User Guide
(Teachers)
The Maths Tracker by Schools Development Group is licensed under a Creative
Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
Based on a work at http://www.australiancurriculum.edu.au/
The following slides are for all users of The Maths Tracker
Slide
No
3–8
Contents
.
Summary of Content
Introduction and Rationale
An Overview of The Maths Tracker
9
Diagram
Visual overview of how the Maths Tracker is organised
10
An Important Note
Hints about saving data.
12
Title Page
Hyperlinks to associated web pages
13 - 15
Enabling macros
This must be done to read the programme
16 - 23
Custom Menu : Students Tab
View and update your student info and grades
24 - 27
Custom Menu : Achievements Tab
View and update student achievements
28 - 33
Custom Menu : Reports Tab
Create spreadsheets for your class, groups or individual students
34 - 35
Custom Menu : Tables Tab
Create lists of Content Descriptors and Checkpoints for any year
level. Create Student Groups in this tab
36
Custom Menu : Query Tab
Sorting and Filtering data
37
Custom Menu : Utilities Tab
Printing and page set up
38
Custom Menu : Save/Quit Tab
Save and Quit
The Maths Tracker :
The Schools Development Group (2014)
3
Introduction
The Maths Tracker has been developed as part of a joint project between the
Schools Development Group and the Department of Education of WA.
The Schools Development Group is a not-for-profit organisation established in
1980 due to a need to provide exchange on co- operative teaching approaches
and school design improvements. The activities of the Group have come from
identified needs in public education by educators and parents in schools as well
supporting education specialists. Visit www.schoolsdevelopmentgroup.org for
more information.
The Maths Tracker is a culmination of two years work. The working party
comprised of Administrators, Classroom Teachers and Numeracy Specialists
from schools across the state including Huntingdale Primary School, Highgate
Primary School, Halls Creek Primary School, O’Connor Primary School and
Jurien Bay District High as well as Consultants from the Department of Education
(WA).
Rationale and Aims
The purpose of The Maths Tracker is to provide teachers with a resource that
assists with planning, teaching and assessment of the Mathematics contained in
the Australian Curriculum (v6.0). It contains the Content Descriptors taken directly
from ACARA documents. Each Content Descriptor has been linked to
checkpoints that have been carefully written as student behaviours that are
observable and recordable.
The Maths Tracker has the facility to monitor student progress through the content
and their assigned grades for each semester. It also has the capacity for teachers
to write brief anecdotal notes about their students. An important function of The
Maths Tracker is to be a resource that collects comprehensive data on numeracy
development for a whole school, year level, class and individual students. It is
possible to roll the data over from year to year, thus providing a valuable means of
effective communication between the admin team and teachers within a school.
Proficiency Strands:
The Maths Tracker contains elaborations of the Content Strand of Australian
Curriculum Mathematics only. Teachers also need to be cognisant of the
Proficiency Strands of Understanding, Fluency, Problem-Solving and Reasoning.
These describe the ‘doing of the maths’ or the skills required to work
mathematically. The students’ aptitude for the proficiencies will guide the teacher
when assigning grades or making decisions about the achievement of particular
Content Descriptors. Some of the checkpoints in The Maths Tracker lend
themselves to the assessment of the proficiencies. These typically begin with
verbs such as “describe” , “explain” , “justify” etc... Teachers are encouraged to
consider both Content and Proficiency Strands equally when making an
on-balance judgements about student achievement.
First Steps in Maths and Teaching Points
The Maths Tracker contains references to First Steps in Mathematics.
First Steps in Mathematics is a series of teacher resource books that is
organised around sets of mathematics outcomes for Number,
Measurement, Space, and Chance and Data. The series will help
teachers to diagnose, plan, implement and judge the effectiveness of the
learning experiences they provide for students. A hyperlink to this
resource is on the Title Page and can be freely accessed with a DET
(WA) Portal log-in. The reference is written as a link to Key
Understandings which is denoted as “KU”.
Some of the checkpoints have clarifying teaching points
that have been written by experienced
Numeracy Specialists as an elaboration
to the Content Descriptor or Checkpoint.
Acknowledgement:
First Steps in Mathematics © Department of Education WA 2013
Moderation and Consistency
•
The accuracy of any whole school monitoring system is always dependent
upon the quality and consistency of teacher judgement. Moderation
between teachers is essential if consistency is to be maintained. It is
envisaged that the Maths Tracker will provide the catalyst for professional
conversations around the planning, teaching and assessment of Australian
Curriculum Mathematics and can be used as a basis for collaborative
planning and the analysis of whole school strengths and weaknesses in the
teaching of numeracy.
The Maths Tracker :
The Schools Development Group (2014)
8
A few notes:
•
This program requires you to enable macros on your computer in order to read it.
(See slide 19) This is not possible if you have your security settings set too high.
The setting needs to be medium.
•
It is important that schools devise protocols for the effective sharing of files. The
Admin version of the programme should be kept on a secure drive for admin use
only and the teacher files should be kept on a shared drive that is accessible to all
teachers and admin. The teacher files may be copied and updated elsewhere (eg
at home or on personal laptops) ...but it is essential that all changes are re-saved
into the shared drive. Admin staff need to take care to only make updates to
teacher files if it is the current and up to date file to safeguard against lost data.
