• Desc - A description of the test (eg: Term 1, Test 3)
• Type - The test's type:

• Marks - The marks that the test will be out of.
• Weight - The weight that the test will carry. Simple class tests should carry the smallest weights whilst final year examinations the most.
• Term - The term that the test will be written in.
• Formal - The test has a formal venue, seating positions, date and time.
• Informal - The test has only rudimentary seating arrangements
• Date - The actual date of when the test is to be written.
• Start Time - The actual starting time of the test.
• End Time - The actual ending time of the test.
• Periods - For your convenience the periods of the chosen date are shown. Clicking on them will automatically set the start and end times.
• Reminders - Indicate when subject classes will be reminded of the test:

Notice that these settings are actual, whereas those of the test templates are mere guidelines.

Mark Book

Use the mark book screen to record the marks of a subject class for a test for a term. Record:

• The mark (not the percentage).

• Test Comments - This is very useful for schools that closely monitor and report on learner progress on a test-by-test basis.

• Term Comments (finalizing the term) - Comments under the overall percentage for the term comment on the overall performance for the term. Subject class report cards for the term will not be finalized if there is no term comment. This reflects in the Terms toolbar and the Subject Class Report Cards not Finalized component of the System Health Module.

• Final Comments (finalizing the year) - Comments under the overall percentage for the year comment on the overall performance for the year. Final subject class report cards will not be finalized if there is no final comment. This reflects in the Final toolbar and the Subject Class Report Cards not Finalized component of the System Health Module.

The term and final comments should also go on report cards.

Finalize Passes

Use the Finalize Passes screen to pass learners for the year. This moves all passed learners onto the next grade or graduates them. Shows all learners and their overall year marks. On the basis of these marks and on how the grades are passing, learners must be manually promoted according to school rules and policy.

Details:

• Surname - The learner's surname
• First Name - The learner's first name
• Student # - The learner's student number
• Grade - The grade the learner is in
• Form Class - The form class the learner is in
• Overall % - The overall year percentage obtained for all subject classes (all subject classes are equally weighted).

Subjects

• Subject Class - The subject class attended
• Overall % - The overall year percentage obtained for that subject class. This is useful in establishing the spread of marks across the learner's subjects.
  

Pass Spread

Shows how many learners within each grade have passed. The idea is to keep the number of passes about the same to ensure that learners now and in the future can be accommodated.

• Grade - All the grades (with passes)
• Passes - The number of passes within each grade

Finalize Report Cards

Adding final comments - Before the report cards are finally printed, class administrators have the opportunity to add their own final comments for the term (in the case of a term report card) or for the year (in the case of a final report card).

Details:

• Name - Shown at the top of the screen is the learner's surname, first name (and student number).

• Term - Select a term to target a particular term or Final to sum up the year. Defaults to the current term.

• Subject Classes - The subject classes the learner has taken for the year.

• Percentage

• Comments - Finally the comments! This is where class administrators can add them.

Print Report Cards

Use the Print Report Cards screen to print learner report cards. This serves as a managerial checkpoint in the Terms and Final toolbars. All report cards of a grade use the same MS Word document to produce their output. This is why printing is based on the form class (which belongs to a grade). Filtering is not done by grade since most schools produce their report cards per form class and not grade.

Also the workload of producing all the report cards can be spread - where class administrators print out their own classes report cards and not leave everything up to the poor over-worked school secretary!

If a mistake is made

Unchecking a learner is usually done if a mistake has been made and the report discarded after already being printed. The unchecking then serves as a reminder the report card needs to be printed out.

Printing

When printing out the report cards, a temporary MS Word document containing all the report cards to be printed will present itself for printing. We highly recommend you go through each and every report card making sure that they are all correct. Only then can the entire batch be printed.

Should you decide not to print out the whole lot simply close the temporary MS Word document. Also don't save your changes within TS School, for if you do save, this tells TS School that the report cards have indeed been printed when in fact they have not. This will then reflect wrongly in the Terms and Final toolbars.

Re-Printing

Once you have printed the whole batch, you may need to reprint some report cards for whatever reason. You can do this in the following ways:

• Recommended - Make sure that the name of the learner whose report card you wish to reprint is indeed checked. (You might have, as you should, unchecked it to remind you to come back and re-print it). In MS Word, print only the learner's report card and not everyone else's in the class all over again. You can do this by, in MS Word, selecting File, Print..., Current Page.

• Not recommended - Note which report cards have been already been printed. Uncheck the whole lot, then check the learner whose report card you want to print. Print it. Then check back everyone else from your noted list.

Post Report Cards

Use the Post Report Cards screen to indicate whether report cards have been physically posted off to guardians. This serves as a managerial checkpoint in the Terms and Final toolbars. The workload of posting off all the report cards can be spread - where class administrators have the report cards placed into envelopes and send to the main office to have anything else put into them before finally being posted off.

Only once the letters have actually been posted off must those responsible - either the school secretary of the class administrators indicate this.

Subject Order

Use the Subject Order screen to put subjects on report cards in a specific order per grade.

Reports

The reports of the Examination Module are:

• Report Card Templates
• Symbol Templates
• Tests
• Test Details
• Test Templates (basic)
• Test Templates
• Test Templates (detailed)
• Test Template Weights
• Test Results
• Test Weights
  

Tests

Test Weights

Report Card Templates

Shows full details of all report card templates.

Details:

• Name - Name of the report card template
• Description - Description of the report card template
• Grades - All the grades to which the report card template applies
• Terms - All the terms to which the report card template applies

Symbol Templates

Shows full details of all symbol templates.

Details:

• Name - Name of the symbol template
• Description - Description of the symbol template
• Grades - All the grades to which the symbol template applies
• Subject Levels - All the subject levels to which the symbol template applies

Tests

Lists every test of every subject class.

Details:

• Name - Name of the subject class
• Description - Description of the subject class
• SGL - Subject, grade and level of the subject class
• Venue - Venue, seating dimensions and total number of seats
• Educators - Title, surname, first name and employee number of the subject classes educator(s)
  

For each test/exam:

• Test / Exam - The name of the test or exam
• Type - The type of test or exam
• Formality - Is the test or exam formal?
• Date (Time) - The scheduled date and time
• Marks - The total number of marks
• Weight - The importance of the test or exam

Test Details

Shows full details of all the tests belonging to a subject class or test template.

Details:

• Name - Name of the test
• Description - Description of the test
• Type - The type of test
• Scheduled - The date and starting and ending times of when the test should be written
• Mark (weight) - The mark and weight of the test or exam

Reminders:

• How to be reminded of the test (via email, PC, mobile)
• First Reminder - when to first be reminded
• Then Every - how often to be reminded
• Last Reminder - when last to be reminded

Test Templates (basic)

Shows only basic details of all test templates.

Details:

• Name - Name of the test template
• Description - Description of the test template
• Grades - All the grades to which the test template applies

Test Templates

Shows some details of all test templates.

Details:

• Name - Name of the test template
• Description - Description of the test template
• Grades - All the grades to which the test template applies
  

For each test of the test template:

• Name - Name of the test
• Description - Description of the test
• Mark (weight) - The mark and weight of the test

Test Templates (detailed)

Shows full details of all test templates.

Details:

• Name - Name of the test template
• Description - Description of the test template
• Grades - All the grades to which the test template applies
  

For each test of the test template:

• Name - Name of the test
• Description - Description of the test
• Mark (weight) - The mark and weight of the test
• Scheduled - The date and starting and ending times of when the test should be written
• Type - The type of test
  

Reminders:

• How to be reminded of the test (via email, PC, mobile)
• First Reminder - when to first be reminded
• Then Every - how often to be reminded
• Last Reminder - when last to be reminded
  

Test Template Weights

Shows the weights of a particular test template in list and graphical form.

Details:

• Title - The name of the test template
  

For each test within the template:

• Test/Exam - The name of the test
• Term - The school term to which the test belongs
• Scheduled - The scheduled date and starting and ending times of the test
• Type - The type of test
• Mark - The total number of marks that the test is out of
• Wgt - The weight the test carries (how important it is)
  

The Graph:

• Test/Exam - The name of the test
• % Contribution - The percentage contribution the test has to the overall year mark
• Min - The smallest contribution to the overall year mark
• Max - The largest contribution to the overall year mark
• Avg - The average contribution to the overall year mark

The min, max and avg figures are very useful in quickly establishing how any particular test fairs.

Test Results

Show the results obtained by all the learners of a subject class for a particular test.

Details:

• Title - The name of the test
• Total Marks - Total number of marks that the test is out of
• Surname - Learner's surname
• First Name - Learner's first name
• Student # - Learner's student number
• Mark - Mark obtained
• % - Percentage of the total mark obtained

Test Weights

Shows the weights of the tests of a particular subject class in list and graphical form.

Details:

• Title - The name of the subject class
  

For each subject class test:

• Test/Exam - The name of the test
• Term - The school term to which the test belongs
• Scheduled - The scheduled date and starting and ending times of the test
• Type - The type of test
• Mark - The total number of marks that the test is out of
• Wgt - The weight the test carries (how important it is)
  

The Graph:

• Test/Exam - The name of the test
• % Contribution - The percentage contribution the test has to the overall year mark
• Min - The smallest contribution to the overall year mark
• Max - The largest contribution to the overall year mark
• Avg - The average contribution to the overall year mark

The min, max and avg figures are very useful in quickly establishing how any particular test fairs.

Statistics

The statistics of the Examination Module are:

• Pass Numbers

Pass Numbers

Spread of grade passes. Shows the number of passes per grade. This is very useful to make sure that you don't have bottlenecks in your grades (where there are just too many learners in a grade because too many failed).

Axes:

• Grades - List of all grades (from start to finish)
• No. of Passes - The number of passes per grade.

Documents

The documents of the Examination Module are:

• Report Card 1 - First term report card.
• Report Card 2 - Second term report card.
• Report Card 3 - Third term report card.
• Report Card 4 - Fourth term report card.
• Final Report Card - Report card for the year.