The Maths Tracker :
The Schools Development Group (2014)
9
The Maths Tracker
Schools Development Group TEMPLATE
Student data
copied from
Integris
School Admin Copy
Contains data on all students in the school and is
to be stored in a secure drive with Admin access
only
Export
Teacher Copy
Import
Contains data on student in one class only and is
to be stored in a shared drive with Admin and
Teacher access
Reports
Generated about achievement of Whole School,
Year Level, Classroom, Groups and Individual Students
An important note to Teachers ....
You will be provided with a copy of this programme in a shared drive at your
school. Your version has data for the students in your class only.
You will be able to update information for you students and also keep brief
anecdotal notes about them. This could be done in hard copy and or in digital
form.
There will be times when Admin staff will need to make changes to your file.
For example, when a new student arrives, a student leaves or when they
receive a new version of this programme. They may also require the data you
have saved and will need to import it back into the master copy (see diagram)
For this reason, it is vital that the file in the shared drive is the most recent file
that you have saved. You can copy the file and take it home or onto another
computer for your convenience.....but please make sure you re-save it back
into the shared drive on return to school. The necessary admin changes will
then be made to your most current file without loss of data. Your admin team
will devise a system to alert you to when a change is going to be made.
The Maths Tracker :
The Schools Development Group (2014)
11
Open The Maths Tracker...
In order to use the document, you will need to enable macros.
Please ensure that the security settings on your computer are set to
“medium” ....macros cannot be enabled if the settings are too high.
The Maths Tracker :
The Schools Development Group (2014)
12
Title Page
• The Title page can be accessed at any time by clicking the
Utilities tab and selecting “View Title Page”
• There are hyperlinks to related resources at the bottom of
this page. These include the websites of:
 Schools Development Group
 Department of Education
 SCSA (K – 10 Outline &
WA Curriculum page)
 Australian Curriculum v6.0 and
 First Steps in Maths documents
(freely downloadable from
Portal for DET employees)
Enabling macros
1.
2.
3.
When the programme is opened a security warning will
appear. 1. Click ‘Options’ . 2. Select “Enable this content
on the security warning pop-up. 3. Click “OK”
Enabling macros
Add-ins Tab
A new tab called
“Add-ins” will appear
across top of page.
Click this to view a
custom toolbar menu
containing the
following tabs:
•Students
•Achievements
•Reports
•Tables
•Query
•Utilities
•Admin
•Save/Quit
Enabling macros
This custom menu contains all functions that you will need to operate and
maintain The Maths Tracker, including saving and closing the document.
It is not necessary to use any of the other standard Excel functions
(....in fact it is BEST not to)
The following slides will detail the function of each tab of the custom menu.
1. Custom Menu : Students Tab
(i) View Student data – by surname
This will display raw data of student details. It will also record
when changes have been made to students details and who
made those changes. This is a spreadsheet and can be
filtered and sorted in any way. Click Query tab for sorting
methods.
NEVER make any changes on this page. Use the next 2
The Maths Tracker :
selections on Student tab.
The Schools Development Group (2014)
17
Student Groups – Update Student Attribute Data
The Maths Tracker v3.2 has the capacity to group students into 8 different groups. Schools have the choice to
label these groups as best suits their context and needs of the students.
As a suggestion, Admin could ‘pre label’ in 3 or 4 of these groups before exporting the
Tracker to the teachers. For example, “ESL”, ‘Indigenous”, “Special Needs”etc… This would leave
4 or 5 groups unlabelled and allow teachers to group their students according to working maths groups
within the classroom. Groups are always flexible ….and students can be in more than one group.
To label groups, Click on
‘Tables’ tab and select
‘Student Group’ Type in
column B to change the
title of each group
To update attribute data (ie assign groups)
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Click on “Students’ tab
Select “Update Student
Attribute data”
Highlight a student
Click yes (or no) for a
particular group
Click green “Update attributes”
after each student.
When finished, click Close.
there will be a “Y” next to
students name in columns K – R
as appropriate.
Students can be grouped by either
admin or teachers.
Using Student Groups
Choose
‘Reports’’
Tab and
Achievements
Summary.
Choose the
group for which
you wish to run
report.
A report can
be generated
for identified
groups of
students. Click
Reports,
Group …..
The report will be labelled with
name of group and the date of
the report.
This function is useful for the
provision for differentiation and
IEP / GEPs
If you click Reports, Export
report being viewed into new
workbook…… you will create a
new excel document that can be
cut and pasted, highlighted,
add/delete columns etc……to
suit your own needs.
Student Grades Data
1
2
1.
Use ‘’ Students’’ tab to
“Update Student Grade
Data”
2.
Input grade data. You are
able to select multiple
students at one time.
Using “Reports” tab,
Select “Grades reports and
Charts”
View data by
chart
View data by count /
percentage
In this view, if you
double click on the
numbers in the grade
chart, you will
see which students
attained that grade.
This is a pivot table.
Advanced users of
Excel will be able to
re-sort this table and
drag categories around
to compare groupings
and data.
Double click on
numbers to see
student names
2. Custom Menu : Achievements Tab
(i) View
This page keeps a log of any changes made to student achievement. It
will give you information about date of change and the person who
made it. This is raw data only.
The Maths Tracker :
The Schools Development Group (2014)
25
(ii) Update for selected student and multiple
checkpoints
Use this page to update achievements of checkpoints for a single
student. This is useful when you get a new student.
Surnames blocked for confidentiality
1. Select the student.
Click OK
The Maths Tracker :
The Schools Development Group (2014)
26
2. Make
selection of
content.
3. The date
achieved is
month and
year only
(will be
recorded
as 1st of
the month)
4. Use the comments box for any anecdotal notes.
5. Click green tab and then close
The Maths Tracker :
The Schools Development Group (2014)
27
(iii) Update for selected descriptor and multiple students
Use this page to
update achievement of
a selected descriptor
checkpoints for multiple
students This is useful
when you finish a unit
of work and have a
group of students who
have achieved a
descriptor.
Surnames blocked for
confidentiality
1. Select relevant
descriptor details
4. Select students.
2. Select date
3. Add any comments
if appropriate
5. Click Green tab and Close.
The Maths Tracker :
The Schools Development Group (2014)
28
3. Custom Menu : Reports Tab
(i) Achievements Summary
This tab will generate a report on the achievements for an
individual student, a group, a class or a year level.
This page is most useful for teacher planning. It can be printed
and used as a pencil and paper hard copy in the classroom. A
report on an individual student can be used effectively as the
basis of an IEP or for use in parent/teacher interviews.
The Maths Tracker :
The Schools Development Group (2014)
29
Make selections to generate a report according to the
desired parameters. Click OK. An excel document will
be generated. It can be saved in another folder and/or
printed like any excel document. There is an option
“Export report being viewed to new workbook” in the
The Maths Tracker :
Achievements tab.
The Schools Development Group (2014)
30
Sample report for individual student
The Maths Tracker :
The Schools Development Group (2014)
31
Sample report for whole class
(This is an Excel document and can be saved and/ or printed) )
Date of report
automated
Surnames blocked for confidentiality
The red arrow indicates that a comment has been made by the teacher.
It will appear when mouse is hovered over it . Using the Utilities tab, it is possible
to set up the printing of comments.
The Maths Tracker :
The Schools Development Group (2014)
32
Year Level Overview of Checkpoints
This tab will generate a list of sub strands, content descriptors, and checkpoints for
chosen year levels. There is NO STUDENT INFORMATION attached.
This is useful for programming and planning.Teaching points will be displayed
if they are written for that checkpoint.
The Maths Tracker :
The Schools Development Group (2014)
33
Export report being viewed to new workbook
When you have generated a report it is possible to save a copy to
a new workbook in a desired folder.
1.Generate the report through “Reports” menu.
2.Click “Reports” then “Export report being viewed to new workbook”
and save in the Reports folder created in initial set–up
(or to a folder of choice for Teachers) .
3. This report is an excel document and can be
changed, modified and used as any other excel document......
or printed as a hard copy.
The Maths Tracker :
The Schools Development Group (2014)
34
4. Custom Menu : Tables Tab
This tab will show a list of all content descriptors and / or checkpoints
In the entire Maths Tracker. These lists will be useful for planning.
It is for reference only. It may be useful to sort the tables according to year level
to obtain an overview of all checkpoints. Do this by using the Query tab and
“Sort data being viewed” or “auto filter”.
It is also where you can personalise the names of you student groups.
The Maths Tracker :
The Schools Development Group (2014)
35
• A note about checkpoint coding:
Each checkpoint has a 6 digit code. Kindergarten is K and Foundation is P in this
coding.
Checkpoint Code
Means:
K00001
Checkpoint 1 for Kindy
K00026
Checkpoint 26 for Kindy
P00010
Checkpoint 10 for Foundation
Y01013
Checkpoint 13 for for Year 1
Y06056
Checkpoint 56 for Year 6
Y10015
Checkpoint 15 for Year 10
Y10A45
Checkpoint 45 for Year 10A
Checkpoint codes are useful for communication between teachers
in planning documents and collaborative
meetings.
The Maths Tracker :
The Schools Development Group (2014)
36
5. Custom Menu : Query Tab
Use this tab to sort or filter data.
When a report has been generated click
“Query” then “Sort data being viewed” or “Autofilter data being viewed”
The data will always default back to custom view on closing the report.
The Maths Tracker :
The Schools Development Group (2014)
37
6. Custom Menu : Utilities Tab
View Title Page
This tab will take you back to the title page
Printer selection and Page set-up
Gives options for printers
and page set up for reports.
The Maths Tracker :
The Schools Development Group (2014)
38
7. Custom Menu : Save/Quit Tab
Always use this tab to save and close the programme.
(Rather than using regular Excel menu)
The Maths Tracker :
The Schools Development Group (2014)
39